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

Unlocking the potentials of hybrid business models in the sharing economy: an integrative review and new research agenda

Based on a review and synthesis of literature on Hybrid Business Models (HBMs) and the sharing economy (SE), this study advances a conceptual framework for HBMs in the context of the SE. The study sheds light on key research themes within the domain of HBMs, encompassing value proposition, governance and coordination, resource allocation, sustainability, reputation building, communication channels,and key sharing ecosystem partners. These models integrate elements such as access, platform, and the community-based economy, which are crucial for SE dynamics. This integration represents the best of both approaches, creating a balanced strategy and strengthening overall business operations The managerial implications, including the need for managers to leverage information technology for developments, are identified and outline

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

Recycling Mixed Plastics Waste as Reductant in Ironmaking

One of the major obstacles to the implementation of an appropriate plastics recycling scheme is the inhomogeneity of many plastics waste. Accordingly, most of the existing recycling schemes require a feedstock that is reasonably pure and contains only items made from a single polymer type. However, in reality, waste plastics contain a mixture of plastic types, and are often contaminated with non-plastic items. This demands sorting out, which is expensive and highly labour intensive. In this work, the reduction of reagent grade iron oxide by mixed plastic waste (MPW) has been investigated through experiments conducted in a laboratory scale horizontal tube furnace. Composite pellets of reagent grade iron oxide (97 % Fe2O3) with MPW [consisting of 50 wt % high density polyethylene (HDPE), 30% polypropylene (PP), 10% low density polyethylene (LDPE) and 10% polyethylene terephthalate (PET)] were rapidly heated at 1520°C under high purity argon gas and the off gas was continuously analysed for CO, CO2 and CH4 using an online infrared gas analyser (IR). The extent of reduction after ten minutes was determined for each carbonaceous reductant and the results were compared with the extent of reduction by conventional metallurgical coke under the same experimental conditions. The results show that iron oxide can be effectively reduced to produce metallic iron using MPW as reductant. An improvement in extent of reduction was observed over metallurgical coke and the individual polymers when MPW was used as reductant. This eliminates the need to sort out individual plastics from municipal solid waste for their effective utilisation as reductants in ironmaking.Keywords: Reduction, Metallurgical coke, Mixed plastics waste, Extent of reductio

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

Supply chain integration and operational performance in health institutions: A structural model for mediation effects

This study has examined the impact of supply chain integration on operational performance among health institutions. The study assessed the direct, indirect and mediated effects of supply chain integration on operational performance among health institutions in Ghana using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). In this research, the quantitative descriptive survey research design was used. A total of twenty (20) health institutions were sampled from an accessible population of thirty (30) using the simple random sampling technique. A total of two hundred and fifty-four (254) employees and managers from the health institutions were sampled using the stratified sampling technique. For direct effects, the findings of the study have shown that internal integration positively impacts external integration (customer and supplier integration). Direct positive relationships exist between internal integration and operational performance as well as supplier integration and operational performance. A non-significant relationship exists between customer integration and operational performance. For mediation effects, supplier integration significantly mediates the relationship between internal integration and operational performance, while customer integration does not significantly mediate the relationship between internal integration and operational performance among the health institutions in Ghana. The study has managerial implications for health institutions in strengthening their supplier and customer integrations through advanced database systems to enhance their operational performance