Mapping Stakeholders Perceptions on Innovation Skills, through the Borich Needs Assessment Model: Empirical Evidence from a Developing Country

The digital transformation of the economy and the current innovation-oriented labor market requires an important stock of social skills that generate innovators with technical skills. This paper aims to analyze the public and private sector's innovation awareness and civil society and provide a needs assessment analysis concerning innovation skills in Albania. Based on the Borich Need Assessment Model, 44 skills were analyzed according to creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and self-directed scales through the discrepancy of desired and actual competencies. The needs are assessed using, Mean Weighted Discrepancy Scores (MWDS). The results show that innovation remains an abstract, not clearly defined concept, related to novel and creative thinking. The most important skills linked to innovation, according to respondents, relates to networking. The top five skills linked to innovation are interpersonal management, active listening, cooperation skills, motivation, and trust.