The introduction of new technology in a mature industry : an evolutionary analysis of the South African textile industry

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:At the beginning of the 1990s, the South African textile industry faced manychallenges, including the dismantling of protective barriers, requiring firms toadapt to increased foreign competition in the local and global markets. Manyopted for investment in new technology. This study set out to analyse thebehaviour of South African textile firms in the process of introducing newtechnology in pursuit of competitiveness.The analysis was conducted following the evolutionary approach in economics(discussedin Chapter 2). This approach incorporates time, pays attention to thedeliberate actions of firms to shape their environment, as well as persistentdiversity amongst firms.This study asked two broad questions. First, what were the major trends intextiles regarding technology, demand-side factors, the trade regime, etc.?(Chapter3). Chapter 3 sets the scene for the rest of the study in that itillustrates how the competitive environment of textile firms has changed andargues that the aggregate picture is often not a true reflection of the dynamicsof the industry, thus paving the way for micro-level analysis of firms andinstitutions. Secondly, what were the subsequent responsesby textile firms andinstitutions to these changes?This question is investigated for the global textileindustry (Chapter 3), the South African, Italian and Mauritian textile industries(Chapters 4 and 5), and for specific firms in the South African textile industry(Chapters 6 and 7).Institutions play an important role in shaping the development of industries, justas firms in an industry may influence institutions. The role of institutions in theSouth African textile industry is considered in Chapter 5, which serves asbackground to Chapter 6, where we enquire about the significance of theseinstitutions from the firms' perspective. The central focus of Chapter 6,however, is on the processof acquisition and implementation of new technologyin South African textile firms. The implications of this process for otherstrategies, organisational processes, competencies, and routines are alsoanalysed. Basedon the outcome of the firm-level analysis, three categories offirms are distinguished, namely leading firms, moderate adapters, and laggards.Using the characteristics of the firms in each category, we select three firms topursue further in case studies. Chapter 7 presents the results of these casestudies. Although the main focus of our study is on the implementation of newtechnology, we want to illustrate in this chapter how the successof this processcritically depends on factors such as an appropriate organisational structure, thecompetencies of management and labour, as well as the institutions in theindustry. We further highlight the important role that individuals, such asentrepreneurs, play in shaping the paths of firms, their relationships withinstitutions, suppliers, and customers, and even the structure of the industry.We conclude that investing in new technology is a necessary but not sufficientstrategy for successful rejuvenation of firms in a mature industry.Complementary changes, such as in organisational structure, use of humanresources, and supply-chain relations, are of crucial importance, too (Chapter8).

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University