Innovation and value creation in the fish and cut-flower export sectors in Uganda

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.This empirical study investigates the extent to which Ugandan fish and flower exporters are creating value and increasing their profitability through innovation activity and whether or not they are improving their ability to manage innovation projects effectively. It applied a mixed-methodological approach using a survey questionnaire and semistructured in-depth interviews administered on production, quality control, marketing and financial managers. It used primary and secondary data to develop financial models to estimate operating profits from different combinations of product, process and marketing innovations at industry and company levels. Empirical evidence shows that the lines of business that are associated with the highest profitability in one period change over time, thus confirming the need for and potential benefits to be gained from innovation

Measuring New Product Adoption in Uganda

The study addresses the question of New Product Adoption in Uganda while confirming the measures of adoption that have been applied in the previous studies. A fair amount of work has been done in the area of adoption across different fields of study in view of the antecedents of New Product Adoption but with minimal emphasis on the measures of adoption. The researchers adopted a cross sectional descriptive research design to measure new product adoption using beverage manufacturers and consumers in Uganda. The study used a sample of 210 beverage manufacturing organizations looking at both marketing staff and customers of those organizations as the unit of enquiry. Using Structural Equation Modeling, the Confirmatory Factor Analysis results indicate a good model fit for Acceptance and Usage as the measures of New Product Adoption in Uganda. The study recommends that manufacturers who are interested in evaluating the level of adoption of their products, need to consider the degree of customer acceptance and usage of the same products. Keywords: New Products, Adoption, Measuring Adoption, Acceptance and Usage

Entrepreneurial mindset: Examining the contribution of deliberative and implemental mindsets to SME internationalization

The purpose of this study was to establish the contribution of deliberative mindset and implemental mindset to SME (small and medium enterprises) internationalization. This study employed cross-sectional and correlational research designs. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of exporting SME owners and managers. Data was analyzed with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and SmartPLS. Results suggest that implemental mindset significantly contributes to variances in SME internationalization unlike deliberative mindset. The findings in this study imply that increased levels of internationalization among SMEs in a developing country like Uganda can be achieved by those managers and owners who possess an implemental mindset. This study provides initial empirical evidence of the contribution of deliberative and implemental mindsets to SME internationalization using evidence from Uganda – a developing country

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Collaborative learning and the innovative behaviour of firms in Uganda's fish and cut flower export value chains

Proceedings of the Second Globelics Academy, Lisbon, Portugal, 23 May - 3 June 2005

Are African micro and small enterprises misunderstood? Unpacking the relationship between work organisation, capability development and innovation

International audienc

Are African micro- and small enterprises misunderstood? Unpacking the relationship between work organisation, capability development and innovation

Mainstream studies on innovation consider innovation processes as necessarily driven by expenditures on formal R&D and the input of engineers and scientists with third-level degrees. This bias in the literature has led to the view that micro- and small enterprises (MSEs), which constitute the majority of Africa’s enterprise base, are non-innovative. Building on an existing critique largely emerging from developing countries, this study provides evidence that, despite their lack of formal R&D expenditures, MSEs in Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda are in fact active innovators. The paper argues that the mainstream literature fails to capture important dynamics and practices that are central to innovation in MSEs. Arguing that the way work activity is organised is closely linked to learning, capability development and, ultimately, innovation, the paper unpacks the relationships between these three processes with evidence from MSEs in the four African countries. The empirical findings demonstrate that an important basis for the innovativeness of African MSEs is the adaptability of employees and their ability to learn on the job and to make use of their own ideas in solving the problems they face in work