BUSINESS MANAGEMENT HL

INTERNAL ASSESMENT

should al masah jewelry consider offshore expansion in Karachi, Pakistan as a decision

to increase their customer base?

Business Management HL

Internal Assessment

Topic: Growth Strategy

Research Topic:

should al masah jewelry consider offshore expansion in Karachi, Pakistan as a

decision to increase their customer base?

Research Proposal: 260 words

Executive Summary: 199 words

Research Report Word Count: 1610 words

1
 Research proposal
Research question: should al masah jewelry look at offshore expansion in Karachi,

Pakistan as a decision to increase their customer base?

Rationale: Al Masah jewelry is a small sole proprietorship in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

Al Masah jewelry follows a niche market which mainly manufactures high quality

wedding jewelry sets, the business also offers reparation of jewelry. Their aim is to

increase their customer base by setting their customer needs as a primary priority,

this will help the business gain more loyal customers. Due to the recent outbreak of

the covid-19 virus, most businesses around the world have seen struggle with the

interacting with customers, Al masah jewelry has seen a decline in their monthly

sales. This research will focus on offshore expansion as a possible way to increase

their customer base to improve their monthly sales.

Theoretical framework:-

2
 Unit of syllabus
1.3(organizational
objectives)
1.7(organizational tools)
3.7(cash flow)
4.2(marketing planning)
4.3(sales forecasting)
5.4(location)
Area of unit Rationale
-SWOT analysis To have a clear
understanding of the
current business status.
-Decision tree To narrow down the
-Force field analysis possible decisions and to
support the idea.
-Cash flow forecasting To have a better
understanding of the
businesses current cash
flow.
-The 4-P’s, marketing To figure out what kind of
planning business and marketing
plans are being used.
-Monthly moving To have a clean layout of
averages the past sales records of
the business.
- factors affecting location To have proximity to the
decisions market and resources

Business tools:

- SWOT analysis

- Force Field analysis

- decision tree

Methodology:

Primary research:

- Interviews with the management will be made to figure out the current position of the

business, future aims and objectives of the business.

- An interview with a business owner in Pakistan, Karachi to get information on the

market and to understand his perspective.

Secondary research:

- Pakistan’s gems and jewelry industry will be thoroughly researched in order to find

the requirements Al masah needs to meet to expand

3
 - reports and articles on the offshore market will be used to get a clear idea of the

overall market

- Social media status will be checked to find any reviews and customer feedback to

support the research

Possible difficulties and proposed solutions:

problem Solution
The questions may be misleading from the Recent data will be required for the research

information required to be carried out

The interview questions might be too Questionnaires will be made to make it

narrow, leading to loss of objective easier and more professional

Action plan:
Year: 2021

4
 Research
may June July August September October November December
activity
Develop research
proposal

Writing the
research question

Planning a
methodology
Creating the
questionnaire

Taking the
interview and
surveys

Data collection

Data analysis

First draft

Final draft

Submission of IA

Words:469

5
 Acknowledgements
I would like to express a special thanks to the CEO and the employees of Al masah jewelry

for taking the time and helping me out with collecting data for this research. And I would also

like to thank my business management teacher, Ms. Humaria Asad, who supervised me

through the research paper

6
 Al masah jewelry letterhead

Table of contents

Table of Contents
Research proposal.............................................................................................................2

7
Action plan:.......................................................................................................................5
Acknowledgements...........................................................................................................6
Al masah jewelry letterhead..............................................................................................7
Table of contents...............................................................................................................8
Executive summary............................................................................................................9
Introduction.....................................................................................................................10
Research Methodology....................................................................................................11
Findings and analysis.......................................................................................................12
SWOT analysis: -.........................................................................................................................12
Analysis -......................................................................................................................................................12
Force field analysis: -..................................................................................................................15
Analysis: -.....................................................................................................................................................15
Decision tree: -...........................................................................................................................18
Analysis -......................................................................................................................................................19

Conclusions and recommendations..................................................................................20

Conclusion: -...............................................................................................................................20
recommendations: -...................................................................................................................20
References and bibliography............................................................................................21
Aappendices:-..................................................................................................................23
Appendix 1: -..............................................................................................................................23
Appendix 2: -..............................................................................................................................25
Appendix 4: -..............................................................................................................................26
Appendix 4: -..............................................................................................................................29
Appendix 5: -..............................................................................................................................32
Appendix 6: -..............................................................................................................................33

Executive summary

8
Al masah jewelry is a small niche business that manufactures handmade jewelry in Saudi

Arabia, Khobar. Al masah jewelry is well known for their high-quality services as well as

their diversified choices in jewelry. Their main objective right now is to achieve a larger

customer base in their specific segment of audience. Al masah jewelry’s ability to maintain

its position as a market leader gives them the opportunity to look at business expansion

methods. Their outstanding services and quality of work can be used accordingly to introduce

themselves into a new market.

