Abstract:
This thesis both adds to knowledge, and supports practice. It achieves this purpose through focusing on the role of prototypes in the market validation process, via a case study of an innovation in the New Zealand commercial apiculture industry. One of the threats to this industry is the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor. Currently available control products are inadequate for reasons including the rise of pesticide resistance in the mite. Thus, innovators are motivated to develop new control measures. However, innovators often face significant market risk. This can be mitigated through market validation, an iterative learning process. Prototypes represent an important component within this process, serving to bridge the innovator-user gap. However, current knowledge and research is limited in the areas of (1) market validation in the SME context, (2) the role of prototypes within this process, and (3) barriers to prototyping which innovators at SMEs face. This thesis addresses these gaps by investigating how SMEs can better validate, through prototypes, new product or service offerings to meet the needs of apiculture end users. This project comprised a single case study exploring the role of prototypes in the market validation process at SMEs, with a focus on MiteTarget (a pseudonym), a SME set up to develop a novel control treatment for the Varroa mite. Additionally, barriers to the process of prototyping in this context were investigated. Data was collected via interviews, participant observation, and secondary data sources. Findings were that market validation facilitates engagement and communication between innovators and users, supporting existing literature. For innovators, prototypes enable user communication and organisational learning, while users are able to experience and evaluate a novel product. Both supply and demand-side barriers to prototyping were uncovered with these centering on resource scarcity and risk. This research contributed to the literature on market validation, and increased understanding around prototyping and the barriers to prototyping within this process. An integrated framework summarising the characteristics of the market validation process and the role of prototypes within it was presented.