Abstract

Multinational and local food manufacturing is one of the fastest-growing industries around the global food markets. The current study aimed to explore the improvement framework of both multinational and national food manufacturing companies of Pakistan. This present qualitative study employed a phenomenological research design to explore the phenomena in-depth. The interview protocol was developed to collect the data. A convenient sampling technique was used to draw a sample of the study where three respondents were selected from multinational and three from local manufacturers. Data were qualitatively analyzed to identify significant themes. The key finding of the study was that the multinational companies engaged in food manufacturing and catering services in Pakistan are having a comparatively better management system. The current study also revealed that local organizations still need an update in their system as their efforts are not up to the mark. The study further recommends that there is a dire need to update customer response management system at national level organizations.

Key Words

Multinational, Local Food, Manufacturers

Introduction

Food processing and manufacturing, at the local and international level, have always been a key factor in public dietary needs as they cater to their nutritional requirements substantially; that’s why this sector enjoys the status of an important industry which is one of the fastest emerging industries not only in the Muslim world but also beyond the borders of Muslim countries (Hilton, 2009). As the population swelled across the continents, so is the rapid growth seen in both the multinational and local food manufacturing plants. The religious beliefs of a diverse range of people have also played a pivotal role in the exponential growth of this industry as the people from the conservative and orthodox groups are also ready to become part of new food manufacturing techniques. This innovative concept has got international acclaim that’s why the global food markets have jumped into this massive competition (Daniel, Prajoke & Sohail, 2006). A large number of locally made or imported food products consumed by the people must meet certain standards set by the state and must also comply with the local manufacturing and distribution laws (Jamal, 2003). There is still a vast scope for the local and multinational food manufacturers in Pakistan. They can revolutionize this sector by introducing sustainable technology in food handling, food processing, food manufacturing, food supplies and food preservation which can eventually result in economic development and growth in the local food industry. Pakistan still lacks adequate resources to push the boundaries of the local food industry to an international level, as achieved by Thailand or Malaysia. Still, there is a lot of potential in the Pakistani food industry that promises them a bright future if provided with adequate funds and other resources (Alam, 2011). Contrarily, the contribution in quality food processing and packaging made by the private sector of Pakistan is commendable. Their efforts to support economic growth are indistinguishable. Our beloved country is currently surrounded by many socio-political issues such as political instability, social anarchy, poor law and order situation, energy crisis, nepotism, inflation etc. all these issues collectively leave adverse impacts on the consistent growth of our national economy.




Objective of the Study 

The main objective was to find out the level of competence in the improvement framework of both multinational and national food manufacturing companies of Pakistan. 

Statement of the Problem

The food industry of Pakistan is rapidly becoming a part of the global food sector. Numerous studies have been conducted on this economically important sector, and certain forms of literature have been written on the major differences found between the local food sector and multinational food manufacturers, but it has been revealed that almost all the studies have been found inadequate as they do not provide a deeper insight into local markets as well as in the global food sector. The previous studies are also unable to evaluate the potential and check for any differences witnessed in this important industry that is flourishing locally and internationally at a steady pace. Only a few studies have been conducted which clearly exhibit the role of the local and multinational food manufacturers. There are about half a dozen researches meticulously conducted on different views gathered from the manufacturers of halal food. Its main objective was to cover various issues, managerial affairs and other related problems. While detailed research was being conducted, the researcher had made quite precise efforts to record the experiences of the managers of the local food sector as well as of the multinational food manufacturers in order to check how the improvement measures are being implicated regarding the Framework Implementation at Multinational and Local Food Manufacturers in Pakistan.

