Innovation and new product development in SMEs: an investigation of Scottish food industry

Innovation is one of the most reported determinants of business success. Much of research on business innovation, however, is focussed on high-tech sectors and innovation studies of low-tech businesses are rare. This paper reporting a doctoral research on innovation in Scottish food industry attempts to address this lacuna. Another impetus for this study stems from the fact that though Scotland has historically been at the vanguard of scientific, industrial and business innovations, it has legged behind recently and has consequently become one of the less competitive regions within Europe. This study of innovation in one of Scotland’s major industries is thus both interesting and relevant. This paper reports results of semi-structured personal interviews and personality tests of innovativeness of key decision makers in 8 Scottish food companies known for innovation. The results show that the personality of people responsible for new product development plays a significant role in giving a business its innovative proclivity. Innovative food companies in Scotland follow an analogous process of idea generation, validation, implementation and full product deployment with some minor, though, significant departures. Innovators in Scottish food industry consider packaging innovation an inseparable part of product innovation. They, however, largely shun creation of healthier versions of foods, as an innovation option. A major finding of this study -supermarkets as the main drivers of innovation in Scottish food industry- is a revelation and raises need to revisit their role in regeneration of regional economies.