The impact of food safety management system (ISO 22000) implementation on product quality through organizational support: An applied study on Yemeni dairy production organizations
Abstract
This study investigates how the extent of Food Safety Management System (FSMS) implementation under ISO 22000:2018 affects product quality and whether organizational support (OS) mediates this relationship in ISSO 22000‑certified Yemeni dairy companies. The study responds to a specific operational paradox: even certified firms may experience friction between rigid HACCP-based technical controls and employees' perceptions of justice, participation, retention, and self-affirmation. A structured questionnaire using a seven-point Likert scale was administered to 168 employees from four certified dairy companies, thereby measuring the perceived quality of FSMS implementation rather than certification status alone. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4. The measurement model demonstrated acceptable reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. The results show that FSMS implementation has a strong positive direct effect on product quality (β = 0.795, p < 0.001) and a positive effect on organizational support (β = 0.597, p < 0.001). Contrary to the original positive expectation, the direct effect of OS on product quality was negative and significant (β = -0.163, p = 0.013), producing a significant negative indirect effect (β = - 0.097, p = 0.023). Because the bivariate correlation between OS and product quality was positive (r = 0.25), this pattern indicates competitive mediation or net suppression rather than a genuinely harmful effect of support. The findings suggest that, in highly standardized and safety-critical food production settings, formal technical control and disciplined adherence to HACCP/ISO 22000 procedures remain the dominant drivers of product quality, while general socio-emotional support must be explicitly aligned with safety compliance to generate additional quality gains.