%0 Research article
%T Antecedents and barriers to product innovation – a comparison between innovating and non-innovating strategic business units in the wood industry
%A Stendahl, Matti
%A Roos, Anders
%D 2008
%J Silva Fennica
%V 42
%N 4
%R doi:10.14214/sf.239
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/239
%X Increased competitive pressure from low-cost economies and substituting  materials has raised the need for new strategies focusing on product  differentiation in the Nordic wood industry. With the aim to identify  factors that can facilitate increased product innovation activity, this  study compared organizational characteristics and perceived barriers to  product development among innovating and non-innovating strategic  business units (SBUs) in the Swedish and Finnish wood industry.  Multivariate analysis of data from a cross-sectional sample of 110 SBUs  suggested that organizational size and educational level among  white-collar workers are significant antecedents of product innovation  activity. Furthermore, the difficulty of giving practical priority to  development work in the everyday stress was identified as the most  important perceived barrier to product development among managers in  both innovating and non-innovating SBUs. A low competence level among  the personnel and a low need to innovate was perceived to be the second  most important barriers to product development among managers in,  respectively, innovating and non-innovating SBUs. Practitioners who wish  to increase product innovation activity in the wood industry are  advised to promote an increased educational level in wood industry  companies. They are further encouraged to seek ways to reduce the  perceived barriers to product innovation identified in this study.