Bringing Africa In: Promising Directions for Management Research

George, Gerard; Corbishley, Christopher; Khayesi, Jane N. O.; Haas, Martine R.; Tihanyi, László

doi:10.5465/amj.2016.4002

Cited by 336 publications

(347 citation statements)

References 67 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“…In a recent article, George, Corbishley et al (2016) point out that Africa represents a unique and promising research context for strategy, entrepreneurship and marketing as core disciplines. Along the same line, Bruton et al (2008) have criticized the almost exclusive reliance on advanced economies as research domains in developing entrepreneurship theory and advocate the use of novel research contexts, especially emerging economies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We answer the call from Urban (2012a) to test the moderating role of certain personal-level variables by using structural equation modelling. The second contribution is the unveiling of novel insights into the relationship between cognitive adaptability and entrepreneurial intention garnered from a research context different from that in which these constructs originated (George, Corbishley et al 2016;Zoogah et al 2015). Mainstream scholars in entrepreneurship research, with reference to cognition, have conducted their investigations from an advanced economy perspective, with a paucity of scientific evidence from emerging economies (Acs et al 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Exploring moderators in the relationship between cognitive adaptability and entrepreneurial intention: findings from South Africa

Botha

Bignotti

2017

Int Entrep Manag J

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We build on the work of Haynie and Shepherd (2009), who introduced five dimensions of cognitive adaptability in an entrepreneurial context, and Urban (2012a), who explored the relationship of cognitive adaptability with entrepreneurial intention. There is evidence that cognitive adaptability represents a link in the development of intentions and we empirically answer the call to explore moderators of this relationship. We analyse data collected from 602 potential entrepreneurs in South Africa using structural equation modelling. The results indicate that three cognitive adaptability dimensions, namely goal orientation, metacognitive experience, and metacognitive choice, have a positive relationship with entrepreneurial intention. Level of education, age, gender and entrepreneurial type were tested as moderators as they represent personal-level variables related to both cognitive adaptability and entrepreneurial intention in the literature. Level of education moderated the relationship between goal orientation and entrepreneurial intention, as well as between metacognitive experience and entrepreneurial intention. The moderating role of gender affected the positive influence of goal orientation on entrepreneurial intention, which was stronger for females, while the negative influence of monitoring was stronger for males and weaker for females. For the entrepreneurial type moderator, the sample was split between 443 necessity-driven and 159 opportunity-driven potential entrepreneurs. The results revealed that entrepreneurial type moderated the path between metacognitive experience and entrepreneurial intention, which was stronger for necessity than opportunity potential entrepreneurs. The unconventional moderation effects observed in this South African study carry far wider applicability for the development of the theory of cognitive adaptability in an entrepreneurial context.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring moderators in the relationship between cognitive adaptability and entrepreneurial intention: findings from South Africa

Botha

Bignotti

2017

Int Entrep Manag J

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“…and human capital is a salient factor to spur innovation. By focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa as our research context, a different perspective on the role of human capital for innovation could be generated (George, Corbishley, Khayesi, Haas, & Tihanyi, 2016). One of the major innovation constraints in a developing context, is the availability of human capital (George et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human capital and innovation in Sub-Saharan countries: a firm-level study

2016

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This paper contributes to the scarce literature on the relationship between human capital and innovation at the firm-level. In this paper we examine whether human capital endowments, such as the general level of schooling within a firm, and practices of firms, such as formal training and employee slack time, have a positive relationship with the innovative output of firms. We contribute by using a more sophisticated approach and analyse how different combinations of human capital elements affect innovation. We study this relationship in Sub-Saharan countries where the general level of human capital is lower compared with developed countries. The results illustrate that internal mechanisms that spur human capital are of particular importance for innovative output in this context. In addition, our results indicate that specific combinations of human capital elements can even have negative effects. In particular, for firms in the manufacturing sector that offer employee slack, the effect of employee schooling actually turns negative, while the combination of training and slack time does not have a significant effect.

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“…According to the International Labor Organization (2002), over 72% of workers in sub-Saharan Africa are employed in the informal sector. In fact, sub-Saharan Africa was the starting point for research on informal economies worldwide (Hart, 1973;Portes and Haller, 2005), which is also why they continue to be of central concern to business researchers (George et al, 2016). The logics by which informal economy firms operate are still highly disputed.…”

Section: Extreme Conditions and Institutional Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the same time, scholars from elsewhere who are potentially interested in researching firms in Africa find it hard to collect empirical data and understand the particular conditions of firms operating there. As a result, most of the research done on African firms remains anecdotal and has not led to substantial novel theoretical contributions; instead, most studies have been an application of existing theories and insights from management and international business research to the African context (George et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Africa Business Research as a Laboratory for Theory-Building: Extreme Conditions, New Phenomena, and Alternative Paradigms of Social Relationships

2017

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Abstract:Africa is an increasingly important business context, yet we still know very little about it. We review the challenges and opportunities that firms in Africa face and propose that these can serve as the basis for extending current theories and models of the firm. We do so by challenging some of the implicit assumptions and stereotypes on firms in Africa and proposing three avenues for extending theories. One is taking the extreme conditions of some Africa countries and using them as a laboratory for modifying current theories and models of the firm, as we illustrate in the case of institutional theory and the resource-based view. A second one is identifying new themes that arise from analyzing firms in Africa and their contexts of operation, and we discuss four themes: migrating multinationals and the meaning of home country, diaspora networks within and across countries, a recasting of cultural and institutional distance, and new hybrid organizational forms. A third one is developing new theories based on alternative paradigms of social relationships that have emerged in Africa that differ from those underpinning existing theories of the firm, such as kgotla and its view of community-based relationships or ubuntu and its humanizing view of relationships.

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Bringing Africa In: Promising Directions for Management Research

Cited by 336 publications

References 67 publications

Exploring moderators in the relationship between cognitive adaptability and entrepreneurial intention: findings from South Africa

Exploring moderators in the relationship between cognitive adaptability and entrepreneurial intention: findings from South Africa

Human capital and innovation in Sub-Saharan countries: a firm-level study

Africa Business Research as a Laboratory for Theory-Building: Extreme Conditions, New Phenomena, and Alternative Paradigms of Social Relationships

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