Are the Chinese in Africa more innovative than the Africans ? Comparing Chinese and Nigerian entrepreneurial migrants‘ Cultures of Innovation

ABSTRACt & RÉSUMÉ : The remarkable influx of Chinese migrant entrepreneurs in West Africa has been met with growing resistance from established African entrepreneurs. Whether the Chinese have a competitive edge over Africans because of distinctive sociocultural traits or whether the Chineseʹs supposed effectiveness is just a characteristic feature of any trading diaspora is open to question. This comparative exploratory study of Chinese and Nigerian entrepreneurial migrants in Ghana and Benin provides initial answers to these questions. Apparently, the cultural stimuli for migrant drivers of change are not restricted to inherited value systems and religions, such as a Protestant ethic or Confucianism. Rather, they are continually adapted and invented anew by transnational migration networks in a globalized world. There is no evidence of the supposed superiority of the innovative culture of Chinese entrepreneurial migrants versus that of African entrepreneurial migrants. Instead, there exist trading diasporas which have a generally enhanced innovative capacity vis-àvis local entrepreneurs, regardless of the national culture in which they are embedded. In addition, the rivalry of Chinese and Nigerian migrant entrepreneurs in African markets does not necessarily lead to the often suspected cut-throat competition. Often the actions of each group are complementary and mutual benefiting to those of the other. Under certain conditions they even contribute to poverty alleviation in the host country. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RÉSUMÉ: [Les Chinois en Afrique sont-ils plus innovants que les Africains? Comparaison des cultures d'innovation des migrants entrepreneurs chinois et nigérians] L'afflux remarquable des entrepreneurs migrants chinois en Afrique de l'Ouest a été heurté à la résistance croissante de la part des entrepreneurs africains établis. Que les premiers ont un avantage concurrentiel sur ce dernier en raison des traits culturelles distinctifs ou que la prétendue efficacité des Chinois est simplement une caractéristique de toute diaspora commercial est ouvert à la question. Cette étude comparative exploratoire de migrants entrepreneuriales chinois et nigérians au Ghana et au Bénin offre des premières réponses à cette question. Apparemment, les stimuli culturels des migrants pilotes du changement ne sont pas limités à des systèmes des valeurs hérité ou à des valeurs religieuses, comme l’éthique protestante (Max Weber) ou le confucianisme. Plutôt, ils sont continuellement adaptés et inventés de nouveau par les réseaux de la migration transnationale dans un monde globalisé. Il n'y a aucune preuve de la prétendue supériorité de la culture d'innovation des migrants chinois par rapport à celle des migrants africains entrepreneurials. Plutôt, il existe des diasporas commerciaux qui ont une capacité d'innovation renforcée en générale vis-à-vis des entrepreneurs locaux, indépendamment de la culture nationale dans laquelle ils sont intégrés. En outre, la rivalité des entrepreneurs migrants chinois et nigérians dans les marchés africains ne conduit pas nécessairement à la concurrence coupe-gorge souvent soupçonnée. Souvent, les actions de chaque groupe sont complémentaires créant un bénéfice mutuel. Sous certaines conditions, cette situation peut même contribuer à une réduction de la pauvreté dans le pays d'accueil.

Factors affecting the adoption extent of the balanced scorecard by Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises

Purpose This study empirically examines factors affecting the extent of balanced scorecard (BSC) adoption in Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) such as top management involvement, an innovative culture, a product innovation strategy, organisational resources, a competitive environment and business network support. This study aims to gain an improved understanding and draw important lessons on BSC adoption for SMEs. Design/methodology/approach Using primary data obtained from a survey of top managers of SMEs that have experienced some forms of BSC adoption, the authors conduct their analysis using exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis methods. Findings The authors find that top management involvement, an innovative culture, organisational resources and business network support are essential factors impacting the extent of BSC adoption in Vietnamese SMEs. Besides confirming literature findings on these variables, the authors identify support of business networks as another important factor affecting the extent of BSC adoption, alongside location and business owners’ experience. However, the impacts of a product innovation strategy and a competitive environment are not significant. Research limitations/implications This study adapts scales previously designed for large enterprises in developed countries to fit into the context of Vietnamese SMEs. Future research can take advantage of this new set of scales and data to obtain further research results. Practical implications This study will serve as guidance for SMEs considering BSC adoption to have a clear vision of what factors are likely to affect BSC adoption, how they affect it and in what direction. Social implications Lessons learned can be extended not only to Vietnamese SMEs that have not yet adopted the BSC but also to firms in other countries with similar economic conditions. Originality/value This study is among pioneering studies on BSC in SMEs and within the context of Vietnam.

Green Human Resource Management and Environmental Innovativeness

Drawing upon the resource-based view and the situated learning theory, this study examined the effect of green human resource management (HRM) practices on the firm environmental innovativeness. The moderating role of organizational innovative culture on the relationship between green HRM and firm environmental innovativeness was also assessed. A survey of 212 furniture manufacturing companies in Malaysia was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results from the data analysis suggest that green HRM practices are positively associated with the firm environmental innovativeness. The positive effect of green training and green compensation on firm environmental innovativeness was found to be increased by moderating the role of organizational innovative culture. The present study clarifies key green HRM practices that can assist the environmental innovativeness in Malaysian furniture manufacturing firms and advances related research by proposing and examining an overarching model to enlighten such synergies and the moderating role of organizational innovative culture. The findings further extend the scope of green HRM research to promote innovation in the manufacturing firms. The theoretical and practical implications of green HRM are presented to enhance the environmental innovativeness.

