Innovations and Performance of Kenya’s Wine Industry

Abstract

In the present day business landscape influenced by increased globalization and rapid growth of the Internet and other information technologies, one cannot continue with business as usual. This is because the past decade has witnessed an increase of interest in open innovation as a new source of business success. For a firm to continue in the first lane in new product development is concerned, it needs to embrace innovation to remain competitive. Since most business entities offer comparable products and services, they continually search for a competitive advantage that will attract new customers and help them retain existing ones. They therefore must endeavor to develop innovative programs and initiatives maintain superior customer service levels while remaining profitable. Indeed no matter what the industry is, a business cannot possibly succeed without customers who are satisfied from the innovative products. The objective of the study was to determine the innovations and performance in Kenya’s wine industry. The research design adopted was descriptive research design. The population of the study comprised of all the five wine companies in Kenya. The study used primary data that were collected through selfadministered questionnaires. The data was analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics. The regression analysis was used to assess the effects of innovations on performance of wine companies. The study established that market innovation gave the companies an opportunity to market their products through various media channels, deal with customer complaints urgently, deliver products according to customer orders while at the same time entering new markets and this enables the companies to be competitive in the market. Process innovations resulted in installation of new machine that minimizes production costs and increase the rate of production, source for specialists in wine brewing and raw materials that ensures that the company produces high quality wine. Product innovation enabled the companies to provide a wide range of products with satisfactory quality through market survey, adoption of channel that that shortens the duration of obtaining a product or service and adoption of product development that is radical, inventive and offer greater rewards. Production innovation enabled wine companies to produce wine of the desired quality through management of fermentation process and blending. Management innovation enabled the companies to nurture innovation, position the company through selection of company innovation, collaborates with other organizations that have complementary resources and analyze industry structure before deciding which innovations to pursue. The regression analysis revealed that the performance of wine companies was influenced to a large extent by market innovation, process innovation, product innovation, production innovation and management innovation.