This paper grew out of a keynote I delivered at the Academy of International Business Africa chap... more This paper grew out of a keynote I delivered at the Academy of International Business Africa chapter meeting in Ghana, 2019, and was further honed in the review process. I share how emotionally challenging I sometimes find it to be a scholar of Africa, and some insights I have gained over time about meeting that challenge. Our work is strengthened when we honestly document what we find, using both scientific principles and global scholarship to guide us. But our scholarship can also enrich research globally in three ways: Insights we gain from our extreme conditions, our greater opportunities to study some phenomena, e.g. faith in business, and finally because Africans sometimes simply see things differently, e.g. African understandings of how the workplace relates to personal circumstances. I offer examples of how we can deal with the data challenges in Africa. We need to explain more carefully our setting to help readers from other contexts understand ours. We do not always recognize or play to our data strengths, and sometimes need to innovate evidence. I conclude by reiterating the need to combine an honest documentation of what we see from our African vantage point with a deep knowledge of current global scholarship.
We argue that escape foreign direct investment (FDI) happens when unknown future “rules of the ga... more We argue that escape foreign direct investment (FDI) happens when unknown future “rules of the game” cause concern about the continued productive capacity of the economy. Adapting the stress-strain-fail model of materials failure, we argue that escape FDI is a process with three cumulative phases. Conditions for escape FDI (stress) are created by institutional deterioration and contained contestation. Limited escape FDI (strain) results from periods of societal instability and/or inadequate institutional reforms. Extensive escape FDI (failure) results from pervasive societal instability and/or fundamental changes in institutions. Using a historical approach, we develop these propositions for South Africa, 1956 to 2012.
Africa is an increasingly important business context, yet we still know very little about it. We ... more Africa is an increasingly important business context, yet we still know very little about it. We review the challenges and opportunities that firms in Africa face and propose that these can serve as the basis for extending current theories and models of the firm. We do so by challenging some of the implicit assumptions and stereotypes on firms in Africa and proposing three avenues for extending theories. One is taking the extreme conditions of some Africa countries and using them as a laboratory for modifying current theories and models of the firm, as we illustrate in the case of institutional theory and the resource-based view. A second one is identifying new themes that arise from analyzing firms in Africa and their contexts of operation, and we discuss four themes: migrating multinationals and the meaning of home country, diaspora networks within and across countries, a recasting of cultural and institutional distance, and new hybrid organizational forms. A third one is developing new theories based on alternative paradigms of social relationships that have emerged in Africa that differ from those underpinning existing theories of the firm, such as kgotla and its view of community-based relationships or ubuntu and its humanizing view of relationships.
Two main mechanisms determine the extent to which the headquarters of multinational corporations ... more Two main mechanisms determine the extent to which the headquarters of multinational corporations (MNCs) from less developed countries gain useful capabilities from their subsidiaries in the developed world: learning mechanisms, and recognition by the parent. Because emerging MNCs are at an early stage of their evolution, informal learning mechanisms are more important than attempts to formalise learning. It also matters whether the parent recognises the capabilities of the subsidiary: learning mechanisms alone are not adequate. A parent that interacts frequently with the subsidiary, has high regard for the (internal) resources of its subsidiary and (external) resources of its environment is more likely to regard that subsidiary as a source of useful capabilities, and therefore more likely to benefit from informal learning exchanges. By using data gathered from subsidiaries of emerging MNCs in the US, the article documents the functioning of both learning mechanisms and the role of headquarter recognition in the sharing of useful capabilities with the parent. Prior literature strongly emphasises the importance of learning mechanisms; this article confirms the importance of capabilities, but also highlights the role played by headquarter recognition.
