Thesis
Undertaking innovation despite constraints : the case of Scottish food SMEs
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2024
- Thesis identifier
- T17126
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 201875813
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- While it has been recognised that SMEs are constrained in their ability to innovate, little is known about how they innovate despite their constraints. Based on 30 in-depth discussions with food SME participants, this thesis seeks to advance knowledge by developing a theory to explain how low-tech SMEs innovate despite constraints. This study focuses on the low-tech sector given its key contributing role to the economy. The literature highlights three key themes that majorly influence innovation in low-tech SMEs. These themes are limited resources, large dominant customers, and family business culture. As SMEs, they are limited with resources, deal with a network of large dominant customers, and operate under a family business culture. The findings demonstrate distinct yet interdependent strategies executed by managers such as leveraging external network support, pursuing customer-centric incremental innovation, optimising internal processes and resources; operationalising professional management, building a long-term orientation on business and cultivating superior employee relations; mastering niche and specific markets, pursuing customer alignment, pursuing multiple channels to market. These strategies allow SMEs to resource orchestrate to navigate through, and manage, the challenges and opportunities presented from limited resources, large dominant customers, and family business culture for innovation. Moreover, identifying a holistic strategy consisting mainly in A) operating in niche markets and collaborating with customers firms can balance the constraining and facilitating effects of dominant customers on innovation; B) operationalising professional management, building a long-term orientation on business and developing greater employee relationships firms can balance the constraining and facilitating effects of family business culture on innovation; C) leveraging external network and community support, pursuing customer-centric incremental innovation, and optimising internal processes and resources firms can limit the effects of limited resources on innovation. Furthermore, the data demonstrates by identifying a holistic strategy that firms can also manage the interactions between limited resources, dominant customers, and family business culture. Niche focus and product quality, and ability to stay close to market firms can achieve an innovation position of market and brand leadership with limited resources and increase bargaining power thus overcoming the effects of limited resources and dominant customers. Similarly, patient capital of family firms promotes long-term innovation with stamina mitigating the effects of limited resources and customer driven short-term innovation. Long-term orientation supports cultivating greater employee relations and business community engagements. They further mitigate the effects of limited resources and enable higher quality and non-incremental innovation which also influence the effects of dominant customers.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Mwaura, Samuel
- Wilson, Juliette
- Resource Type
- DOI
- Date Created
- 2022
Beziehungen
Objekte
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PDF of thesis T17126 | 2024-10-08 | Öffentlich | Herunterladen |