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The purpose of this paper is to highlight the potential of a qualitative middle-range research approach to contribute to the advancement of operations management (OM) field.

–To better signify such contribution, it takes insight from Merton's (1968) notion of middle-range theory as a means to create pathways of propositions that link substantive concepts and practices of OM in both context-specific and context-free operational environments.

The paper brings to the fore the argument that achieving the primary objective of filling the “theory-methods” void in OM can be achieved through adoption of a qualitative middle-range approach.

The originality of this paper hinges on the premise that theory-oriented qualitative field research that is able to incorporate experiences of different stakeholders of the OM intervention is highly likely to benefit OM theory advancement as well as OM practice.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how entrepreneurship education (EE) interacts with knowledge transfer and entrepreneurial behaviour in a conflict Sub-Saharan African context.

In-depth telephone interviews of 20 participants who benefited from EE knowledge transfer were used to document and analyse the effect of EE on their behaviours as micro-entrepreneurs in a conflict zone.

These participants exhibited rare forms of innovative behaviour, through their business skills, gained from their involvement in EE. In relation to the effect of the conflict on their entrepreneurial behaviours, it emerged that the conflict was not the major barrier to entrepreneurial intentions, it however affected how they made strategic decisions about downsizing, advertising and future business plans. Consequently, these decisions altered at different junctures because of the conflict and, therefore, defined their coping strategies.

The paper advocates a policy shift towards a more collaborative sub-regional approach to tackling the underlying causes of conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa through investment in EE strategies as a spur to economic development. Central to this are a priori assumptions about economically disadvantaged populations and their symbiotic relationship with conflict, a phenomenon frequently exploited by armed groups with deviant agenda. Thus, access to employment opportunities could benefit disadvantaged populations, thereby plays a decisive role in conflict mitigation.

The paper provides empirical analysis integrating EE with knowledge transfer and entrepreneurial behaviour in a conflict Sub-Saharan African context. In this way, novel insights are provided that contribute to current efforts aimed at developing a robust theoretical and conceptual foundation for EE domain.

Increasingly, there is scholarly recognition that individuals' faith constitutes a background factor much like other antecedents conditioning entrepreneurial inclination. Yet, there is room to expand knowledge on how faith interrelates with psychological and social determinants of entrepreneurship, especially in under-researched contexts such as Nigeria.

This inquiry conceptualises associations between religiosity and (1) entrepreneurial self-efficacy, (2) entrepreneurial attitudes (3) and subjective norms as predictors of nascent entrepreneurship. For analysis, 1,259 observations of Nigerian students are assessed by structural equation modelling.

The path analysis showed that the religiosity–nascent entrepreneurship nexus is altogether mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial attitudes and subjective norms. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy is found to have the greatest impact on nascent entrepreneurship, followed by subjective norms and then entrepreneurial attitudes.

Theoretically, this study is one of the first to test all three dimensions of the theory of planned behaviour in the religiosity–nascent entrepreneurship nexus. It draws fresh attention to faith motivation and praxis, role-taking and attribution theory as explainers of the inherent correlations. Practically, the findings summon stakeholders to consider religious activity in the delivery of entrepreneurship programmes.