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Consumers in developing countries often complain that the quality of locally manufactured consumer goods is far below their expectations. The general remedies suggested to improve product quality are to adopt the latest quality control concepts that are being applied in more industrialised countries. However, few attempts have been made to understand the underlying causes of low product quality in developing economies. This article analyses the causes of low product quality in developing nations, first of all by examining the background factors influencing the setting up of import substitution industries. Shortcomings in the education policies in developing economies are identified, which have created a shortage of personnel qualified to perform the required quality management functions. It is also shown that the restrictions placed on imports to safeguard local industries have contributed to the development of monopoly industries in developing countries. In the analysis the quality assurance mechanism is considered to be made up of two separate components; one purely the internal quality assurance mechanism and the other, which takes into consideration the influence of external parameters. The internal mechanism is considered a static situation, where the quality levels are fixed on the short term and the main task is to ensure that internal resources are efficiently utilised to ensure compliance to the standards set. The external mechanism represents the dynamic situation, where the quality standards themselves are changed periodically, based on customer evaluation of product quality and competitor influence. The models developed show clearly that perfect competition is a key determinant in the quality assurance process and under conditions of monopoly this natural mechanism breaks down and product quality suffers.

A recent United Nations Industrial Development Organisation executed pilot project in Sri Lanka aimed at providing restructuring assistance to ten manufacturing enterprises, looked at the application of computers for management functions and analysed the constraints limiting the use of the computer potential for improving enterprise competitiveness. This paper reports on the key observations and recommendations arising from this pilot project. It was found that though all the enterprises had access to computers, the utilisation was mainly for payroll, accounting and word‐processing tasks. Surprisingly the restructuring recommendations to improve enterprise competitiveness were based on a strategy of improving operations management and generating up‐to‐date management information and financial forecasts, areas that were not computerised. The paper analyses the findings from the ten pilot enterprises and recommends ways of enhancing the utilisation of the potential of microcomputers for improving the competitiveness of enterprises. The problems identified here in a developing country with a high literacy rate and high per capita utilisation of PCs, would be useful to other developing countries, facing the competitive threats arising from globalisation

Production planning and control is a complex task in multiple batch production situations. Work orders arrive in a random manner and, considering the diverse product array, work centre capacities loaded and available also change in a random manner. A particular product mix may suit a particular load pattern generated and, to be realistic, the optimum product mix must be considered a dynamic parameter rather than a static one. Considering the multitude of parameters associated, it is difficult to determine the optimum product mix in a manual system. The use of a computer simulation model to determine the optimum product mix and also the criteria to be used in arriving at the pricing strategy under multiple batch production situations are discussed.