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Coconut based enterprises holds great significance in the state as coconut is the
prime homestead crop of Kerala. These enterprises are proven to generate higher
economic returns for the coconut sector. Technological capability (TC) plays key role in
the performance of the hundreds of enterprises involved in manufacturing and marketing
of various coconut products. Technological capability (TC) encompasses all activities,
physical systems, skills and knowledge bases, managerial systems, and entrepreneurial
values that generate unique benefit for an enterprise. Thus, it formed a determining
factor in the efficiency and effectiveness of enterprises. Therefore, an understanding of
TC of coconut-based enterprises holds great importance for state’seconomy in terms of
entrepreneurship development.
It was in this rationale, the present study was undertaken to document and
characterize coconut enterprises based on the major products and services, to map the
technology use pattern of these enterprises, to evaluate the technological capabilities of
the selected enterprises and to evolve a conceptual model for sustainable
entrepreneurship development. The results of the studycan be used to decode the critical
factors that form the basis the technological capability of coconut enterprises that can
effectively redefine the coconut-based entrepreneurship in the state.
The three districts from the state of Kerala viz. Thrissur, Kozhikode and
Ernakulam which had the largest number of registered coconut processing enterprises
were selected as the study area. The details of Micro Small Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs) collected from the respective District Industries Centres (DICs) were used for
the purposive selection of these districts. The enterprises under farmer collectives using
the technological support from Coconut Development Board (CDB)functioning in these
districts were also included under the study. The total sample size ofenterprises
was fixed as 45 following the ratio of 20:10:15 in proportion to the number of registered
coconut enterprises in the selected districts of Thrissur, Ernakulam and Kozhikode
respectively. An additional eight social enterprises run by farmer collectives in theseselected districts were also selected. A total of 100 skilled workers involved in
technology use in these enterprises were also selected as respondents in the study. Thus,
the total sample size of the study was 153 comprising of the 45 MSME coconut
entrepreneurs, 08 FPO CEOs and 100 skilled workers.
The results delineated three major products from coconut enterprises based on
productionproportion viz. coconut oil (81.14%), virgin coconut oil (VCO) (9.43%) and
coconut paste (9.43%). Coconut oil was identified to have a production proportion of 80
per cent in micro enterprises while in small enterprises and in medium and social
enterprises it recorded 90 and 76.93 per cent respectively.
The technology use pattern of coconut enterprises was mapped based on the skill
sets of the workforce related to communication skills, technical skills, problem solving
skills, interpersonal skills and decision-making skills. The correspondence analysis result
showed that problem solving skills was associated with both micro and small enterprises
while decision making skills and technical skills were associated with small enterprises.
The skill which assumedimportance in medium and social enterprises was interpersonal
skill. The analysis of perceived skill competence of workforce across the enterprises
revealed that, in micro enterprises workers expressed highest competence in problem
solving while in small enterprises it was for technical skills while in the case of medium
and social enterprises the workers perceived their expertise in decision making. The
perceived skill gap analysis revealed that in micro enterprises the highest gap (with a
score of 34.17) was in decision making and in small, medium and social enterprises were
lacking more in problem solving skills with scores 30.96 and 24.22 respectively. Kruskal-
Wallis test was performed to compare the perceived skill competence of workforce in
different category of enterprises and it showed that there was a significant difference in
the perceived skill competence of work force among the different categories of coconut
enterprises.
The technological capability of enterprises was estimated using technology
capability index (TCI) with resources, level of technology use, market competency and
coordination and accessibility as four macro indexes. The weightage for each macroindex was calculated from the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The average TCI
score for the entire coconut-based enterprises were found to be 0.34 and the enterprise
categories were giving importance for level of technology use (with a score of 0.66) in
developing their technological capability followed by resources (0.5). There was a
significant positive correlation between technological capability and educational status,
skill competence of workforce at 5 per cent level of significance and a significant
positive correlation between the level of extension contact, mass media contact, social
participation, managerial competency, level of technology use, and production capacity
at 10 per cent level of significance. Scaling readiness of technologies were measured as
the product of innovation use and innovation readiness in the levels of management,
technology use and marketing. The micro enterprises got highest score of scaling
readiness which in turn indicates more interventions can be made with less investment in
the existing technological ecosystem of these enterprises.
The study suggested a frame work combining selected dimensions to elucidate
sustainable
entrepreneurship
development
in
coconut
enterprises.
Sustainable
entrepreneurship development in coconut enterprises has been defined as the function of
technological capability of enterprises, skill competence of workforce, scale readiness of
innovations and forward and backward linkages of the enterprise. The technology
capability dimensions identified were resources, level of technology use, market
competency and coordination and accessibility. The skill competence determined the
technology use pattern in coconut enterprises from the significant relation with TC.
Innovation was another important attribute of technology capability which was analyzed
in termsof its scaling readiness. Scaling readiness defined the status of an enterprise to
upgrade with technological innovations at different levels. The forward and backward
linkages in enterprise such as value and supply chain channels were also having
paramount importance in the determining the sustainable enterprise performance.