Demola Obembe

Knowledge sharing, sustained relationships and the habitus

This article explores knowledge-sharing tendencies among individuals in a UK project-based organization. While the knowledge management literature extensively considers the significant impact of relationships and trust on sharing knowledge, the underlying reasoning behind individual choices to share knowledge and expertise largely remains an underexplored area. Bourdieu’s conception of the habitus is used as an alternative tool to interpret individual dynamics and their propensity for sharing knowledge given their personal relationships. Data are drawn from in-depth interviews conducted across the organization and presented as a narrative indicative of relationship dynamics of individual actors. The findings suggest that individual predisposition towards knowledge sharing is influenced by experiences in sustained relationships, coupled with awareness of knowledge sources, expectations of reciprocity in relationships, and acceptance into social groups. Particularly, the predisposing nature of the habitus serves as guide to location and utilization of knowledge sources as well as on choices to share personal knowledge.

Understanding individual action: when employees contravene management directives to foster knowledge sharing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of managerial decisions where such decisions run contrary to norms, values and espoused beliefs of individual employees, and threaten existing relationships.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a qualitative study of a single case organization in the construction industry. Data were drawn from a wider data set of 27 in‐depth interviews. Empirical findings are presented as a narrative and interpreted using Bourdieus habitus as an analytic tool.Findings – This paper finds that perceptions and past considerations of individual actors may determine predispositions to engage in knowledge sharing practices, in direct contravention of managerial directives.Research limitations/implications – Being a single case study, although substantive conclusions are drawn from the research they are however not subject to extensive generalization. Future research can assess the dynamics of employee reactions to conflicting directives within different c...

The influence of informal institutions on informal sector entrepreneurship: a study of Nigeria's hand-woven textile industry

This paper draws on the institutional theory framework to explore the prevalence of entrepreneurship in the informal economy in Nigeria. An interpretive approach was taken in analyzing open-ended interview data collected from 26 entrepreneurs in the hand-woven textile industry in the southwestern region of Nigeria. Our findings show that beyond regulatory burden or survivalist economic necessity, the enterprise culture in the Nigerian informal economy is determined by value-driven criteria of sociocultural and normative environment that constitute part of the cognitive process of entrepreneurial emergence in a typical institutional context.

Technological constraints to firm performance: the moderating effects of firm linkages and cooperation

© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Manufacturing and services SMEs in Africa face challenges and constraints exacerbated by ineffectual government policies, environmental turbulence and the near absence of institutional support. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if informal linkages and formal cooperation are helping firms to overcome constraints to uptake of technological innovations in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on quantitative data obtained from structured interviews of 631 Nigerian firms. These firms were selected using stratified random sampling from a total population of 18,906 manufacturing and services companies in the national database obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics. Findings: The result of the binary logistic regression indicates that while informal linkages appear to be insignificant, formal inter-firm cooperation is an effective moderator of barriers to technological innovations. Research limitations/implications: The paper focusses only on technological, rather than non-technological, innovations. Practical implications: The paper recommends that, in addition to other interventions to promote diffusion of technological innovations, governments should give priority to interventions that support formal cooperation among SMEs. Originality/value: Previous studies have generally looked at the impact of cooperative networks on firms’ innovation uptake. This paper provides original insights into the “how” of cooperative impact, specifically with respect to helping SMEs to overcome constraints. The paper also delineates formal cooperation from informal linkages.