Newly independent nations and large engineering projects: the case of the Volta River Project

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explicate how newly independent nations combined local and international resources to plan and build large engineering projects aimed at enhancing economic development. It discusses the key factors and issues related to the planning and building of the Akosombo dam and related townships from 1962 to 1967. Design/methodology/approach: Archival information from the Volta River Authority (VRA) together with other archival government data and interview transcripts before, during and after the completion (from the 1950s to the 1960s) of the Volta River Project (VRP) Findings: The paper presents insights from the Volta River Project in newly independent Ghana and demonstrates how multiple international firms combine with host country stakeholders to usher in one of the most important engineering projects in post-colonial Africa. It also highlights how poor bargaining power and weak integration of projects to future development objectives, with negligence by succeeding political actors could inhibit the full achievement of intended long-term project outcomes. Research Limitations/implications: Most of the conclusions are drawn from a single project within one country and would need to be supported by additional multi-country research. The study also presents an opportunity to explore how lessons learnt could influence policymaking in new large and complex infrastructure projects. Originality/value: The paper reviews antecedents, processes and outcomes of a major post-independence infrastructure project in a sub-Saharan African country

An integrated perspective on foreign ethical divestment

Much of the existing literature on foreign ethical divestment has been developed in isolation and scattered across multiple disciplines. This paper reviews the existing literature on foreign ethical divestment to extract emerging themes and outline new directions for future research. Our review uncovered that foreign ethical divestment decisions can be attributed to macro, firm and individual level factors. We therefore develop an integrated model to link the dynamics of ethical foreign divestment. The study identified a number of unanswered questions and implications for future research

COVID‐19 pandemic and Innovation Activities in The Global Airline Industry: A Review

Despite the valuable contributions of scholars to the COVID-19 pandemic, limited scholarly attention has been paid to the opportunities unleashed by the crisis. As many industries have been turned upside down and markets rendered uncertain, the crisis is also propelling waves of innovation activities. In this paper, we developed the concept of “CoviNovation” to denote the firm’s innovation emerging from, rooted in or accelerated by the crisis. Our analysis yielded insights on innovations inspired by COVID-19 across the global airline industry, including inflight social distancing, utilizing touchless technologies at airports, disinfecting aircraft with UV, open-middle-seat policy, accelerated use of biometrics in check-in and COVID-19 insurance. The theoretical and practical implications of the COVID-19-inspired innovations examined

Human Capital Flows in Failing Organizations: An Integrated Conceptual Framework

The paper examines the dynamics of human capital accumulation and human capital depletion in the processes leading to business failure. Design/methodology/approach – Building on the human capital theory, strategic human resource and business failure literature, this paper develops a conceptual framework which links the inward and outward dimensions of human capital flows in the business failure process. Findings – The analysis sheds light on why some highly skilled individuals may opt to flee declining firms to avoid being stigmatised whilst others become motivated to joint such firms. Research limitations/implications – The paper suggests that understanding the nature and dynamics of both flows are essential when seeking to avert collapse. Originality/value –In spite of a growing body of research on business failure and intense competition for top talent, much of the existing literature has circumvented the relationship between them. This study develops a unified model towards enhancing our understanding of the human capital flows

Integrated vs. add-on: A multidimensional conceptualisation of technology obsolescence

In the past two decades, technology obsolescence has become an increasingly common feature of the global economy, often precipitated by new technological breakthroughs and innovations. Although a number of companies persist with obsolete technologies until disaster strikes, our understanding of the dynamics of technology obsolescence and why some firms persist with obsolete technologies remains largely underexplored. This conceptual paper seeks to fills these gaps in our understanding by developing a four-domain framework to explicate the dynamics of technologies' obsolescence, which takes into account the components in determining different types of obsolescence. The framework articulates two types of life-cycle match and two types of life-cycle mismatch. The article also contributes to the literature by delineating an integrated framework of firm-specific and market-based factors which account for some firms' persistence with obsolete technologies. Amassing and utilising the latest information to update their technologies can help firms enhance their competitiveness. The wider implications of the analysis for public policy and directions for future research are examined

