Incremental technical innovations and their determinants

Abstract

Incremental technical innovation is one of the significant dynamic processes taking place in manufacturing firms. For this study, incremental technical innovation has been classified as material, operations, scale and product innovations and we contend that their source and efforts directed are different and therefore it is imperative to identify the predictors of each. Based on a field study of 83 manufacturing firms in India, the study has found that government policies, customer orientation and formalisation are the predictors of material innovations. Operational innovations are related to inter-functional coordination, process orientation, centralisation and annual demand of the product. Customer orientation and formalisation are the predictors of scale innovations. Finally, incremental product innovations are related to technology planning and R&D intensity.