The process of technological innovations in small enterprises: the Indian way

This paper probes how two small foundries in Belgaum, Karnataka State, India, have achieved technological innovations successfully based on their technological capability and customer needs, enabling them to sail through the competitive environment. This study brought out that technically qualified entrepreneurs of both the foundries have carried out technological innovations, mainly due to their self-motivation and self-efforts. Changing product designs, as desired or directed by the customers, cost reduction, quality improvement and import substitution through reverse engineering are the characteristics of these technological innovations. These incremental innovations have enabled the entrepreneurs of the two foundries to enhance competitiveness, grow in the domestic market and penetrate the international market and grow in size over time

The process of technological innovations in small enterprises: the Indian way

This paper probes how two small foundries in Belgaum, Karnataka State, India, have achieved technological innovations successfully based on their technological capability and customer needs, enabling them to sail through the competitive environment. This study brought out that technically qualified entrepreneurs of both the foundries have carried out technological innovations, mainly due to their self-motivation and self-efforts. Changing product designs, as desired or directed by the customers, cost reduction, quality improvement and import substitution through reverse engineering are the characteristics of these technological innovations. These incremental innovations have enabled the entrepreneurs of the two foundries to enhance competitiveness, grow in the domestic market and penetrate the international market and grow in size over time

Labour productivity, energy intensity and economic performance in small enterprises: A study of brick enterprises cluster in India

This paper probes the role of labour efficiency in promoting energy efficiency and economic performance with reference to small scale brick enterprises' cluster in Malur, Karnataka State, India. In the bricks industry, the technology in use being similar, labour efficiency has a negative influence on energy cost. Therefore, those enterprises that exhibited higher labour productivities had lower average energy intensity and higher returns to scale as compared to those that had lower labour productivities. Considering this, improvement of labour efficiency can be an alternative approach for energy efficiency improvement in energy intensive small scale industries in developing countries like India, which face the obstacle of financial constraints in up-grading technology as a means of energy efficiency improvement

Innovation and growth of engineering SMEs in Bangalore: Why do only some innovate and only some grow faster?

This paper probes two research questions by ascertaining the factors which distinguish (i) innovative SMEs from those which are not, and (ii) SMEs which experienced a higher sales growth from those which experienced a lower sales growth, with reference to 197 engineering industry SMEs in Bangalore city. The differentiating factors between innovative and non-innovative SMEs brought out that SMEs must have ``own resources and capabilities'' in the form of internal strength and definite internal strategy if they have to innovate successfully. Younger and smaller firms which are ``entrepreneurial'' in nature and which are innovative contributed to higher sales growth of SMEs compared to older and larger firms which are ``salary-substitute firms'' in nature and which are not innovative. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Pattern of technological innovations in small enterprises: a comparative perspective of Bangalore (India) and Northeast England (UK)

This paper presents a comparative perspective of the pattern of technological innovations carried out by small enterprises. in the engineering industry in Bangalore of India and Northeast En land of the UK. Despite differences in the policy support extended to technological innovations of small enterprises in the two countries, the overall pattern of technological innovation carried out by small enterprises appears to be similar. Radical product innovations emerged due to internal factors whereas incremental product innovations emerged due to external factors in both the regions. This is true despite the fact that UK is recognized as a 'technology leader', whereas India is identified as a 'dynamic adopter' of technologies. However. the two regions have similar features such as concentration of engineering industries and Bangalore, in addition, is a centre of professional colleges and R&D institutions, which would have facilitated 'innovation stimulating environment' similar to that of UK. But the 'insufficient' spread of previous inventions and innovations, low R&D intensity of small industry as well as that of Indian economy. which is reflected in India's low technology achievement index (TAI) as well as lack of technical background of entrepreneurs explains the lesser extent of radical and incremental innovations of small enterprises in Bangalore relative to that of Northeast England. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Energy intensity and economic performance in small scale bricks and foundry clusters in india: does energy intensity matter?

This paper probes energy intensity and economic performance in small enterprises with reference to two energy-intensive small-scale industry (SSI) clusters in the state of Karnataka in India. Based on analysis of primary data collected from 38 bricks enterprises and 31 foundries, the paper brought out that there is a positive relationship not only between energy intensity and share of energy cost in total variable cost but also between energy intensity and value of output. But there is a negative relationship between energy intensity and factor productivities. Energy made a statistically significant contribution to economic performance in terms of returns to scale. Those small enterprises, which were less energy intensive, achieved higher returns to scale than those, which were more energy intensive. Therefore, it is imperative for Indian Policy Makers to include 'energy efficiency improvement' programmes as part of the strategy for enhancing SSI competitiveness

Exploring the Influence of Absorptive Capacity on Innovation in Bengaluru High-tech Manufacturing Cluster

There has been an increasing emphasis to understand the dynamism of firms in high-tech clusters given the economic prospect they offer to themselves and regions housing these clusters. This has placed a pressing need for researchers and practitioners across the globe to quantify absorptive capacity of a firm which is a measure of dynamic capability of a firm. Bengaluru being one of the ``global hubs for technological innovations'' in Asia, houses the densely interconnected network of high-tech manufacturing firms forming a high-tech manufacturing cluster. It is in the context of Bengaluru high-tech manufacturing cluster that, this paper attempts to quantify absorptive capacity of a firm and subsequently ascertains its influence on innovation