Deconstructing innovation in the wood furniture industry in Kenya
Main Article Content
Keywords
innovation, Kenya, wood furniture industry
Abstract
Innovation is often considered to be a critical component of enterprise competitive advantage. Continuous innovation is necessary to allow firms to better meet consumer needs, stay ahead of the competition, capitalize on strategic market opportunities, and align organizational strengths with market opportunities. In this research, innovation was deconstructed into product, process, and business systems innovations. A model was then developed and used to examine the relationships between innovation constructs and demographic and management attributes of wood furniture firms in Kenya. Results show significant differences in product innovation between micro- and medium-size furniture firms, and between small- and medium-size firms. There were also significant regional differences in all innovation types. Overall, the most significant predictors of innovation were company location and rewards for implementing innovation. Other statistically significant innovation predictors were Internet use and research and development expenditures.
References
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Barčić AP, Motik D, Oblak L, Vlosky R. 2016. Management activity linkages to innovation deconstruction: An exploratory study of the furniture industry in Croatia. BioResources, 11(2), 3987-4005. https://doi.org/10.15376/biores.11.2.3987-4005
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Bloem J. 2012. Micro, small, medium enterprise (MSME) definitions. Partners Worldwide. Retrieved from: https://jeffbloem.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/msmedefinitions1.pdf
Byrne BM. 2010. Structural equation modeling with AMOS: basic concepts, applications, and programming (2nd ed.), Taylor and Francis Group, New York.
Cao X, Hansen E. 2006. Innovation in China's furniture industry. Forest Products Journal, 56(11/12), 33-42
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Crespell P, Hansen E. 2008. Managing for innovation: insights into a successful company. Forest products journal, 58(9), 6-18.
Crespell P, Knowles C, Hansen E. 2006. Innovativeness in the North American softwood sawmilling industry. Forest Science, 52(5), 568-578.
Dillman DA, Smyth JD, Christian LM. 2014. Internet, phone, mail, and mixed mode surveys: The tailored design method (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons Inc. New Jersey. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394260645
Eby L, Dobbins GH. 1997. Collectivistic orientation in teams: an individual and group-level analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 18, 275-295. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1379(199705)18:3<275::AID-JOB796>3.0.CO;2-C
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Ferreira JJ, Fernandes CI, Raposo ML. 2017. The effects of location on firm innovation capacity. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 8, 77-96.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-015-0281-4
Grzegorzewska E, Niziałek I, Olkowicz M. 2014. The impact of clustering on the innovativeness of furniture industry. Management & Production Engineering Review (MPER), 5(2), 12-19. https://doi.org/10.2478/mper-2014-0012
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Hansen EN, Nybakk E, Panwar R. 2014. Innovation insights from North American forest sector research: a literature review. Forests, 5(6), 1341-1355. https://doi.org/10.3390/f5061341
Heimonen T. 2012. What are the factors that affect innovation in growing SMEs? European Journal of Innovation Management, 15(1), 122-144.
https://doi.org/10.1108/14601061211192861
IMM. 2018. Technology trends in furniture industry. Available at:https://blog.vakoms.com/imm-2018-technology-trends-in-furniture-industry/
Johnson RA, Wichern D. 2001. Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis (5th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
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Knowles C, Hansen E, Dibrell C. 2008a. Measuring firm innovativeness: development and refinement of a new scale. Journal of Forest Products Business Research, 5(5), 1-24.
Knowles C, Hansen E, Shook SR. 2008b. Assessing innovativeness in the North American softwood sawmilling industry using three methods. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 38(2), 363-375. https://doi.org/10.1139/X07-140
Kubeczko K, Rametsteiner E, Weiss G. 2006. The role of sectoral and regional innovation systems in supporting innovations in forestry. Forest Policy and Economics, 8(7), 704-715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2005.06.011
Kusumawardhani A, McCarthy G. 2013. Innovation in small and medium-sized wood furniture firms in Central Java, Indonesia. International Conference on Managing the Asian Century 2013, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-61-0_53
Malerba F. 2004. Sectoral systems of innovation: how and why innovation differs across sectors. In: Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D., Nelson, R. (Eds.), Handbook of Innovation. Oxford University Press.
