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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 February 2018

Heather Skinner, David Sarpong and Gareth R.T. White

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework based on an understanding of the principles of popular mobile-enabled games, indicating how organisations in the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework based on an understanding of the principles of popular mobile-enabled games, indicating how organisations in the tourism sector could meet the needs of Millennials and Generation Z through engaging with the existing gamified location-based practice of geocaching as an information and communication technology enabled gamified enhancement to the destination experience.

Design/methodology/approach

As a primarily conceptual paper, the authors take an inductive qualitative approach to theory building based on the understanding of an existing practice (geocaching) that is undertaken among a community of practitioners (geocachers), which results in the presentation of a conceptual framework, which is the theory itself that the authors have constructed from the understanding of what is going on and which principles can then be applied across other tourism practices.

Findings

Findings indicate that through engaging with geocaching, smaller entrepreneurial businesses even in non-urban destinations that fall outside of the remit of smart city developments, and in tourism destinations on the less technologically enabled or resource-rich side of the digital divide, can reap the benefits associated with employing the principles and practices associated with smart tourism to meet the needs of this new generation of tourism consumers who seek richer digital and often gamified tourism experiences.

Originality/value

This paper fills a gap in the literature regarding the way many different types of tourism destinations could meet the needs of Millennials and Generation Z tourists.

Details

Journal of Tourism Futures, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-5911

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 December 2021

David Sarpong, Richard Nyuur and Mabel Kyeiwaa Torbor

Careers have come to dominate contemporary discourse on gendered entrepreneurship. This paper aims to explore entrepreneurial careers as recounted by commercially successful…

Abstract

Purpose

Careers have come to dominate contemporary discourse on gendered entrepreneurship. This paper aims to explore entrepreneurial careers as recounted by commercially successful female entrepreneurs to examine how they strategize to construct desirable careers in contexts characterized by underdeveloped markets and weak institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative research design, data for our inquiry come from publicly available life history accounts of 20 female entrepreneurs appearing on an enterprise focus television show in Nigeria. The authors supplemented the television interview data with archival data in the form of publicly available digital footprints of the entrepreneurs collected from their company websites, magazines, online newspapers featuring these entrepreneurs and their social media pages such as LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Facebook and Instagram.

Findings

The careers of female entrepreneurs operating in context of underdeveloped institution and markets, the authors found, are characterized by four heterogeneous ingrained dispositions and actions reflecting how they got in and got on with their entrepreneurial careers: (1) “Observing and playing business,” (2) traipsing the “path less traveled,” (3) a hook to the “Pierian spring” of entrepreneurship and (4) “Grace under pressure” in decision-making.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to the entrepreneurship literature by providing insight into the lived experiences, agency and careers of commercially successful female entrepreneurs as played out in the form of a contextual practice of “wayfinding” to starting up and managing their own business ventures.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 28 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2017

Abiodun Adegbile and David Sarpong

The authors aim to examine the potential opportunities and challenges multinationals operating in Africa are likely to encounter when they seek to pioneer disruptive innovations…

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Abstract

Purpose

The authors aim to examine the potential opportunities and challenges multinationals operating in Africa are likely to encounter when they seek to pioneer disruptive innovations at the base of the pyramid (BoP) in African emerging markets.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the extant literature on the BoP, disruptive innovation and the African business context, the authors explore the pioneering of disruptive innovations in the African socio-economic context.

Findings

This study develops various hypotheses to extend our understanding of disruptive innovations at the BoP. The authors also delineate potential managerial and institutional challenges multinational corporations (MNCs) are likely to encounter in their efforts to pioneering disruptive innovations for BoP customers in African emerging markets.

Practical implications

The authors develop some recommendations for MNCs on how to create and capture value from disruptive innovations in African emerging markets

Originality/value

The authors delineate African context-specific managerial and institutional challenges that MNCs might encounter when seeking to develop disruptive innovation at the BoP.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 14 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2016

Mubarak Mohamud and David Sarpong

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate, shape and extend current discourse on the relevance of dynamic capabilities on firm competitiveness.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate, shape and extend current discourse on the relevance of dynamic capabilities on firm competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors delineate current debates on dynamic capabilities and synthesize them to develop some propositions and a heuristic framework to guide future research on dynamic capabilities as a strategic management construct.

Findings

The theoretical and methodological complexities involved in mapping the routines and processes’ underpinning dynamic capabilities has led to conceptual discrepancies, which in turn impede the understanding of the relevance and contribution of dynamic capabilities to competitiveness. Measuring dynamic capabilities remains the biggest barrier to progress in developing directions for theory and research in this area.

Practical implications

Stimulating and shaping the current discourse on the relevance of dynamic capabilities on competitiveness, the proposed integrated framework as a heuristic device can be to gauge the a firm’s dynamic capabilities vis-à-vis their competitors.

Originality/value

The authors propose a framework built around the inter-relationships of capabilities and hierarchies of capabilities to extend the understanding of how dynamic capabilities can be developed relative to a firm’s ability and embedded context.

Details

Journal of Strategy and Management, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-425X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 May 2023

Derrick Boakye, David Sarpong, Dirk Meissner and George Ofosu

Cyber-attacks that generate technical disruptions in organisational operations and damage the reputation of organisations have become all too common in the contemporary…

Abstract

Purpose

Cyber-attacks that generate technical disruptions in organisational operations and damage the reputation of organisations have become all too common in the contemporary organisation. This paper explores the reputation repair strategies undertaken by organisations in the event of becoming victims of cyber-attacks.

