A Case Study on Value Chain Innovation of Marine Ranching

Abstract

Yantai is a traditional region of marine economy. Marine ranch is the basic unit of the industry. The new generation of marine engineering equipment provides the conditions, as well as the foundation, for the value chain innovation of local marine ranching. It is significant to study and explore the innovation mechanism of the value chain to enhance the competitive advantage of Yantai marine ranches. In this paper, two typical marine ranches in Yantai area were selected as the research objects. Through on the spot interviews, visits and relevant web pages, the survey data were obtained. The qualitative research method of "grounded theory" was used to encode the data and test the theoretical saturation. The logical framework describing the innovation mechanism of the value chain was deduced. Furtherly, with the framework, two selected case ranches were analyzed. The conclusion was: the innovation of the value chain of the case ranch was triggered by both internal and external conditions; innovation knowledge came from the internal and external technical knowledge or management knowledge of the enterprise, and was often the result of the integration of internal and external knowledge; new knowledge was organically integrated into value chain activities, forming new products and processes, and realizing value chain innovation; value chain innovation had produced economic, social and ecological effects.

Keywords

• marine ranching
• value chain innovation
• grounded theory
• case study