Marketing Practices and the Dark Side of Inequity: A Qualitative Research in African Private Companies

The purpose of this paper is to show the effects of perceived quality (of products and/or services) on customer satisfaction in very low-income countries. The approach here is qualitative and data collection is realized with some semi-structured interviews, on various customers of two (2) private companies. The qualitative data is transcribed by hand, and then a content analysis is made. The results show that product quality or service quality has some effects on customer satisfaction in the context. The recommendation is that companies in the context should offer high quality products and quality services to increase customer satisfaction. Keywords: Quality, Customer satisfaction, Products, Services, Marketing, Burkina Faso.

Section: Literature Review Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Quality and Customer Satisfaction: A Qualitative Research in the Business Context of Very Low Income Countries

Nassè¹

2022

“…To add up to the above mentioned, corruption creates an unfavourable business environment by undermining the operational efficiency of firms and raising the costs and risks associated with doing business (Nassè, 2021). Therefore, from Figure 1, about 4 per cent of Ghanaian firms are constrained by corrupt practices.…”

Section: Obstacles Faced By Ghanaian Firmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovation and Obstacles in West African Firms: An Evidence From the Ghanaian Context

Wedam

Issahaku²,

Nassè³

et al. 2022

Innovation is a concept that has kept the attention of researchers worldwide. Innovation leads to product and process improvement, assists the organization to survive, grow faster, efficiently, and be more profitable than non-innovative organisations. However, the innovation level among Ghanaian firms is not yet reaching its full potential. In addition, innovative behaviour among Ghanaian enterprises is still at the infancy stage. To boost the innovation rate, it is imperative to solve the challenges and issues faced by Ghanaian firms. Innovation has become the building block of development in both developed and developing countries it is commonly agreed that innovation is the critical path towards growth and prosperity for countries as well as for individual firms. It is the key to technology adoption, creation and explains the vast difference in productivity across and within countries. However, in Africa, the case seems to have faced a challenging time due to obstacles like finance accessibility, electricity, trade regulations, land access, tax, corruption, informal sector malpractices, tax administration, political instability, transportation, and others. It is against some of these obstacles that we decided to embark on this study to help us critically investigate the effect of the barriers to firms’ growth and its effect on the degree of innovation among Ghanaian firms. To help recommend possible solutions to these obstacles. Hence, this will help facilitate firms’ growth and their degree of innovation. Keywords: Innovation, Obstacles, Firms, Ghana.

“…Like most African countries in the southern Sahara, private demand is so low in Burkina Faso and large companies rely only on public procurement to enrich (Bako & Akouwerabou, 2015). Some authors such as Akouwerabou (2016), Nassè (2019), Nassè (2021), and Nacoulma, Akouwerabou, and Nassè (2020) demonstrated how corrupt practices in public procurement are so prevalent in Burkina Faso at the point that some entrepreneurs believe that it is impossible to be awarded public contracts without corruption. In Burkina Faso, during the last decade, the government awarded public contracts to an annual average of 522 million dollars (Regulatory Authority of Public Order [ARCOP], 2018).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Procurement as a Demand-Side Innovation Policy in Burkina Faso: The Necessity to Search for Failure Sources

Kiemtoré

Akouwerabou²,

Kafimbou

et al. 2022

In developed countries, public procurement is used to incentivize private companies to invest in innovation. But, governments of developing countries fail to do as much. However, since the size of the market in these countries is small, obtaining and carrying out large public contracts are opportunities that private companies must seize in order to innovate. This present research analyzes the effect of public procurement on the incentive of private companies to innovate. We use primary data collected from private companies participating in large public tenders in Burkina Faso. The results obtained from probit model with instrumental variables (IV probit) show that public procurement effectively exerts positive externalities on the incentive of private companies to innovate. However, to further increase the influence of public procurement on the private companies’ incentive to innovate, the government needs to ensure that the procurement process is free from imperfections such as corruption and information asymmetries that may limit their efficiency in this area. Keywords: Public Procurement, Innovation, Private Enterprises, Corruption, Burkina Faso. JEL Codes: D21, L14, O31.