INNOVATIVE CULTURE DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS AND PUPILS AS A PEDAGOGICAL IDEA REALIZATION OF THE AUTHOR SCHOOL ON LINGUISTICS AND SPIRITUALITY

The article presents theoretical and methodological, organizational and pedagogical prin-ciples of innovative culture of teachers and pupils as a realization of the pedagogical idea of the author's school of linguistics and spirituality of Zarifa Aliieva Irpin specialized secondary school I-III Grades №12 with foreign languages (school of linguistics) of Kyiv region; The author's school model is seen as a prototype of qualitative changes in education, which depends on a team of professionals who expand the space of educa-tional opportunities for pupils development. The leading idea of the Author's School of Linguistics and Spirit-uality is the formation of a competitive, socially mobile, innovative, tolerant and spiritual personality. Gradu-ally realizing this goal, the teaching staff made every effort to create a positive image of the educational in-stitution, which determines: the presence of a relevant concept of the school of linguistics; implementation of long-term educational strategy; development of innovative culture of teachers and pupils; favorable moral and psychological climate in the team; availability of proper modern material and technical base; caring highly professional teaching staff; functioning of the school pupils organization «Country Roxolania». The introduction of the pedagogical idea of the author's school of linguistics and spirituality in the context of the development of innovative culture of teachers and pupils is based on current regulations. Personal and pro-fessional characteristics of a teacher with a high level of innovation culture (stable interest in technological innovation, motivation for creative activity, self-improvement and self-realization in professional activities, overcoming difficulties in innovation; values of professional self-expression in innovation, psychological atti-tude to innovation; innovative technologies, understanding the goals of innovation in education, knowledge of modern innovations in the practice of working with pupils)

Making Cognitive Niches Explicit: On the Importance of External Cognitive Representations in Accounting for Cumulative Culture

Cumulative transmission and innovation are the hallmark properties of the cultural achievements of human beings. Cognitive scientists have traditionally explained these properties in terms of social learning and creativity. The non-social cognitive dimension of cumulative culture, the so-called technical reasoning, has also been accounted for recently. These explanatory perspectives are methodologically individualistic since they frame cumulative and innovative culture in terms of the processing of inner cognitive representations. Here we show that going beyond methodological individualism could facilitate an understanding of why some inventions are disseminated in a stable form and constitute the basis for further modifications. Drawing on three cases of cognitive history of prominent achievements of Antiquity, i.e., Homerian epics, Euclidean geometry, and Roman law, we investigate which properties of cognitive artifacts shaped cognitive niches for modifying original cognitive tasks or developing new ones. These niches both constrained and enabled the cognitive skills of humans to promote cumulative culture and further innovations. At the same time, we claim that “wide cognition,” incorporating both intracranial resources and external cognitive representations, constitutes a platform for building explanations of cognitive phenomena developing over a historical time scale.

Reinforcing the Innovation Performance of SMEs Through Innovation Culture and Government Support

Innovation has become an approach to create value to customer in order to remain competitive in the market. However, previous research on innovation performance particularly among Bumiputera SMEs has received little intention. Hence, Bumiputera SMEs need to inculcate the innovation culture in order to generate innovation performance. An interview was conducted with a sample of ten Bumiputera entrepreneurs in Malaysia which probing into their outlook on the innovation culture towards innovation performance. The results showed that innovation culture in Bumiputera SMEs is important and government support plays an important role to strengthen the relationship between innovation culture and innovation performance. Therefore, this study provides useful pointers to entrepreneurs and policy makers on the importance of innovative culture and enhancing innovation performance in Bumiputera SMEs.

Influence of Organizational Culture and Innovation on Banks’ Performance: A Quantitative Approach

The study examines the influence of organizational culture and innovation on banks’ performance with particular reference to the selected banks in Nigeria. Data were gathered using a self-administered questionnaire distributed to the 175 employees of Zenith bank, Guaranty bank, First bank United Bank for Africa, and Eco bank located in Ibadan metropolis. Pearson Moment correlation and regression model were used to analyse the data. The study established that organizational culture and innovation jointly and independently influence banks’ performance. It was also established that organizational culture has a direct and positive association with innovation. It was concluded that organizational culture and innovation are major strategies for the banking sector to wax stronger minds global competitive environment and COVID-19 syndrome. Therefore, Nigerian banks encourage their staff members to create innovative ideas and provide them the right reward to establish an innovative culture in the organization. This study practically provides a useful recommendation to the Nigerian banks on the significance of organizational culture and innovation and their contribution to performance.

Innovative Culture and Firm Performance of Medical Device Companies: Mediating Effects of Investment in Education and Training

This research explored the mediating effect of investment in education and training relating to the innovative culture and organizational performance of medical device companies. We used the Human Capital Corporate Panel data provided by the Korea Vocational Competency Development Institute. In the industrial classification system of panel data, the industries related to medical devices were extracted and conclusively analyzed for 8629 workers and 368 companies. The independent and dependent variables were innovative culture and corporation performance, respectively. Investment in training and education was a mediating variable between the independent and dependent variables. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS software. A higher level of organizational satisfaction emerged in an innovative culture. Innovative culture positively affected organizational satisfaction. Further, investment in education and training to promote an innovative culture positively affected organizational satisfaction. Medical device companies should improve their performance by creating an innovative culture.