Knowledge is a central concept in current management thinking, but it is a term that risks meanin... more Knowledge is a central concept in current management thinking, but it is a term that risks meaning everything to everybody, and thus nothing at all. Foss rightly bemoans the proliferation of vague knowledge-related concepts that are often defined in terms of other, equally poorly defined concepts. Theoretically there is a cluster of concepts that all relate to the knowledgebased view of the firm, without it always being clear how different terms are to be operationalised or to relate to one another: routines (Feldman and
Do world-leading researchers from developing countries contribute to upgrading locally, or do the... more Do world-leading researchers from developing countries contribute to upgrading locally, or do they disengage from the local context? The paper investigates the scientific collaborations of university-based science and technology researchers in the database of the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), and analyses the co-authorships of researchers who were ranked by the NRF during the 2001–2007 period. To establish the extent to which a researcher can access knowledge outside the South African academic science and technology research community, and share it inside that community, we develop a measure of ‘gatekeeping’. The evidence suggests that there is not a local/global trade-off in knowledge creation in academia in the developing world, and that the world-leading researchers in developing countries may play an especially important role as conduits of new knowledge in their country.
Knowledge is a central concept in current management thinking, but it is a term that risks meanin... more Knowledge is a central concept in current management thinking, but it is a term that risks meaning everything to everybody, and thus nothing at all. Foss rightly bemoans the proliferation of vague knowledge-related concepts that are often defined in terms of other, equally poorly defined concepts. Theoretically there is a cluster of concepts that all relate to the knowledgebased view of the firm, without it always being clear how different terms are to be operationalised or to relate to one another: routines (Feldman and
The diaspora is often credited with helping its homeland, especially when the country is less dev... more The diaspora is often credited with helping its homeland, especially when the country is less developed. Yet diasporans are also known to have complex feelings about the homeland. In a study of the South African diaspora, we find that positive affect about both the homeland and the migration experience is positively correlated with the willingness of diasporans to share knowledge with the homeland. But for negative affect there are inflection points, and different intensities of feelings such as guilt and a sense of loss have differing effects. Our findings suggest that an ongoing, beneficial engagement by a diaspora cannot be assumed. Given how individuals are increasingly shaping crossborder economic activity, our findings also suggest that international business research needs to pay greater attention to individuals and individual-level variables such as emotions.
Paper presented in the IV Globelics Conference at Mexico City, September 22-24 2008 1 Globelics E... more Paper presented in the IV Globelics Conference at Mexico City, September 22-24 2008 1 Globelics Emerging centres of excellence: Knowledge-sharing between developing country firms and their subsidiaries in the developed world Dr Helena Barnard1 INTRODUCTION This paper ...
This paper grew out of a keynote I delivered at the Academy of International Business Africa chap... more This paper grew out of a keynote I delivered at the Academy of International Business Africa chapter meeting in Ghana, 2019, and was further honed in the review process. I share how emotionally challenging I sometimes find it to be a scholar of Africa, and some insights I have gained over time about meeting that challenge. Our work is strengthened when we honestly document what we find, using both scientific principles and global scholarship to guide us. But our scholarship can also enrich research globally in three ways: Insights we gain from our extreme conditions, our greater opportunities to study some phenomena, e.g. faith in business, and finally because Africans sometimes simply see things differently, e.g. African understandings of how the workplace relates to personal circumstances. I offer examples of how we can deal with the data challenges in Africa. We need to explain more carefully our setting to help readers from other contexts understand ours. We do not always recognize or play to our data strengths, and sometimes need to innovate evidence. I conclude by reiterating the need to combine an honest documentation of what we see from our African vantage point with a deep knowledge of current global scholarship.
We argue that escape foreign direct investment (FDI) happens when unknown future “rules of the ga... more We argue that escape foreign direct investment (FDI) happens when unknown future “rules of the game” cause concern about the continued productive capacity of the economy. Adapting the stress-strain-fail model of materials failure, we argue that escape FDI is a process with three cumulative phases. Conditions for escape FDI (stress) are created by institutional deterioration and contained contestation. Limited escape FDI (strain) results from periods of societal instability and/or inadequate institutional reforms. Extensive escape FDI (failure) results from pervasive societal instability and/or fundamental changes in institutions. Using a historical approach, we develop these propositions for South Africa, 1956 to 2012.
