Predicting Business Innovation Intention Based on Perceived Barriers: A Machine Learning Approach

Abstract

In the Industry 4.0 scenario, innovation emerges as a clear driver for the economic development of societies. This effect is particularly true for the least developed countries. Nevertheless, there is a lack of studies that analyze this phenomenon in these nations. In this context, this study aims to examine the impact of perceived barriers to innovation to predict companies′ innovative intentions in an emerging economy. This study is a preliminary effort to use data mining and symmetry-based learning concepts, especially classification, to assist the identification of strategies to incentivize intention to innovate in companies. Using the decision tree classification technique, we analyzed a sample of Chilean companies (N = 5876). The sample was divided into large enterprises (LEs) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In the group of large companies, the barriers that most impact the intention to innovate are innovation cost, lack of demand innovations, and lack of qualified personnel. Alternatively, in the group of small-medium companies, the barriers that most impact the intention to innovate are lack of own funds, lack of demand innovations, and lack of information about technology. These results show how the perceptions of barriers are significant to predict the intentions of innovation in Chilean companies. Furthermore, the perceptions of these barriers are contingent on the organizational sizes. These findings contribute to understanding the effect of contingencies on innovative intention in an emerging economy.

Adoption and Diffusion of Technologies 4.0 Based on the Innovative Trajectory and the Scale of Operation: The Case of Chile

“…In this context, the study by Rojas-Córdova et al (2020), using data science tools through decision trees, concluded that in large Chilean companies, the most significant barriers affecting the intention to innovate are costs, lack of demand for innovations, and lack of qualified personnel. On the other hand, the barriers in the small and medium-sized Chilean companies are lack of own resources, lack of demand for innovations, and lack of information on technology.…”

“…Companies with an innovative track record have greater organizational flexibility, a fundamental condition for adopting and disseminating technologies 4.0. Therefore, a business culture willing to innovate, together with a continuous improvement strategy of processes and products, facilitates the adoption of new technologies (Agostini & Filippini, 2019;Horváth & Szabo, 2019;Rojas-Córdova, Heredia-Rojas, B., & Ramírez-Correa, 2020). This promotes the generation of new business models through personalizing consumption, commercializing new algorithms that complement the production, and through more effectively operating a value network (Botha, 2019;Müller, Kiel, & Voigt, 2018).…”

Adopción Y Difusión De Las Tecnologias 4.0 a Partir De La Trayectoria Innovativa Y La Escala De Operación: El Caso De Chile

“…Las empresas que presentan una trayectoria innovadora tienen una mayor flexibilidad organizativa, lo que es una condición fundamental para adoptar y difundir tecnologías 4.0. En este sentido, una cultura empresarial proclive a la innovación junto con una estrategia de mejora continua de procesos y productos facilitan la adopción de las nuevas tecnologías (Agostini & Filippini, 2019;Horváth & Szabo, 2019;Rojas-Córdova, Heredia-Rojas, B., & Ramírez-Correa, 2020) y permiten generar nuevos modelos de negocios por la vía de la personalización del consumo, la comercialización de nuevos algoritmos que se complementan con la producción, y la mejor operación de una red de valor (Botha, 2019;Müller, Kiel, & Voigt, 2018).…”

Limits to the Productivity in Biobased Territorial SMEs

“…Meyer et al (2018) find that the main constraints in SMEs’ growth are the shortage of skilled labor, insufficient business training and lack of opportunities to establish contacts that help to proactively detect opportunities. Finally, Rojas-Córdova et al (2020) determine that in SMEs, the lack of own resources, the absence of technological information and the perception of a demand for products not very inclined to innovate are highly relevant.…”