dc.description.abstract |
As for any enterprise, innovation is considered as one of the most
important factors to enhance competitiveness of agribusiness firms in both
national and international markets. The managerial requirement of creating,
shaping, and managing innovation, however, cannot be fulfilled without an
understanding of forms and processes of innovation that is in practice within
these enterprises. The fact in extant literature remains that the specific role
of innovation in the context of the agribusiness sector in Sri Lanka is not yet
fully explored. In this shed of light, the specific objective of this study was to
undertake a qualitative exploration of various facets of firm-level innovation
in Sri Lankan agribusiness sector with a focus of selected key sub-sectors,
including: agricultural inputs, processed fruits/vegetables, plantation
products, dairy products, meat/fish processing, diversified agribusinesses,
which have been deemed excellent in performance over the years. In-depth
face-to-face interviews with a senior manager of ten companies selected for
the purpose were carried out with a support of a structured interview
schedule. The interviews were voice recorded, transcribed and analyzed
using N-Vivo (version 7.0) software package to derive underlying insights
and isolate cognitive factors that pertain to innovation within these firms.
Using the node development tools in N-Vivo, data were coded to create
distinct labels within three broad categories, including: type of innovation,
internal dimensions, and external context. Two forms of innovation were
identified such as an incremental innovation of their existing product lines
and innovations that lead to productivity and process improvements. In
addition, these companies believe in the marketing of value added products
as a form of innovation. Adoption and implementation of quality processes
and systems was accentuated as an important element of organizational
innovativeness. Furthermore, links with external institutions and quality of
human capital were highlighted as important factors determining the
innovation drive of these organizations. Interestingly there were no
substantial indications in the results for firms being engaged greatly in other
forms of innovation as exemplified in management/organizational behavior
literature such as strategic, administrative and marketing innovation. |
en_US |