The Influence Of Innovation Types On Firm Performance Of The Hospitality Industry In Ghana

Innovation of all types are fundamental practices supporting resilient economic growth.Innovation is the key to the survival of commercial firms such as hotels in today's business and market settings.Therefore,since the economy of Ghana depends largely on small and medium scale enterprises,hotels become a significant piece of this puzzle.However,research on innovation has up to date focused mainly on developed market economies and manufacturing industries with less attention on the service industry.By far,few studies have examined the relationship between the types of innovation and firm performance in an integrated and comprehensive manner.Consequently,this creates a research gap which if not addressed has the potential to lead to policy imbalance.Precisely,the study examines the effects of innovation types on the firm performance of hotels in Ghana and as well investigates the mediating effect of knowledge sharing together with the moderating effect of firm size on the relationship between innovation types and firm performance.This research direction is critical due to the gap in the extant literature of how hotels in developing countries implement innovations to enhance firm performance.Again,this study will contribute to the businesses and innovation literature on the service sector especially hospitality industry which include hotels and their innovative characteristics in the socio-economic context.Although several research approaches exist,the study employs the quantitative research approach to examine the relationship between the research variables.While the study focused on the hospitality industry of Ghana,the target scope of the study was streamlined to only the star rated hotels in the country.The justification for this decision is to ensure that all the hotels meet specific industry standards.In all,the census included a total of 680 star rated hotels across the country.Survey questionnaire was used to solicit the response of managers at these hotels.In all,a total of 636 response were gathered from the expected 680 resulting into a response 93.5%.This was due to the unwillingness of some hotels managers to participate in the study.The Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model(PLS-SEM)was employed as the main tool to estimating the path among the study constructs.The path analysis results from the PLS-SEM approach showed that innovation has a significant and positive relationship with firm performance of star rated hotels.Specifically,product,process,organizational and marketing innovations as innovation types distinctly showed significant relationship with firm performance.Again,innovation positively influenced knowledge sharing in these hotels.In the case of examining the mediation relationship,knowledge sharing activities in these hotels was evidenced to positively mediate the relationship between innovation types and firm performance.Finally,in the case of investigating the moderating relationship,firm size on the other hand was witnessed not to have a significant moderating effect on the affiliations amid innovation type and firm performance.From the findings,four novelties were derived;firstly,we developed a framework that considers innovation types individually rather than the usual composite innovation types and firm performance nexus,which provides clarity in terms of the specific type of innovation firms should patronize.Secondly,the use of knowledge sharing as a mediator in investigating the relationship between innovation types and hotel firm performance is found to enhance the impact innovation types has on firm performance.Thirdly,the findings of the moderating effect of Firm size is thought-provoking since it differs from existing literature used to build the hypothesis,giving rise to an interesting idea for further research.Lastly,we hold that the simultaneous mediation–moderation effect of knowledge sharing and firm size respectively is an extension of the innovation-performance concept both in theory and practice.Preferably,the study outcome confirms the significance of innovation in promoting firm performance in the star rated hotels.Consequently,innovation should be an ongoing activity which is constantly promoted to prevent the firm falling behind in competition.For example,the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced most hotels to diffuse several forms of innovation to ensure continual business.Further,hotels firms should set up research and development departments to seek for opportunities to innovate to improve services at all times.Technology and innovation are an on-going phenomenon;thus the technology for today is likely to be outdated in the future.Therefore,there is the need for management of the star rated hotels to constantly update their knowledge on recent innovations and technology in the industry.Management additionally should endeavor to constantly train employees on new innovations and technologies.