Coping with the African Business Environment: Enterprise Strategy in Response to Institutional Uncertainty in Tanzania

Weak institutions, endemic market failures and low trust permeate the Tanzanian business environment. Nevertheless, some local enterprises overcome these challenges. Based on case studies of Tanzanian food processing enterprises, this paper identifies a number of coping strategies that contrasts markedly with the strategies traditionally emphasized by the strategic management literature: Instead of focus strategies, Tanzanian enterprises diversify; Instead of competitive strategies, Tanzanian enterprises adopt network strategies; And instead of internationalizing based on strengths, Tanzanian enterprises internationalize to overcome weaknesses. The paper traces these strategies back to specificities of the Tanzanian institutional environment and discusses implications for the strategic management literature.     

The influence of greening the suppliers and green innovation on environmental performance and competitive advantage in Taiwan

Recently, many companies have recognized the concepts of green supply chain management or supply chain environmental management. However, relatively little research attention has been devoted to the consideration of relations between greening the supply chain, green innovation, environmental performance and competitive advantage. Hence, this paper aims to bridge this gap by providing empirical evidence to encourage companies to implement green supply chain and green innovation in order to improve their environmental performance, and to enhance their competitive advantage in the global market. A model is constructed to link the aforementioned constructs. Data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey across 124 companies from eight industry sectors in Taiwan. The data are analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling and the results from the final measurement model are used to evaluate the structural model that verifies the significance of the proposed relationships. A prominent result of this study is that greening the supplier through green innovation contributes significant benefits to the environmental performance and competitive advantage of the firm.     

Gender,Social Networks,and Entrepreneurial Outcomes in Tanzania

This article presents results of a study that investigates egocentric network differences between female and male entrepreneurs and their entrepreneurial outcomes in Tanzania. Based on a random sample of 272 micro-, small, and medium-size enterprises, the study reveals that female and male entrepreneurs have diverse networks. However, when compared to their male counterparts, female entrepreneurs' strong ties included more kin members. No significant gender difference in the composition of weaker ties was observed, suggesting gender differences in the choice of individuals with whom to have strong ties but not with whom to have weak ties. A significant gender difference in entrepreneurial outcomes at both start up and at the time of research was found, suggesting an antecedent networking behavior influence on performance.     

Open Science and Open Innovation in a socio‐political context: knowledge production for societal impact in an age of post‐truth populism

This conceptual paper traces the origins and progress of Open Science and proposes its generative coupling to Open Innovation in the contemporary socio‐political context; where universities are re‐imaging their civic missions in the face of anti‐establishment populist politics. This setting is one of changing knowledge production regimes and institutional pressures that create contradictions identifiable through the prism of the series of scientific norms conceptualised by Robert K. Merton. This paper privileges a sociological perspective to proffer scientific knowledge production as a societally embedded process, which is well illustrated by scholarship in the Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Science in Society fields. In doing so, it identifies the co‐evolution, co‐existence and co‐production of Open Science with Open Innovation; and notes how it shares the attributes of other recent diagnoses of changing knowledge production regimes; in particular Mode 2, post‐normal science and the Quadruple Helix. It also argues that Open Science can be coupled with Open Innovation to catalyse positive societal change, but that the rise of a populist post‐truth era opposed to objectivity, expertise and technocratic political solutions gives the demand for openness and participation a different complexion. Merton's norms provide a useful lens to observe recent shifts in the delivery of science, knowledge and innovation in society towards more inclusive, ethical and sustainable outcomes; and expose the limited reflection on how the appropriation and exploitation of open scientific knowledge encounters industrial R&D and Open Innovation.     

Managing in an economic crisis: The role of market orientation in an international law firm

This research paper contributes to the understanding of the relationship between market orientation and performance in the context of a law firm during a time of economic crisis. The contribution is twofold, adding to the fairly limited research on market orientation within law firms, and to the limited research on the role of market orientation in times of economic crisis. The findings, from the questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews within practice groups of a large multinational law firm, conclude that market orientation is important during an economic crisis. Those practice groups with higher market orientation scores withstand the increased turbulence and outperform those practice groups with lower market orientation scores.     

Questioning quotas: applying a relational framework for diversity management practices in the United Arab Emirates

The use of quota systems to improve demographic diversity in organisations is receiving mixed responses from commentators. This article demonstrates that the normative success and failure of a quota system is contingent upon the multi‐level and relational dynamics of the diversity management intervention, which uses the tool of quotas. Focusing on a quota system, which seeks to promote localisation of the workforce in the United Arab Emirates, this article presents a longitudinal case study. We analyse the multi‐level dynamics of the implementation of the quota system to show how the interdependence of these levels influenced the outcome of the quota programme. The study also accounts for the complexity of normative assessment of the quota‐based diversity intervention by illustrating how a diverse set of vested interests, a multiplicity of discourses and the interplay of schemas of change, support and resistance between managers and employees come into play.