Högskolan i Skövde

his.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • apa-cv
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Career in Swedish Retail
University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future. (Medarbetarskap och organisatorisk resiliens (FORE), Followership and Organizational Resilience)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1989-2745
University of Skövde, School of Health and Education. University of Skövde, Health and Education. (Socialpsykologi / Individ och samhälle (VIDSOC), Individual and Society)ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7164-0433
University of Skövde, School of Business. University of Skövde, Enterprises for the Future. (Medarbetarskap och organisatorisk resiliens (FORE), Followership and Organizational Resilience)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9138-6759
2016 (English)Report (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

A career in retailing is to a large extent a boundaryless career. A career in retail does not limit the individual to a single organisation, to a single role/position, or to a hierarchical rung on the organisational ladder. Both co-workers and managers move quite easily among organisations within the same retail area, between different retail areas, and in and out of the retail sector.

• In the past, the description of retailing as a transitory employment sector has had a negative connotation. Yet this description can also have quite a positive connotation. For example, experience acquired in the retail sector can be very useful in other work sectors. Moreover, people working in retail are generally motivated by job security, a job that is possible to combine to leisure/family, and a job close to home. They are typically much less motivated by traditional career advancement opportunities, the exercise of power over others, and by the desire to make decisions.

• People working in retail have a rather limited interest in becoming managers in part because their major work motivators are not the motivators one usually associates with management career paths.

• Gender is a relatively weak distinguishing variable in terms of retail careers, but there are some statistically significant – yet small – differences in the work characteristics of men and women in retail. For example, women in retail prioritize work-life balance, the proximity of workplace to home, and outside interests more than men in retail. These priorities have a limiting effect on their opportunities to accept managerial positions and to follow traditional, upward career paths.

• There are more women than men working in the retail sector today, but a larger percentage of men in management positions. However, this cannot be explained by differences between the motivations of men and women to become managers or in their attitudes towards their own managerial capabilities. The explanation lies in other, more indirect factors such as the expectations of today’s managers.

• Women generally earn less than men in the retail sector. This inequality is especially evident when differences in work responsibilities exist (e.g., specialized areas, subbranches, management tasks).

• There is some general scepticism among employees in the retail sector as far as the extent to which their employers are willing to commit to their well-being and development. This finding has important practical implications when employees sense a lack of employer commitment to them.

• People outside retail sector generally have a more negative picture of the retail sector than the people within the sector. People in the retail sector are relatively satisfied and think their work is varied and interesting.

• The number of women at the lower management levels (at the store-level) is increasing. Because of this trend, which is expected to continue, in the relatively near future there may be as many female managers as male managers at this level. However, at the upper management levels in retail, there are more than ten men for every woman and no indications of change.

• Job security is the most important career anchor for retail employees in Sweden. This finding has very important practical implications because job security is typically not associated with employment in the retail sector. It is a factor that can be an important consideration for retailers.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Göteborg: Göteborgs universitet, 2016. , p. 61
Series
GRI-rapport, ISSN 1400-4801 ; 2016:3
Keywords [en]
Career, retail, identity, career anchor, psychological contract, manager, leadership, medarbetarskap
National Category
Business Administration
Research subject
Humanities and Social sciences; Followership and Organizational Resilience; Individual and Society VIDSOC
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:his:diva-13219OAI: oai:DiVA.org:his-13219DiVA, id: diva2:1054963
Funder
Swedish Retail and Wholesale Development Council
Note

Gothenburg Research Institute, School of Business, Economics and Law at University of Gothenburg

Leadership, Innovation and Management

Available from: 2016-12-09 Created: 2016-12-09 Last updated: 2023-01-04Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(1457 kB)1037 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 1457 kBChecksum SHA-512
5a19b2d645aecfc10bf09dc9ab5f338cccdf428b3cd0d5581440c3d4e38a84402a0b56436d82fc37a24686b2972b90a8bd4b4d4e882a12627ef34a9bb87de26c
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Fulltext (GUPEA)

Authority records

Andersson, ThomasKazemi, AliWickelgren, Mikael

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Andersson, ThomasKazemi, AliWickelgren, Mikael
By organisation
School of BusinessEnterprises for the FutureSchool of Health and EducationHealth and Education
Business Administration

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 1037 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 1403 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • apa-cv
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf