| The practice of pharmacy is experiencing a paradigm shift exemplified by a shift from a product-orientation to a more service-oriented business model. It has been suggested that to be successful, service organizations must focus on employees and customers. A model was developed to help managers identify problems and make decisions to maximize an organization's success. The service profit chain model proposes relationships between employee satisfaction and loyalty, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and profitability. To test the applicability of the model in community pharmacy, a sample of pharmacies (n = 40) was recruited from a national pharmacy franchise corporation. A multi-stage data collection method was implemented, using three survey instruments to collect data from the study's target groups; owners/managers, employees, and customers. Scale measures were adapted from the literature for employee satisfaction and loyalty, as well as for customer satisfaction and loyalty. The reliability of each scale was measured using Cronbach's Alpha and factor analysis, when appropriate, and the results were found to be similar to reliabilities found in the literature. Based on specific criteria, 47.5% of pharmacies were eligible for analysis, including a usable response rate of 61.5% for employees and 29.8% for customers. Based on correlation analyses, five of the possible seven relationships predicted by the service profit chain were found to be significant. In addition, the significant relationships that were identified support previous empirical testing of the model in other industries. This exploratory study provided results that support the further study of the use the service profit chain in this environment. Although further research is needed, the service profit chain holds potential as a management tool useful in explaining the link between customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and financial performance of an independent community pharmacy. |