Merx‐Chermin M, Nijhof WJ. 2005. Factors influencing knowledge creation and innovation in an organization. Journal of European Industrial Training, 29(2), 135-147. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090590510585091
Mitchell RK, Smith B, Seawright KW, Morse EA. 2000. Cross cultural cognition and venture creation decision. Academy of Management Review, 43(5), 974-993. https://doi.org/10.5465/1556422
Murat Ar, Baki B. 2011. Antecedents and performance impacts of product versus process innovation: empirical evidence from SMEs located in Turkish science and technology parks. European Journal of Innovation Management, 14, 172-206.
https://doi.org/10.1108/14601061111124885
Ngui D, Chege J, Kimuyu P. 2016. Kenya's industrial development: policies, performance, and prospects. In Newman et al. (eds), Manufacturing transformation: comparative studies of industrial development in Africa and emerging Asia. UNU-WIDER Studies in Developmental Economics. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 72-91. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198776987.003.0004
OECD/Eurostat. 2005. Oslo. Manual, guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation data (3rd ed.). OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) and EUROSTAT (European Statistical Office), Paris, Luxemburg.
OECD/Eurostat. 2018. Oslo. Manual 2018: Guidelines for gollecting, reporting and using data on innovation (4th Ed.). The Measurement of Scientific, Technological and Innovation Activities, OECD Publishing, Paris/Eurostat, Luxembourg.
Orozco N, Hansen E, Knowles C, Leavengood S. 2013. Oregon's forest sector innovation system: An investigation towards advanced performance. The Forestry Chronicle, 89(2), 225-234. https://doi.org/10.5558/tfc2013-041
Otero-Neira C, Lindman MT, Fernández MJ. 2009. Innovation and performance in SME furniture industries: an international comparative case study. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 27(2), 216-232. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634500910944995
Pham N. 2010. The impact of innovation and the role of IP rights on U.S. productivity, competitiveness, jobs, wages and exports (April 2010). Ndp consulting, 2010. Available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2921940.
Pituch KA, Stevens JP. 2016. Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences: Analyses with SAS and IBM's SPSS (6th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Rogers E. 2003. Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). The Free Press: New York, NY, USA.
Rosenbusch N, Brinckmann J, Bausch A. 2011. Is innovation always beneficial? A meta-analysis of the relationship between innovation and performance in SMEs. Journal of Business Venturing, 26(4), 441-457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2009.12.002
Schumpeter JA. 1942. Capitalism, socialism and democracy. New York, NY: Harper.
Shapiro AR. 2006. Measuring innovation: beyond revenue from new products. Research Technology Management, 49(6), 42-51.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08956308.2006.11657407
Stone IJ, Benjamin JG, Leahy JE. 2011. Innovation impacts biomass supply in Maine's logging industry. Forest products journal, 61(7), 579-585.
https://doi.org/10.13073/0015-7473-61.7.579
Tylecote A. 1996. Cultural differences affecting technological innovation in Western Europe. European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 5(1), 137-174. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594329608414847
Wagner ER, Hansen EN. 2005. Innovation in large versus small companies: insights from the US wood products industry. Management Decision, 43(6), 837-850. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740510603592
Wharton School. 2006. Innovation: creating long-term value in new business models and technology. Available at: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/innovation-creating-long-term-value-in-new-business-models-and-technology
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2005.06.015
Audretsch DB, Fritsch M. 1999. The industry component of regional new firm formation processes. Review of Industrial Organization, 15, 239-252. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007722415439
Barčić AP, Motik D, Oblak L, Vlosky R. 2016. Management activity linkages to innovation deconstruction: An exploratory study of the furniture industry in Croatia. BioResources, 11(2), 3987-4005. https://doi.org/10.15376/biores.11.2.3987-4005
Barčić AP, Vlosky R, Motik D. 2011. Deconstructing innovation: An exploratory study of the US furniture industry. Forest Products Journal, 61(8), 635-643. https://doi.org/10.13073/0015-7473-61.8.635
Biolcheva P. 2017. Barriers before innovations in furniture companies. Trakia Journal of Sciences, 15(1), 125-131.
