Operations management impact on achieving strategic fit: A case from the retail sector in Zimbabwe

Abstract

For a long time, Zimbabwe’s retail industry has been operating in a very “hostile business environment”, due to the country’s economic instability and uncertainty associated with it. The adoption of the green back has attracted foreign investors mainly from Nigeria, South Africa and China who have since opened their retail outlets in the country and fuelled more competition in the sector which resulted in some local operators closing their businesses but XYZ Zimbabwe has survived. This study makes an assessment of achievements and obstacles in using operations management to achieve strategic fit by the selected case study. The main objectives of the study are; to explore competitive strategies, examine supply chain strategies and provide solution-based strategies that helped the case study achieve strategic fit. Through an empirical approach, the study finds that XYZ Zimbabwe differentiated itself in the market by branding, positioning its stores conveniently to customers, offering variety of products at low prices to the customers and the company’s supply chain management hinges on the demand and supply integration to gain competitive advantage.

Keywords

• operations management
• african operations management
• retail operations
• supply chain management
• strategic fit
• african management
• operations strategy