The relationship between complexity of innovation strategy and automotive component manufacturing innovation in South Africa and India

The associations between complexity of innovation strategy and type, degree of novelty and diversity of innovation were investigated in the automotive component manufacturing industry. This was done in the developing country context of South Africa and was compared with that in the emerging economy context of India. The literature indicates that complex strategies are more successful than simple ones in growing competitiveness in a turbulent environment. Governments in many developing countries support automotive manufacturing because of the opportunities for job creation, economic growth and skills development. A better understanding of the effect of complexity of innovation strategy and type, degree of novelty and diversity of innovation will enable policy makers to improve their support to enable firms to grow their competitiveness and sustainability. Data were obtained from a survey conducted in South Africa and in the Pune region of India. Statistical analysis of the South African data yielded no associations between complexity in strategy and innovation but it did yield several significant associations in the case of the India data. These results appear to be consistent with strategy complexity theory when considering the detail of the two contexts. It would indicate that companies in developing countries should be supported to implement innovation strategies to grow their competitiveness.