Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2018

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

First Advisor

Ratna Babu Chinnam

Abstract

The importance of effective retail operations management has never been more significant. Our research aims to expand the understanding for efficiency and dynamics of franchise outlets within retail networks with a focus on sales performance and profitability. The focus and contribution is the development of an actionable data analytics driven process by which automotive dealerships (retail outlets) can be analyzed to identify areas of opportunity for improvement. In general, automotive dealerships aim to sell product to make a profit, the manufacturer of the product/brand desires to sell vehicles to make a profit, and the customer desires to find a suitable transportation option that provides most utility. While substantial volumes of quantitative data exists about the details of operations and automotive dealership transactions, similar Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are typically generated and reviewed in making decisions about operational change. We will focus on the actions (inputs) that relate to outcomes (outputs) at the dealership level, including factors relating to all three stakeholders and their interactions, which are anticipated to be relevant. Input variables and factors relating to the business outcomes of the stakeholders involved will be the desired target for finding synergies.

To address these concerns, we first developed an analytical process for providing recommendations to improve dealership efficiency and performance through quantitative data and demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed process using a real-world dealership case study. With a desire to go beyond available datasets, there is a need to dig deeper into operations through aligning quantitative Key Performance Outcomes (KPOs) with qualitative survey analysis of dealership operators. This provides a detailed view of analysis not previously available, which should encourage dealerships to make change. Through the utilization of an interview process, with a focus on variance between dealerships, in creating a survey distributed to dealership management, an assessment of principal factors has been created. The assessment of these factors will help dealerships and manufacturers understand which activities, perceptions, and atmospheres have the greatest positive impact on new vehicle sales and profitability.

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