Impact Of Barriers To Innovation Diffusion On Product Co-creation Within Industrial Network In Developing Economies

Innovation is the major component of entrepreneurship and a value chain in emerging economies.Product co-creation is the correlation between product innovation and entrepreneurship,as well as a channel to promote product innovation,and the basic intention for bringing enterprises together.This has greatly facilitated the diffusion of new ideas and technologies within the company in the area of new product development,that is,through a diffusion process of innovation.Industrial clusters in developing economies are largely composed of small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs)that usually survive by imitating product technology and low-cost innovation.According to the theory of industrial agglomeration,the acquisition of industrial network is very important to product co-creation.With this concept,clusters have evolved among many developing country enterprises,as most developed economic enterprises have survived through industrial networks.Studies on conglomeration innovations have discovered DOI as a potential driver that enhances effective innovation performances of SMEs in clusters.Enterprises and firms diffuse innovation based on knowledge and resource transfer in order to improve their innovation performances to withstand the global market competitions.This study attempts to explore the factors that hinder innovation creation and the diffusion of innovations within a cluster-based environment and to enhance resource transfer leading to innovation performance of the cluster-based industries and SMEs in developing countries.Therefore,the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of barriers to innovation diffusion on product co-creation and innovation performance in wood processing and automobile clusters.The exploration geared through systematic approaches that involve five main objectives to accomplish answers to the research question.These were: First,the study pursued to examine the survival rate of industrial clusters in developing countries.Second,the study attempted to analyse the key characteristics of industrial clusters in developing countries.The third objective was to explore the internal and external factors in the Ghanaian industrial cluster that influences the diffusion of innovation in the cluster.Fourth,the researcher reviewed the extent at which these factors influence innovation diffusion and product co-creation in the cluster.The last objective was to explore the extent to which innovation diffusion barriers affect product co-creation and innovation performance in an industrial cluster.Random surveys conducted in several developing countries provide evidence that developing economic industrial clusters are unable to diffuse relevant innovative ideas from one firm to another.Preliminary survey conducted in selected clusters in Ghana confirms and attributes this challenge to specific impediments that are classically outlined as social,economic,political,religious and legal factors.To achieve the perceived aim of the stated objectives for the study,a wide-ranging literature was considered as a theoretical field of reference for the industrial cluster,innovation diffusion and co-creation.The information acquired as a theoretical foundation and literature review were used as secondary data to confirm the analysis for the study.Preliminary test was piloted to determine the proportion of the adequacy of the sample using the measurement of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin(KMO MSA)sample and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was tested,and the value recorded at the acceptable threshold.The reliability threshold level is 0.80.Factor analysis was then conducted on all dimensions of the industrial network.The study then involved other tests like Catell's Scree test and Cronbach's alpha correlation co-efficient to examine the internal consistency of the factors to be investigated.Ordinary Least Square Regression Model(OLSRM)was the first employed model to analyse the data obtained from the investigation of the industrial network acquisition.This model can assist in finding the independent influencial factors on internal and external barriers to innovation diffusion within the clusters.The model explores the strategic motivations and interdependencies of SMEs in the Ghana wood processing and automobile clusters in terms of access to industrial networks and strong linkages.Finally,the error of the effectiveness of the strategic incentive factors was determined by using the analysis model,and the significant relationship between the selected enterprises were also examined.This method was therefore used to predict how internal and external barriers to innovation diffusion affect the transfer of resources generated by industrial network acquisition and product cocreation for SMEs in a cluster of developing economies.In the second stage of the analysis involved Structural Equation Model(SEM)to examine the interaction of the acquisition of industrial network that influences resource transfer and the innovation diffusion for product co-creation through an Absorptive Capacity(AC).This kind of model basically presents results on the various indexes that test the significance of the various stages like the recommended range and structural model.This method considered exploratory factor analysis as well as involvement of several significance test like canonical correlation coefficient,reliability test,multivariate test,dimension reduction analysis,model fit measurement and regression rate,The SEM was then used to determine how significance and confidence the result support the prediction that resource transfer mediates the relationship between industrial network acquisition and innovation performance.The analytical results showed a significantly positive correlation between the internal and external DOI barriers that influence the industrial networks acquisition and resource transfer.Resource transfer mediates the relationship between industrial network acquisition and innovation diffusion for product co-creation.That means the negative impact on industrial networks hinders the transfer of resources for product co-creation.Based on the analytical results,potential significance on the internal factors that contribute to innovation prevention among wood processing and automobile enterprises achieved an absolute relationship between innovation diffusion and product co-creation.Thereby a complementary and interactive relationship between wood processing enterprises and SME-based automobile clusters exist within the development of industrial networks.This is due to a relational and strategic element,which includes collaborative product innovation established to determine core competencies and achieve basic objectives of competitive advantage.However,this finding reveals an important insight into the academic debate on strategic directions,with governments and other stakeholders willing to release more resources and provide financial support by way of helping SMEs overcome barriers to innovation diffusion.Because of the interdependence between firms and governments,business networks are supported,so that small firms in clusters have access to critical and limited market resources in an organizational environment to promote higher innovation performance.The conclusion of the study pointed out these suggestions and implications;there must be resourceful environmental factors to facilitate industrial network acquisition for innovation diffusion.Inter and intra transmission of knowledge and resources are to be adopted for innovation performance.Cluster-based wood processing and automobile SMEs must acquire a very strong industrial network that will enable the transfer of the main resources that are needed to promote product co-creation.It was again suggested that cluster-based SMEs,particularly in developing countries,needed to build strategic partnerships and alliances with national governments,with the potential to access additional resources with the help of national governments to improve innovation performance.Finally,with regard to the open innovation as required by the SMEs functioning in the wood processing and automobile clusters,they should possess a broader breeding of innovation diffusion environment that will ensure innovation capabilities for a competitive advantage.They should similarly have a strategic relationship with universities and research institutes in order to reach innovative products that ultimately promote the co-creation of products and also be competitive in the world market of creation.