How e-commerce companies use retail to maintain e-commerce as an institution: A case for institutional maintenance work

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2019

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: BAHTİYAR ONUR GEYİK

Danışman: Çağrı Topal

Özet:

The main objective of this study is to investigate how e-commerce companies maintain e-commerce as an institution using traditional retail which is another institution and the underlying mechanisms. In this study, we used data collected from 10 interviews of top managers from selected e-commerce companies from Turkey and also additional data including interviews of top managers of e-commerce companies that went into traditional retail business collected from various media outlets. With the help of a qualitative research design, we observed that having retail stores impacted the e-commerce business of the companies in a positive direction in four different ways. Firstly, it affected the customers of these companies positively by creating a way of concretization and personalization. Secondly, we argued that it helped companies to retain their employees and increase their job satisfaction by creating new tasks and increasing their involvement. Thirdly, having retail stores have a positive impact on the relationship between the suppliers and the companies. Lastly, retail stores increase the brand image and awareness of e-commerce companies. With these findings, we concluded that using another institution is possible for actors trying to maintain an institution although it can cause an interplay between institutional maintenance work and other types of institutional work.