The Impact Of Quality Service For Third Party Route Distribution On Perfomance – A Case Of Carslberg Malawi

Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the impact of quality of service of third party route distributors on company performance a case of Carlsberg Malawi Limited (CML) for Blantyre urban routes. The current problem within CML is that there business is growing, and the growth is being attributed to better service quality of in areas which are being served by Third Party (3PL) distributors as compared to areas being served by CML. The examination of the impact of quality service helps not only Carlsberg Malawi but also other organisations that are in this business or other Fast Moving Consumer Goods business to compete and grow sales and market share. The study was necessary because the business environment is becoming very competitive and only the fittest will survive. The impact of better quality service cannot be over emphasised as it will led to customer satisfaction which will motivate customers to stay and do business with the organisation. This study was carried out using 421 out of 500 selected distributors of CML from Blantyre City with replacement to act as a sample which was selected by using a scientific table representing 1% margin of error. Every second respondent was sampled and interviewed. This sample, also included 10 managers from Sales and Distribution who were selected at random. The sample was taken from a population which was sourced from CML customer data base. Data was collected by using a questionnaire which was administered using personal and telephone interviews wherever necessary. The questionnaire contained the following as measures of service quality on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); competence of staff, knowledge of products and services, customised services being offered, reliability, convenience, helpfulness, accessible, communication, confidentiality, untimely delivery of orders, unfriendliness, and appearance. Once the data was collected, about demography, quality of service and their barriers by Third Party Route Distributors on performance of Carlsberg, it was captured and analysed by SPSS using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests. The study found that competence of staff, knowledge of products and services, customised services being offered, reliability, convenience and helpfulness of 3PL Distributors were significant and important in provision of service quality as it affects the performance of sales and market growth of CML. However, lack of being accessible, communication, vi confidentiality, untimely delivery of orders, unfriendliness, and appearance of 3PL sales staff as well as their vehicles as premises acted as barriers to service quality of 3PL distributors.