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Metropolitan Journal of Academic and Applied Research

Technological Innovation in Business Growth in Uganda: A Case Study of Tito General Hardware, Kasangati

Authors: Nannozi Caroline Maria1 , Mwesigwa Henry2

Journal: Metropolitan Journal of Academic and Applied Research (MJAAR)

Volume/Issue: Volume 5 - Issue 7

Published: 06 Aug 2026


Abstract

Small and growing businesses constitute the backbone of Uganda's private sector, yet many face stunted growth attributable in part to weak innovation, and the mechanisms through which technological innovation translates into growth at the level of an individual enterprise remain inadequately specified. This study examined the influence of technological innovation on business growth at Tito General Hardware, Kasangati. Adopting a positivist philosophy and a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 96 respondents drawn through stratified random sampling from a target population of 128 comprising management, sales and counter staff, stores and inventory personnel, accounts staff, procurement officers, and delivery and logistics staff. A structured questionnaire measured four technological innovation dimensions, namely product and stock range innovation, process and inventory system innovation, marketing and customer interface innovation, and payment and financial technology adoption, against business growth assessed through sales turnover, customer base expansion, market reach, and employment growth. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS version 26. Findings revealed that payment and financial technology adoption recorded the highest mean while process and inventory system innovation recorded the lowest. All four dimensions correlated significantly and positively with business growth, with process and inventory system innovation strongest (r = 0.701, p < 0.01), followed by marketing and customer interface innovation (r = 0.638, p < 0.01), product and stock range innovation (r = 0.572, p < 0.01), and payment and financial technology adoption (r = 0.514, p < 0.01). The regression model was significant, F(4, 86) = 41.83, p < 0.001, explaining 56.6 per cent of variance in business growth, with process and inventory system innovation (β = 0.361) dominant. The findings corroborate Sendawula et al. (2023), who found that innovative small businesses register higher performance than non-innovative counterparts, while noting the contrary finding of Ebrahimi et al. (2018) that organisational innovation has no effect on SME performance. The study concludes that internal process innovation rather than customer-facing technology drives hardware retail growth and recommends inventory system investment, structured stock control, and integration of payment data into demand forecasting.
Keywords

Technological innovation; business growth; small and growing businesses; process innovation; inventory systems; hardware retail; Tito General Hardware; Kasangati; Uganda.

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