Business Commons^™

The Belt And Road Initiative In Kenya, As Represented By The Standard Gauge Railway (Sgr), Its Effects And The Response Of Kenyans To It., Kiplangat Arap Yegon

Master's Theses

China has sought to strengthen ties with many countries in the Global South, and many African countries have signed Memorandum of Agreements(MoU) with China leading to trade treaties, foreign direct investments, loans and grants flowing into the African continent from China. This aggressive push by China into Africa has come under intense scrutiny with different actors, scholars and powers having mixed takes on the move. In my thesis, I look at the ways in which China’s Belt and Road Initiative has been undertaken in Africa. I use Kenya as a main case study in looking at the ways in which …

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 …

The Role Of Politics And Corruption In The Rise Of The African Firm, Wedu Ketema, Howard Jean-Denis

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Many African businesses lag in financial performance compared to the performance of companies in the West. Despite this, the continent’s economic output has continued to rise considerably in the past two decades, but many of these economic achievements have been discredited. Despite the West’s view of Africa as a continent unprepared for economic growth due to simmering conflict, threats of terror, and other barriers to business, African business has continued to boom. Over the past two decades, Africa has made massive strides to “catch up to the West.” In fact, according to experts, many countries in Africa have experienced what …

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 …

Gold Mining And Economic Performance In Africa And The Case Of Ghana, Josephine Amponsem

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Based on the statistical analysis of 920 observations covering forty-six countries during the 1997 to 2016 period, this study investigates the impact of goldmining on the economic performance of African nations while paying particular attention to the case of Ghana. It employs the GDP’s output approach to evaluate the role that gold production may have played on GDP growth at the aggregate and per capita levels, as well as potential spillover effects across the services, industry and agriculture sectors. The empirical results for the African economies as a whole as well as for the country of Ghana in particular, suggest …

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 …

Institutional Voids, Investment Purposes, And Foreign Subsidiaries Of Multinational Enterprises, Yamlaksira S. Getachew

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation is motivated by two sets of research questions: (a) Whether, how, and when host-country market and institutional conditions have implications for the performance of foreign subsidiaries? And (b) Whether, how, and when investment purposes/motives for which foreign subsidiaries are established relate to the extent to which the subsidiaries/their parents overcome the hazards of or capitalize on the opportunities from operating in locations of high institutional voids?

The first essay examines how the decision to enter African markets relates to the exit probability of MNE subsidiaries. Using a longitudinal, paired-sample design of Japanese foreign subsidiaries operating in …

Does Globalization Improve Quality Of Life?, Laura E. Hirt

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

It Services Offshoring To Africa: Assessing The Attractiveness And Readiness Of Nigeria, Joshua O. Omoju

The African Journal of Information Systems

This paper presents one of the first comprehensive analyses of Nigeria’s future readiness and attractiveness as a potential destination for IT-enabled services offshoring. The paper examines existing literature on IT services offshoring to Africa, and presents results from in-depth evaluation of seven important location selection criteria. The study indicates that while Nigeria appears to be making progress in many areas, the country is neither yet ready nor attractive as an offshoring destination. Nevertheless, the analysis suggests that Nigeria might already be on the path to attaining readiness in the future. However, significant hurdles will need to be surmounted if Nigeria …

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 …

"My Friends, They Are People To Rely On": The Social Foundation Of Business In Ghana, Patrick D. Shulist

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The management and entrepreneurship literatures increasingly engage in poverty alleviation research in the developing world. However, there is a marked tendency to overlook how the Western World, from where most theory comes, differs from the developing world. Such a fallacy has potential deleterious effects on the research itself, but more importantly on the practical applications of that research.

With this in mind, my dissertation uses an inductive qualitative methodology to explore the nature of self-employment in the developing world as it is; that is, not coloured by theoretical priors. In doing this, I lay the groundwork for understanding the …

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 …

A Critical Examination Of The Relationship Between The Use Of Gatekeepers, Trust, And Organisation Knowledge-Sharing, Deogratias Harorimana Dr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This thesis critically examines the relationship between gatekeepers, trust, and an organisation’s knowledge sharing. The research applied mixed methods with the case study approach. In this research the concept ‘gatekeeper’ is widely used to represent a class of those who are part of a knowledge management strategy; they collect information and knowledge and contextualise this before they can share it with the rest of the members of the organisation’s knowledge networks - within the formal and informal organisation. In this study, it was found that there was a strong relationship between the openness of a given firm, as regards its …

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

Chinese Investment In Africa: China’S Empathetic Support Of Poor And Despotic Regimes, And The Competition Western Companies Face, Richard W. Gove

Richard W Gove

This paper discusses the recent economic parallels and interconnections between China and the different nations in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa. In 2009, China surpassed the United States to become Africa’s largest trade partner, and China has committed to establishing stronger connections with African economies. Much of the increase in trade is a result of China’s thirst for oil and Africa’s desperate need for foreign investment. However, many legal issues surround Chinese involvement in Africa, especially public corruption, and the instability of African regimes has created political risk that leaves China with little competition and Africa with few alternatives. The main …

Africa: The Next Frontier, Jack A. Parker

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Growing Chinese Trade With Africa And Democratization Process In Africa, Mario Udo Stumm

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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An Investigation Into The Validity Of The Intra-Continental And Intercontinental Casselian Hypothesis (Ppp) And Uncovered Interest Rate Parity (Uip) In Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Countries A Long Run Structural Modelling Approach, Fidelia M. Gandiya

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The current high exchange rate volatility in the face of globalization, underpinned by growing trade and financial and commodity markets liberalization has attracted the resurgence of considerable interest from both financial economists and policy makers, into the validity of international parity relationships. Using multivariate cointegration framework and long run structural modelling, this paper investigates the evidence in support of two of the parity relationships that underpin either implicitly or explicitly much of international macroeconomics. The first is the purchasing power parity (PPP) hypothesis or the theorem that there exists an invariable long-run equilibrium real exchange rate. The second is the …