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1 – 4 of 4Mumin Abubakre and Marcia Mkansi
By focusing on the contextual conditions of South African digital entrepreneurs and the affordances of digital technologies, we understand how connective affordances of digital…
Abstract
Purpose
By focusing on the contextual conditions of South African digital entrepreneurs and the affordances of digital technologies, we understand how connective affordances of digital technologies enable a collective approach to digital entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
We do so through an interpretive field study of South African digital entrepreneurs operating in resource-constrained settings.
Findings
The findings highlight how entrepreneurs appropriate digital technologies in collectives to achieve connective actions and cooperate and compete simultaneously, giving rise to what we call coopetitive affordance, reflecting a fresh perspective on coopetition in increasingly digital and resource-constrained realities.
Originality/value
This paper extends the connective affordance perspective by illustrating how the concept of coopetitive affordance brings to light how contextual conditions create a humanitarian bond between entrepreneurs and a digital bond created by their appropriation of digital technologies in collectives.
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Marcia Mkansi, Sander de Leeuw and Olatoye Amosun
The purpose of this paper is to present a mobile application supported townshipand urban e-grocery distribution models that uses a software application (app) to bridge the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a mobile application supported townshipand urban e-grocery distribution models that uses a software application (app) to bridge the infrastructural barriers, costs and complexities associated with e-grocery delivery operations in rural township areas.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative multi-case approach and semi-structured interviews, the study explored distribution practices of eight national emerging e-grocery retail businesses to demonstrate how mobile applications can facilitate South African urban and township e-grocery delivery models.
Findings
The study reveals how the need to scale the use of new mobile application innovations fuels value-added services that power new e-grocery distribution models. Of interest is how the application aggregates demand rapidly, respond to demand within a short lead time and how e-grocers use competitors’ stores as their fulfilment centres. The use of apps reveals a slow transformation of society towards an inclusive model that integrates different types of workers in an informal context.
Practical implications
The mobile application value-added service business model offers a new wave of scaling e-grocery retail to rural and township areas constrained by technological, economic and road infrastructure. The apps transcend e-grocery barriers and enables small businesses with limited resources to leverage e-grocery market opportunities that are unimaginable in townships and rural areas.
Originality/value
The innovative mobile platform-base model offers emerging contextual insight of a pull e-grocery distribution model that demonstrates the supply chain innovations for addressing under-resource and under-developed logistics infrastructure.
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Pross Oluka Nagitta and Marcia Mkansi
Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have been developed to treat uncomplicated malaria. However, scanty studies exist to inform the role of macro factors in explaining…
Abstract
Purpose
Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have been developed to treat uncomplicated malaria. However, scanty studies exist to inform the role of macro factors in explaining the nonavailability of ACT in developing countries. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the different macro-environment factors affecting the availability of ACTs in the public hospital setting.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applied a quantitative methodological approach and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test hypotheses statistically. SEM examines linear causal relationships among variables while accounting for measurement error. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess model reliability. CFA and SEM were used to determine the shared variance-covariance of variables, define the latent construct and provide a more precise way to account for the error variances associated with the variables, which, if untested, could lead to biased parameter estimates. This was guided by the data collected from 40 general public hospitals with 283 respondents.
Findings
This study’s results support a model for promoting social-cultural, technological and legal factors. The availability of ACTs is significantly affected by legal factors. Improving legal aspects by a unit can enhance ACT availability by 0.59. Political factors scored the least, and they do not influence the availability of malaria drugs.
Research limitations/implications
The design was quantitative and cross-sectional. Future research could be longitudinal with a mixed-method approach and consider other external stakeholders.
Practical implications
Reducing the impact of the nonavailability of antimalarial drugs in general public hospitals requires a holistic concerted and coordinated supply chain approach that tackles the political, economic, social-cultural norms, technological and legal factors.
Originality/value
The authors develop and test a model using macro factors: political, economic, social, cultural, technological and legal factors. This model is relevant for many developing countries to supply chain coordination perpetually experiencing medicine shortages.
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Temidayo O. Akenroye, Adegboyega Oyedijo, Vishnu C. Rajan, George A. Zsidisin, Marcia Mkansi and Jamal El Baz
This study aims to develop a hierarchical model that uncovers the relationships between challenges confronting Africa's organ transplant supply chain systems.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a hierarchical model that uncovers the relationships between challenges confronting Africa's organ transplant supply chain systems.
Design/methodology/approach
Eleven challenges (variables) were identified after a comprehensive review of the existing literature. The contextual interactions among these variables were analysed from the perspectives of health-care stakeholders in two sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries (Nigeria and Uganda), using Delphi-interpretive structural modelling-cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) techniques.
Findings
The findings reveal that weak regulatory frameworks, insufficient information systems and a lack of necessary skills make it challenging for critical actors to perform the tasks effectively. The interaction effects of these challenges weaken organ supply chains and make it less efficient, giving rise to negative externalities such as black markets for donated organs and organ tourism/trafficking.
Research limitations/implications
This paper establishes a solid foundation for a critical topic that could significantly impact human health and life once the government or non-profit ecosystem matures. The MICMAC analysis in this paper provides a methodological approach for future studies wishing to further develop the organ supply chain structural models.
Practical implications
The study provides valuable insights for experts and policymakers on where to prioritise efforts in designing interventions to strengthen organ transplantation supply chains in developing countries.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to empirically examine the challenges of organ transplant supply chains from an SSA perspective, including theoretically grounded explanations from data collected in two developing countries.
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