Impact of strategic alliance on the innovation of women-owned enterprises in Nigeria

Women-owned enterprises are rapidly expanding across Africa and have significantly contributed to job growth and wealth development. These enterprises, however, find it challenging to pursue innovation, because of their size and their financial base. Women-owned enterprises, however, can access various resources, talents, and techniques through effective strategic alliances. Being in alliance with other market participants allows these enterprises to overcome the hurdles limiting their performance and innovativeness. This research analyses the impact of strategic alliances on the innovation of women-owned enterprises in Nigeria. The study adopts a quantitative survey approach. It selected 109 women-owned enterprises from five manufacturing subsectors in the study area, using a purposive random sample technique. Regression analysis is used to analyze the data, while tables are utilized to show results. The results reveal that different strategic alliance characteristics had different effects on the innovation of women-owned enterprises. The finding in process innovation showed that increased new opportunities and cost reduction led to 0.76 and 0.62 increases in process innovation, respectively. In comparison, an increase in cost reduction led to a 0.63 increase in product innovation in the enterprises. These results signified that strategic alliances enabled women-owned enterprises to achieve product and process innovation. This study recommends that policymakers should encourage the use of strategic alliances by women-owned enterprises. This will allow them to innovate by introducing new products and processes in their enterprises.