https://doi.org/10.15547/tjs.2017.s.01.023
Bloem J. 2012. Micro, small, medium enterprise (MSME) definitions. Partners Worldwide. Retrieved from: https://jeffbloem.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/msmedefinitions1.pdf
Byrne BM. 2010. Structural equation modeling with AMOS: basic concepts, applications, and programming (2nd ed.), Taylor and Francis Group, New York.
Cao X, Hansen E. 2006. Innovation in China's furniture industry. Forest Products Journal, 56(11/12), 33-42
Chrinian E. 2017. 4 of the most significant trends in furniture manufacturing. Business, furniture, logistics, manufacturing, sustainable, technology. Available at: https://eugenechrinian.wordpress.com/2017/08/15/4-of-the-most-significant-trends-in-furniture-manufacturing/
Creapo Oy; World Bank Group. 2015. Furniture industry in Kenya: situational analysis and strategy. World Bank, Washington, DC.
Crespell P, Hansen E. 2008. Managing for innovation: insights into a successful company. Forest products journal, 58(9), 6-18.
Crespell P, Knowles C, Hansen E. 2006. Innovativeness in the North American softwood sawmilling industry. Forest Science, 52(5), 568-578.
Dillman DA, Smyth JD, Christian LM. 2014. Internet, phone, mail, and mixed mode surveys: The tailored design method (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons Inc. New Jersey. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394260645
Eby L, Dobbins GH. 1997. Collectivistic orientation in teams: an individual and group-level analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 18, 275-295. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1379(199705)18:3<275::AID-JOB796>3.0.CO;2-C
European Commission. 2015. User guide to the SME definition. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Ferreira JJ, Fernandes CI, Raposo ML. 2017. The effects of location on firm innovation capacity. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 8, 77-96.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-015-0281-4
Grzegorzewska E, Niziałek I, Olkowicz M. 2014. The impact of clustering on the innovativeness of furniture industry. Management & Production Engineering Review (MPER), 5(2), 12-19. https://doi.org/10.2478/mper-2014-0012
Hansen EN, Nybakk E, Bull L, Crespell P, Jélvez A, Knowles C. 2011. A multinational investigation of softwood sawmilling innovativeness. Scandinavian journal of forest research, 26(3), 278-287. https://doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2011.553198
Hansen EN, Nybakk E, Panwar R. 2014. Innovation insights from North American forest sector research: a literature review. Forests, 5(6), 1341-1355. https://doi.org/10.3390/f5061341
Heimonen T. 2012. What are the factors that affect innovation in growing SMEs? European Journal of Innovation Management, 15(1), 122-144.
https://doi.org/10.1108/14601061211192861
IMM. 2018. Technology trends in furniture industry. Available at:https://blog.vakoms.com/imm-2018-technology-trends-in-furniture-industry/
Johnson RA, Wichern D. 2001. Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis (5th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
KAM, Kenya Association of Manufacturers. 2018. Manufacturing in Kenya Under the Big 4 Agenda. A Sector Deep-dive Report, Nairobi.
Knowles C, Hansen E, Dibrell C. 2008a. Measuring firm innovativeness: development and refinement of a new scale. Journal of Forest Products Business Research, 5(5), 1-24.
