Quality Assurance at Meat One

Muhammad Salman Khalid Ashar Kamil Arieb Ekhlaque Osama Ahmed

Introduction
The objective of this report is to analyze that how Pakistani organization ensure quality in their operations and whether the quality management at the Pakistani organizations is comparable to the global standards The scope of this report is limited to Al Shaheer Corporation which is a wholly Pakistani organization and it is the parent company of Meat One which is the largest meat retailer in Pakistan.

Literature Review
We reviewed the literature that has examined the overall management culture of Pakistan and Quality management structure in Pakistani organizations with special emphasis on quality management in slaughter houses

Management Culture in Pakistan

The corporate culture of Pakistan is driven by collectivism and cooperation. The culture has high power distance and high uncertainty avoidance. According to (Trompenaars, 1994) and (Hofstede, 1980) Pakistan is half way feminism, therefore there is strong competition, aggressiveness, ambitions but people are also modest, non ambitious and care for others.

 (Zakaria, 1994) and (Khilji, 2006) have observed that Pakistani managers want to follow American Management style. American management is considered more progressive and result oriented as compared to British management style, which is more bureaucratic and slow.

About Meat One

Al Shaheer Corporation formed in 2008 Meat One is a specialized chain of meat- Subsidiary of Al Shaheer Corporation Exports meat to the Middle Eastern and GCC countries. Currently 11 retail outlets in Karachi Employs more than 200 workers The outlets offer a wide range of product categories which include: Beef cuts Mutton cuts Chicken cuts Marinated Deli

Research Methodology

Journal Articles related to the area of research

Articles and surveys related to the organization and the industry

Interview with the Organization's representative

Findings and Analysis

Quality is the core value of the Operations Management structure Quality assurance
production and store level through customers through external auditing and certification through employee participation

Halal standards and Shariah compliance

General Management structure

General Management structure

No clear boundaries within departments
Decentralization Smooth flow of Ideas

Collectivist culture (family oriented) Team based operations Centre point is in Karachi

Quality assurance
The mission of meat one: to provide high quality meat Charge premium price Premium within the range of Rs.50 to Rs.100 1. Factory level:
Medical checkup of animals in labs Specific suppliers Consumption tests Internal control

Quality assurance
2. Store level:
Cooling machineries are highly specialized (imported from Australia) Packaging done according to defined standards Internal audit team Department head also keep a check and are required to formulate a quality report

Quality assurance via customers

Complain management system Customers concerns are addressed within 3 days Take regular feedback from customers (20%) Higher customer satisfaction= higher profits Target is to reach 99% customer satisfaction level Current level is 90+ customer satisfaction level

Quality assurance via external auditing & certification

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) help assure safe food production and check at microbiological level ISO 90001 certification External auditors visit the factory and conduct thorough check URS also audits These standards help them meet export standards

Quality assurance via employee participation

Employees play a very important role to control quality Food technologist and food scientists provide training to employees at all level of the organization Butchers are trained after recruitment and given CIA certification courses

Halal standards and Shariah compliance

Check if slaughtering is done properly Proper product packaging and labeling No misrepresentation (e.g. weight correctly labeled) Independent shariah auditor Auditors from Middle East countries also visit to perform Shariah checks

Conclusion
State of the art meat production facility Emphasis on the quality has enabled the company to compete internationally The company shows that with enough capital and expertise it is possible to achieve international level quality in Pakistan Others companies must learn from Al Shaheer, Economic way forward for Pakistan

Conclusion
However the findings can not be generalized to all the Companies in Pakistan as the analysis is only based on Al Shaheer Corporation.