ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF INVENTORY MANAGEMENT ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE ENTERPRISES CASE STUDY: SK TELECOM LTD MOLYKO-BUEA

ABSTRACT

The  primary  object  of  the  study  was  to, investigate the impact of inventory management  on customer satisfaction with specific focus on SK Telecom. The problem that the study sought to address was the excess amount of inventory due to poor inventory management practices.. 

The study was guided by the following specific objectives to: assess the impact of inventory levels, inventory lead times, and inventory costs on customer satisfaction.  A  survey  research design   was employed, and  samples used in the study  were drawn from the population using the purposive sampling procedures. 

Questionnaires developed  in Likert which passed face validity were also,  tested,  and verified to be reliable instruments for the study and were distributed  and  a  sample of 50 respondents  was  retained for  the final analysis. Data from questionnaires was compiled, sorted, edited, classified and coded into a coding sheet and analyze using a computerized data analyses  package known as Statistical Package for Social  Science   (SPSS). 

In   analyzing data collected from the survey, descriptive statistics  using frequency tables, pie  charts,  bar charts, percentages including regression analysis were used (that is, descriptive, correlation and regression analysis were employed as main analytical techniques).  Our  empirical  findings  revealed that there was  a positive and significant correlation between all independent variable.

The  study  concluded  that  lead time , inventory levels both exhibited positive effects on customers’  satisfaction in SK Telecom. It was therefore recommended that the organizations should reduce lead times between ordering and receipt, members of the supply chain should ensure that proper records on raw materials, work in progress and finished goods are available in real time and easily accessibility, they should organized training sections to educate her customer, managers should invest in modern technology and implement EDI, they should also develop policy architecture to encourage the implementation of the best inventory management practices such as JIT and MRP.