THE INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT AND MANAGERIAL INNOVATIONS - A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF SELECTED NIGERIAN FIRMS

This was an exploratory study in which we examined managerial innovati ons in Nigeria. We interviewed 60 managers in 30 private and public or ganizations selected on the basis of having innovated in the two years before the study. We found a total of 104 entrepreneurial (20 per cen t), technological (40 per cent) and administrative (37 per cent) innov ations. The entrepreneurial innovations were significantly less becaus e the institutional environment was characterized by entry as well as exit barriers. These included dependency and isolation from Western te chnology, political patronage and a high level of moral hazard. These barriers made innovations a costly and expensive venture into which or ganizations entered reluctantly so that the bulk of innovations were o f the type that consolidated existing ventures or prevented their demi se. To ensure success and to minimize risks, consultants were often ca lled to advise on targeted innovations. This increased the costs still further. To justify costs, innovations were often perceived as image maintaining.