The Role of Non-Technological Innovations in the Growth of the Engineering Industry, Economy and Society of Rajkot (India)

The engineering industry of Rajkot represents the towering ambition of India’s economic might. Industry is spread across a 20-mile industrial belt, and is home to more than 3,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs); employing 100,000 people and generating an annual turnover of Indian Rupees 3,000 crore. The engineering industry of Rajkot is divided into clusters of sub-processes like forging, casting, machining, machine manufacturing and turning. It has had a strong focus on product, process, and technological innovation. There has been some research on the product and techno-logical innovation capabilities of the engineering industry of Rajkot. The engineering industry of Rajkot has very successfully used non-technical innovations to move up the value chain. These innovations have fostered technical as well as product capabilities and have gone beyond organizational boundaries to affect the economy of the city at large. These innovations have generated less research but have a significant impact on the growth trajectory of the organization and beyond. Qualitative research tried to identify the role of non-technical innovations on the growth of engineering industry of Rajkot using grounded theory approach. The researcher studied the top ten innovative organizations from the engineering industry and attempts to probe into unexplored aspects of non-technical innovations and the role that they have played in the growth of the organization. In the later part of the research, the researcher used focused group discussion among key industrialists, economists and social scientists from the city to discover the impact of non-technical innovations on the economy of the city and on society there