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Are African micro- and small enterprises misunderstood? Unpacking the relationship between work organisation, capability development and innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Erika Kraemer-Mbula
  • Edward Lorenz
  • Lotta Takala-Greenish
  • Oluseye Oladayo Jegede
  • Tukur Garba
  • Musambya Mutambala
  • Timothy Esemu
Abstract
Mainstream studies on innovation consider innovation processes as necessarily driven by expenditures on formal R%D and the input of engineers and scientists with third-level degrees. This bias in the literature has led to the view that micro- and small enterprises (MSEs), which constitute the majority of Africa's enterprise base, are non-innovative. Building on an existing critique largely emerging from developing countries, this study provides evidence that, despite their lack of formal R%D expenditures, MSEs in Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda are in fact active innovators. The paper argues that the mainstream literature fails to capture important dynamics and practices that are central to innovation in MSEs. Arguing that the way work activity is organised is closely linked to learning, capability development and, ultimately, innovation, the paper unpacks the relationships between these three processes with evidence from MSEs in the four African countries. The empirical findings demonstrate that an important basis for the innovativeness of African MSEs is the adaptability of employees and their ability to learn on the job and to make use of their own ideas in solving the problems they face in work.

Suggested Citation

  • Erika Kraemer-Mbula & Edward Lorenz & Lotta Takala-Greenish & Oluseye Oladayo Jegede & Tukur Garba & Musambya Mutambala & Timothy Esemu, 2019. "Are African micro- and small enterprises misunderstood? Unpacking the relationship between work organisation, capability development and innovation," International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 11(1), pages 1-30.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijtlid:v:11:y:2019:i:1:p:1-30
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kaplinsky, Raphael & Kraemer-Mbula, Erika, 2022. "Innovation and uneven development: The challenge for low- and middle-income economies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).
    2. Chakravarty, Sanghamitra, 2022. "Resource constrained innovation in a technology intensive sector: Frugal medical devices from manufacturing firms in South Africa," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    3. Dirk Dohse & Sophia Fehrenbacher & Philipp von Carlowitz, 2022. "Potenziale entwickeln und Wissen teilen: deutsche Unternehmen in Afrika [Developing Potential and Sharing Knowledge: How German Companies Can Gain a Foothold in Africa]," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 102(7), pages 563-567, July.
    4. Plantinga, Paul, 2021. "Innovation and the Public Service: Facilitating Inclusive Industrial and Social Development," SocArXiv qcdjg, Center for Open Science.
    5. Petersen, Il-haam & Kruss, Glenda, 2021. "Universities as change agents in resource-poor local settings: An empirically grounded typology of engagement models," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Gaglio, Cyrielle & Kraemer-Mbula, Erika & Lorenz, Edward, 2022. "The effects of digital transformation on innovation and productivity: Firm-level evidence of South African manufacturing micro and small enterprises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    7. Nwakego Eyisi & Hyacinth E. Ichoku & Asma Kanwal, 2024. "Front-end Innovation and Top Income Inequality: Evidence from Emerging Markets," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 1437-1481, March.
    8. Jan Fagerberg & Erika Kraemer-Mbula & Edward Lorenz, 2021. "An Evolutionary Analysis of Transformative Change in LDCs: the cases of Kenya and Rwanda," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20210623, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    9. Sharma, Gautam & Dahlstrand, Åsa Lindholm, 2023. "Innovations, informality, and the global south: A thematic analysis of past research and future directions," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. Elvis Korku Avenyo & Fiona Tregenna & Erika Kraemer-Mbula, 2021. "Do Productive Capabilities Affect Export Performance? Evidence from African Firms," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(2), pages 304-329, April.
    11. Smita Srinivas, 2020. "Institutional variety and the future of economics," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 13-35, May.

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