Select issue
Silva Fennica 1926-1997
1990-1997
1980-1989
1970-1979
1960-1969
1950-1959
1940-1949
1926-1939
Acta Forestalia Fennica
1992-1999
1984-1991
1974-1983
1968-1973
1953-1968
1933-1952
1913-1932
Articles containing the keyword 'product development'
Category : Research article
article id 239,
category
Research article
(2008).
Antecedents and barriers to product innovation – a comparison between innovating and non-innovating strategic business units in the wood industry.
Silva Fennica
vol.
42
no.
4
article id 239.
https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.239
Abstract |
View details
|
Full text in PDF |
Author Info
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.
-
Stendahl,
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Products, P.O. Box 7008, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
E-mail:
matti.stendahl@sprod.slu.se
- Roos, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Products, P.O. Box 7008, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden E-mail: ar@nn.se
Click this link to register to Silva Fennica.
If you are a registered user, log in to save your selected articles for later access.
Your selected articles
Silva Fennica ·
Finnish Society of Forest Science
