Competitive advantage through responsible innovation in the New Zealand sheep dairy industry

Abstract

This paper explores the opportunity for New Zealand to establish and sustain an internationally competitive sheep dairy industry. As part of this it evaluates the role of responsible innovation (RI) within the New Zealand sheep dairy (NZSD) industry and whether this can assist in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. In the context of agrifood supply chains RI has received little attention despite the fact that these industries have significant environmental, ethical and social impacts. The research also addresses the lack of evidence as how to put RI into practice and the claim that the practical applicability of RI is not possible. The French sheep dairy industry was used as a comparative case study for the New Zealand industry. Information was gathered through a literature search, the comparative case study and interviews with New Zealand and French industry experts. Comparisons were made between the strategic capabilities and structural forces of the sheep dairy industries in both France and New Zealand. The study found that for the NZSD industry to achieve a competitive advantage it would need to pursue a differentiation strategy that focused on customer responsiveness, innovation, sustainability and quality. Furthermore, the study identified that RI had the potential to assist the NZSD industry by providing distinctive competencies to develop a competitive advantage. This is because there were existing resources and capabilities that provided a platform for differentiation. There were also strategic and economic drivers in the NZSD industry that encouraged RI as a competitive strategy. This indicated that for RI to occur there needed to be economic incentives that encouraged companies to pursue this strategy.