Significance of the Study

There is a locally accepted theory with this reasonable explanation that encourages the local and multinational food manufacturers to bring substantial improvement in their products. Resultantly, the quality and demand of food in both local and multinational sector would be enhanced, and local food manufacturers would be able to market their products both locally and internationally. Here the problem arises when the management theories, specifically the Institutional Theory, is hardly applied. So, this study becomes one of its type, which enables the firms to implement certain standards and make the local and multinational food brands follow them accordingly. It also enables them to observe the Institutional Theory on why the local or multinational investors are inclined to opt for this food industry as the main mode of their business. It has been proposed by Zakaria and Abdul-Talib (2010) and Abdul-Talib and Abd-Razak (2013), other than catering to the diverse demands of the consumers. In addition, the firms are also required to pry into the market factors or the external environments and identify why and how the market forces place a great impact on the behaviour of certain organizations. It is the effort that is first of its kind to conduct the phenomenological research so that we can find out the experiences of multinational and local organizational managers about improvement Framework Implementation at Multinational and Local Food Manufacturers in Pakistan.

Literature Review

The market, run by Multinational and Local Food Manufacturers, has shown consistent growth and has produced millions of tons of food products and thus increased the share of global food supplies to a considerable extent during the past few years. Ranjan  (2005) reported that the local and multinational food manufacturing market is one of the fastest-growing and largest consumer markets. Being Muslims, we can consume only those foods, beverages, snacks etc., containing halal ingredients. They are also a strict restriction on the composition of medicines containing prohibited (non-permissible or haram) components. More than 90% of the market share is claimed by these multinational companies, which consist of both local and multinational food manufacturers. A large number of international consumers can also be approached to buy these food products from the multinational food product range even in Canada and America if the distributors are determined to cater to the international standards. The Pakistani government has taken some drastic measures in order to boost the quality and productivity of this important business sector, and for this purpose, the government has started endorsing quality assurance certificates and specially-designed business logos to both local and multinational food manufacturers.




Awareness and Perception

It has been observed that the consumers usually select the product after they become fully aware of the productivity and benefits of that product (Brucks, 1985; Rao & Sieben, 1992) or in other words, how much a client is familiar with the merits and demerits of a certain product or range of products (Bettman & Park, 1980; Alba & Hutchinson, 1987). The products marketed by Multinational and Local food manufacturers are of the wide range that is processed under the effective supervision of a fully coordinated and committed team who ensure strict quality measures so that the customer does not vacillate in buying the offered product and keep his trust in that company intact (Rao & Monroe, 1988). Products long-remembered are durable in quality and cost-effective, and profit-gaining as well as is a matter of objective knowledge. Contrarily, quick recognition and knowledge of the product become subjective knowledge. People’s decision to purchase a product usually depends on their subjective explanations (Coronado & Antony, 2002). Particularly, demand for multinational and local manufacturer goods and services is the objective knowledge of the consumers and what companies provide as the product is subjective knowledge. The image and perception made by the consumer is usually a built-in peer group that also exercises its influence on his buying decision and tries to maintain their image through the purchase of certain products (Govers & Schoormans, 2005). In fact, sometimes it becomes a matter of status symbol or level building in consumers’ minds as they buy the products of the multinational brands, which form their image of buying such products in the minds of their peers, friends and relatives. So, if they opt for some product lower in quality or productivity than their erstwhile choice, society might not accept their decision about this product, and they are downscaled in the eyes of their own society. Pakistani consumers are aware of the halal foods as it is widely used and followed products in the country. According to  (Jummani 2019) The consumers highly value multinational and local manufacturers’ brand logos and certification and confidently purchase such products bearing multinational and local manufacturers’ tags (Fariza, 2007). Pakistani consumers have little awareness about the products of multinational and local manufacturers. They merely think of the food item they have been using for a long time, contains haram ingredients in the processing (Gillani., Khan, & Ijaz,  (2017). The brand is more than just a number or a symbol. It has the capacity and potential to influence customers and build consumers’ perception, and mindset (Kotler, 2011). Brand casts a solid impact on the imagination of the consumer as it clearly communicates a message of quality and confidence to the consumer (Sungkar, 2009) It is for the main reason that the consumers’ awareness about a certain brand decides the worth of the product in the market.

