Business Commons^™

Africa Meets America: The Impact Of Collectivism And Individualism On Attitude Towards Shopping, Charles Blankson, Thuy Nguyen, Esi A. Elliot, Sayed Abbas Ahmed, Pumela Msweli

International Business and Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications and Presentations

The adoption of marketing strategy does not occur in cultural vacuums. Instead, marketing strategies unfold within social contexts that encode values, beliefs, and patterns of behavior. The increasingly inter-dependent global economy results in the acculturation of tensions between global and local consumer cultures. This dynamism however offers new opportunities for international firms to redefine and reevaluate their glocal (global/local) marketing strategies. Relying on Triandis cultural dimensions, this research contributes to international marketing literature by answering two key research questions, namely, what are the differences between African (Ghanaian) and American consumers’ cultural characteristics? and how do the cultural differences explain attitude …

Inclusive Growth In Africa: Are Chinese Investment And Local Industry Participation Compatible?, Emmanuel T. Kodzi

Faculty Publications

Purpose - This study set out to explore whether increasing Chinese FDI is associated with rising contributions of local industry in African countries connected to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The existence of cooperative industry linkages between Chinese investments and local businesses is a necessary condition for achieving the mutual benefits asserted by the BRI.

Design/methodology/approach - Under growing FDI, we framed increasing local industry contribution as indicative of existing industry linkages. Using principal component analysis and multiple regression on collated country-level data, we examined relationships between key industry output variables and several independent variables representing Chinese investment and …

Multilevel Perspectives On Leadership In The African Context, Michael A. Abebe, Amanuel G. Tekleab, Augustine A. Lado

Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the depth of research on leaders and leadership in the Western and Asian contexts, the study of leadership in the African context remains at a nascent stage. In this special issue, we take a multilevel perspective to review and synthesize current research on leadership in Africa in three distinct scholarly domains (Organizational Behavior & Human Resources (OB/HR), Strategy and Entrepreneurship). Based on this review, we offer specific recommendations to advance leadership research and improve the scope and rigor of theoretical and methodological approaches. Finally, we present three scholarly works that highlight the distinctive nature of leadership in Africa, including …

Live And Let Live: Africa’S Response Options To China’S Bri, Emmanuel T. Kodzi

Faculty Publications

Kodzi offers a timely perspective on the ongoing debate about how China’s BRI might deliver tangible benefits to African partners. The impact of Chinese engagement on local businesses in different regions is explored both broadly, and in a specific African country context. Using the resource dependence theory and the supply chain practice view, the chapter focuses on technology- and knowledge-enhancing industry linkages to conceptualize a pragmatic response by African industry sectors to the competitive pressures associated with Chinese business engagement. By adopting a response view, this chapter proposes credible options for African countries to increase the strategic value of their …

Africa Business Research As A Laboratory For Theory-Building: Extreme Conditions, New Phenomena And Alternative Paradigms Of Social Relationships, Helena Barnard, Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, Stephan Manning

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

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 …

The Clash Of Missions: Juxtaposing Competing Pressures In South Africa's Social Enterprises, Emmanuel T. Kodzi

Faculty Publications

Social enterprises seek critical resources to fulfill their mission in a defined domain of action. However, this quest also constitutes a distraction that complicates the operations of any social enterprise. By analyzing the logic of control versus the logic of empowerment for operating scenarios in South Africa, we examine the process trade-offs that enhance or limit social impact. Our findings prioritize efficiency in resolving process trade-offs, since the focus on value creation diminishes the replenishment cycle for value capture. We propose that value chain processes be controlled to the extent that the enterprise acts as a custodian of community empowerment …

Impacts Of China’S Foreign Direct Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Jian Zhang, Ilan Alon, Yanan Chen

Faculty Publications

This paper examines the impacts of foreign direct investment, as well as China’s FDI on GDP growth of Sub-Saharan African countries from a macroeconomic perspective. By using the data from 44 Sub-Saharan African countries from 2003-2010, our GMM results show that neither China’s FDI nor FDI net inflow in SSA has significant effect on economic growth of SSA countries. The possible explanations about the insignificant results include crowding out effect of China’s FDI on domestic investment, the declining in outward FDI in traditional sectors and rising in service sector which ignored in the current model, and the types of sectors …

Agenda: 2012 Energy Justice Conference And Technology Exposition, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. Colorado European Union Center Of Excellence, University Of Colorado Boulder. Presidents Leadership Institute

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Co-sponsored with the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence and the Presidents Leadership Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The ability to harness energy is fundamental to economic and social development. Worldwide, almost 3 billion people have little or no access to beneficial energy resources for cooking, heating, water sanitation, illumination, transportation, or basic mechanical needs. Energy poverty exacerbates ill health and economic hardship, and reduces educational opportunities, particularly for women and children. Specifically, access to efficient and affordable energy services is a prerequisite for achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) relating to poverty eradication.

In response, the UN …

Slides: Impacts Of Energy Deficits In Cooking, Illumination, Water, Sanitation, And Motive Power, Paul S. Chinowsky

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Paul Chinowsky, Director, Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities; Professor, University of Colorado

25 slides

Slides: Session 3: Decision-Making And The Energy Poor, Andrew Yager

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Andrew Yager, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development

33 slides