Governance and innovation obstacles in Moroccan SMEs-SMIs

Abstract

At a time when innovation is increasingly recognized as a key driver of growth. In each country, SMEs have an important role to play. As a result, several studies focused their research on the favorable factors for innovation. However few of them focused on its obstacles. The aim of this study is to analyze innovation through to opposite approach, by putting under a scope the analysis of the different obstacles faced by Moroccan SME’s during the innovative process. They recommend a systemic approach of the innovative policies that must take into account the established complementarities.

To overcome barriers of innovation related to excessive economic risks, high costs of innovation or lack of appropriate sources of funding, we conducted a survey on a sample of 328 companies that have exercised an innovative activity during the last three years, with the goal of identifying the barriers to innovation within these companies. Our results suggest the important role of the state and foreign entities in the social capital, as well as that of partnerships and technical cooperation.

At the end of this paper, the results show that the ability of small and medium-sized enterprises to innovate result from a complex internal and external process which, given the limited resources available to SMEs, must rely on efficient innovation systems at different levels.

Our research aims to provide decision-makers (at the level of company and various stakeholders) with useful results for their innovation strategies and policies, and approaches to mitigate in the short term, and to overcome in the medium and long term the obstacles of innovation.

JEL Classification : O3, O11, O16

Paper type: Empirical research