Marketing Strategies

Multinational and local manufacturer logo plays an important role in consumers’ purchasing decision (Shah & Asad,  2010). Despite the multinational and local manufacturer logo, consumers prefer to use products and services from their own countries either on the grounds of strict quality control of these companies or nationalism.  Kotler (2011) highlighted that advertising is expressive, thus allowing the firm to dramatize its product through the artful use of visuals, prints, sounds and color. The advertising budget is a signal of product quality for a good experience. According to Sharma et al. (2010), the multinational and local manufacturer logo on the product is an indicator to the consumers that the food can be consumed with confidence. Labelling also plays a vital role in providing necessary information to the consumers in making purchase decisions (Caswell, 2006). Numerous survey studies have been conducted in Malaysia to investigate if multinational and local manufacturer certification increases or influences the consumers’ confidence in purchasing decision. Yunos, Mahmood and Mansor, (2014) study has found that Pakistani university students are categorized as keen buyers. They appear to be more price-conscious in purchasing, but at times, they are quality-conscious while purchasing something from a multinational or local based company.

Research Methodology

The current study has employed a qualitative research approach. “Qualitative research is a

process of naturalistic inquiry that seeks an in-depth understanding of social phenomena within their natural setting.” A phenomenological research design was used for this study. The phenomenological study attempts to preconceive assumptions about human experiences, feelings and responses to a particular situation. The purpose of the study was to explore the phenomenon of comparative Analysis of Improvement Framework Implementation at Multinational and Local Food Manufacturers in Pakistan. The interview protocol was developed to collect data from the staff of multinational and local food companies. The sample of the study was selected from multinational and local manufacturers from Lahore. A convenient sampling technique was used to draw a sample of the study where three respondents were selected from multinational and three from local manufacturers were chosen as a sample of the study.  The validity of the instrument, the researcher gets guidance from the supervisor, and opinion has been sought from three experts about the instruments.

A formal consent form was prepared and distributed among the respondents to observe the research ethics of the study before data collection. Respondents’ consent was also taken prior to the study and interview recordings. The respondents were assured of complete confidentiality about all proceedings. The researcher analyzed the interview data manually.  The interview data were transcribed into English, and different codes were identified. Categories were formed while merging the codes generated after the transcription of the data. Categories were further merged to generate emergent themes. The researcher reduced these themes into more specific themes after repeating the above procedure. Findings and results were drawn after keeping the focus on the purpose, objectives and research questions of the study.

Results

Findings from Interviews

In total, 20 themes emerged from the data were gathered from the participants of multinational and national manufacturing companies.

The themes and the main points derived from the data are presented in Table 1.

 

Table 1. Summary of main themes of multinational and national staff.

No	Themes	Main points
1	Management Involvement	Some people highlight that top management plays a very vital role in the communication of such kind of ideas. Management is fully involved in the development process.
2	Support by Management	A quality management system (QMS) is defined as a formalized system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies and objectives. These authorities have personal insight into every domain.
3	Direct Involvement	A system that allows employees to be involved in making decisions in a company by talking directly with managers: NIMS (Nestle Integrated Management System) was developed with the vision of providing the necessary support all around the globe.
4	Updated knowledge	Some people highlight the management must update their knowledge to maintain a competitive environment. They have regular updates in their education system.
5	Training of Employees	Some people highlight that training is a program that helps employees learn specific knowledge or skills to improve performance in their current roles. Development is more expansive and focuses on employees’ growth and their future performance rather than an immediate job role.
6	Learning process	Knowledge is power - The more employees know, the more they can do, the more they can contribute to the organization. More cost-effective - Investing in the development of employees is less expensive than rehiring and retraining new employees.
7	Quality Control	A system of maintaining standards in manufactured products by testing a sample of the output against the specification, which, in simple words, we call quality control. It is being led by the Quality department under the Q pillar of the framework.
8	Periodic quality audits	Quality audits are typically performed at a predefined time. Quality audits can be an integral part of compliance or regulatory requirements. An audit plan on a quarterly basis is in place.
9	Customer’s inputs to enhance quality	Some people highlight consumer response as the positive or negative feedback a company receives about its products, services or business ethics. NAATA, a customized call recording service with human-to-human contact in place, and the quality compliant as small as variation in pack design are being taken seriously via the route.
10	Sustainable Mechanism	The companies have a sustainable mechanism like service center and customer care etc.
11	Market Research	Some people highlight every week, every product is processed through market research.
12	Regular training/meetings	A Training Meeting is used to transfer knowledge from one person or group to another. ... You may also want to visit the Learn More link below for resources to help you plan, run and troubleshoot the specific meetings your team needs.
13	Cross Functional Auditing	“NIMS (Nestle Integrated Management System) was developed with the vision of providing the necessary support to its employees all around the globe. The internal assessments and gap closure, being tracked at global level, brings a clear advantage to the multinationals.
14	Quality importance and improvement framework	The quality improvement framework emphasizes quality, safety and improvements in patient's experiences.
15	Management of Compliance	Employee compliance training is training that ensures that a company's employees meet federal law requirements to prevent lawsuits, audits and fines such as sexual harassment training, safety training and ethics training.
16	Adoption of Maintenance	Employee compliance training is training to ensure that a company's employees meet federal law requirements to prevent lawsuits, audits and fines, such as sexual harassment training, safety training and ethics training.
17	Diagnosis of quality problems	Most people know what is wrong in their organizations: the difficulty lies in being able to prove it.  This focuses on searching for the causes of problems.
18	Comparative Benchmarking	Competitive benchmarking is the process of comparing your company against several competitors using a set collection of metrics. It is being done to evaluate the business growth and opportunities for further growth.
19	Workplace Transformation	A workplace transformation is the rethinking of flexible workspaces to accommodate different kinds of work, workers and technology.
20	Human proof systems	Such kind of systems is now in organizations to avoid human errors. Global QMS and integrated PLC are examples.

