Innovation in Pakistan's Soccer Ball Industry: Barriers to Adoption

What is the best way to encourage adoption of technological change in the manufacturing sector in an emerging economy?

Amit Khandelwal, R.A. Farrokhnia, Eric Verhoogen  | Spring 2018
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THE JEROME CHAZEN CASE SERIES

Shamyla Johani was working as a consultant for a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on economic development in her native city of Sialkot, Pakistan, one of the world’s main soccer ball production hubs. Johani knew Sialkot’s soccer ball industry was slow to adopt changes and suspected there was a way to make it more efficient by introducing new technologies. After identifying a cost-saving technological innovation, she implemented a randomized controlled experiment to determine the most effective way to encourage firms to adopt the new technology. Johani monitored the factories for 15 months and was surprised by what she found. Adoption of the new approach was puzzlingly low. This case asks students to understand the costs and benefits of the new technology as well as organizational barriers and incentives to implementation.

Case ID: 180311

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