Innovation capabilities and competitiveness of auto component cluster firms

Abstract

Within the dynamically evolving economic environment, the only constant, is change. newlineFirm characteristics are defined by rapid changes, extensive impact of globalisation, hyper newlineinnovative competitors, global supply chains and demanding customer cycles. Innovation has newlinebecome a trigger for change and demands for constant evolution of a firm s capability to newlinesurvive. Innovation is an increasingly complex and yet widely studied concept over time, and newlineit has been observed that wide variety of assets, resources, and capabilities are required to newlinemake the process of innovation successful. newlineStudies conducted over time have observed that firms are required to utilise both internal and newlineexternal sources of innovation in order to develop their innovation capabilities. Further, a newlinefirms innovation capabilities are important in providing and sustaining its competitiveness, newlineand in the implementation of the innovation strategy. However, while many assumptions are newlinemade that sources of innovation bear an association with a firm s capabilities, it is not newlinedistinctly clear how these various sources affect in the process of such capability development, newlineand how or to what extent such relationships in turn affect the firm s competitiveness. The need newlineof the hour is to understand, how various sources of innovation are identified within the newlineecosystem, how these sources are effectively utilised to develop a firm s innovation newlinecapabilities, which can further augment the process of competitiveness enhancement. newlineThe current study therefore aims to examine the impact of various sources of innovation on a newlinefirm s innovation capabilities development, and the extent to which such developed... newline