1Isaac Kofi Yornu | 2Dr. David Ackah, PhD.
1Lecturers, Procurement Department, Accra Technical University
2President, Institute of Project Management Professionals, Ghana
Email: ikyornu2000@gmail.com | drackah@ipmp.edu.gh
Abstract
Innovation and Creativity are considered as the backbone of enterprise development, a reality that is beginning to be absorbed by the African business community. This study became necessary as a result of the frequent closure of Small and Medium Enterprises SMEs in Ghana and Sub-Sahara Africa due to lack of creativity and innovativeness among the entrepreneurs. As resources are becoming limited and leaving the gap of underserves some markets, there is the need to adopt Frugal (Jugaad) Innovative practices to enable consumers to acquire their demands at quality and affordable price. This study analyzed creativity and innovation with frugal innovative capabilities on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. Both research questionnaires and interview guides were used to solicit data from the coverage area which is the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana. A total of 268 respondents were the selected size of the sample for the study. The SMEs in the Kumasi metropolis admitted to almost all the measuring items as being positively impacted or enhanced by creativity and innovation which invariably improve the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Also, The SMEs in this study support creativity and innovative strategies with the motive of meeting customer demands, promoting growth, reducing operational cost and enhancing quality and productivity. An assessment of the effects of frugal innovative capabilities on SMEs has shown that adversity as a source of innovation is vital for organisational survival and growth and also, lack of talented and skilful labour has been recorded as the severe factor that hinders the smooth adoption of frugal innovation impedes the smooth practice of frugal innovative adoption by SMEs. They believed that well Frugal Innovative practices will lead to waste reduction in business operations therefore resulting in high productivity at low cost at customers expected quality.
Keywords: Creativity, Innovation, Frugal Innovative Capabilities, Small & Medium Enterprises
