Strategic Technological Innovation and Performance of Umeme Limited in Uganda

Abstract

The current economic environment is rapidly changing. Recent events like the COVID – 19 pandemic have also greatly affected the economic environment, disrupting some sectors while creating opportunities in some others. To survive in this environment, organizations are adopting innovation strategies as a means of gaining competitive advantage over their rivals. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of Strategic Technological Innovation on the performance of UMEME Ltd. A case study was employed to get an in-depth investigation of UMEME through establishing the impact of strategic technological innovations on the performance of the organization. An interview guide was deployed to collect primary data from three mid-level officers: IT, Engineering, Operations, and an officer from R&D. Secondary data was retrieved from UMEME annual reports from 2016-2022. Content analysis was used to analyze the data and draw relevant findings and conclusions. From the study, it was concluded that UMEME carries out strategic technological innovations and the strategy is supported from top management. UMEME follows a process of internal and external analysis when in its strategic technological innovations. Strategic technological innovations led to an improvement in the performance of UMEME through an improvement in collections rate over the years, increase in customer base and better customer satisfaction. Technological innovations were key in the recovery efforts of the firm during the COVID-19 pandemic when the business was negatively impacted by the lockdowns. Future researchers should explore similar research covering a wider scope of the electricity and energy sector including transmission and generation. Solar systems companies should also be covered since they are playing a crucial role in reducing energy deficiency gap in Uganda by selling systems to off-grid customers where the national grid has not been extended