An examination of the institutional implication of the relationship between the managerial level of education and experience on firm innovation in Africa
ISSN: 2040-8269
Article publication date: 4 November 2022
Issue publication date: 6 June 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Access to finance and corruption are two major institutional obstacles hindering firm innovation in Africa whose implication on the fit between managerial characteristics and firm innovation has not been examined. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether firms may want to hire managers with a good fit when faced with institutional constraints and the authors suggest managerial level of education and experience within an industry could play a vital role in helping such firms innovate.
Design/methodology/approach
Secondary data was obtained from the World Bank Enterprise Survey on 17 African countries and a series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to achieve the aim of the research.
Findings
The findings show that while managers with primary and secondary education had a negative relationship with firm innovation (product and process), managers with a university degree had a positive relationship. This relationship was also confirmed when the authors’ split the full sample into two sub-samples (the firms that are institutionally constrained by access to finance and corruption) and therefore confirm the institutional implications of managers fit for firm’s innovation.
Originality/value
While research on the effect of management characteristics on firm innovation has focused more on large firms and mostly from developed economies testing both direct and mediation effects, little research exists as to whether the institutional obstacles faced by small firms could influence the type of managers required to drive their innovation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors will like to thank the editor and the reviewers for their valuable feedback during the review process.
Funding information: The authors have no funding information to disclose.
Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Citation
Njinyah, S.Z., Jones, S., Alsiehemy, A. and Aldawaish, B. (2023), "An examination of the institutional implication of the relationship between the managerial level of education and experience on firm innovation in Africa", Management Research Review, Vol. 46 No. 7, pp. 951-975. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-11-2021-0778
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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