Al masah jewelry expanding offshore will allow the business to grow a more diverse

customer base, as well as endure different perspectives that can help with decision making.

In this report I will be assessing whether the decision of expanding offshore as a growth

strategy would be favorable, by researching about the business’s current status and the

expanding location’s current position. That being so, this is my research question “should al

masah jewelry consider offshore expansion in Pakistan, Karachi as a decision to increase

their customer base?”. Business tools such as, decision tree, force field analysis and SWOT

analysis were used to support the decision of expansion.

(199 words)

Introduction
Al masah jewelry first introduced themselves into the gems and jewelry industry in 1982,

where they started as a Sole-Proprietorship business which focused on the quality of their
9
product. As time went the business progressed by their quality of their work and their

relationship with their customers. Al masah jewelry decided it was time they’d start crafting

and selling their own designs, as well as manufacture customer’s personalized designs.

Al masah jewelry is well-recognized for their quality of work and their relation with their

customers (Appendix 2). Al masah jewelry is looking forward to more opportunities to

increase total revenue, this can be done by the expansion of the business, either internally or

externally (Appendix 1). According to the global jewelry and silverware market, the COVID-

19 pandemic has caused a great decline on the sales of jewelry (Businesswire, 2020)

As the CEO stated, their main concern is increasing their revenue, the business should

consider Expanding offshore, as it will allow the business to control their costs and increase

their revenue (Hogan, 2014)

Research question: should al masah jewelry consider offshore expansion in Pakistan,

Karachi as a decision to increase their customer base?

Research Methodology

10
The study consists of both primary and secondary research to help collect existing

data and real time data; this allowed the research to have a better over view of what

decision should be taken.

Primary research was used in this researchto gather answers of questions that have

not yet been asked. Data sources such as interviews and survey allowed me to

collect specific information regarding the study.

- Interview: - The main primary date was collected by an interview that was

taken by the CEO of Al masah jewelry, Omer Farooq. (appendix 1). The

interview consisted of a few questions that asked about the strengths and

weakness and the current status of the business.

- Potential customer survey:- random surveys were given to the customers of

the expanding market, to collect date of what the potential customers wants

and needs might be.

- Customer feedback survey:- set of questions were asked current Al masah

customers to measure the customer satisfaction, this data can be used by the

business to innovate their product or services.

Secondary research that consists of business social media pages, website articles

and other sources in order to collect existing data of the market and business. The

data retrieved was used to plan out business tools: -

- Decision tree analysis

- SWOT analysis

- Force Field analysis

11
 Findings and analysis
SWOT analysis: -

Strengths Weakness
- Highly skilled employees - targeted customer goods
- Well recognized brand - Lacking in social media presence
- Great quality of customized jewelry (limited visibility)
- High quality tools and raw materials - Expensive
- customer loyalty - Limited employees
- Labor costs

Opportunities
- Social media marketing
- Local gemstone reserves
- High demand of traditional
handcrafted jewelry in other
countries
Threats
- Fluctuating prices in gold and silver
may cause damage to profits
- Highly competitive market
- Artificial jewelry

(appendix 1)

Analysis -

A SWOT analysis is a thorough investigation of the internal and external elements of

the organization. The SWOT analysis includes Strengths and weaknesses which are

both internal to the business, things that the business has control over. Opportunities

and threats are both external factors, which can either benefit the business in the

future or limit them from growth. (Parsons,2021)

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Strengths:

Al masah jewellery uses high quality materials and tools to manufacture the most

jewellery for their customers (Appendix 1). Jewelry enthusiasts prefer their

accessories to be personalised as it has more value that way (Appendix 4), al mash

provides their customers the option of personalising their own jewellery. Al masah

also makes sure their relationship with the customers is well maintained (Appendix

1). This helps the business gain better reviews from the customers, which promotes

the brand name.

Weaknesses:

Al masah jewelry is a small business that operates as a niche business (Appendix

1), has a risk of their customer base being too small, this can greatly affect their

growth potential. Al masah jewelry’s current employees are well equipped and

experienced (Appendix 5), recruiting a suitable employee for the expanding branch

will be difficult and wouldn’t be cost efficient either.

Opportunities:

social media provides business with a virtual platform to reach out to a targeted

audience, it also allows for simple communication between the customers and the

business (Mahoney, 2021).

