David B. Zoogah, Emanuel Gomes and Miguel Pina Cunha
There is a growing desire for more scientific and technical knowledge regarding Africa. This is because Africa has the potential and opportunity to generate impactful research…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a growing desire for more scientific and technical knowledge regarding Africa. This is because Africa has the potential and opportunity to generate impactful research. However, this potential is not optimized because of several constraints, including the lack of systematic reviews and models of knowledge management and paradoxical trends in Africa. The purpose of this paper is to review studies on knowledge management and associated paradoxes in Africa and a paradox-conscious African knowledge management model. The autochthonous African model that the authors propose has implications for global knowledge management.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors review studies on knowledge management and paradoxes on Africa.
Findings
The authors propose a model and identify 12 paradoxes broadly categorized as industrial, political and social.
Practical implications
The paradoxical tensions characteristic of Africa may be considered integral to business and policy rather than local expressions to be solved through international “best practice.”
Originality/value
The model this paper propose enables theoretical and empirical studies of knowledge management sensitive to the paradoxical tensions associated with autochthonous management knowledge and autochthonous knowledge management.
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Ferran Vendrell-Herrero, Emanuel Gomes, Marco Opazo-Basaez and Oscar F. Bustinza
The purpose of this paper is to distinguish clearly between industry (ILC) and product lifecycle (PLC) models and to elucidate their different ramifications for organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to distinguish clearly between industry (ILC) and product lifecycle (PLC) models and to elucidate their different ramifications for organizational learning and knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine existing knowledge on ILCs and PLCs to highlight the differences and similarities and develop a framework with implications for learning and innovation in digital manufacturing industries.
Findings
The authors identify and associate one dominant type of learning with each phase of the ILC: learning-by-participating in the introduction phase, learning-by-feedback in the growth phase, vicarious learning in the maturity phase and learning-by-memory in the decline phase. The study also provides insight into how different types of learning influence PLC in digital innovation. From this perspective, learning-by-feedback is crucial to co-creation, co-production and open innovation. Similarly, learning-by-doing and learning-by-memory are essential to production and usage stages, respectively.
Research limitations/implications
The conceptual development in this paper follows a somewhat critical but ultimately elucidative analysis that highlights important research avenues in the interplay of PLC/ILC, organizational learning and digital innovation.
Originality/value
This paper clarifies a perennial theoretical problem by differentiating two concepts often conflated in the literature. More importantly, it contributes to the knowledge management literature by shedding light on the connection of ILC and PLC theories to different types of organizational learning.
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Emanuel Gomes, Kamel Mellahi, Sunil Sahadev and Amy Harvey
Although there is substantial and accumulating evidence on the link between market entry modes and performance, evidence regarding their impact on employee’s perceptions and…
Abstract
Purpose
Although there is substantial and accumulating evidence on the link between market entry modes and performance, evidence regarding their impact on employee’s perceptions and thereby their commitment is scarce. This is more so in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) where employee’s commitment has a significant impact on post-entry performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between perceptions of justice and organisational commitment in cross-border M&As.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on market entry and M&As’ literature and studies on the link between perception of justice and commitment to develop the hypotheses. The authors test the hypotheses with survey data from a merger of two culturally different partners – British and Japanese. A total of 128 responses were received, out of a sample of 151 non-managerial employees within the firm.
Findings
The results show a strong association between employees’ perceptions of justice during the merger and commitment to the new organisation. Surprisingly, the results do not support the widely reported interaction effects between different organisational justices and employees’ commitment.
Research limitations/implications
Obtaining data from a single M&A is a potential limitation of this study.
Practical implications
The study underscores the importance of post-market entry. The results suggest that particular attention needs to be paid to the way employees of the acquired firm are treated during their interactions with their counterparts.
Originality/value
The link between market entry and performance is well documented. However, little progress has been made in understanding the antecedents/factors that influence commitment in foreign market entry and in particular cross-border M&As. This study helps close this gap.
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Emanuel Gomes, Miguel Pina e Cunha, David B. Zoogah, Geoffrey Wood and Peter Ping Li
Emanuel Gomes, Carlos M.P. Sousa and Ferran Vendrell-Herrero
The aim of this paper is to conceptualize the notion of international marketing agility.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to conceptualize the notion of international marketing agility.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach adopted is to review and create a synopsis of the existing body of research on strategic agility and develop a conceptualization on how international marketing agility (IMA) should be analyzed.
Findings
International marketing agility is an emerging concept driven largely by rapid changes in global markets. There is a growing need for exporting SMEs and multinational enterprises to consider IMA as a means of building competitive advantage in foreign markets.
Research implications/limitations
While the conceptual development presented in this paper is not exhaustive, our model highlights important research avenues in IMA that need exploring.
Originality/value
This article examines an emerging concept in international marketing that serves as a platform to cope with the changes taking place in this fast-changing global environment. A framework is proposed where we conceptualize IMA as a process triggered by agile logic (a nonconformist and open mental stance) and facilitated by agile learning (being able to search and interpret data), to cause agile actions (being able to commit, co-ordinate and respond quickly with flexibility to ever-changing conditions).
