The total of all saleable goods was indented. Then the total incoming goods were carefully measured for the year. The head authority of K Mart conceded there would be one and a half percent "shrinkage". At above three percent the head honcho came up from Toronto to Northern Ontario. My job was to bring down the heavy losses of "invisible waste". Every one sidled away from the head honcho.
I ran my rear end off and put in extra hours- no reduction. I was given a table of margins of retail profit. They said ten percent shrinkage was running the store at a loss. They eventually closed the store. My successor had a nervous breakdown also. They could not find the "hole in the wall". Excuse the ramble, but the utter and complete stupidity of the academic boggles the mind. Here in Canada food stores are said to operate at a two or three percent margin of profit. The immense volume, since people must eat gives them a tidy return. This if people pay for what they take out.
Uncontrolled theft means closures and business failures.