Impact of environment on performance measurement design and processing in retailing

Purpose By focusing on the interface between information dissemination and interpretation at the retail sales floor, the paper aims to open up new practice theory contribution on management control and performance measurement used in complex environments. Design/methodology/approach Problem-centered qualitative interviews in two different contexts (U.S. and Europe) build the methodological approach. 22 interviewees were selected from various retail sectors and hierarchy levels with the focus on store management. Following content analysis procedures, data was coded according to contingency theoretical underpinnings. Findings Environment shapes corporate processes as well as retail management in multiple ways. By studying fast fashion industries, we found similarities in retail management in all researched settings. First, we present relevant operational performance metrics in the retailing context. Second, we see that store managers aim to optimize processes and generate efficient and effective practices to maximize store performance. Third, information and task overload are reasons for neglecting performance information. As a consequence, managers call for decision facilitating tools, e.g. dashboards, to reduce information complexity. Originality/value Widely accepted in contingency literature, environmental aspects influence business activities and performance outcomes. However, evaluating research studies that deal with performance measurement in retailing contexts reveals contradicting results. With the focus on larger retail companies with multibranch and department structures in two different national contexts we can unravel different perspectives on environment in operational retail settings for the first time.