Knowles C, Hansen E, Shook SR. 2008b. Assessing innovativeness in the North American softwood sawmilling industry using three methods. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 38(2), 363-375. https://doi.org/10.1139/X07-140
Kubeczko K, Rametsteiner E, Weiss G. 2006. The role of sectoral and regional innovation systems in supporting innovations in forestry. Forest Policy and Economics, 8(7), 704-715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2005.06.011
Kusumawardhani A, McCarthy G. 2013. Innovation in small and medium-sized wood furniture firms in Central Java, Indonesia. International Conference on Managing the Asian Century 2013, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-61-0_53
Malerba F. 2004. Sectoral systems of innovation: how and why innovation differs across sectors. In: Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D., Nelson, R. (Eds.), Handbook of Innovation. Oxford University Press.
Merx‐Chermin M, Nijhof WJ. 2005. Factors influencing knowledge creation and innovation in an organization. Journal of European Industrial Training, 29(2), 135-147. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090590510585091
Mitchell RK, Smith B, Seawright KW, Morse EA. 2000. Cross cultural cognition and venture creation decision. Academy of Management Review, 43(5), 974-993. https://doi.org/10.5465/1556422
Murat Ar, Baki B. 2011. Antecedents and performance impacts of product versus process innovation: empirical evidence from SMEs located in Turkish science and technology parks. European Journal of Innovation Management, 14, 172-206.
https://doi.org/10.1108/14601061111124885
Ngui D, Chege J, Kimuyu P. 2016. Kenya's industrial development: policies, performance, and prospects. In Newman et al. (eds), Manufacturing transformation: comparative studies of industrial development in Africa and emerging Asia. UNU-WIDER Studies in Developmental Economics. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 72-91. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198776987.003.0004
OECD/Eurostat. 2005. Oslo. Manual, guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation data (3rd ed.). OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) and EUROSTAT (European Statistical Office), Paris, Luxemburg.
OECD/Eurostat. 2018. Oslo. Manual 2018: Guidelines for gollecting, reporting and using data on innovation (4th Ed.). The Measurement of Scientific, Technological and Innovation Activities, OECD Publishing, Paris/Eurostat, Luxembourg.
Orozco N, Hansen E, Knowles C, Leavengood S. 2013. Oregon's forest sector innovation system: An investigation towards advanced performance. The Forestry Chronicle, 89(2), 225-234. https://doi.org/10.5558/tfc2013-041
Otero-Neira C, Lindman MT, Fernández MJ. 2009. Innovation and performance in SME furniture industries: an international comparative case study. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 27(2), 216-232. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634500910944995
Pham N. 2010. The impact of innovation and the role of IP rights on U.S. productivity, competitiveness, jobs, wages and exports (April 2010). Ndp consulting, 2010. Available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2921940.
Pituch KA, Stevens JP. 2016. Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences: Analyses with SAS and IBM's SPSS (6th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Rogers E. 2003. Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). The Free Press: New York, NY, USA.
Rosenbusch N, Brinckmann J, Bausch A. 2011. Is innovation always beneficial? A meta-analysis of the relationship between innovation and performance in SMEs. Journal of Business Venturing, 26(4), 441-457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2009.12.002
Schumpeter JA. 1942. Capitalism, socialism and democracy. New York, NY: Harper.
Shapiro AR. 2006. Measuring innovation: beyond revenue from new products. Research Technology Management, 49(6), 42-51.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08956308.2006.11657407
Stone IJ, Benjamin JG, Leahy JE. 2011. Innovation impacts biomass supply in Maine's logging industry. Forest products journal, 61(7), 579-585.
https://doi.org/10.13073/0015-7473-61.7.579
Tylecote A. 1996. Cultural differences affecting technological innovation in Western Europe. European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 5(1), 137-174. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594329608414847
Wagner ER, Hansen EN. 2005. Innovation in large versus small companies: insights from the US wood products industry. Management Decision, 43(6), 837-850. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740510603592
Wharton School. 2006. Innovation: creating long-term value in new business models and technology. Available at: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/innovation-creating-long-term-value-in-new-business-models-and-technology
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Published
Jul 3, 2023
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Ototo, G. O., & Vlosky, R. P. (2023). Deconstructing innovation in the wood furniture industry in Kenya. Journal of Forest Business Research, 2(2), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.62320/jfbr.v2i2.30
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