Role of Quality Management in Pharmaceutical Development: Evidence from Islamabad and Lahore

The aim of this paper is to investigate the employee’s perceptions of the impact, of Total Quality Management (TQM), on their roles within the organization and how they perceived the effectiveness of the quality processes in Pakistan Pharmaceutical industry. The universe of this study was the employees of Pharmaceutical industry in Islamabad and Lahore. For this purpose survey method was used by using questionnaire as a tool for data collection. The results have shown that Employee Training and Development, Employee Performance, Quality Process and Team Work are significant factors with the Total Quality Management and correlated with each others. The result shows the application of TQM principles addresses some of the key challenges facing the organization. The study was faced by certain limitations and included time constraints and resources constraints which limited this research to only Islamabad and Lahore offices, of the Pharmaceutical companies. The present study found support that pharmaceutical companies faced the same difficulties with TQM implementations as experienced in other industries. These include achieving a culture of continuous improvement, overcoming a lack of trust and understanding the TQM process itself, and what they were, as a company, trying to achieve. These problems are not new and many companies have difficulties in implementing TQM. Pharmaceutical companies also followed the path of achieving a quality certification; namely, ISO 9000 accreditation, in the pursuit of excellence.Quality Management; pharmaceutical Development; Pakistan; Employee’s Perceptions

Impact of Fiscal Decentralisation on Human Development: A Case Study of Pakistan

Fiscal decentralisation refers to the transfer of authority and responsibility from central government to sub-national or the local government. It is mostly pre-assumed that fiscal decentralisation can play important role in the efficient allocations of resources and improvement of the political, economic and social activities. Many studies unlock the relationship between federal government and sub-national governments or local government. Fiscal decentralisation theories mostly based on Richard Musgrave’s (1939) functions of government. He defined three roles: stabilisation, allocation and distribution whereas, only the allocation function seems to be appropriate to fiscal decentralisation theory. Because these three functions are not equally suitable for all level of governments and it is necessary for efficiency that each function is properly matched to the level. It is a step forward towards more responsive and efficient governance if the decentralisation is done properly [Oates (1972)]. The logic behind fiscal decentralisation is accountability and efficiency; the smaller organisations are more fragile for accountability than the larger ones. However, decentralisation has not always been effective in the provision of service delivery and hardly accountable due to lack of community participation. If there is no spill over effects and in the absence of diseconomies of scale it could be effective and efficient. The sub-national governments where the externalities are internalised and scale economies are acceptable fiscal responsibilities should be assigned [Rodden, et al. (2003)]. The sub-national governments are much closer to the people and they are better informed to respond according to their demands of goods and services [Hayek (1945); Qian and Weingast (1997)]. Service deliveries are highly dependent on transfers from central governments. It is necessary to increase the revenue autonomy of sub-national governments and it is linked with the service delivery in social sector [Elhiraika (2007)]. Lower level of governments is closer to the people and much aware of the preferences of localities. Service deliveries should be located at the lowest level because decentralised provision of services increases the economic welfare [Oates (1999)]

Convergence on Nutrition in Agricultural Systems of Innovation: Concepts and Methods, with Examples from Pakistan

LANSA is funded by UKAid through the Department for International Development (DFID).The paper first briefly sketches the origins of the system of innovation (SoI) concept and the need it was seen to fulfil in agriculture. It then illustrates the different ways it has been employed as a framework to explain how change in agricultural practices and outcomes happens and is sustained. At its heart is “innovation”, which can be understood both as an outcome – a new or improved product, process or organizational form (Niosi et al., 1993) – and as the process by which innovations are generated. The SoI concept focuses on the systemic nature of that process. The SoI concept recognizes that all these actors are capable of innovation, that this is not just the purview of research and that actors relate to one another in more than a passive or hierarchically determined fashion: interactive learning is central to the functioning of SoI. Also important is the notion of a shared direction or coherence to actors’ innovations. This paper is concerned with the extent to which the direction of innovation in agricultural SoI furthers nutrition objectives, what will be referred to as their convergence on nutrition. Convergence, like the degree of coherence in actors’ innovations and the interactive nature of their relationships are a matter of degree, amenable to assessment and, we suggest, subject to influence by carefully designed interventions.UK AidDepartment for International Development (DFID

Identifying Factors Playing Important Role in the Increasing Employees’ Turnover Rate: A Case of Telecom Industry in Pakistan Patterns in Neighboring Areas

