Digital Financial Services and Strategic Financial Management: Financial Services Firms and Microenterprises in African Markets

This study highlights the impact of digital financial services as enhancing the capacity of development goals as well as social sustainability. The selected emerging markets are Ghanaian financial service providers (FSP)s and microenterprise customers (CME)s, where we examine how “Ubuntu”, an African philosophy of humanism, legitimizes spaces for a more democratic, egalitarian, and ethical engagement of human beings. This study adopts a grounded theory methodology for investigation of the phenomena with a sample size of 70 relationship managers. The findings further existing sustainability literature pertaining to social sustainability and consumer wellbeing. We contribute to theory by presenting a psychological perspective which be leveraged for digital financial services branding to expand usage within communal systems. This leverage of Ubuntu becomes especially relevant when there is the need to compensate for deficits in weak business infrastructures in low-income but expanding markets. Our study highlights digital financial services can be used to improve the emotional and psychological consumer wellbeing and to strengthen business relationships, meeting joint goals of market share expansion, brand image enhancement and profitability. This perspective also contributes to social sustainability on a global scale since the Western world depends on quality products from emerging markets

Entrepreneurship in a Developing Market: The Role of Socio-cultural and Environmental Hostilities

This paper examines environmental hostilities and entrepreneurship in a developing market focusing on Ghana. A qualitative assessment is provided on the influence of socio-cultural factors and environmental hostilities on entrepreneurship issues in emerging markets. Recent findings have implied that entrepreneurial businesses in emerging markets are not as proactive and dynamic as their western peers while facing intense competition. They are less likely to invest heavily in research and development (R&D) or in building up a strong brand name when the environment is hostile and competitive. The findings of a qualitative study with financial services providers, firm relationship managers and their micro-enterprise customers demonstrated the dual impact that socio-cultural factors and environmental hostilities had on entrepreneurship; that is, each of these influences co-creation by enhancing or limiting firm-customer collaboration, dialogical interactions, learning and creativity. while the negative implications of environmental hostilities on entrepreneurship are perhaps more obvious, the findings also illustrate how operating in economies are constrained by the market, and institutional failures act as a stimulant. It stimulates creativity and learning between firms and customers as they attempt to manage these issues through creativity techniques. Taken together, the study findings extend theories on entrepreneurship by incorporating a developing market perspective and by illustrating the importance of leveraging entrepreneurial resources while developing innovative solutions and product services for developing markets