 

Management Involvement

The role of the management is more than making decisions that affect all employees. When the respondents were asked about their opinion regarding the involvement of top management in establishing and communicating the company’s vision, goals, plan and value for quality, many respondents who belonged to international company gave the opinion that top management plays a very vital role in the communication of such kind of ideas. And they are fully involved in the development process. While the response from the respondents of the local or national level company showed that there seems to be a lack of pathway for the shop floor to know about marketing. When the employees and management are directly involved in matters of organization, it leads to the success of that organization. The responses of the multinational company also proved that it was developed with the vision of providing the necessary support all around the globe. The local company response also showed that they are involved in the matters directly.

 

Quality/Support by Management

It is obvious that a quality management system is very crucial to maintain the organization’s place in the market. The response of international organization workers proved that the organization give it the right attention as it is important for them to secure a competitive position in society. While the local organization’s response showed that the authorities have personal insight into every domain there. Management support plays an essential role in framing the marketing strategy. To some extent, different types of leadership lead to different manufacturing strategies in any manufacturing company. The findings of interviews of respondents from the multinational company showed that the support system was built on this vision that every necessary effort should be made to maintain the good repute of the organization. The response of local organization respondents showed that they provide support ideologically and in the execution phase, since the results are not immediately converted into profits, so they tend to restrict the financial support.

 

Updated Knowledge

Improved innovation and collaboration; enabling the whole organization to access perspectives of different business units, all it comes when the organizations update their knowledge on the modern lines. After gaining the responses from the participants, the multinational organization showed that management is still in need of an update in their knowledge. Because the companies have the vision on the grounds of their previous knowledge, they cannot progress. While local organization also undergoes the process of updates in knowledge on a daily basis. 

 

Training of Employees

It is a fact that every sort of training plays a vital role in achieving the milestone of success. The responses of the multinational company showed that these companies arrange training of the employees. While the local respondent’s response showed that although their organizations arrange trainings, they lack target training which the need of the hour is. Training is a program that helps employees learn specific knowledge or skills to improve performance in their current roles. Multinational organizations usually conduct these training sessions in accordance with the needs of their employees. Each and every new hiring must go through the framework training before stepping into the leader's role, even on the shop floor. While in the national-level organizations, in their employee’s opinion, no such special trainings are arranged there.

 

Learning Process

Knowledge is power, and learning is a continuous process that cannot be stopped. The respondents of the multinational company are also in favour of it as they responded that the top leaders at the factory as well as at the plant level are in place with data being tracked at all levels, daily operational reviews, weekly operational reviews, and monthly reviews. While at the national level organizations, it is in place, but it is not the priority of the company at this moment.

