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Richard Cuthbertson will begin work in his new position as FiDiPro Fellow. Dr. Cuthbertson is an internationally prominent expert and researcher of the retail sector. He has extensive experience of the retail sector both in Finland and in the UK. Richard Cuthbertson is the Research Director of the Oxford Institute of Retail Management, University of Oxford.

Professor Lasse Mitronen (1–8/2015) and Professor Arto Lindblom (9/2015–2017) from the Department of Marketing will act as Accountable Project Leaders. The project will employ researchers from Aalto University’s Department of Marketing, Department of Management Studies and Department of Real Estate, Planning and Geoinformatics. The project will be realised in cooperation with the University of Jyväskylä. The Accountable Project Leaders for the University of Jyväskylä’s portion of the project will be Professor Outi Uusitalo and Professor Heikki Karjaluoto. The project’s corporate partners include Citycon, Solita, S Group and Tieto.

Project to analyse retail sectors in Finland and Britain

The research project, entitled Red Queen Effect: Strategies for an Innovative Landscape, will be initiated at the beginning of 2015 and will run through to the end of 2017. The project will study strategy planning and implementation during a period of strong technological change and will be realised by analysing and comparing the retail sectors in Finland and the UK.

Technological development impacts the competitiveness of Finland’s retailers. Especially online sales will make it possible to challenge established retailers with novel forms of competition. Online sales have made it possible for new retailers to enter the market without having to make heavy investments in brick and mortar stores. Finland is no longer an isolated islet in the corner of Europe, the retail sector of which is shielded from international competition. Retailers must incorporate technological change into their strategies to avoid falling victim to these changes.

This project has been divided into three research themes. First, the project will examine the nature of technological change in the retail sector. Second, it will address the impact of change on the competitiveness and strategy planning of retailers, as well as the impact of the change on consumer behaviour. Third, the project will look into how strategic change programmes are implemented by examining the routines and practices of retailers.

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Further information: Project Manager Olli Rusanen, +358 50 577 3131, olli.rusanen@aalto.fi