Nathaniel Boso

Entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation as drivers of product innovation success: A study of exporters from a developing economy

This paper explores how two specific market-based resources, export entrepreneurial-oriented and export market-oriented behaviours, act to drive the performance of firms’ product innovations in their export markets. Drawing upon data from 164 Ghanaian exporters, the results indicate that both export entrepreneurial-oriented behaviour and export market-oriented behaviour drive export product innovation success. Entrepreneurial-oriented behaviour is more likely to be a driver of product innovation success when market-oriented behaviour is strong. This joint effect is more substantial when market dynamism is strong Individually, entrepreneurial-oriented and market-oriented behaviours are more likely to be related to export product innovation success when market dynamism is high. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Firm Innovativeness and Export Performance: Environmental, Networking, and Structural Contingencies

Much scholarly work has explored the benefits firms accrue from innovation activities. Although some research has shown that firm innovativeness is associated with enhanced export success, the conditions under which firm innovativeness activities are most and least beneficial are not well understood. The authors take a contingency perspective and use social capital theory to investigate how internal channel networking capability and structural factors as well as external environment factors affect the innovativeness–export performance relationship. Analysis of samples of exporting firms from Ghana and Bosnia and Herzegovina indicates that innovativeness is most beneficial for firms operating in competitive and dynamic export markets; those in less competitive and static markets do not benefit from their innovation activities to the same extent. Stronger networking capabilities and a more organic structure also enhance the innovativeness–export performance relationship. The findings imply that the management of firm innovativeness is not a straightforward task in which greater emphasis on innovation activities is always beneficial for firms; rather, exporting organizations must match firm innovativeness levels to external environmental conditions and internal capabilities and structures.

The Effects of Business Failure Experience on Successive Entrepreneurial Engagements An Evolutionary Phase Model

This study draws insights from the literatures on entrepreneurial learning from failure and organizational imprinting to develop an evolutionary phase model to explain how prior business failure experience influences successive newly started businesses. Using multiple case studies of entrepreneurs located in an institutionally developing society in Sub-Sahara Africa, we uncover four distinctive phases of postentrepreneurial business failure: grief and despair, transition, formation, and legacy phases. We find that while the grieving and transition phases entailed processes of reflecting and learning lessons from the business failure experiences, the formation and legacy phases involve processes of imprinting entrepreneurs’ experiential knowledge on their successive new start-up firms. We conclude by outlining a number of fruitful avenues for future research.

International entrepreneurial orientation and regional expansion

Abstract This study examines how behavioral elements of international entrepreneurial orientation (i.e. product innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy) increase variability in scope of regional market expansion, and the international marketing channel management conditions under which this occurs. Results from an empirical study in a developing market show that not all behavioral elements of international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) increase scope of regional expansion. The study specifically finds that scope of regional expansion is fostered when high levels of product innovation intensity, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomous behaviors are aligned with a stronger channel management capability. Conversely, the regional expansion values of product innovation novelty and proactiveness are cancelled out when channel management capability levels are high.

Africa-to-Africa Internationalization: Emerging Trends and Key Issues

In recent times, Africa has witnessed a significant rise in Africa-to-Africa internationalization, the process by which African firms expand their operations on the continent outside their home country. While much attention in the international business literature has focused on the rise of foreign direct investment (FDI) from BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) into Africa, the literature on intra-African and outward FDI from the region is scant. This is surprising, given the marked increase in the internationalization activities of African firms in the last decade or so: South African multinationals such as MTN, SABMiller, Standard Bank, Telkom, Dimension Data, Massmart, Nampak and ShopRite now have a presence in at least a dozen African countries, as do Nigerian firms such as Dangote and UBA. Similarly, Togo-based Ecobank has established a significant footprint across the region, with operations in 33 countries. This chapter provides an overview of the recent trend in the internationalization efforts of African firms, factors influencing their internationalization efforts, challenges faced, and potential outcomes of Africa-to-Africa internationalization.