Design/methodology/approach

For developing the authors’ contribution in the context of the Internet service providers' industry, the authors draw on a qualitative case study of TalkTalk, a British telecommunications company providing business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C) Internet services, which was a victim of a “significant and sustained” cyber-attack in October 2015. Data for the enquiry is sourced from publicly available archival documents such as newspaper articles, press releases, podcasts and parliamentary hearings on the TalkTalk cyber-attack.

Findings

The findings suggest a dynamic interplay of technical and rhetorical responses in dealing with cyber-attacks. This plays out in the form of marshalling communication and mortification techniques, bolstering image and riding on leader reputation, which serially combine to strategically orchestrate reputational repair and stigma erasure in the event of a cyber-attack.

Originality/value

Analysing a prototypical case of an organisation in dire straits following a cyber-attack, the paper provides a systematic characterisation of the setting-in-motion of strategic responses to manage, revamp and ameliorate damaged reputation during cyber-attacks, which tend to negatively shape the evaluative perceptions of the organisation's salient audience.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 April 2018

Ru-Shiun Liou, Rekha Rao-Nicholson and David Sarpong

Addressing the unique challenge facing emerging-market firms (EMFs) of branding and marketing in their foreign subsidiaries, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the foreign…

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Abstract

Purpose

Addressing the unique challenge facing emerging-market firms (EMFs) of branding and marketing in their foreign subsidiaries, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the foreign subsidiary’s corporate visual identity (CVI) transitions during the post-acquisition period.

Design/methodology/approach

Data on 330 cross-border acquisitions from five emerging markets, namely, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) are used. The cross-sectional multivariate analyses are used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Utilizing a sample of worldwide acquisitions conducted by EMFs originated from BRICS, this study establishes that various cross-national distances do not consistently cause the targets to take on the parent’s CVI. While economic distance and formal institutional distance increase the likelihood of an acquired subsidiary’s CVI change, cultural distance decreases the likelihood of CVI change.

Practical implications

Lacking international experience and shaped by national differences between the host and home markets, EMFs often grant foreign subsidiaries substantial autonomy to respond to diverse stakeholder demands in subsidiary branding. Contrary to extant literature, the findings show that some distances are more pertinent to CVI transformation in the subsidiaries than others in the context of the EMFs.

Originality/value

This research shows that the formal institutional distance and economic distance will increase the likelihood of CVI changes in the subsidiaries, whereas, the cultural distance requiring soft skills like the cultural adaptability from the EMFs will decrease the CVI change possibility. The findings presented in the paper have significant implications for future research and strategic application.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 35 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 December 2020

Arthur Egwuonwu, David Sarpong and Chima Mordi

Drawing on the resource-advantage theory, the authors examine the effect of import managers' cultural intelligence (CQ) on their foreign counterpart's psychic distance and…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on the resource-advantage theory, the authors examine the effect of import managers' cultural intelligence (CQ) on their foreign counterpart's psychic distance and relational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data collected from 228 Nigerian automobile import managers were analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine the relationship among the study variables. The measure of CQ in this study comprises metacognitive and motivational CQs to examine the relations between metacognitive and motivational CQs on psychic distance and their ultimate effect on relational performance.

Findings

This study suggests that metacognitive CQ reduces the effect of psychic distance in buyer–seller exchange relationships, and in the presence of a low-level psychic distance, relational performance increases. Confirming the intervening role of CQ on performance relationship, the study highlights the role of CQ and its influence on psychic distance in facilitating (or impeding) relational exchanges in international buyer–seller transactions.

Originality/value

The authors present the concept of CQ as a human capital that has the potential to improve managerial relational performance. The authors go further to advance the potential significance and relevance of CQ in improving international buyer–seller exchanges.

Details

Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1469-1930

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Foresight, vol. 17 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2015

Gloria Appiah and David Sarpong

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model to unpack the relationship between organisational routines and strategic foresight integration.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model to unpack the relationship between organisational routines and strategic foresight integration.

Design/methodology/approach

Three moderating factors, actors mindfulness, organisational context and organisational ambidexterity, are used in a Routines-Foresight Model to explain how and when organisational routines might influence strategic foresight integration. In addition, the interactions between the ostensive and performative aspects of routines are linked to the concept of routines as generative structures to provide a solid theoretical foundation for the relationship between routines and foresight.

Findings

The success (or failure) of foresight integration is partly a result of the nature of interaction between the ostensive and performative aspects of routines within a focal organisation. As a result of the characteristic embeddedness of routines in organisations however, certain factors further act as moderators to contribute to a holistic explanation of how the ostensive and performative interaction influence foresight integration success.

Research limitations/implications

This paper proposes that routines, whether seen from a change or stability-inducing perspective, could lead to success or failure in foresight integration depending on how the moderating factors (actor’s mindfulness, organisational context and organisational ambidexterity) are managed to accommodate feedback from an organisation’s external environment. In this way, the model proposed challenges present perceptions of routines as leading to successful change behaviours if flexibility is allowed or to failure if they are rigid and unchanging.

Practical implications

Cultivating strategic foresight involves the integration of foresight into organisational decisions and requires organisations to pay attention to understanding the organizing logic of its organizing routines and the contextual factors within which these routines are performed.

Originality/value

The paper draws on the organisational routines literature to develop new insights into the cultivation of organisational foresightfulness.

Details

Foresight, vol. 17 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 14 September 2015

Sheila Moorcroft

360

Abstract

Details

Foresight, vol. 17 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

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