DETERMINANTS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON PHARMACEUTICAL IMPORT AND DISTRIBUTION: THE CASE OF ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA.

Abstract

Effective pharmaceutical import and distribution management practices has become a valuable way of securing competitive advantage through customer satisfaction since competition is no longer between organizations, but among members of supply chains. The demand for pharmaceutical supply in Ethiopia has increased dramatically as the number of health facilities, including wholesalers and pharmacies establishments has grown over the last two decades (WHO, 2016). Therefore, this study aims to outline factors associated with pharmaceutical import and distribution and their impact on the level of customer satisfaction in wholesalers and retail pharmacies of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study adopted a case study explanatory design. The targeted population comprises adults as well as Ethiopian of all gender, educational status, socio-economic status and residential areas, who requested pharmaceutical service in pharmaceutical import. This research used six dimensions of pharmaceutical import and distribution (efficiency, collaboration, integration, management practice, responsibility and Information sharing practices) and tested the impact of pharmaceutical import and distribution on customer satisfaction. Representative samples are selected using a formula (Cocharan formula).The data for the study was collected from 385 customers of different wholesalers and retail pharmacies. In addition, a questionnaire also distributed for technical managers of wholesalers, sales representatives of wholesalers, head pharmacists and Dispensers as a supporting data .The relationships proposed in the framework were tested using Pearson correlation, and the causal relations were analyzed using regression analysis. From the result of the analysis it is concluded that there is low and negligible relationship between each pharmaceutical import and distribution practices (efficiency, collaboration, integration, management practice, responsibility and Information sharing practices) and customer satisfaction. Therefore, in order to achieve advancement of pharmaceuticals service in the long-run through enhancing customer satisfaction, it is better for the pharmaceutical importers to give due emphasis to the improvement of those pharmaceutical import and distribution practices.