Improving the inventory management process of Lorezco dental clinic through a defined structure and inventory monitoring tracker to strengthen working relationships, promote role clarity and enhance operational efficiency

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic to our economy has led to an increasing interest for businesses to rethink their strategies and plans, and improve their critical business processes such as inventory management for stability, growth and enhanced operational performance. Inventory management is a vital and critical part in the dental profession since dentists depend daily on supplies and materials to treat patients (Levin, 2004). Nowadays, it is well recognized that the performance of inventory management is not just dependent on inventory control procedures but also heavily relies on its organizational context and setting. For a family business, building an organizational structure is important to overcome complexities and mitigate risks of overlapping responsibilities and misaligned tasks especially in performing its essential processes like inventory management. This action research aims to improve the inventory management process of Lorezco Dental Clinic through a defined structure and inventory monitoring tracker. This action research argues that the element of structure and process are interrelated to strengthen working relationships, promote role clarity, better collaboration, and operational efficiency in the inventory management of the business. This action research utilized the first, second, and third person inquiries to promote a collaborative approach of solving an important problem in a small dental clinic. The research was aligned and supported by related studies on the Framework of Inventory Control and Organizational Setting, Role Theory, Lean Inventory Management, and Usability Framework. This action research resulted to an Integrated Inventory Management and Organizational Setting Framework that serves as a reference guide for small businesses such as dental clinics in establishing an effective inventory management process. Keywords: action research, inventory management, dental practice, organizational structure, family business, operational efficiency, role clarity, working relationship