Comparative Study on QMS at Pre-Production Stage in China and UK Baby Dairy Product Industries

Abstract

This research examined the Chinese baby dairy industry between 2008 and 2019, focusing on the quality management system with comparison between the UK and Chinese baby dairy product (BDP) companies. This study was conducted with a selection of four Chinese and two UK companies as case studies where interviews were used to collect the primary data. Moreover, focus group with company’s managers and government officials and site visits were also carried out. The collected data were analysed through thematic analysis technique. This research has concluded that in the Chinese BDP industry many challenges are encountered, such as animal management, farmers’ orientation towards quality assurance and implementation of quality standards. It has been found that it is important to focus on the pre-production stage for the best quality in final products. The comparison with the UK BDP industry has shown that it is better able to manage its quality with involvement of the majority of supply chain actors through electronic information sharing and traceability system, which are lacking in Chinese industry. It is also concluded that Chinese government has started to adopt practices such as strong enforcement of legislation which are improving the quality issues. The present study has important theoretical and empirical contribution in the existing literature. It has developed a framework about pre-production phase which will become foundation of future studies. The comparison of Chinese and UK BDP is also a contribution as previous studies have not done so. It has provided guidelines to managers about implementation of Quality Management System (QMS) in BDP hence managers have become better able to manage the quality.