Pakistan is the eighth largest producer of gems, with reserves of around 99 precious

gems (Augaf,2021), Al masah jewelery purchases their jewelry from Sirilanka and

South Africa (Appendix 1), they can transition from exporting gems to locally

purchasing them, as it will minimize material costs.

13
Al masah’s jewelry is handcrafted and could be exported to raise brand awareness.

Traditional handcrafted jewelery manufactured in Pakistan has a high demand in

countries like, United Arab Emirates and United States and India(APP, 2019).

Threats

Gold and silver rates are constantly changing due to the increase in the demand and

currency fluctuations (Folger, 2021). Due to the low costing and highly skilled labour,

the market is highly competitive, this would make it difficult for smaller businesses

such as Al masah jewellery to thrive (Business Recorder, 2010). It is found that

women in Pakistan prefer imitation jewelry since its attractive yet affordable.

According to a shopkeeper Naeem Hassan “It is cheap, safe and in fashion”, even

though gold prices decrease, imitation jewelry will maintain its demand in the market

(The Free Library, 2018).

Force field analysis: -

Proposal to change :-

14
Analysis: -

Lewin’s force field analysis helps us understand the driving forces and the restraining

forces of the change. However, if the driving forces have a greater weightage

change will be made [ CITATION Lew51 \l 1033 ].

15
Driving forces:

Al masah jewelry uses imported gemstones

8) For how long have
rec you been
working at Al masah
entl jewelry? from Srilanka and south Africa (Appendix 1),
y
star
ted which are costly to the business, whereas
14
% 1+
10+ yea Pakistan is already rich with raw materials,
yea rs
rs 14
50 % including ruby, tourmaline, aquamarine, and
% 5+
yea turquoise. Work force is also relatively
rs
21
% cheaper in Pakistan (PGJDC, 2021). This
recently started 1+ years
5+ years 10+ years would help the business cut costs on raw

materials. Wedding Jewelry sets have high demand in Pakistan as its seen as a

symbolical role in the culture (Recablog,2020), this is advantageous to Al masah

jewelry as it specializes in the manufacturing of wedding sets (Appendix 1). Most of

Al masah jewelry employees have been working for more than 10 years. A good

experienced staff can result in the employees feeling motivated and satisfied with

their jobs (Cheng, 2020).

Restraining forces:

Because of the increase in trading, Pakistan’s import bill has surged by 74%

(Tribune, 2021), Al masah will find it difficult to import all that is required. The

increase in the prices of imported goods could force the business to purchase lower

quality goods locally. According to the employees, they won’t be comfortable with

expanding offshore (Appendix 5), as they might struggle understanding the language

and culture in the new environment. this would cause lack of communication leading

to lower productivity rate (Pham, 2021). Imitation jewelry has been gaining

popularity, as it much cheaper and provides a wider range of designs (Gale, 2018),

16
this might lead to a decrease in the market share and customer base. Al masah

jewelry manufactures higher quality products, which targets an upper-class segment

of customers therefore, limiting them from a more diverse customer base (appendix

1).

Decision tree: -

A decision tree is a business tool used for classifying and

predicting results. The tree like structure represents a decision

17
and its branches represents the decision and their outcome, this business tool is
used to help business take healthier decisions (Saini, 2020).

Options: - Output: - Expected value: - Expected value - Cost

Decision: 1 Option 1: 0.8 X 115,000,000 92,000,000 93,300,000

success = 92,000,000 1,300,000 14,000,000

18
 Option 2: 0.2 X 6,500,000 + -
failure = 1,300,000 = 93,300,000 = 79,300,000

Decision: 2 Option 3: 1 X 27,500,000 27,500,000 27,500,000

success = 27,500,000 0 0
0X0 +
Option 4:
=0 = 27,500,000 = 27,500,000
failure

Analysis -

As stated by Omer Farooq, the CEO of Al masah jewelry, it would take

approximately 14,000,000 PKR for the business to expand offshore to Karachi,
Pakistan (Appendix 1).
It is also stated that the probability of Al masah jewelry expanding offshore
successfully is 80 %, as the demand of traditional wedding set is high in Pakistan
(Gems and Jewelry, 2020). Approximately 200 tons of gold is consumed annually in
Pakistan (Augaf, 2021). If the business decides to expand offshore, and is
successful it will have an outcome of 75,000,000 PKR, on the other hand if it fails to
expand, the outcome would be 6,500,000, with the probability of 20 %.

