1,720,983 research outputs found
Leadership, knowledge management capability (KMC) and process innovation in African SMEs during and after the crisis
Full text linkPurpose – This paper aims to examine the relationships between leadership, knowledge management
capability (KMC) and process innovation during (and after) the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopted a qualitative method with an interpretivist
approach. The empirical data was collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 participants –
6 from Ghana and 14 from Nigeria. The data analysis followed Gioia’s recommendations for qualitative
rigour.
Findings – This study found that the capacity to manage knowledge and innovate are just as important to
the success of organisations in turbulent times as are the qualities of its leaders. It further explores how
middle managers may encourage knowledge sharing within an organisation and how an alignment
between an organisation’s internal resources and existing opportunities ties into innovative outcomes.
Originality/value – This paper highlights how the interplay between KMC, leadership and organisational
culture (OC) can result in process innovation and how such a relationship can foster business
performance in a crisis. This paper is a pioneering study focusing on the relationship between leadership
effectiveness, OC, KMC and process innovation in Africa.
Keywords: Leadership, Knowledge management, Process innovation, SMEs, Africa
Paper type: Research pape
E-Commerce, Institutional Voids, and Socio-Cultural Factors in Online Groceries Shopping: Exploring the Interrelationships in an African Context
Full text linkThis study explores how socio-cultural complexities and institutional barriers affect the shopping experience of online groceries shoppers in Africa. Adopting a qualitative method with an interpretivist philosophy, 16 in-depth semi structured interviews were conducted with online groceries shoppers in Lagos, Nigeria. Findings reveal that while participants adopt online shopping due to convenience, product variety, and AI-powered decision-support devices, their engagement is constrained by digital mistrust, data insecurity, infrastructural limitations, and weak regulatory enforcement system. The theoretical contributions relate to the e-commerce and technology acceptance literature, and the managerial implications include insights for platform designers, retailers, and policymakers to enhance trust and digital inclusion. This knowledge will help to enhance the emerging markets’ digital retail landscape. Our paper also extends the current theorizing around institutional theory
Exploring the limits of mindfulness during the COVID-19 pandemic: Qualitative Evidence from the African context
Full text linkPurpose: This paper is one of the first studies to examine specificities, including limits of
mindfulness at work in an African organisational context, whilst dealing with the ongoing COVID�19 pandemic. It specifically addresses the role of organisational and managerial support systems in
restoring employee wellbeing, social connectedness, and attachment to their organisations, in order
to overcome the exclusion caused by the ongoing pandemic.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The study uses a qualitative research methodology that includes
interviews as the main data source. The sample comprises of 20 entrepreneurs (organisational
leaders) from Ghana and Nigeria.
Findings: We found that Covid-19-induced worries restricted the practice of mindfulness, and this
was prevalent at the peak of the pandemic, particularly due to very tough economic conditions
caused by reduction in salaries, and intensified by pre-existing general economic and social
insecurities, and institutional voids in Africa. This aspect further resulted in lack of engagement
and lack of commitment, which affected overall team performance and restricted employees’
mindfulness at work. Hence, quietness by employees even though can be linked to mindfulness
was linked to larger psychological stress that they were facing. We also found leaders/manager’s
emotional intelligence, social skills and organisational support systems to be helpful in such
circumstances. However, their effectiveness varied among the cases.
Originality: Our paper is one of the first studies to establish a link between the Covid-19 pandemic
and mindfulness limitations. Moreover, it is a pioneering study specifically highlighting the
damaging impact of Covid-19-induced concerns on leader-member exchange (LMX) and team�member exchange (TMX) relationships, particularly in the African context. It further brings in a
unique discussion on the mitigating mechanisms of such Covid-19-induced concerns in
organisations and highlights the roles of manager's/leader's emotional intelligence, social skills,
and supportive intervention patterns. Finally, we offer an in-depth assessment of the effectiveness
of organisational interventions and supportive relational systems in restoring social connectedness
following a social exclusion caused by Covid-19-induced worries
Air Pollution Management and Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review
Full text linkAir pollution is a global concern which has adverse effects
on human health. In sub-Saharan Africa(SSA), several
sources of emission, such as industrial processes and
combustion engines, contribute significantly to air pollution
due to the region’s reliance on conventional energy sources.
However, there is little knowledge regarding policies and
management frameworks in place in sub-Saharan Africa to
address the issue of air pollution. As a result, a better
understanding of the policy and management landscape is
crucial for guiding interventions and providing information
for decision-making to decrease the health risks related to
air pollution in SSA.
Method
Systematic searching of published research were obtained
from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, Google
Scholar, and grey literature between 2005 and February
2023. 1,843 studies were found in the primary search. After
removing duplicates, 1,236 studies were assessed for
eligibility using only the titles and abstracts. After screening
for appropriateness, 50 studies were chosen for full-text
review, and 20 were ultimately included in the systematic
review.
Results
There has been a Policy on Air Pollution in Sub-Saharan
Africa, but the enforcement and/or management is very
poor. There is a critical need for improved air pollution
policies and management frameworks in sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA).
Conclusion
Governments and non-governmental organisations involved
in decision making in SSA should emphasis the creation and
execution of policies based on empirical evidence that
considers the specific circumstances faced by individual
nations and regions. To chart progress and identify problem
areas, establishing good monitoring and assessment
mechanisms is essential
The adoption of remote working practices in the Nigerian banking sector: Are they ready?
