An examination of the institutional implication of the relationship between the managerial level of education and experience on firm innovation in Africa

Jones, Sally ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4760-5969, Njinyah, Sam ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7746-9750, Alsiehemy, Ali and Aldawaish, Bader (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: Communication of emergent international management research, 46 (7). pp. 951-975. ISSN 2040-8269

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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 research is to examine whether firms may want to hire managers with a good fit when faced with institutional constraints and we 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 - Our 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 level of significance was also confirmed when we split our 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 – 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.