The Causes Behind The Failure of HMV and Consumer Perception of Entertainment Retailers

• text

Dissertation

The Causes Behind The Failure of HMV and Consumer Perception of Entertainment Retailers

Jon Guergué

MSc

2013-09-02

University of Manchester

Manchester

207

Table of ContentsList of figures 4Abstract 6Declaration 7Copyright Statement 8Chapter 1: Introduction 91.1. Defining ‘failure’ and ‘decline’: Historical review 101.2. The rise and the fall of the ‘top dog’ 181.3. Objectives of the study and research gap 20Chapter 2: Literature Review 222.1.The financial approach 232.2. The ‘voluntaristic’ school 262.3. The ‘deterministic’ school 342.4. The integrative framework 402.5. Learning from failure 452.6. Summary 48Chapter 3: Methodology 553.1. Research Methodology 553.1.1.Qualitative Research 553.1.1.1.Historical Method in Marketing Research 573.1.1.2. Thematic Analysis 603.1.2. Quantitative Research 633.1.2.1. Research Design 643.1.2.2. Multi Dimensional Scaling 643.1.2.2. Brand Sample 703.1.2.3. Store Image 713.1.2.3. Data Collection and Sampling 73Chapter 4: Analysis, findings, and implications 754.1. Thematic Analysis of Chairman Statements 754.1.2. Developing Themes 754.1.3. Management and Environment 784.1.4. People and Finance 864.1.5. Expansion and Trajectory 894.1.7. Conclusion 964.2. Brokers’ notes analysis and evolution of HMV’s share price 994.2.1. HMV: A strong cash generator [2003-2005] 1004.2.2. A business model under threat [2006-2008] 1084.2.3. Pride comes before the fall [2009-2012] 1174.2.4. Conclusions 1274.3. Consumer perception of entertainment retailers 1304.3.1. Perception data: Direct approach 1314.3.2. Perception data: A derived approach 1364.3.3. Interpretation of Correspondence Analysis 1374.3.4. Conclusions 144Chapter 5. Overall Conclusion 1465.1. Limitations and future research 148Bibliography 150Appendices 182

The topic of retail failure has a vital importance in strategic management and learning processes even though it has been neglected in academia for a long time. The difficulties to explain personal mistakes and the inherent characteristics of western cultures in rewarding success while punishing failure make it difficult for researchers to get closer to those experiencing failure. However, the benefits of positive failure are increasingly popularized by entrepreneurs who believe that experiencing failure is the only path for learning and succeed. This dissertation analyse the causes behind the rise and fall of one of the main UK high street retailers: HMV. Through an in depth case study that chronologically follow the trajectory of HMV during the years that was trading on the stock market, a series of events are illustrated by deepen into annual reports and broker notes. Overall, the analysis is looking to shed light about the reasons why the one-time glorified retailer entered into a downward spiral towards failure. In addition, acknowledging the importance of consumers in a retail environment and its absence from previous studies on retail failure, a research about consumers’ perception of entertainment retailers is conducted to gain insights into the reasons of this specific failure.

• retail failure, business failure, retailing, HMV, bankruptcy, decline, HMV failure, consumer perception, entertainment retailers

• Guergue, Jon

• Manchester Business School
• Faculty of Humanities

uk-ac-man-scw:212157

Guergue, Jon

31st October, 2013, 16:14:56

Guergue, Jon

11th November, 2013, 21:20:50