Importance of business linkage in the marketing of Handicraft product: A Case Study of Handicraft Industry in Manipur

Abstract

Handicraft industry is a major industry, and source of employment for rural as well as urban Manipur and India. But this industry has a big issue of sustainability in the present micro-and macro economics environment. To sustain in the present competitive environment, business linkage has been adopted as a strategy to make the industry competitive in terms of productivity and help better marketing. One of the main problems of handicraft industry is lack of marketing capability on the part of craftsman. This paper will study the importance of business linkage for sustainable growth of handicraft Industry and examine the type of business linkage which is prevailing in Manipur. The impact of business linkage type like commercial subcontracting, joint venture, buyback, arms length market transaction, licensing etc on the profit and sales of handicraft industry in Manipur are also examined. Logit model is used to examine the impact of these variables on the growth of handicrafts industry in Manipur.