If the business decides to go with the second option, no expansion, the probability of
success would be 100%, as there won’t be any money invested on expansion, the
outcome was estimated to be 27,500,000, according to the sales revenue of the
business (Appendix 1). The probability of failure will remain 0% as there is no risk
involved in the decision, there will be no outcome.

the results of the decision tree analysis determine that the offshore expansion of the
business would have a higher outcome of 79,300,000 PKR, as compared to not
expanding, which would only generate 27,500,000 PKR.
Therefore, according to the analysis, it is suggested that Al masah jewelry expands
to Karachi, Pakistan in order to generate more revenue.

19
 Conclusions and recommendations

Conclusion: -

Through the findings, all tools provided substantial information that supported Al
masah jewelry expanding offshore, the SWOT analysis identifies the strengths and
opportunities which could be manipulated into benefiting the business and
minimizing the threats and weaknesses.
The force field analysis portrays the restraining and the driving forces of expanding
offshore, the results shows that the driving forces are greater than the restraining
forces, hence favoring the decision of expanding offshore.
The decision tree illustrates the outcome of two possible option the business might
choose and their outcomes, elements such as lower labor costs and cheaper raw
materials support the decision of expanding offshore, which would then generate a
greater outcome than not expanding
in conclusion, Pakistan has a high demand of handcrafted jewelry and reserves for
natural resources, Al masah jewelry expanding to Pakistan, Karachi will minimize the
businesses expenses and increase the total revenue, while also serving their
mission of increasing their customer base and market share.

recommendations: -

 Al masah jewelry should opt for offshore expansion as it’ll help the business grow
their market share and allow them to increase their customer base.

 Al masah jewelry should increase their presence in the social media market as it is
much safer and easier to operate in.

 Expand its customer base, as a targeted customer base won’t generate enough revenue
for the business to operate substantially.

References and bibliography

Parsons, N. (2021). What Is a SWOT Analysis and How to Do it Right in 2021 (With
Examples). Retrieved 8 November 2021, from https://www.liveplan.com/blog/what-is-a-
swot-analysis-and-how-to-do-it-right-with-examples/

20
The Importance of Jewellery in Indian And Pakistani Weddings. (2020). Retrieved 28
November 2021, from https://www.recablog.com/the-importance-of-jewellery-in-indian-
and-pakistani-weddings/

(2021). Retrieved 28 November 2021, from https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-

to/growth-strategies/2017/12/5-benefits-of-international-expansion.html

Shahzad, A. (2021). Fitch expects Pakistani rupee to weaken further in 2022. Retrieved 28
November 2021, from https://www.reuters.com/article/pakistan-currency-devaluation-
idUSL8N2QW1JS

Facebook (2021). Retrieved 28 November 2021, from

https://www.facebook.com/Almasah.Jewellery1982/

Instagram . (2021). Retrieved 28 November 2021, from

https://www.instagram.com/omer_farooq_am/

What Drives the Price of Gold?. (2021). Retrieved 28 November 2021, from
https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0311/what-drives-the-price-of-gold.aspx

Overview | PGJDC - Pakistan Gems and Jewellery Development Company PGJDC. (2021).
Retrieved 28 November 2021, from https://www.pgjdc.org/about.php?cId=70

(2021). Retrieved 28 November 2021, from https://www.sbp.org.pk/departments/ihfd/Sub-

Segment%20Booklets/Gem%20and%20Jewelry.pdf

Trend of imitation jewellery gain popularity among Pakistani brides: Report. - Free Online
Library. (2021). Retrieved 28 November 2021, from
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Trend+of+imitation+jewellery+gain+popularity+among+Pa
kistani+brides%3a...-a0531262644

Pakistan To Set Up Gem and Jewelry City To Boost Exports Says Prime Minister. (2021).
Retrieved 28 November 2021, from https://augaf.com/pakistan-to-set-up-gem-and-jewelry-
city-to-boost-exports-says-prime-minister/

Jewellers demand more incentives for revival of gold industry. (2019). Retrieved 28
November 2021, from https://nation.com.pk/30-Sep-2019/jewellers-demand-more-
incentives-for-revival-of-gold-industry

