The impact of innovation culture on sustainable business growth in the Zimbabwean mining industry: A case of Hwange Colliery Company limited

Abstract

The study sought to examine the impact of innovation culture on sustainable business growth in the Zimbabwean mining industry focusing on Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) as the context of study. The objectives of the study were to determine five variables of innovation HCCL could adopt in order to achieve sustainable growth. The study adopted the quantitative research approach which used an exploratorydescriptive survey design in the enquiry. This prompted the use of a questionnaire with Likert scale rankings in data collection. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed with a response rate of 90% being realized. The SPSS (statistical package for social scientists) version 22 was used for data capture and analysis. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests for association, Cronbach Alpha Value, KMO and Bartlett test as well as distribution statistics. The outcome of the research revealed that, adoption of innovation culture had a positive impact on achieving sustainable business growth (mean=4.32, Std = 0.76; t (270) =27.88, p<0.01). The study results led the researcher to conclude that Product innovation (mean=4.15 and Std=0.911), Effective Brainstorming (mean=4.849, Std=1.03109), Strategic thinking (mean= 3.97, Std=0.83), Strategic innovation (mean=3.99, Std= 0.91), Survival value (mean=4.11, Std =0.98) were the innovations with the greatest impact to achieving sustainable business growth. The study concluded with recommendations for policy makers as well as management such as building strong relationships with stakeholders, enabling the removal of systemic barriers so as to achieve sustainable business growth.