Chapter 17: Technological Upgradation in MSMEs: Moving Towards Innovation and Technology-Driven Marketing Research and Quality Management Standards

Purpose: MSMEs can cater to both domestic as well as international markets. But, MSMEs are facing problems due to increased competition in the global market and being dependent on outdated technology. India, in general, and Punjab, in particular, is facing a serious problem of high unemployment rate, especially for the ‘Educated’ unemployed. Therefore, MSMEs could contribute towards generating additional employment for the technically trained workforce. The sector faces several challenges, including strong international competition, pressure to use key resources like energy, water and raw materials more efficiently, and implement more environmentally sustainable production processes. By modernising and adopting green and inclusive innovations, India’s MSME sector can create new economic opportunities and strengthen its long-term competitiveness.

Methodology: For this purpose, the chi-square values are calculated to test the pre-fixed hypothesis. Besides, the values of Cramer’s V (Φc) and Spearman’s Rank Correlation (rs) have also been calculated.

Finding: There is a significant association between the age of the enterprises and improvements undertaken by the enterprises to improve the product and production process. Besides, there is a significant association between the average annual turnover of the enterprises and their contribution/initiative level regarding marketing research, innovation and quality management standards.

Significance: The study analyses the contribution of MSMEs towards innovation and technology-driven marketing research and quality management standards adopted by sports goods enterprises by studying their relationship with different variables.