Measuring the performance of retail managers in Australia and Singapore

Abstract

A method for the development, validation and refinement of a performance measurement tool for retail store managers in Australia and Singapore is presented. This tool is based on a set of performance elements – measurable task‐related activities and behaviours – that, when combined, define the performing manager. While organisations in both countries were found to concur on the 50 performance elements which should constitute the overall measurement tool, the importance attached to several of the elements differed significantly between the two countries. This difference is a significant determinant of the transferability of retail management skills between the two cultures and has wider implications for the internationalisation of the retail environment where management from different cultures are required to co‐exist within a single retail organisation.