Innovation: A key to Sustainable Competitive Advantage on High Street Women's Wear

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Acknowledgement

I would like to express my thanks to my advisor, for his suggestions, comments, patience and understanding. Very special thanks to my parents, my father, my mother, my brother and my sister who were continuously supporting me throughout my life and leaving me free in all my decisions. I would also like to thank my colleagues for his technical support whenever I needed. I would like to thank to Department, all the university managers, teachers and students with whom I have worked.

I certify that the work presented in the dissertation is my own unless referenced

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Declaration

I declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. I further declare that this work has not previously been presented in whole or part, for any other award, or published in whole or in part elsewhere, including this university. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between design innovation and competitive advantage attained by an organization. The core purpose of this study is to analyze the hypothetical assumption that design innovation is the key to attain competitive advantage on high street women's wear. This paper aims to analyze this hypothesis in the light of literature and secondary data accumulated from different sources. Moreover, the paper will also analyze this statement through primary research. In order to effectively analyze the hypothesis survey questionnaire was formulated for the analysis. Nonetheless, the questionnaire was distributed in the sample size of 150 respondents for their responses. This research used several secondary and primary approaches to analyze the hypothesis. After the analysis of the data, the null hypothesis was accepted and it was interpreted that there is a significant relationship between design innovation and competitive advantage achieved by an organization. In addition, the significance of the relationship was also validated by one-sample t-test analysis. The results obtained by this study are valid and reliable; hence, the results of the study can be generalized or used for strategy formulation process in organizations.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgementii

Declarationiii

Abstractiv

Chapter 1: Introduction6

1.1 Background to the Study7

1.2 Rationale for the Study8

1.3 Research Hypothesis8

1.4 Theoretical Framework9

Chapter 2: Literature Review10

Chapter 3: Research Methodology13

3.1 Research Design13

3.2 Sampling of Data13

3.3 Data Collection Process14

3.4 Instrument for Analysis15

3.5 Data Analysis Technique15

Chapter 4: Results16

Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion27

References29

Appendices33

Appendix 1: Gantt Chart33

Appendix 2: Questionnaire34

Chapter 1: Introduction

The world is becoming more fashion-conscious with each passing era. Women's fashion industry, particularly the High-Street fashion is a dynamic industry that involves continuous changes and innovations over time. Companies dealing in such fashion trends have to be thoroughly diligent and responsive towards adopting those changes so as to cater to the growing customer needs and requirements. Past studies have emphasized the significance of cooperation among firms within U.K or cluster as a basis for sharing knowledge and exchanging ...