 

Customer Response

Consumer response is the positive or negative feedback a company receives about its products, services or business ethics. The multinational companies, according to their employees’ opinion, there is a customized call recording service with human-to-human contact in place, and the quality compliant as small as variation in pack design is being taken seriously via the route. While in the national-level organization, the respondent stated that recording the response is one thing but extracting actionable result is not part of the process. Running after brand name would not last long.

 

Customer’s Inputs to Enhance Quality

Customer opinion at this stage serves to define what a winning product from the customer’s perspective is. The workers at the multinational company responded that these companies play a pivotal role in implementing the continuous improvement framework, whereas the employees at the local-based company also answered in a positive manner as they said that the company usually takes notice of it.  

Sustainable Mechanism

The mechanism of sustainable development of an industrial enterprise as a set of elements of the organization system that contributes to the functioning, promotion and development of an object under the influence of both internal and external factors that lead to the formation of quantitative, qualitative and structural transformations of the enterprise to achieve equilibrium and pre-determined results. Multinational organizations and local organizations usually have sustainable mechanisms.




Market Research

The action or activity of gathering information about consumers' needs and preferences, for example, the company has just completed market research on a new type of product launched by them in the market. In multinational organizations, every week, every product is processed through market research, as found from the responses of employees. While in the national-level organization, the response was negative because, according to them, they already know the target area where their product is in demand so, they do not feel the need for research.




Regular Training/meetings

A Training Meeting is used to transfer knowledge from one person or group to another. ... You may also want to visit the Learn More link below for resources to help you plan, run and troubleshoot the specific meetings your team needs. In the multinational companies, the reviewers told the top management at the factory as well as at the plant level; they were in place with data being tracked at all levels, daily operational reviews, weekly operational reviews, and monthly reviews. While in national-level organizations, quarterly meetings are in place for the progress of the company.




Cross-Functional Auditing

The cross-functional audit is when other professional groups within an organization are involved in

internal auditing in an organization for the advancement of that organization. In multinational organizations, a truly practicable auditing system was developed with the vision of providing the necessary support all around the globe. The internal assessments and gap closure being tracked at a global level bring clear advantage to the multinationals; the national level organizations participants response showed that they had hired a firm for the said purpose.

Quality Importance and Improvement Framework

The quality improvement framework emphasizes quality, safety and improvements in organizational experiences. In multinational organizations, the sustainability across their product chain is a clear indication that they focus on quality importance. While at the national level, the importance is not well induced through change management. A framework such as maturity models and improvement, these programs have been done by organizations. Processes, activities, requests defined and structured for this purpose are made for it. Multinational companies mostly have these kinds of the framework. While at the national level, the respondent does not think such kind of improvement framework exists in the system of their organization.




Classification of Needs

A need is a consumer’s desire for products or services with a specific benefit, whether that is functional or emotional. In multinational companies, the employees think that needs are on level 4 of the Total Performance Management system. But at the national level, they said they hire the machine vendor for the purpose.




Workplace Transformation

A workplace transformation is the rethinking of flexible workspaces to accommodate different kinds of work, workers and technology. At the multinational level, the organizations have workplace transformation incorporated in their system. While similar is the case with the national organization. 




On-going Plans

Ongoing plans carry forward to future periods and are changed as necessary for the organization. It also aims to know by people if you will require any additional financial resources or manpower to reduce production waste, single-use, efficient study, training costs. In a multinational organization, all this is being led by central engineering whereas, at the national level organization, the employees also gave the same response.  




Relevancy and Optimization of Resources

Resource Optimization feature enables organizations to fulfil resource requests in an effective way to open resource requests based on weighted objectives that you define for better response. In the multinational organizations, it is being led by central engineering as told by their respondents whereas, at the national level organizations, the response was also the same, which means that they are being led by central engineering.

Maintenance Plans

Maintenance planning can be defined as the process used to develop a course of action. The respondents in the majority at the multinational organizations told that planned maintenance is one of our framework pillars. While at the national level, they said that it is done as per the vendor's chart.