21
 Aappendices:-

Appendix 1: -

Interview with the CEO of Al masah jewelry, Omer Farooq

Aug, 3rd
22
 Questions
What is the biggest difficulty you are facing
right now?
What approach do you think the business
should take in order to overcome your
biggest difficulty, that being expenses?
how many employees do you currently have
working in Al masah jewelry?
how would you describe your relationship
with customers?
What growth plans does the business have
and how are they going to execute them?
What is the aim of your firm? And what will The firms main aim is to regain revenue,
it take for the firm to reach the aim?
What is some strength, weaknesses,
opportunities, threats the business might be opportunities, threats the business might be
facing?
23
Answers
We have seen a decrease in our sales
revenue because of the global pandemic,
daily customers have also decreased as
social distancing is required nowadays
overload of work could be minimized by
hiring more employees to work in
specialized sections of the jewelry crafting
process
Currently we only have 7 employees
working with us that include the
manufacturers and the customer dealers
our customers are kept as satisfied as they
can. The customers can trust us with their
work, we’ve had many satisfied customers.
we have regular customers, some come by
to the shop just to say hi and end up buying
a new set of jewelry
Our main goal is to increase our workforce
and to finish as much work in a short period
of time. This is so we can take on more
orders and faster.
this can be done by expanding the business
internally or externally
What is some strength, weaknesses,
facing?
-strength: the quality of the jewelry,
availability of resources, customer
relationship
-Weaknesses: lack of employees, too much
work cannot be handled by only a few
employees.
-Opportunities: the business has the
connections and power to resourceful
people. Which could really help whilst in a
stick situation.

What is the annual revenue the business
makes?
What sort of jewelry sets does your business
specialize in?
What do you think of expanding offshore to
Karachi, Pakistan?
Approximately how much do you think It
would take for the business to expand
offshore to Pakistan, Karachi?
What type of leadership style is used by
your firm?
What procedure and materials are used
doing the manufacturing of an order?
What do you think is the probability of Al
masah jewelry expanding offshore
successfully?
24
-Threats: unsatisfied customers may put in a
bad review for the company resulting in a
bad
business reputation.
The business makes around PKR
25,000,000 to PKR 30,000,000
We mainly specialize in wedding sets; we
also manufacture personalized jewelry for
our customers.
Karachi is well known for being the main
economical hub of Pakistan, meaning there
is great opportunity for any business to
expand
It would easily take around 12 to 16 million
PKR, for the business to be fully operating
We use paternalistic leader style to
maintain the balance between the needs of
the management and the employees
We use high quality materials and tools to
manufacture the best jewelry for our
customers, our gemstones are imported
from countries such as Srilanka and south
Africa
Pakistan has high demand of jewelry, due to
cultural history. I believe if we enter the
market with our high-quality products, the
probability of success would be 80%
Appendix 2: -
Customer reviews on Facebook: -

25
Appendix 4: -
Potential customer survey

26
 1) would you rather prefer personalized 2) how often do u purchase jewellery sets?
jewellery or ready-made jewellery?

rarely
quite often 30%
35%
ready-made
jewellery
39%

personalized
jewellery
61%

ocasionally
rarely
35% quite often
ocasionally
personalized jewellery ready-made jewellery

3) would you prefer handmade jewellery 4) How much would you consider spending on
or machine-made jewellery? jewellery?
mac
hine- PKR PKR
mad 200,000+ 10,000
e PKR 4% 13%
jewe 100,000
llery 22% PKR
30% 25,000
17%
PKR
50,000
hand 43%
mad
e
jewe
llery
70%

handmade jewellery PKR 10,000 PKR 25,000 PKR 50,000

machine-made jewellery PKR 100,000 PKR 200,000+

27
5) What market do you think is most influx
in Karachi?s

Gulsh
an-e-
iqbal
9% Clifton
26%

Tariq Saddar
road 17%
48%

Clifton Saddar
Tariq road Gulshan-e-iqbal

28
Appendix 4: -

Employee survey –

29
 1) Are you satisfied by the working 2) Are you happy with how the
environment of al masah jewelry? management works?
No
14%
No
36%

Yes
64%
Yes
86%

Yes No Yes No

3) Are you given bonuses or rewards?

16
Yes; 14
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
No; 0
0
Yes No

3) Are you given bonuses or rewards?

4) Are you provided with training?

16
Yes; 14
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
No; 0
0
Yes No

4) Are you provided with training?

30
 5) Do you think al masah jewelry 6) Around how many customer
should expand to Pakistan? orders does Al masah take in a day?

20 to 25 0 to 5
Yes 7%
29% 14% 6 to 9
14%

16 to 19
36% 10 to 15
29%
No
71%

0 to 5 6 to 9 10 to 15
Yes No 16 to 19 20 to 25

7)  What is the average time taken 8) For how long have you been
to manufacture a jewelry set? working at Al masah jewelry?
rece
5 ntly
weeks 2 start
14% weeks ed
29% 14%
1+
10+ years
years 14%
50%
4
weeks 5+
3
36% weeks years
21% 21%

1 week 2 weeks 3 weeks recently started 1+ years

4 weeks 5 weeks 6 weeks 5+ years 10+ years

31
Appendix 5: -

Al masah jewelry social media pages –

32
Appendix 6: -

33