Africa Rising in an Emerging World: An International Marketing Perspective

Purpose: The primary goal of this introductory article is to highlight important contemporary themes in international marketing strategy from the perspective of Sub-Saharan African firms. Design/methodology/approach: The approach adopted is a review and synopsis of the existing body of research on international marketing research in Sub-Saharan African, and a discussion of the manuscripts included in the special issue. Findings: International marketing in Sub-Sahara Africa is growing steadily, driven largely by rapid changes in socio-economic and demographic characteristics of consumers in this market. The growing appetite of multinational enterprises to explore new growth opportunities on this continent and the increasing intra-Africa cross-border transactions is driving unique approaches to international marketing that are predicated on using non-traditional means to produce, communicate and distribute products and services. Research limitations/implications: While the international marketing opportunities and challenges discussed in this article are not exhaustive, the paper highlights important research themes that need consideration regarding international marketing research in Sub-Saharan Africa. Originality/value: This introductory article emphasizes the unique international business landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa and discusses its international marketing strategy implications. The article further draws attention to a number of unanswered research questions that require additional research, and thus bring Sub-Saharan Africa to international marketing scholarly enquiry

Contemporary Business Risks: An Overview and New Research Agenda

Risk-taking is a pivotal feature of entrepreneurship and business development. Poor management of business risk often leads to the loss of competitiveness with the consequence of business failure, and in contrast, it improves business sustainability when risks are managed effectively. In this editorial, we present an overview of the literature on conventional business risks and new emerging risk with an attempt to clarify some key issues on the subject. This introduction depicts an illumination of the papers included in the special issue on ‘contemporary business risks’ and highlights several novel ideas, emerging trends and uncharted territories for future research

Can Adopting Ambitious Environmental Sustainability Initiatives Lead to Business Failures? an Analytical Framework

Drawing on environmental sustainability orientation and business failure literature, we examined a thought-provoking question: “Can adopting ambitious environmental sustainability initiatives lead to business failures and under what conditions is this more likely?” To address this question, we developed an analytical framework that provides new insights into how voluntary environmental initiatives affect the business environment and firm competitiveness. This paper also yields new insights on the features that emerge at adopting environmental initiatives–business failure nexus: from greening to growing, from greening to sustaining, from greening to constraining, and from greening to collapsing. Accordingly, the study accounts for the conditions under sustainability initiatives and a variety of complex contextual factors are likely to culminate in closures of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Although many top executives, entrepreneurs and managers view implementation of environmental initiatives as tantamount to superior firm performance, the paper highlighted the effects of resource constraints and vulnerabilities of SMEs and new firms during the early stage of development and therefore pursuing aggressive green initiatives could minimise their life chances. Implications for scholars and practising managers are discussed

Big Data Analytics and Business Failures in Data-Rich Environments: An Organizing Framework

In view of the burgeoning scholarly works on big data and big data analytical capabilities, there remains limited research on how different access to big data and different big data analytic capabilities possessed by firms can generate diverse conditions leading to business failure. To fill this gap in the existing literature, an integrated framework was developed that entailed two approaches to big data as an asset (i.e. threshold resource and distinctive resource) and two types of competences in big data analytics (i.e. threshold competence and distinctive/core competence). The analysis provides insights into how ordinary big data analytic capability and mere possession of big data are more likely to create conditions for business failure. The study extends the existing streams of research by shedding light on decisions and processes in facilitating or hampering firms’ ability to harness big data to mitigate the cause of business failures. The analysis led to the categorisation of a number of fruitful avenues for research on data-driven approaches to business failure

Editorial: Sustainable Waste Management Innovations: Developing New Ventures for Improved Health and Environmental Wellbeing

In this Editorial, we synthesise the articles in the Special Issue with unique insights into sustainable waste management innovations and sustainable business practices [...