Innovation in Agriculture

Indian organizations have acquired a reputation for organizational and social innovation and strategies centered round new concepts of frugal innovation. It has been suggested that some of these developments reflect specific socio-economic and framework conditions peculiar to the Indian context. At the same time many Indian firms have yet to institute systems and procedures required for supporting technological, product and service innovations. The existence of formal R&D departments/divisions, offers a ritualistic fig leaf for innovation practice. The absence of organizational support and a holistic innovation strategy coupled with an integrative perspective obscures or limits the development of a proactive innovation strategy. The paradox of Indian innovation suggests that the necessity of developing and managing the abundant supply of human resources in the country is central to its conceptualization and realization. These innovations get manifested mainly in two different patterns, one of which relates to the management of human resources within organizations, and the other to the creation of social enterprises for the development of human resources outside; the latter may also take the form of CSR initiatives by corporate organizations. One of the implications of the ‘abundant supply of human resources in the country’ is that Indian organizations have to adopt people-focused business strategies rather than the command structures cantered round the use, performance and incentivisation of human resources. This issue probably makes India different from Western countries and there is a big opportunity both for comparative research and best practice exchange. A second interesting implication of the above is that over the years there has been a phenomenal growth in the number of social enterprises in India, which are different from commercial enterprises in having ‘social development’ (rather than ‘profit-making’) as their main objective. For this reason they are likely to be perennially operating under resource constraints, which make it difficult for them to survive without innovations. The aim is to investigate innovative HR and other related strategies adopted by Indian commercial as well as social enterprises. Innovation is rarely a product of the internal resources of the firm alone. Relations with other organizations are likely to be crucial to the success f innovations. We also wish to explore how innovations in Indian firms are influenced by their relations with other organizations. Topics to be covered in the presentation will include (but are not restricted to) the following: * Principal types and characteristics of innovations in Indian firms * HR innovations in Indian firms * Innovations in Indian social enterprises Role of public bodies in supporting firms’ innovation * Organizational constraints and facilitators of innovation * Innovation in different types of industries (manufacturing/service, h i-tech/low-tech, small/medium/large, etc) * Innovative relationships with other organizations * Support for innovations from inter-organizational relationships * Sources, means and types of information and knowledge important for firms’ innovation * National and regional innovation systems * Costs, benefits and impacts of Innovations Please note that the deadline for paper submission is  2nd January 2012.