Full text linkRecently, remote working literature has flourished, but research examining remote working in emerging economies is still lacking, especially in the under-researched context of Africa. Therefore, our paper explored the challenges, benefits, and opportunities of remote working in the Nigerian banking sector and has suggested how to boost the competitiveness and resilience of emerging economies’ banking sector. It adopted a qualitative approach involving in-depth semi-structured interviews with 10 bank executives in Nigerian banking sector, and examined their perceptions on remote working, the challenges they face, how these challenges can be minimized, and how the Nigerian banking sector can maximize the benefits of remote working. The findings revealed that our participants are positive about remote working, due to sustainability, increased productivity, economic growth, improved work-life balance, efficiency, and improved workforce motivation. The study also found technological constraints, cybersecurity risks, cultural inertia, supervision challenges, and work-life imbalance as the limitations to these managers’ capacity to adopt remote working. The paper highlights how tailored interventions can help to minimize these challenges and contributes to the growing body of remote working and organizational change literature streams
Revalorization, frugal innovation, and circularity: A qualitative exploration of African used automotive parts business
Full text linkThis paper aims to analyze the nexus of revalorization, frugal innovation, and the circular economy in the under-explored African used automotive parts business context. Based on 30 in-depth interviews with key players including dealers, mechanics, and jobbers, our findings illuminate how these players leverage modern electronic communication, video sharing apps, and barter trade in African used automotive part business. We further found local players employing unique practices to renovate, restructure, alter, restore, reuse, extend, and recycle these used parts, emphasizing maximum value extraction from minimal resources. This paper is one of the first academic works to highlight the criticality of local independent actors (non-dealerships) in the automotive aftermarket sector, especially in non-western contexts. It further showcases these local actors’ contributions to circular economy via revalorization, while at the same time creating social value for the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) consumers. Finally, the paper contributes to several literature streams including circular economy beyond formal systems, scalability of frugal and circular practices, and resource-constrained value creation, among others
The user experience of voice assistants in retailing: a qualitative comparative study
Full text linkPurpose – This study aims to examine the user experience of voice assistants (VAs) in different retailing
contexts by highlighting factors that impact the effectiveness of voice commerce services.
Design/methodology/approach – This study follows a qualitative research method using 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews with online shoppers (15 users of VAs from Nigeria and 15 from the UK). Following
Gioia’s methodology and automated content analysis using LexiPortal, this paper examined users’ motivations
for adopting VAs, their challenges and how VAs might influence customers’ brand trust and loyalty.
Findings – This paper found that anthropomorphism, convenience, companionship and literacy support
drove shoppers’ adoption of VAs. Technophobia, audio bias, audio disparity and data security emerged as
challenges facing VA users. In addition, the Nigerian participants also highlighted unreliable power supply.
Despite these challenges, the participants have developed trust and personal attachment to their VAs.
Originality/value – This study is one of the few academic works to specifically analyse how retail
experiences are shaped through VAs in a comparative setting of British and Nigerian VA users. The findings
enrich the extant literature on user experience of VAs with a granular focus on customer motivations as well as
challenges
Lost in Transfer? Exploring the Influence of Culture on the Transfer of Knowledge Categories.
Full text linkSupported by an extensive review of four-domains of literature (knowledge management, organisational learning, culture, and retail), this study examines the influence of national culture on transfer of knowledge categories in top supermarkets in Africa and the United Kingdom (UK). Data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 40 store managers (SMs) was used to examine how the SMs transfer the five sales performance drivers – selling-related knowledge, the degree-of-adaptiveness, role-clarity, cognitive-aptitude, and work-engagement – to their subordinates. The study finds these UK supermarkets’ knowledge transfer (KT) practices as embedded in Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and project-based learning. SMs from African supermarkets exploit various opportunities to build interpersonal relationships and trust with knowledge-holders, thereby facilitating learning and KT. This study links such behaviours to ‘Ubuntu’ – a well-established African philosophy/ethics. The study finds socialisation, externalisation, and internalisation as common knowledge assets in African supermarkets, in contrast to socialisation and externalisation in their UK counterparts. This study found that, despite these variations in their strategic priorities regarding knowledge assets, these five sales performance drivers are transferred successfully in the supermarkets in both continents that participated in the research. This offers a new insight that challenges the extant theorising that KT praxis varies between diverse cultures
Lost in Transfer? Exploring the Influence of Culture on the Transfer of Knowledge Categories
No full textSupported by an extensive review of four-domains of literature (knowledge management, organisational learning, culture, and retail), this study examines the influence of national culture on transfer of knowledge categories in top supermarkets in Africa and the United Kingdom (UK). Data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 40 store managers (SMs) was used to examine how the SMs transfer the five sales performance drivers – selling-related knowledge, the degree-of-adaptiveness, role-clarity, cognitive-aptitude, and work-engagement – to their subordinates.
The study finds these UK supermarkets’ knowledge transfer (KT) practices as embedded in Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and project-based learning. SMs from African supermarkets exploit various opportunities to build interpersonal relationships and trust with knowledge-holders, thereby facilitating learning and KT. This study links such behaviours to ‘Ubuntu’ – a well-established African philosophy/ethics. The study finds socialisation, externalisation, and internalisation as common knowledge assets in African supermarkets, in contrast to socialisation and externalisation in their UK counterparts. This study found that, despite these variations in their strategic priorities regarding knowledge assets, these five sales performance drivers are transferred successfully in the supermarkets in both continents that participated in the research. This offers a new insight that challenges the extant theorising that KT praxis varies between diverse cultures
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