The objective of this study is to know about the practices of Telecom industry, regarding their employees and to know how they keep up with the intense competition in the industry. The study focuses on factors effecting employees’ turnover and those that factors play an important role in retaining the employees of Telecom industry. The universe of this study was all the employees of Telecom industry in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. For this purpose survey method was used by using questionnaire as a tool for data collection. The results have shown that Salary, Working environment and Benefits are three significant factors effecting employees’ turnover and correlated with each other. The study was faced by certain limitations, which include time constraints and resources constraints, which limit this research to only Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore offices of the organizations in telecom industry of Pakistan. The present study found support for an independent variable with Employees turnover. Significant negative correlations have been found for the Salary, Work environment and Benefits. Therefore, organizations need to focus on how to develop better Salary plan and reduce strain in the workplace. If staff voluntarily leaves, it is a great loss to the telecom industry. It is expensive to hire, train, and “bring up to speed” new replacements. It is, therefore, important to understand the antecedents of turnover intent of employees before they decide to quit.Employee’s Turnover, Telecom Industry; Pakistan; Factors.

Review of Agri-Food Value Chain Interventions Aimed at Enhancing Consumption of Nutritious Food by the Poor: Pakistan

How can agriculture play a more effective role in improving nutrition in countries with a high burden of hidden hunger and where an increasing proportion of the poor sources its food from the market? There is a need to understand how linkages between the farm and the consumer can be made to work for nutrition goals. This review paper examines the case of Pakistan, which has a relatively productive agricultural sector but which has experienced high and persistent rates of undernutrition. A promising analytical and research perspective in this regard is the concept of value chains, which highlights the multiple ways in which producers and consumers are linked through a variety of processes, interactions and stakeholders. Moreover, value chain-based approaches have been popular development interventions in agricultural and food systems. This review has compiled 24 agri-food value chain interventions which aim to increase the consumption of nutrient-dense foods or increase their supply to post-farm gate poor populations. This paper provides a descriptive overview of the actors and activities involved in these interventions, and an analysis of the characteristics and challenges of the various agri-food value chain approaches, with the objective of providing insight into the potential of food-based value chain approaches in tackling undernutrition. The review sets out the basis for an empirical analysis which will examine the ability of three of these interventions to address undernutrition. The rationale for the selection of these three case studies and a broad overview of them has also been set out. Further analysis on how the selected agri-food value chain interventions may influence nutritional outcomes will be provided in the forthcoming case studies. From the interventions included in this review, the following has been noted: the value chain approach is still largely being utilised as a tool to improve livelihoods in Pakistan, with some examples of interventions connecting this approach to pre-farm gate consumption agri-food value chain interventions which have a focus on providing nutrient-dense foods to poor consumers could have a greater focus on distribution and utilising those channels through which the poor access food fortified staples have a strong potential to address undernutrition among target populations, but require the right processes and policy in place private sector-led interventions need to devise strategies to market and sell their fortified products to consumers in lower income groups the design of agri-food interventions needs to pay attention to gendered norms of care and market access These conclusions will refine the analytical lens for the upcoming case study work to help determine what the potential is of the selected agri-food value chain interventions to deliver nutrient-dense foods to low income populations through IYCF. The desk-based review will provide the foundation for the empirical case study work and serve as a guide to the agri-food value chain intervention landscape in Pakistan.UK AidDepartment for International Development (DFID

Internet Banking as Determinant of Pakistan Banking Sector Profitability: ROA & ROE Model

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has challenged a new infrastructure for the world economy to be truly competitive in this world of globalization, efficiency and accuracy. Internet or online banking system is one of those challenges given by ICT which has become fundamental technology compelled revolution in piloting financial transactions. However, banks have invested huge resources in this direction along with the validation to accept it by users as a useful way.  Although, the purpose of this study is to investigate the waves of internet banking transactions on profitability as ROE and ROA of Pakistan banking sector by smearing regression analysis on quarterly collected financial data obtained from statistics department of State Bank of Pakistan for the period of 2004 to 2013. The results demonstrate a positive and significant impact of internet banking on ROE and ROA of Pakistan banking sector overall for the long run. Keywords: Internet Banking, ROE, ROA, Pakista

Natural Interpretation of UML/MARTE Diagrams for System Requirements Specification

International audienceTo verify embedded systems early in the design stages, we need formal ways to requirements specification which can be as close as possible to natural language interpretation, away from the lower ESL/RTL levels. This paper proposes to contribute to the FSL (Formal Specification Level) by specifying natural language requirements graphically in the form of temporal patterns. Standard modeling artifacts like UML and MARTE are used to provide formal semantics of these graphical models allowing to eliminate ambiguity in specifications and automatic design verification at different abstraction levels using these patterns