Identifying Productivity Lapses of Pakistan Automotive SMEs

Colossal losses have been reported in both manufacturing and services industry of Pakistan. A thorough literature search has revealed that there is a huge gap as far as research towards conducting productivity analyses of automotive small and medium enterprises are concerned. These findings have given rise to the need that productivity analysis of these firms should be conducted in order to indicate the flaws in the system so that counter measures can be taken. This research aims to identify the reasons underlying the major productivity lapses in the automotive industry of Pakistan so that these can be minimized for resource optimization. For productivity analysis of these firms field survey was conducted using qualitative methodology. This survey was conducted in nine major automotive companies located in five major cities of Pakistan. All these companies consisted of manpower of 100 to 500, making them equivalent to small medium enterprises (SME’s). Ethnography and participant observation in combination with qualitative interviewing was conducted for qualitative analysis. Triangulation methodology was utilized to avoid going native. Field surveys were conducted with the help of open ended questionnaires. Questionnaire consisted of 12 items which were extracted from the published work. A total of 65 interviews were conducted on the basis of theoretical sampling and theoretical saturation. Respondents consisted of top management, middle level management and workers. Ethnographic content analysis (ECA) was conducted which resulted in formulation of substantive theory. CAQDAS were used for data analyses. NVivo version 10 gave the strength to the analyses due to the latest tools and techniques available in this version. Analyses of survey data collected from the respondents revealed several flaws in these companies. Lack of workers’ participation, highly centralized structure, lack of accountability and poor time management were the major issues highlighted. Non- productive activities like rework, material wastage, excessive and repetitive documentation, inadequate maintenance of machines and equipment, failure and breakdown of equipment and rework that is done due to poor workmanship were also found out to be major problems. Findings of this research can be utilized for improved policy making of these SMEs and working on their productivity enhancement.