Human Proof Systems

Such kind of systems is now in organizations to avoid human errors. According to the employees of the multinational companies, they are working on that as they all agreed on that Global QMS and integrated PLC is one of the examples of such systems whereas at the locally based organization, installing such human error-free systems is still under consideration.

Analysis Variation

As we know, variance analysis is the study of deviations of actual behavior versus forecasted or planned behavior in budgeting or management accounting. The multinational companies and the national level companies both are doing it because, in their opinion, they are having it as they mentioned it GSTDs, DMAICs and what not.




Comparative Benchmarking

Competitive benchmarking is the process of comparing your company against several competitors using a set collection of metrics. This is used to measure the performance of a company and compare it to others over a prolonged period of time. Multinational companies do this for evaluation of the business growth and further opportunities. While according to national level organizations employees, it is also part of their system.




Standardized Operational Procedures

A standard operating procedure offers detailed, written instructions on how to perform a routine business activity and explain the process being described. The multinational company’s respondents said that their organization have good manufacturing potential. While the national-level organization also follow a routine as found from their worker’s response.

Diagnosis of Quality Problems

Most people know what is wrong in their organizations: the difficulty lies in being able to prove it.  This focuses on searching for the causes of the problems. Multinational companies make this diagnosis of the quality problem to improve the quality on a regular basis. While at the national level organizations, it is just done in the high-profiled meetings.




Training Programs

Training is an activity leading to skilled behavior, the process of teaching employees the basic skills they need to perform their jobs. So, training is a social and continuous process of enhancing the skills, knowledge, attitudes and efficiency of employees for ensuring better performance in the organization. Multinational companies arrange such kind of training programs to enhance the knowledge of their employees on a regular basis. While in the national-level organizations, this training is mostly held in their place of work.




Quality Control

A system of maintaining standards in manufactured products by testing a sample of the output against the specification, which in simple words we call quality control.  In multinational organizations, as found from responses regarding quality control which is being led by the quality department under the Q pillar of the framework. While the national level organizations have inducted this system in their organization plans which indicate that they also have it in their organizations. Quality audits are typically performed at predefined time intervals and ensure that the institution has a clearly defined internal system and monitoring procedures linked to effective action. Quality audits can be an integral part of compliance or regulatory requirements. An audit plan on a quarterly basis is in place in multinational companies. While in national-level companies, it is not done even, they do not have this concept in their system.                            




Input of Processes

A technical expert is a person who provides specific knowledge or expertise to the ASI assessment team relating to the organization, the process or activity to be done by engineers as they mention the manufacturability of products. Product technology Centre is in line with the process in multinational organizations as told by the respondents of such kind of organizations. While at the national level organizations, the respondents also claimed to have consultants for that purpose.




Adoption of Maintenance

There are certain strategies that help in the regular repair and preventive maintenance to ensure plants operate properly. These strategies are adopted by the company or organization to meet the demands of the clients. In multinational companies, each department has its own Plant engineer to perform such tasks. While according to respondents of national-level organization, they do not have such kind of systems.

Management of Compliance

Employee compliance training is training that aims to ensure that a company's employees meet federal law requirements to prevent lawsuits, audits and fines such as sexual harassment training, safety training, and ethics training. In the multinational organization, they do it on a daily basis. While in the national-level organizations, it is done via an attendance system.

Conclusion and Discussions

In most of the research, the researcher prefers to use qualitative research method due to its immense role play because this research is usually beginning with the hypothetical assertion in which the research usually begins with the connection of two actual statements, there is a general and realistic worldwide opinion, indirect application of the theoretical lens and a complete study of the research difficulties. The only objective of it is to analyze the basic connotations, actual person and groups etc., the aspect of which is a social or human problem. It is mostly experienced that the researchers who are involved in the qualitative research are, in fact, developing a qualitative approach to the analysis, which is done just to study the problem in a thoughtful way.

It has also been concluded that there is a huge difference between the infra working structure and management practices of both multinational organization and national-level organization. The management system of the multinational organization is more developed than national-level organization. In a multinational company, there is a better quality management system because they are having direct involvement in the company matters with employees and other matters. There is proper support by management to the employees to maintain a good system. They have updates in their system according to the new knowledge with the help of which they train their employees; this is a gradual learning process in which sometimes they have routine training or sometimes it is a special sort of training.

