'Innovation is integral to MSME'. Discuss giving reasons to your answer.
Innovation is indeed integral to MSMEs as they play a crucial role in fostering creativity and entrepreneurial development. MSMEs form an integral part of the value chain for building a conducive environment for indigenous skills, grass root innovations and entrepreneurship development.
MSMEs provide ample opportunity for entrepreneurship where the latent skills and talents of people can be channelled into business ideas. These ideas can be converted into reality with little capital investment and almost nil formalities to start a small business, making innovation accessible to common people.
Due to the small size of the organisations, quick and timely decisions can be taken without consulting many people as it happens in large sized organisations. This flexibility enables MSMEs to capture new business opportunities at the right time, fostering innovation.
MSMEs contribute significantly by using local raw materials and indigenous skills. This promotes grass root innovations and widens the entrepreneurial base, making innovation an inherent part of their functioning.
Thus, innovation and entrepreneurship are deeply connected to MSMEs, making them vital for economic prosperity and industrial development of the country.
Explanation
The answer draws directly from the textbook context which states that MSMEs 'form an integral part of value chain for building a conducive environment for indigenous skills, grass root innovations and entrepreneurship development.' The context also highlights how MSMEs provide opportunities for entrepreneurship, enable quick decision-making due to small size, and utilise local raw materials and indigenous skills - all pointing to innovation being integral to MSMEs.