Client prescriptions and changing socio-economic and agronomic conditions also stimulate innovation in the informal sector. Multiple interactions and social networks are created by informal sector producers in the innovation process based on kinship, friendship and producer-customer relationships.
Introductionand Background
Mawomo (2013) investigated the factors affecting the performance and entrepreneurial spirit of the informal metal producers at Mbare Siya So. This study sought to illustrate the determinants of innovation and the knowledge and skills possessed by informal metal producers that enable them to develop innovations.
Objectives of the Study
Findings from the study indicate that there is a demand link between informal metal production and the agricultural sector. Jassai and Jirira's (1987) study sought to understand the potential role of women in Zimbabwe's industrial development in the informal and formal economy. Empirical answers to these major research questions were elicited with particular reference to the informal metal makers who produced multiple threshers at Mbare Siya-So in Harare.
Research Questions
The lack of credit institutions has also been highlighted as a disadvantage for women in the manufacturing sector in both the formal and informal sectors. How thresher manufacturers interact within the informal sector and with customers in the design and manufacture of multi-crop threshers.
Statement of the Problem
Justification of the Study
Definition of Key Concepts
The concept of innovation includes social, economic and technical dimensions, which are difficult to gather in a single definition. There have been significant changes in the understanding of innovation due to the integration and interdependence of nation states.
Literature Review
This research is relevant to this study as it clearly describes the importance of efficiency in the development of a multi-crop thresher. Studies conducted in India and Namibia also provide the social context that led to the innovation and development of multi-row threshers (Azouma et al 2009, Virk's 2012, DuPlessis and Mallet 2001). The aim of the study was to determine the structural determinants that led to the development of the multi-field thresher.
Theoretical Framework
The theory of symbolic interactionism has provided a theoretical perspective for studying how individuals interpret certain objects and how this affects behavior in a given situation (Allen and Benzies 2001). The symbolic interactionism framework is based on the assumption that people interpret the actions of others rather than reacting to them impulsively. them (Solomon 2013). Symbolic interactionism theory was well suited to the study of technological innovation as it shed light on the interactive processes among informal metal producers that resulted in technological innovation within informal metal production (Dennis and Martin 2005). The theory of symbolic interactionism shed light on how knowledge is acquired and circulated among informal metal producers through the process of interaction and exchange of information and knowledge. A symbolic interactionism approach served as a solid theoretical perspective to triangulate the qualitative and quantitative data collection methods used in this study (Allan and Benzies 2001). The ethnographic methodology of using observation, interviews and self-administered questionnaires is based on an interactive process between the researcher and the research participant.
Methodology
This was solved by using the social network analysis, where the link between different social entities was established. The symbolic interaction theory also assumes that the generation of knowledge culminates as a product of interaction that occurs between social entities that coexist in equilibrium in a positive and constructive way. The social disagreement, friction and power struggles that can characterize interactive relationships are negated in the theory (Cronk 1973, Dennis and Martin 2005).
Research Design
Qualitative methodology was used to understand in-depth information from the participants about the social networks and interaction that takes place in the process of innovation (Turner 2010). The main qualitative method used for this study was ethnography (Dawson 2002). The ethnographic study was conducted by conducting interviews, observing the behavior of the participants in the process of innovation, capturing photographs and analyzing written texts. The rationale for choosing this research technique in the collection of primary data was that the ethnographic approach adequately captures the power dynamics, the social interaction and networks that prevail in the informal metal manufacturing industry that takes place in the process of innovation.
Study Area
Study Population
Field Entry
Sampling Techniques
Data Collection Methods In-depth-Interviews
The approach also provided the researcher with a nuanced inside view of the day-to-day interactions that take place in the informal sector (Reeves et al 2010). The behavior of the informal metal producers in terms of their interaction initially changed in the presence of the researcher. The passage of time ensured the gradual acceptance of the researcher into the research environment.
