Influence of Strategic Monitoring and Evaluation on Performance of Supermarkets in Kenya

Abstract

Strategic monitoring and evaluation are some of the practices that supermarkets employ to enhance their performance They continually formulate and implement various strategies to enhance performance. However, the contribution of the strategies is not always ascertained due to a lack of robust monitoring and evaluation. This study endeavored to find out the influence of strategic monitoring and evaluation on performance of supermarkets in Kenya. The specific objectives were: to determine the effect of strategy monitoring, strategy evaluation, strategy feedback and strategy responsiveness on performance of supermarkets in Kenya. The theories that anchored this study are dynamic capabilities, Ansoff strategic success and strategic choice theory. The research employed a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. The target population was 1800 managers operating supermarket stores in 14 Counties which matched 30% threshold of the 47 Counties of Kenya. From the target population, a sample of 204 managers was obtained through cluster random sampling. Primary data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study involved the strategic management faculty to enhance research validity. A Cronbach Alpha test was done to check on reliability and an alpha of above 0.8 obtained which was good. The data gathered was analyzed using SPSS version 28. Correlation and multiple linear regression were performed at 0.05 significance level. The descriptive analysis revealed that 86.3% of the supermarkets had a strategic monitoring plan and 73.5% of supermarkets often reviewed strategies to ascertain performance. 81.9% of supermarkets conducted environmental scanning and 90.2% were ready to learn from failures as well as successes and make the required changes. Correlation analysis established a positive and significant effect among strategic monitoring (r=0.720, p=0.000), evaluation (r=0.616, p=0.000), feedback (r=0.736, p=0.000) and strategic responsiveness (r=0.729, p=0.000) on performance of supermarkets. The study findings on regression showed that strategic feedback had the largest positive and significant effect (β=1.52, p=0.000) on the performance of supermarkets, followed by strategic responsiveness (β=0.623, p=0.004), strategic monitoring (β=0.401, p-value=0.007) and lastly strategic evaluation (β=0.317, p=0.008). The study concluded that strategic monitoring, evaluation, feedback and responsiveness have a positive as well as significant effect on the supermarket performance. Further, strategic feedback records the largest effect on the performance of supermarkets compared to strategic monitoring, evaluation and responsiveness. Supermarkets needs to place more emphasis on strategy monitoring and evaluation to ensure maximum performance is realized. This study provides valuable insights on how strategic monitoring and evaluation influence supermarkets performance, guiding improvements and fostering competitive advantage