Africa is an increasingly important business context, yet we still know very little about it. We ... more Africa is an increasingly important business context, yet we still know very little about it. We review the challenges and opportunities that firms in Africa face and propose that these can serve as the basis for extending current theories and models of the firm. We do so by challenging some of the implicit assumptions and stereotypes on firms in Africa and proposing three avenues for extending theories. One is taking the extreme conditions of some Africa countries and using them as a laboratory for modifying current theories and models of the firm, as we illustrate in the case of institutional theory and the resource-based view. A second one is identifying new themes that arise from analyzing firms in Africa and their contexts of operation, and we discuss four themes: migrating multinationals and the meaning of home country, diaspora networks within and across countries, a recasting of cultural and institutional distance, and new hybrid organizational forms. A third one is developing new theories based on alternative paradigms of social relationships that have emerged in Africa that differ from those underpinning existing theories of the firm, such as kgotla and its view of community-based relationships or ubuntu and its humanizing view of relationships.
Two main mechanisms determine the extent to which the headquarters of multinational corporations ... more Two main mechanisms determine the extent to which the headquarters of multinational corporations (MNCs) from less developed countries gain useful capabilities from their subsidiaries in the developed world: learning mechanisms, and recognition by the parent. Because emerging MNCs are at an early stage of their evolution, informal learning mechanisms are more important than attempts to formalise learning. It also matters whether the parent recognises the capabilities of the subsidiary: learning mechanisms alone are not adequate. A parent that interacts frequently with the subsidiary, has high regard for the (internal) resources of its subsidiary and (external) resources of its environment is more likely to regard that subsidiary as a source of useful capabilities, and therefore more likely to benefit from informal learning exchanges. By using data gathered from subsidiaries of emerging MNCs in the US, the article documents the functioning of both learning mechanisms and the role of headquarter recognition in the sharing of useful capabilities with the parent. Prior literature strongly emphasises the importance of learning mechanisms; this article confirms the importance of capabilities, but also highlights the role played by headquarter recognition.
Knowledge is a central concept in current management thinking, but it is a term that risks meanin... more Knowledge is a central concept in current management thinking, but it is a term that risks meaning everything to everybody, and thus nothing at all. Foss rightly bemoans the proliferation of vague knowledge-related concepts that are often defined in terms of other, equally poorly defined concepts. Theoretically there is a cluster of concepts that all relate to the knowledgebased view of the firm, without it always being clear how different terms are to be operationalised or to relate to one another: routines (Feldman and
Do world-leading researchers from developing countries contribute to upgrading locally, or do the... more Do world-leading researchers from developing countries contribute to upgrading locally, or do they disengage from the local context? The paper investigates the scientific collaborations of university-based science and technology researchers in the database of the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), and analyses the co-authorships of researchers who were ranked by the NRF during the 2001–2007 period. To establish the extent to which a researcher can access knowledge outside the South African academic science and technology research community, and share it inside that community, we develop a measure of ‘gatekeeping’. The evidence suggests that there is not a local/global trade-off in knowledge creation in academia in the developing world, and that the world-leading researchers in developing countries may play an especially important role as conduits of new knowledge in their country.
Knowledge is a central concept in current management thinking, but it is a term that risks meanin... more Knowledge is a central concept in current management thinking, but it is a term that risks meaning everything to everybody, and thus nothing at all. Foss rightly bemoans the proliferation of vague knowledge-related concepts that are often defined in terms of other, equally poorly defined concepts. Theoretically there is a cluster of concepts that all relate to the knowledgebased view of the firm, without it always being clear how different terms are to be operationalised or to relate to one another: routines (Feldman and
The diaspora is often credited with helping its homeland, especially when the country is less dev... more The diaspora is often credited with helping its homeland, especially when the country is less developed. Yet diasporans are also known to have complex feelings about the homeland. In a study of the South African diaspora, we find that positive affect about both the homeland and the migration experience is positively correlated with the willingness of diasporans to share knowledge with the homeland. But for negative affect there are inflection points, and different intensities of feelings such as guilt and a sense of loss have differing effects. Our findings suggest that an ongoing, beneficial engagement by a diaspora cannot be assumed. Given how individuals are increasingly shaping crossborder economic activity, our findings also suggest that international business research needs to pay greater attention to individuals and individual-level variables such as emotions.
Paper presented in the IV Globelics Conference at Mexico City, September 22-24 2008 1 Globelics E... more Paper presented in the IV Globelics Conference at Mexico City, September 22-24 2008 1 Globelics Emerging centres of excellence: Knowledge-sharing between developing country firms and their subsidiaries in the developed world Dr Helena Barnard1 INTRODUCTION This paper ...
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