INFORMATION SHARING AND ORGANISATIONAL INNOVATIVENESS OF DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between information sharing and two measures of organisational innovativeness: product innovativeness and service innovativeness, in deposit money banks in Rivers State, Nigeria. Anchored in Kanter's Structural Empowerment Theory and the Information Sharing Theory, the study adopted a positivist epistemological stance and a cross-sectional correlational survey design. The study population comprised twenty deposit money banks operating in Port Harcourt metropolis, Rivers State, with five managerial staff purposively selected from each institution, yielding a total sample of 100 respondents. Data were collected using a validated and reliable five-point Likert-scale structured questionnaire, and analysed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) statistic via SPSS Version 22.0. Results revealed that information sharing has a significant, positive, and moderate relationship with product innovativeness (r = .505, p = .000 < .05), and a significant, positive, but very weak relationship with service innovativeness (r = .106, p = .01 < .05). Both null hypotheses were rejected, confirming that information sharing significantly relates to both product and service innovativeness in Nigerian deposit money banks. The study concluded that robust information sharing practices among bank managers enhance the institution's capacity for product and service innovation. Recommendations include the institutionalisation of structured information dissemination systems, digital collaboration platforms, and knowledge management frameworks that facilitate real-time information flow among managerial staff in Nigerian deposit money banks.