Entrepreneurial alertness and new venture performance: Facilitating roles of networking capability:

An ability to act upon an entrepreneurial opportunity is a major driver of new venture success. However, scholarly knowledge is limited on how and when entrepreneur alertness to entrepreneurial opportunities drives new venture success. This article addresses this gap arguing that variations in new venture performance are a function of levels of entrepreneurial alertness and networking capabilities. Using primary data gathered from 203 new ventures operating in a sub-Saharan African economy, Ghana, we find that increases in the levels of entrepreneurial alertness are related to increases in new venture performance. Additionally, we find that, under conditions of increased use of social and business networking capabilities, the potency of entrepreneurial alertness as a driver of new venture success is amplified. Theoretical, managerial and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Africa’s Competitiveness in the Global Economy: Past, Present and Future

Improving Africa’s competitiveness has taken on a heightened importance as the region experiences subdued growth following a decade of commodity-fuelled expansion. Meanwhile, efforts to industrialize and diversify beyond the extractive economy are being hampered by their weak competitiveness, a prevalent and persistent problem across the region. On a somewhat positive note, several countries are now making progress with increasing their competitiveness, and there appears to be grounds for cautious optimism about future improvements. This introductory chapter of Africa’s Competitiveness in the Global Economy provides an overview of the historical, current and projected competitiveness of African firms, sectors, cities and nations. The chapter provides an overview of five thematic issues covered by the 13 contributions in this volume: the global competitiveness of African nations and cities, competitiveness measurement and evaluation, sectoral competitiveness of declining and emerging industries, human capital and talent competitiveness, and the threat of the “Dutch Disease” and protectionism to competitiveness.

International marketing strategies of emerging market firms: Nature, boundary conditions, antecedents, and outcomes

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to publish scholarly works that extend knowledge on the drivers, consequences and boundary conditions of international marketing strategies employed by emerging market firms of all sizes and types; and to advance a narrative for future research on emerging market firms’ international marketing activities.,To achieve this agenda, the authors invited scholars to submit quality manuscripts to the special issue. Manuscripts that addressed the special issue theme from varied theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches were invited.,Out of 70 manuscripts reviewed, 7 are eventually accepted for inclusion in this special issue. The papers touched on interesting research topics bothering on international marketing practices of emerging market firms using blend of interesting theoretical perspectives and variety of methods. Key theoretical perspectives used include resource-based theory, internationalization theory, institutional theory and corporate visual identity theory. The authors employed unique sets of methods including literature review, surveys, panel data, and process-based qualitative and case-study enquiries. The authors used some of the most advanced analytical techniques to analyze their data.,This introduction to the special issue provides a review of the extant literature on the international marketing strategy of emerging market firms, focusing on summarizing key empirical contributions on the topic over the last three decades. Subsequently, the authors discuss how each paper included in this special issue helps advance the agenda to develop scholarly knowledge on emerging market firms’ international marketing strategy.

Africa-to-Africa Internationalization: Future Trends and Research Avenues

The push and pull factors that have led to the rapid, unprecedented internationalization of African firms are likely to continue in the near future. Sensing immense market opportunities in the region, many African firms will proactively expand or follow the lead of their corporate clients and partners. Drawn by the success of firms that have grown phenomenally through internationalization, many firms will be unable to resist the opportunity to acquire a share of Africa’s one billion consumers. Firms in economies or sectors with limited growth potential will be tempted and eventually ‘forced’ to diversify geographically. Several companies will have easier access to capital and resources, providing them with large war chests for cross-border acquisitions and greenfield investments. For others, interestingly, the mere ambition of becoming a pan-African or international firm will override other apparently important (economic) considerations. Beyond these factors, more regionalization activities are likely to occur as economic integration at the sub-regional and regional levels progresses. The proposed commencement of the African Continental Free Trade Area in 2017 will most certainly trigger greater intra-African trade and investments.

Bridging Institutional Distance: An Emerging Market Entry Strategy for Multinational Enterprises

Despite attractive investment opportunities, multinational enterprises (MNEs) looking to enter emerging markets face multifaceted challenges. While much of the literature tends to infer that emerging markets of all types face similar institutional challenges, this chapter argues that significant differences exist across emerging markets, which may help explain variations in entry mode strategies of MNEs to these markets. Entering an emerging market requires development of a unique market entry strategy that focuses on narrowing the institutional distance (i.e., regulatory, cognitive, and normative) between MNEs’ home and targeted host markets. Within the context of the Nigerian market, cognitive and normative institutional distance likely poses a greater challenge to MNE success than regulatory institutional distance. This chapter identifies corporate social responsibility, social media engagement, governmental relations, and informal relational ties as key market entry strategies that enable MNEs to build legitimacy in the Nigerian market, which then helps minimize the costs of the cognitive and normative institutional distances. Thus, this chapter proposes that MNEs can boost emerging market entry success levels when they are able to build and leverage unique market entry strategies to bridge the institutional distance between their home and host country markets.