An Assessment of the Operational Performance of Supermarkets in ...

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organized store layout to facilitate purchase, provide quick customer service and ensureavailability of goods on shelf all the time. The dependability objective which has beendefined as meeting customer needs on time was also measured in the Mauritian contextand findings showed that there is timely delivery of both products and services,customers perceive the amount of time spent in queues as reasonable and openinghours suit their convenience, hence customers receive their products/services on time.Flexibility as an operating objective is crucial if supermarkets want to survive and evolvein a dynamic environment. It can be concluded from the research survey that the fivelocal supermarkets provide appropriate and punctual information on their salespromotion and meet customer expectations. However, there is evidence of encounteringdifficulties in managing crowds on peak days. Hypothesis testing was carried out to findthe correlation between quality and customer satisfaction and speed/flexibility andcustomer satisfaction. In both cases, the tests showed that there is high positivecorrelation between the two hypotheses.In a nutshell, it is critical for supermarkets to improve the performance of people andoperational processes in order to increase business effectiveness. Supermarkets mustfind a consistent approach to measuring and monitoring operational performancethroughout the organization and determine which approach can best fit theirrequirements. Ultimately, by improving the performance objectives of quality, speed,dependability and flexibility, these businesses can have a global growth and high levelof customer satisfaction.8.0 Direction For Future ResearchIt is apparent that this study has highlighted and attempted to analyze some significantissues in assessing the operational performance of supermarkets. It should be notedthat research has been conducted only in the context of customers. Furthermore thepresent study has referred to a number of sources which highlighted perceptions thatcustomers have while visiting a supermarket, in terms of quality, speed, flexibility anddependability. However one important operations performance objective has beenmissed in the study, which is Cost. Another study could be carried out to take intoconsideration the Cost objective as well. Future research projects can be carried out tocomplement and validate this research. A case study on the organizations‟ performancecan provide additional evidence to support the findings. Hence there is a need for morein-depth research into the complexity of assessing a retail business‟ operations. Inaddition, more relevant studies into the attitudes of managers and employees dealingwith customer service could be carried out within the supermarkets as the present studyhas only incorporated the perceptions of customers of the supermarkets. Crosssectionalstudies between supermarkets and hypermarkets could also be carried out toevaluate to what extent the operational performance differs.
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