After exploring the difference by comparative analysis of Improvement Framework Implementation at Multinational and Local Food Manufacturers in Pakistan, it is concluded that there is a huge difference between the infra-working structure and management practices of both multinational organizations and national level organizations. The management system of multinational organizations is more developed than those of national-level organizations. In a multinational company, there is a better quality management system because they are directly involved in the managerial and organizational matters of the company as well as their employees’ matters so that they could properly sort them out to bring ease in their overall operations. There is proper support by management to the employees to maintain a good system. Their management systems undergo regular updates in accordance with the new knowledge with the help of which they train their employees. This proves to be a gradual but continuous learning process in which sometimes they have routine training, or sometimes they conduct some special training sessions.

 The national-level companies are still far behind this development. Multinational companies give importance to customer’s response, and they have customer inputs to enhance the quality of their products, while this concept is not that developed in the national level companies. In the multinational companies do visible efforts to diagnose the quality problems and then the ways of dealing with such problems which, at national level organizations do not occur regularly as they do it on special meetings.  Multinational companies have sustainable mechanism than local companies, and they do regular market research to meet the quality demands. Multinational companies have adoption of management, and they also focus on the management of compliance which the national level organization is lacking in their systems. In short, there is a visible difference between both organizations.

The national-level companies lag behind in this process of development. Contrarily, the multinational firms hold their customer’s response really important, and they have a systematic method of receiving customer inputs to enhance the quality of their products while this concept is not that developed in the locally-based companies. The multinational companies make visible efforts to diagnose the quality issues, and then they try to explore the ways in which the concerned issues could be addressed properly, whereas such analysis and diagnosis are not commonly practised on a regular basis; rather, they just discuss these matters on special occasions only which jeopardize their reputation about the quality compromise in the market. Additionally, the multinational companies have sustainable mechanism than that of the local companies, and they do regular market research to meet the quality demands. The multinational companies further adopt an effective management system and also focus on the management of compliance which the national level organization lacks in their systems. In short, there is a visible difference between both the stakeholders. The findings were supported by the study where Honeywell International has launched Improvement Framework since the 1990s. This Improvement Framework Application was implemented in manufacturing and productivity gains. At Honeywell, Improvement framework results were so beneficial that they established the benchmark for productivity gains. The model had been widely modified and used in business and the market. Improvement Framework Plus is the model given by Honeywell. Improvement framework Plus model focuses on all important areas like strategy processes, product development, sales, marketing, and business. The spirit of Improvement Framework Plus is likely to be the same as traditional DMAIC methodology to build a systematic way towards productivity improvement (Ranjan, 2005).

Organizations are committed to improving company perception by improving quality to increase profits. During most production processes, scrap and warranty can be easily evaluated. Due to external failure cost, it is difficult to calculate the cost of quality. The bad reputation of the company with poor quality perception in the mind of customers leads the wards to lower down their profits. Improvement framework methodologies are being implemented to reduce warranty cost and improve the process of outputs by sticking to strict quality control as well as customer satisfaction. Improvement framework Mathematics normal curves were introduced by Shafie and  Othman (2006).

Recommendations

Following recommendations were put forward in the light of the above findings.

1. The first and foremost recommendation is that both the multinational and national companies are still required to update their management system and development framework as it is the dire need of the hour.

2. It is also highly recommended that the local-based should immediately upgrade their customer response management system in order to cater to the international standards as their current CRM system lags behind in productivity than that of the multinational organizations.

3. After careful consideration, another recommendation has been put forward for the locally-based organizations with regard to revising the marketing strategies in order to make them more effective and productive than those of other organizations.

4. And last but not least, another practicable recommendation is that the multinational level organizations should follow the same updated management strategies as they have adopted in the developed countries like that of USA so that they could maintain their position and credibility in the market. Pakistani local food manufacturers should also follow in their footsteps so as to enable them to raise their ranking in the market as well as at international levels. 

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