Though innovation strategy and organizational learning have been credited to impact on product innovation performance, they have been rarely considered in a single model simultaneously. Thus, the main aim of the paper is to investigate the extent of impact of innovation strategy on organizational learning and product innovation performance. A structural equation modelling analysis was performed on the survey data collected from Ethiopian textile and leather product manufacturing firms. The result reveals that innovation strategy is positively related to product innovation performance. Further, firm size and ownership type moderate the effect of innovation strategy on product innovation performance. OPSOMMING Alhoewel daar erkenword dat innovasiestrategie en organisatoriese-leer produkinnovasievertoning beïnvloed, word dit selde gelyktydig in 'n enkele model oorweeg. Die doel van die artikel is dus om die invloedsbereik van innovasiestrategie op organisatoriese-leer en produkinnovasievertoning te ondersoek. 'n Strukturelevergelykingsmodellering analise is op opname data van 'n Etiopiese tekstiel-en leerproduk vervaardigers gedoen. Die resultaat toon dat innovasiestrategie positief verwant is aan produkinnovasiesvertoning. Verder is daar gevind dat maatskappy grootte en eienaarskaptipe die invloed van innovasiestrategie op produkinnovasievertoning matig.

Using formal survey data from textile and leather product manufacturing firms in Ethiopia, we investigate how the current national cultural setup (power distance, collectivism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance) is affecting organizational learning, orientation and product innovation performance. Further, we assess the moderating role of sector and ownership structure on the interrelationship. The result demonstrates that the current national culture setup is negatively affecting the learning and innovation activities of the firms in the country. It also shows that while sector type is neutral, ownership type significantly affects the interrelationship among culture, learning orientation and product innovation performance. OPSOMMINGDeur die gebruik van peilingdata van tekstiel-en leerproduk vervaardigers in Etiopië word die invloed van die huidige nasionale kulturele milieu (dit sluit die afstand tot krag, kollektivisme, manlikheid en onsekerheidsvermyding) op die organisatoriese leer, oriëntasie en produkinnovasie bestudeer. Verder word die matigende rol van sektortipe en eienaarskapstruktuur op die onderlinge verhoudinge beoordeel. Die resultaat toon dat die huidige nasionale kulturele milieu die leer-en innovasieaktiwiteite negatief beïnvloed. Dit toon ook dat, terwyl die sektortipe nie 'n noemenswaardige invloed het nie, die eienaarskapstruktuur die onderlinge verhouding tussen kultuur, leeroriëntasie en produkinnovasie daadwerklik beïnvloed. INTRODUCTIONIn this era of globalisation, a firm's profitability and survival in the international market is entirely dependent on continuous innovation [1]. In every economy, organisations are being forced -by intense competition, technological change, and much-reduced product lifecycles -to look for new and better ways of doing business. The generation and development of new marketable products has long been considered a key strategic advantage for an organisation's survival and its ability to outperform its competition. However, according to Martin de Castro [2], continuous innovation is impossible without a deliberate and continuous commitment to organisational learning. The effective generation, development, and commercialisation of new products is possible only if firms acquire, interpret and disseminate reliable customer, competitor and technology-related information.From the perspective of contingency theory, the role of socio-economic and socio-cultural factors in the business operations of organisations has attracted the attention of managers and academics [3]. Consequently, the role of a country's cultural factors in the learning and innovation activity of the manufacturing firms operating within it has been the focus of much research ([4, 5]). A national culture is a collective mindset that reflects the behaviour, attitudes and norms of a society and influences the perceptions, expectations, and motivation of its members [6,7].

<p>A thorough understanding of the impact of culture on innovation strategy formulation and implementation processes as well as product innovation performance is crucial for successful innovation management. The paper through a combination of two research approach, KJ analysis and formal survey aims to shade light on the extent and direction of culture’s impact on product innovation performance. A hypothetical model that links the three bodies of knowledge, national culture, innovation strategy and product innovation performance was developed and tested by using survey data from Ethiopian manufacturing firms. Major problems with the current innovation strategy formulation and implementation process were identified and the role of culture was explored. The result indicates that even though the current cultural setup has a detrimental effect on the performance, the extent of its impact can be minimized through task oriented leadership practice.</p>

PurposeExisting conceptual, empirical and case studies evidence suggests that manufacturing industries find the joint implementation of Kaizen philosophy initiatives. However, the existing practices rarely demonstrated in a single framework and implementation procedure in a structure nature. This paper, therefore, aims to develop, validate and practically test a framework and implementation procedure for the implementation of integrated Kaizen in manufacturing industries to attain long-term improvement of operational, innovation, business (financial and marketing) processes, performance and competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe study primarily described the problem, extensively reviewed the current state-of-the-art literature and then identified a gap. Based on it, generic and comprehensive integrated framework and implementation procedure is developed. Besides, the study used managers, consultants and academics from various fields to validate a framework and implementation procedure for addressing business concerns. In this case, the primary data was collected through self-administered questionnaire, and 244 valid questionnaires were received and were analyzed. Furthermore, the research verified the practicability of the framework by empirically exploring the current scenario of selected manufacturing companies.FindingsThe research discovered innovative framework and six-phase implementation procedure to fill the existing conceptual gap. Furthermore, the survey-based and exploratory empirical analysis of the research demonstrated that the practice of the proposed framework based on structured procedure is valued and companies attain the middling improvements of productivity, delivery time, quality, 5S practice, waste and accident rate by 61.03, 44, 52.53, 95.19, 80.12, and 70.55% respectively. Additionally, the companies saved a total of 14933446 ETH Birr and 5,658 M2 free spaces. Even though, the practices and improvements vary from company to company, and even companies unable to practice some of the unique techniques of the identified CI initiatives considered in the proposed framework.Research limitations/implicationsAll data collected in the survey came from professionals working for Ethiopian manufacturing companies, universities and government. It is important to highlight that n = 244 is high sample size, which is adequate for a preliminary survey but reinforcing still needs further survey in terms of generalization of the results since there are hundreds of manufacturing companies, consultants and academicians implementing and consulting Kaizen. Therefore, a further study on a wider Ethiopian manufacturing companies, consultants and academic scale would be informative.Practical implicationsThis work is very important for Kaizen professionals in the manufacturing industry, academic and government but in particular for senior management and leadership teams. Aside from the main findings on framework development, there is some strong evidence that practice of Kaizen resulted in achieving quantitative (monetary and non-monetary) and qualitative results. Thus, senior management teams should use this research out to practice and analyze the effect of Kaizen on their own organizations. Within the academic community, this study is one of the first focusing on development, validating and practically testing and should aid further study, research and understanding of Kaizen in manufacturing industries.Originality/valueSo far, it is rare to find preceding studies proposed, validated and practically test an integrated Kaizen framework with the context of manufacturing industries. Thus, authors understand that this is the very first research focused on the development of the framework for manufacturing industries continuously to be competitive and could help managers, institutions, practitioners and academicians in Kaizen practice.