Incremental Innovation and Business Performance: Small and Medium Sized Food Enterprises in a Concentrated Industry Environment

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Bhaskaran, Suku (2006) Incremental Innovation and Business Performance: Small and Medium Sized Food Enterprises in a Concentrated Industry Environment. Journal of Small Business Management, 44 (1). pp. 64-80. ISSN 0047-2778

Abstract

Past studies have analyzed issues pertaining to the definition of innovation, methods of measuring innovation and the relationship between organizational characteristics and innovation orientation. Extant studies have adopted a large business or a technologically intense context of study. By studying the adoption of new products, methods, systems, markets, and supply sources in small and medium-size seafood retail enterprises, this study reviews innovation and the adoption of innovation in a broader and novel context. Seafood retailers in this study operate in a concentrated industry environment where two large supermarket chains account for more than 70 percent of national food retail sales. The seafood retailers operate in a highly competitive environment, the industry is maturing, the firms are not very advanced technologically, and the sector has a disproportionately large number of firms owned and operated by persons of non-English speaking backgrounds. The results of the study indicate that incremental innovation offers substantial competitive advantages to small and medium-size firms, that incremental innovations can be adopted and operationalized rapidly by entrepreneurs with different cultural backgrounds and skills, and that small and medium-size firms that focus on sales and marketing innovations are profitable and are able to compete successfully with large businesses.

Item type Article
URI https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/2909
Official URL http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltex...
Subjects Current > Division/Research > Other
Historical > FOR Classification > 1503 Business and Management
Keywords ResPubID11542, organizational characteristics, innovation orientation, seafood retailers, food enterprise
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