An Exploratory Study of Retail Service Management in the Philippines

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF RETAIL SERVICE MANAGEMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES J. Mark Munoz Tabor School of Business Millikin University Peter V. Raven Department of Management Albers School of Business and Economics Seattle University 900 Broadway Seattle, WA 98122-4340 [phone] [phone] fax [e-mail] (contact author)

Dianne H.B. Welsh Muldoon Center for Entrepreneurship John Carroll University

Keywords: Management, Retail, Service, Philippines, Southeast Asia

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF RETAIL SERVICE MANAGEMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES ABSTRACT The Philippines has become an important source of global middle managers as its population has become more educated and bilingual. Along with China, the Philippines attracts international enterprises seeking to establish a presence in Asia. This exploratory study examines retail small/medium enterprises (SMEs) management and employee perceptions of customer service. The results suggest that managers and employees in the Philippines behave in similar ways to those in western countries, but there are differences, probably related to cultural characteristics. The Philippines is a culturally diverse country, with historical and cultural influences from China, Malaysia, Spain, Japan, and the United States. As the Philippine market becomes more ingrained in a globalized environment, the importance of service quality increases. Global retailers stand to benefit from this study through an enhanced understanding of the mindsets and attributes of managers, employees, and customers in this region of the world. The lessons learned can be valuable in the formulation of training, sales and marketing, business development, human resources management, and strategic planning. Implications for practice are discussed. INTRODUCTION The Asian Crisis in 1997 awakened the global community to the fact that Asian economies are closely linked to international markets and that economic and business events that occur in Asia have a

References: Abouchedid, K., & Nasser, R. (2002). Attributions of responsibility for poverty among Lebanese and Portuguese university students: A cross-cultural comparison. Social Behavior and Personality, 30(1), 25-36. Ardichvili, A. (2001). Leadership styles and work-related values of managers and employees of manufacturing enterprises in post-communist countries. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 12(4), 363-383. Asia News Network.(2002, Sept 29).Thai retail market second only to China, Sept 29, 2002 (accessed June 2004), www.asianewsnet.net. Baetiong, M. C. A. and S. L. Flores (2002). "Wal-Mart planning RP entry." BusinessWorld: 1. Crotts, J. C. and R. Erdmann (2000). "Does national culture influence consumers ' evaluation of travel services? A test of Hofstede ' model of cross-cultural differences." Managing s Service Quality 10(6): 410-419. Donnelly, M., Van ' Hull, S., & Will, V. (2000). Assessing the quality of service provided by T market research agencies. Total Quality Management, 11(4/5/6), 490-500. Donthu, N. and B. Yoo (1998). "Cultural Influences on Service Quality Expectations." Journal of Service Research 1(2): 178-186. Euromonitor. (2004). Retailing in the Philippines. (accessed June 2004), www.euromonitor.com/Retailing_in_Philippines. Farris, B. E., & Glenn, N.E. (1976). Fatalism and familism among Anglos and Mexican Americans in San Antonio. Sociology and Social Research, 60 (4), 393-402. Furrer, O., Liu, B., & Sudharshan, D. (2000). “The Relationships Between Culture and Service Quality Perceptions,” Journal of Service Research, 2, 4 (May), 355-371. Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations. Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill. Hofstede, G. (2004). ITIM, http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_philippines.shtml, accessed October 15, 2004. Jabson, A. K. M. (2004). "Special Report: Mall Development:[2]." BusinessWorld: 1. Lam, S. S. K. (1997). SERVQUAL: A tool for measuring patients ' opinions of hospital service quality in Hong Kong. Total Quality Management, 8(4), 145-152. Lugo, L.M. (2002, December 13). Building on Relationships. Business World, (accessed June 2004), www.acnielsen.com.ph/news.asp?newsID=70 Omana, R.M. (2003). A peek into the Philippine convenience store industry. Canada Agri-Food Service (accessed June 2004), http://atn-riae.agr.ca/asean/e3476.htm ] Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A., & Berry, L.L. (1986). SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring customer perceptions of service quality. Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A., & Berry, L.L. (1988). SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring customer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64, 12-40. Patalinghug, E.E. (2001). An assessment of market saturation in the retail trade industry in the Philippines. Journal of Asian Business 17 (1) (accessed June 2003), www.umich.edu/~cibe/JAB/17.1.htm. Philippine Franchise Association.(2004). Franchising : Duplicating the success of your business [Personal Communication]. Philippine National Statistics Office. (2002). Results from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2002/pr02178tx.html. Philippine National Statistics Office.(2004). Distribution of establishments and workers by industry : 2000 (accessed June 2004), www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/in0002.htm. Raven, P.V., & Welsh, D.H.B. (2004). An exploratory study of influences on retail service quality : a focus on Kuwait and Lebanon. The Journal of Service Marketing, 18(3), 198214 Sison, A.J. (2003). Business and culture in the Philippines : A story of gradual progress. (accessed June 2004) www.unav.es/empresayhumanismo/2activ/seminario/ miembros/sison/ ii26/default.html. UK Trade Invest . (2004). Clothing, footwear, and fashion market in the Philippines (accessed June 2004), www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/clothing/philippines/. US Department of State. (2001). Philippine country commercial guide 2001, (accessed June 2004), http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/business/com_guides/2001/ eap/philippines_ccg2001.pdf.