Data Analysis Techniques
Ethical Considerations
Delimitation of the Study
Presentation of Study Findings
Innovators in the Informal Sector
Determinants of Innovations Efficiency
Reducing Production and Sales Cost
Responses to Socio- Economic and Agronomic Changes
The reason we think our thresher is a unique innovation is that we improve on the existing one and then come up with a more efficient thresher that works in a much better way]. Prince stated that the yellow color of the imported threshers was changed to green because the first color attracts bees which could endanger the thresher user in the countryside if the thresher is being used. Therefore, the manufacturers choose the green color, which they assumed was more suitable for the environment where the thresher was used.
Small Scale Farmer Demands
During an interview with Prince, an informal metal fabricator, the researcher established that the fabricator develops innovations informed by the changing social context. The small-scale farmers therefore requested that a new threshing machine be designed with the milling outlet positioned sideways to enable them to increase their threshing rate. Following the customers' instructions, the informal metal manufacturers therefore developed a different threshing machine. This evidence clearly shows that the development of technological innovation is motivated by the prescriptions provided by the customers who are rural farmers.
Marketing
Source of Knowledge
Other informal metal makers who are not formally trained also demonstrate great knowledge and skills in multi-culture thresher production and also shared their knowledge gained from experience. During the three months as an ethnographer, the researcher observed that the interaction that occurs between informal metal producers at the workshop level has several problems. From the quoted quote, it can be observed that conflicts arise from time to time among informal metal producers as they interact in their daily activities.
Inter-Workshop Networks
In an informal conversation with Sam, Prince's older brother, the researcher also found that informal metal producers rely on experienced producers, especially those who are formally trained. The researcher interviewed Prince and found that informal metal fabricators, especially those who are informally trained, rely on the expertise of their experience and formal training. However, the researcher found that sometimes interactions between informal metal producers do not always go smoothly.
Informal Sector - Formal Sector Networks
Through established relationships with formal sector workers, informal producers have access to advanced and sophisticated machinery through their friends working in the informal sector. Innovators in the informal sector therefore rely on workers in the formal sector to acquire highly specialized machinery such as the lathe. During an informal discussion with the producer Prince, the researcher discovered that the informal sector also cooperates with the formal sector in skill training.
Informal Sector-Customer Networks
From this quote it can be deduced that innovators in the informal sector lack specialized machines when innovating. The researcher also noted that the price negotiations that take place between the customer and the informal sector manufacturer reduce the returns that the manufacturers should be getting. From this illustrative quote, it can be seen that sharing resources sometimes causes problems among the informal innovators.
Discussion of Findings
Understanding the Informal Innovators
Determinants of Innovation Development
The technological innovations are mostly consumed by small-scale farmers and this clearly reflects the different needs of this category of farmers relative to large-scale commercial farmers. Technological innovation in an effort to reduce production costs ensured the availability of the evacuators to customers of different social class and status, rural and urban poor households and to small-scale farmers. The development of more efficient innovations to enable small-scale farmers to grind more grain reflects the increase in agricultural production experienced by small-scale farmers in the recent past.
Knowledge, Skills and Innovation Age and Work Experience
Weak intellectual property regimes have also facilitated the development of technological innovations in China (Jia 2009). This therefore shows that the interconnectedness of the informal innovators and the community leads to the generation of cheap farming implements that are affordable.
Kinship Ties and Skills Development
Formal Education and Training
Social Networks and Innovation
Informal sector innovators also develop relationships with other informal sector producers in developing innovations. Informal innovators also develop relationships with other informal sector producers in developing innovations. This shows that innovation is a product of social interaction that occurs within the informal sector.
Summary of Findings
Conclusion
In rare cases, manufacturers from the formal sector bring their expertise to the production of multi-crop threshers. The informal sector also produces suitable multi-crop threshers to suit changing social and agronomic conditions. To enable technological innovation in the production of multi-crop threshers, the informal sector manufacturers establish multiple social networks involving informal manufacturers, formal sector workers and customers.
Recommendations
The main social actors involved in the innovation process include the end users, maguma guma and the informal producers. The role of innovation platforms, which include national institutions, universities, private institutions and society in promoting the technological innovations developed in the informal sector, needs to be further investigated. The success of local innovations in the informal sector lies in the support they receive from other interprofessional agencies.
Questionnaires for Manufacturers
My focus is on the informal metal producers who produce multi-crop threshing sets Mbare Siya So.
Interview Guide for Manufactures
