Title: Technology innovation and financial performance of MSMEs during Covid-19 lockdown in Dammam area of Saudi Arabia: a case of food and beverage sector

Authors: Yusuf Opeyemi Akinwale

Addresses: Department of Economics, College of Business Administration, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown associated with it have shown how turbulent the business environment could be. The resources (tangible or intangible) become very crucial to the survival of firms during this period. Innovation has theoretically been documented as a valuable resource which could foster firm performance. The aim of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between innovation efforts, technology innovation and the financial performance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in food and beverage sector in Dammam area of Saudi Arabia. The results of structural equation model reveal that innovation efforts contribute positively and significantly to product and process innovations. Meanwhile, process innovation is positively significant in influencing the MSMEs' financial performance whereas product innovation though positive but not significant. This implies that top management in this sector should concentrate more on process innovation as this improve their financial performance during the lockdown in Dammam.

Keywords: technology innovation; financial performance; innovation efforts; food and beverage sector; Covid-19; micro, small and medium enterprises; MSMEs; Saudi Arabia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTLID.2020.110622

International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2020 Vol.12 No.2, pp.136 - 152

Received: 14 Jul 2020
Accepted: 26 Jul 2020
Published online: 26 Oct 2020 *

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