Competition and cooperation: can South African business create synergies from BRIC+S in Africa?

Wenzel, Nadine; Graefe, Olivier; Freund, Bill

doi:10.1080/19376812.2012.751856

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Interviews revealed that, in all three cases, the top management expects their company to improve their respective companies' capabilities of technologically adapting for different customer needs and to partly regain price competitiveness, at least within the domestic and regional markets. As noted elsewhere, 75 in 2011, substantial cost-saving strategies were part of a very aggressive positioning to compete against Chinese (and also European) bids on the international, and increasingly, the African scene in minerals-processing plant design and engineering. For the firm involved, new cooperation in the sourcing of plant equipment and components from Chinese suppliers is justified, for obtaining the products 'from China within six months for a third of the price -for us is really R&D!…”

Section: Competing For Cooperation Partnersmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Rather, they appeared to be concentrating on their competitive positioning within a highly contested field. 27 During two periods of fieldwork (over the period October 2012 to April 2013), certain transformations in the engagement processes were recognised, in some cases to a greater extent than in others. Various companies experienced exceptionally positive outcomes.…”

Section: Structural Challenges For Creating Synergy Effectsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Appropriately, Jones and Murphy suggest that business practices cause effects and can be analysed through the four dimensions of perceptions, performances, patterns and power relations. 22 Discussions elsewhere 23 show the extent to which these dimensions are considered to be additionally supportive for structuring a narrative as observational material.…”

Section: Data Collection and Analysismentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Notwithstanding these views, the executives of the leading South African mining-industry suppliers who were interviewed recognised the importance of initiating competition and the need to reinforce their position 'to be one step ahead' at both the technological and service levels. 62 Subsequent interviews, conducted between February and April 2013, yielded a series of further observations in the areas of competition for partnerships and the BRICS' willingness to dominate the markets.…”

Section: Engaging Brics Corporations As 'Market Seekers'mentioning

confidence: 99%

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BRICS corporates: In collaboration or in competition in Africa? Case studies from the South African mining industry

Wenzel

2014

South African Journal of International Affairs

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Framed by the 5th BRICS Summit in South Africa in March 2013, this analysis examines economic 'South-South' linkages on a company level. A qualitative case study focuses on a small number of private corporations operating in the South African mining and minerals sector. It looks at their reactions to increasingly competitive markets in the regions of Southern and West Africa, thus on their agency, defined as the ability to act in complex uncertainty. Findings present how the South African cases' engagements with strategically selected partner companies from the other BRICS economies can succeed. This contribution attempts to examine entrepreneurial rationale that can be taken as anecdotal evidence of a new 'economic diplomacy' at corporate level. The examples illustrate how agency enables certain adaptations of strategies for creating competitive synergies from collaboration with new actors from the other BRICS economies in Africa.

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Section: Competing For Cooperation Partnersmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Structural Challenges For Creating Synergy Effectsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Data Collection and Analysismentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Engaging Brics Corporations As 'Market Seekers'mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

BRICS corporates: In collaboration or in competition in Africa? Case studies from the South African mining industry

Wenzel

2014

South African Journal of International Affairs

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“…To enter and grow presence and market share in new locations, the majority of South African executives studied considered investors from non-South African BRICS economies as potential alternatives to their customary Western partners. They began to strategise and contemplate new mining projects once the sanctions era came to an end and before the BRICS pact existed (Wenzel 2014;Wenzel, Graefe, and Freund 2013). South Africa's entry into the BRICS alliance in December 2010 was considered symbolic rather than a step into the unknown.…”

Section: Shifting Structures: Brics Players As New Collaboratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surviving in the BRICS: the struggle of South African business in coping with new partners and investors

Wenzel

Freund

Graefe

2018

International Review of Applied Economics

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The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of how South African economic actors react to the gradual entry of non-South African BRICS firms in their established business areas. Throughout the twentieth century, South Africa's trade and investment activities were conducted overwhelmingly with Western countries. However, the end of apartheid coincided with significant shifts as new players had a wider and growing presence. South Africa entering the BRICS alliance is symbolic of the change. Ease of entry into the South African economy has increased greatly. South African businesses in key subsectors in the mining and capital equipment industry have had to adapt to new players, and find space in new structures, value chains and initiatives. This paper presents the results of this research activity from the perspective of the South African political economy. Practice-oriented research investigated how six local companies forge new partnerships and how well South African firms adapt and cope with an altered and often unstable environment. It assumed that entrepreneurial activity is not autonomous but takes place within a larger organisational framework. Entrepreneurial activity facilitates the effective exploitation of particular niches and relationships with service providers. KEYWORDS South Africa; BRICS; mining management; entrepreneurship; Chinese business relations; niche management a transmission belt for global forces to the rest of the continent'. This is key to grasping where the South African economy is positioned in the grand discussion over BRICS. After exploring the diverse interests and strategies of players from the individual BRICS nations, Carmody (2013) notes that South African interests in fact bolster Chinese big businesses' activities in Africa with impacts that remain unclear. The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of how South African economic actors react to the gradual entry of non-South African BRICS firms in their established business areas. Carmody does not define the particular role of South African companies in the BRICS process (Draper and Qobo 2015). In addition, it is not clear how governments politically engaging in BRICS would promote more value-added exports and attract investment in minerals beneficiation or processing at source as would be desirable (Kaplan 2015). Instead, increased competition from BRICS firms, mainly with those from India and China, has become a practical challenge for many firms, notably in manufacturing (Kaplan 2015; Manufacturing Circle 2017). An understanding of how to engage economically with non-South African BRICS actors is pertinent for policy makers and private firms (Qobo 2010; Draper and Qobo 2015). In her criticism of suspect state-business relations, Catherine Grant Makokera (2015, 127) advances the argument earlier made by Qobo (2010) on the '.. .need for the public and private sectors in South Africa to work together in order to develop further the economic diplomacy of the country. There is a clear potential to mu...

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South African Corporations in BRICS: New Waves of Entrepreneurial Thinking?

Wenzel

2016

Emerging Powers in Africa

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Competition and cooperation: can South African business create synergies from BRIC+S in Africa?

Cited by 4 publications

References 22 publications

BRICS corporates: In collaboration or in competition in Africa? Case studies from the South African mining industry

BRICS corporates: In collaboration or in competition in Africa? Case studies from the South African mining industry

Surviving in the BRICS: the struggle of South African business in coping with new partners and investors

South African Corporations in BRICS: New Waves of Entrepreneurial Thinking?

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