Educational Diversity and Product Innovation in Manufacturing Firms in Calabar, Cross River State
Abstract
The cross-sectional survey examined the effect of knowledge sharing diversity, continuous learning diversity, and educational attainment diversity on new product development in manufacturing firms in Calabar, Cross River State. A Cognitive Learning Theory was adopted to explain learning as a process where information is structured, organized, and retrieved to accommodate different backgrounds. A structured questionnaire was used to facilitate data collection. Content and face validity, and Cronbach's alpha reliability were used to ascertain the reliability of the data. Descriptive statistics and multicollinearity with the variance inflation factor were used to ascertain the accuracy of the data set. The hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis. Findings revealed that knowledge sharing diversity (Beta = 0.672, P<0.05), continuous learning diversity (Beta = 0.661, P<0.05), and educational attainment diversity (Beta = 0.672, P<0.05) significantly affect new product development in manufacturing firms. The study concluded that the combination of vocational expertise, business and technical skills enhances the operational growth of manufacturing firms. It was recommended that the HR manager should continuously design policies that promote knowledge sharing to drive product development through the combination of expertise and skills to build and solve problems that affect product launch. The HR manager should prioritize continuous learning to spark creativity, accelerate the firm's adaptation to market shifts, and improve problem-solving to achieve new product development. The HR manager should commit to educational attainment diversity to have a mix of various academic fields to enhance product development, overcome technical challenges, accelerate innovative design, and broaden collective knowledge.
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