ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: A STUDY OF ALBANIAN FIRMS

Rezart Prifti
University of Tirana, Rr. Arben Broci. Albania

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/EMAN.2019.589

3rd International Scientific Conference – EMAN 2019 – Economics and Management: How to Cope With Disrupted Times, Ljubljana – Slovenia, March 28, 2019, CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans, Belgrade, Serbia; Faculty of Management Koper, Slovenia; Doba Business School – Maribor, Slovenia; Integrated Business Faculty –  Skopje, Macedonia; Faculty of Management – Zajecar, Serbia, ISBN 978-86-80194-17-2, ISSN 2683-4510

Abstract:

Organizational innovation theories mostly utilize a dichotomous division between types of innovation and stages of innovation. For instance, the dual core theory dissects innovation in administrative and technical dimensions, hereby emphasizing the dissimilarities between technical and social systems of an organization (Daft 1978; Damanpour & Evan 1984). Moreover, the theory of innovation radicalness uses a different phrasing of organizational innovativeness, whereas the ambidextrous theory of innovation examines how an organization adopts certain innovations by identifying two separate stages. This paper’s purpose is to investigate how organizational innovation affects two other aspects of innovation – technical and administrative innovation – which comprise the general innovation construct. The study was conducted employing a sample of 100 Albanian firms, where the organizational innovation model has been enquired to test the effect it exercises on general organizational innovativeness (simply referred to as innovation). This structure is further controlled by the influence of several independent variables, including company size, employee education level, production vs. service-based orientation, and whether the firm sources its research and development (R&D) activities internally or externally. Despite some inconclusive evidence, the empirical findings presented in this study demonstrate an overall positive relationship between organizational innovation and firm innovative activity, as related to technical and administrative innovation. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the only Albanian study that measures organizational innovation and firm innovativeness.

Keywords:

Organizational innovation, Technical innovation, Administrative innovation, Firm Innovativeness, Dual core theory, Innovation radicalness, Ambidextrous theory

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