Entrepreneurial Networking: Industrial Estates in Ghana

Abstract

This article looks at networking activities among entrepreneurs of small‐scale enterprises in an industrial district in Ghana. The purpose of the study is to identify the type of inter‐firm interaction that takes place, and to determine the effect it has on die productive capabilities of die firms and die industrialization process. The study is set in the context of research on industrial districts and inter‐firm networks which have been associated with technological change and competitive success for firms in advanced economies. While some believe that were may be little about industrial districts in places such as Third Italy or Silicon Valley which can be transferred to developing countries, die fact remains that small firms everywhere are more similar than different. Therefore, an understanding of die process of networking in Ghana may provide insights on die nature of these activities and their effectiveness in contributing to enterprise growth and die thickening of die industrial base in developing economies.

The Creation and Diffusion of Innovation in Developing Countries: A Systematic Literature Review

“…() found a strong positive correlation among the few firms that showed some level of innovation abilities and the level of education of the managers, which included higher academic degree and education in science or engineering. Similar findings are reported in studies of firms in a multi‐country setting (Wang and Wong, ), in Ghana (McDade and Malecki, ; Robson et al ., ), Tanzania (Hall et al ., ), Uganda (Oyelaran‐Oyeyinka and Lal, ), and again Nigeria (Ilori et al ., ; Egbetokun et al ., ). Fu () provided evidence showing that in regions of China with more highly educated and skilled workers FDI spillovers are greater.…”

“…They then argue that technology is not necessarily a panacea for innovation, and learning from experience can be equally relevant. McDade and Malecki () showed how the lack of comprehensive information and experience in larger scale manufacturing seemed to be the largest impediment to improving Ghana's industrial capacity. Kumar and Saqib () pointed out how the lack of the right technology was also a barrier for the manufacturing sector in India.…”

“…The evidence found suggests that clusters in LICs do not seem to directly involve the creation of new products or processes; however they go farther than merely exploiting economies of scale. McDade and Malecki () investigated the type of inter‐firm interactions that take place among entrepreneurs of small‐scale enterprises in the industrial district of Odawna (Ghana). Most of the interactions are associated with sharing tools or pieces of equipment, in addition to playing the role of word of mouth advertising.…”

Gendered Spaces of Informal Entrepreneurship in Soweto, South Africa

“…Entrepreneurs make conscious decisions about how to deploy their assets in managing their businesses as well as their lives (McDade and Malecki, 1997;Lyons and Snoxell, 2005). Because they operate from off-the-beaten-path locations (e.g., homes and nontraditional, nonzoned workplaces), building trust is created in place-specific contexts that depend on geographically proximate as well as distant resources.…”

Social capital and poverty of the wage‐labour class: problems with the social capital theory

“…The geographical work on inter‐firm relations and new industrial spaces in developed and less‐developed countries also makes use of concepts of trust, embeddedness and networks, which are all part of the social capital concept (Molina‐Morales et al . 2002; Buck 2000; Pinch and Henry 1999; Christerson and Lever‐Tracy 1997; McDade and Malecki 1997; Gertler 1995). This work, like social capital research generally, rightly suggests that ‘economy and society are incorrigibly intertwined’ (Thrift and Olds 1996, 314; see also Biggart and Castanias 2001).…”