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Emanuel Gomes, Ferran Vendrell-Herrero, Kamel Mellahi, Duncan Angwin and Carlos M.P. Sousa
Whilst substantial evidence from low-corruption, developed market environments supports the view that more productive firms are more likely to export, there has been little…
Abstract
Purpose
Whilst substantial evidence from low-corruption, developed market environments supports the view that more productive firms are more likely to export, there has been little research into analysing the link between productivity and exports in high corruption, developing market environments. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to test the premise of self-selection theory whether the association between productivity and export is maintained in high-corruption environments, and second to identify other variables explaining export activity in high-corruption contexts, including cluster networks and firms’ competences.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on the World Bank Enterprise survey to undertake a cross-section analysis including 1,233 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in nine African countries. The advantage of this database is that it contains information about the level of perceived corruption at firm level. Logistic regressions are performed for the full sample and for subsamples of firms in high- and low-corruption environments.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that the self-selection theory only applies to low-corruption environments, whereas in high-corruption environments, alternative factors such as cluster networks and outward-looking competences (OLC) exert a stronger influence on the exporting activity of African SMEs.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to the theory as it provides evidence that contradicts the validity of self-selection theory in high-corruption environments. The findings would benefit from further longitudinal investigation.
Practical implications
African SMEs need to consider cluster networks and OLC as important strategic factors that might enhance their international competitiveness.
Originality/value
The criticism of the self-selection theory is distinctive in the literature and has important implications for future research. The authors show that the contextualisation of existing theories matters and this opens a research avenue for further more sensitive contextualisation of existing theories in developing economies.
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Carlos M.P. Sousa, Ji Yan, Emanuel Gomes and Jorge Lengler
The paper examines the impact of export activity on productivity and how this effect is moderated by R&D investment and foreign ownership.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper examines the impact of export activity on productivity and how this effect is moderated by R&D investment and foreign ownership.
Design/methodology/approach
A time-lag effect is taken into account when examining the proposed model. Data are collected from the Annual Industrial Survey of the National Bureau of Statistics of China. A dataset containing 117,340 firms across the sample period (2001–2007) are used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results indicate that while R&D investment plays a significant role in strengthening the positive effect of export activity on a firm's productivity, foreign ownership surprisingly has a negative moderating role.
Originality/value
Scholarly interest in the links between export activity and productivity is on the rise. However, the bulk of research has been focused on understanding the effects of export activity on productivity at the country or industry level. Little has been done at the firm level. Another gap in the literature is that the mechanism through which the impact of export activity can be leveraged to enhance the firm's productivity has been largely ignored. To address these issues, the study adopts the learning-by-exporting theory to examine the relationship between export and productivity at the firm-level and how R&D investment and foreign ownership may explain how learning can be leveraged to enhance the firm's productivity. Finally, these relationships are examined in the context of firms from an emerging market, China, which is especially relevant for the learning-by-exporting argument used in this study.
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Emanuel Gomes, David W. Lehman, Ferran Vendrell-Herrero and Oscar F. Bustinza
The purpose of this study is to develop a history-based framework of servitization and deservitization.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop a history-based framework of servitization and deservitization.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on three history-based management theories, i.e. industry lifecycle, strategic pivoting and strategy restoration, to develop a conceptual framework of how servitization and deservitization pivots influence firm performance in different stages of the industry lifecycle. A series of examples involving configurations and reconfigurations in production illustrate the theoretical propositions.
Findings
The proposed framework predicts that servitization pivots positively influence firm performance in the ferment phase, but this effect gradually diminishes as industries advance into transition and mature phases. In contrast, the framework predicts that deservitization pivots negatively influence firm performance in the ferment phase; this effect, too, becomes negligible in the transition phase but positive in the mature phase. Moreover, the proposed framework predicts that deservitization pivoting outperforms servitization pivoting in mature servitized industries to the extent that such pivots are restorative in nature, thereby suggesting that deservitization may represent a strategic opportunity for firms in mature industries.
Originality/value
This study highlights the role of history-based management theories in enhancing our understanding of servitization and deservitization.
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Emanuel Gomes, Sunbir Alam and Qile He
Over the last few decades, management has witnessed a proliferation of research on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and strategic alliances (SAs). Although both fields have been…
Abstract
Over the last few decades, management has witnessed a proliferation of research on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and strategic alliances (SAs). Although both fields have been widely studied, the relationship between the two bodies of literature has not been sufficiently explored. Despite the enormous commonality between both phenomena in terms of the drivers behind them and of the critical success factors associated with the M&A and alliance process management, scholars from the two fields have rarely exchanged findings and insights, even though they may be highly relevant to each other. M&A and SA research remain mostly separated from each other, thus minimizing the ability for more mutually beneficial complementary and synergetic knowledge sharing effects.
This chapter synthesizes and compares existing theoretical perspectives from the M&A and SA literatures and identifies opportunities for future research and knowledge cross fertilization between the two fields. Building upon previous review studies about M&A and SA literatures, the authors develop a comparative longitudinal review of both literatures published in top management journals over a 27-year period. For that purpose, the authors resort to machine learning algorithms to discover thematic patterns that may have gone unnoticed by using traditional review methods.
By highlighting some of the shortcomings that limit the authors’ theoretical and practical understandings, they challenge scholars from both fields (M&A and SA) to go beyond what they think they know from compartmentalized received theory, and draw upon novel and meaningful ideas, concepts, and theoretical approaches from “the other side of the fence.” The authors believe that such a dialog will facilitate further theoretical exploration and empirical investigation of both phenomena and produce insights that will influence the practical management of M&A and SAs.