Africa →
- 16 Feb 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Diversity and Team Performance in a Kenyan Organization
A key question in organizations is whether there is an optimal balance between diversity and sameness within teams of workers. Findings from a field experiment within a nonprofit research organization based in Kenya suggest much of the tradeoff between diversity and sameness may come from the different effects diversity has along different dimensions of organizational structure. Diversity along the organization’s hierarchy improves both effort and performance.
- 13 Jan 2016
- Research & Ideas
The Problem with Productivity of Multi-Ethnic Teams
Ethnically diverse teams can be less productive than more homogenous teams, according to research in Kenya by Vincent Pons. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Dec 2015
- Research & Ideas
What Happens When Zambian Schoolgirls Receive Negotiation Training
Research by Kathleen McGinn and colleagues shows how teaching negotiation skills to young Zambian women can greatly improve their health and educational outcomes. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Nov 2015
- Book
The Historian Who Came in from the Cold
While much has been written about the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Jeremy S. Friedman’s Shadow Cold War: The Sino-Soviet Competition for the Third World is the first book to explore in detail the significance of the “Second Cold War” that China and the Soviet Union fought in the shadow of the communist and capitalist struggle. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 Sep 2015
- Research & Ideas
Six Lessons from Mobile Money Ventures in Developing Countries
Improving access to financial services for the poor in developing countries seems an unmet market need. So why are so many mobile money efforts failing? Rajiv Lal says the problem begins with Marketing 101. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Feb 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Mobile Money: The Effect of Service Quality and Competition on Demand
Mobile money—the use of electronic money transfer through cellular networks—is rapidly expanding in developing countries, especially among the "unbanked." One persistent problem for mobile money agents, however, has been managing inventory and service quality. Using data from Kenya and Uganda, two East African countries at different stages of mobile money market development, the authors introduce an operations management lens for mobile money and explore the effects of competition and service quality on demand. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 14 Jan 2015
- Research & Ideas
Thriving in the Turbulence of Emerging Markets
Entrepreneurs in developing market economies face special management challenges. Company leaders in India, Turkey, and Africa discuss their experiences with Harvard Business School's Creating Emerging Markets project. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Aug 2014
- Research & Ideas
Climbing Down from the Ivory Tower
Nava Ashraf explains why it makes sense for field researchers to co-produce knowledge with the people they study and serve. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 May 2014
- Research & Ideas
Building Histories of Emerging Economies One Interview at a Time
Much of modern business history has been written on experiences in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Now, the unheard stories of emerging markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are being told on a new website by the Business History Initiative. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Feb 2014
- HBS Case
Stressing Safety in South Africa’s Platinum Mines
Gautam Mukunda discusses why and how he teaches a case study about Cynthia Carroll, the first woman and non-South African to serve as chief executive of mining giant Anglo American. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Dec 2013
- Op-Ed
HBS Faculty Remember Nelson Mandela
Harvard Business School faculty Nitin Nohria, Linda Hill, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, and Gautam Mukunda remember Nelson Mandela, a leader who truly made a difference in the world. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Sep 2013
- Research & Ideas
The Curse of Double-Digit Growth
Liberia wants fast growth in order to solidify its social and political advances. Problem is, says Eric D. Werker, countries growing that quickly "are not unequivocally a club that one should strive to join." Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 31 Jul 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
Learning from Double-Digit Growth Experiences
Double-digit growth in real GDP is defined as a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent or more over a period of eight years or longer. This paper was written as a policy memorandum for the Government of Liberia, which seeks rapid growth in order to reach middle-income status by 2030. For Liberia, current IMF forecasts predict growth in real GDP on the order of 6 to 7 percent per year. The comparative analysis of this paper asks: In what ways do countries growing real GDP at double-digit rates differ from countries growing real GDP at rates of 6-7 percent? Overall, the findings suggest that Liberia is reasonably well positioned to become another country with double-digit growth. Yet as the analysis shows, countries that have attained double-digit growth are not unequivocally a group that one should strive to join. The ultra-rapid growers whose growth has been driven by resources, aid, or remittances have not generally conducted the sorts of reforms to the legal, regulatory, and governance environment that could have generated high growth without such unearned income. They have also not generally invested their rents well in infrastructure or human capital. Moreover, post-conflict double-digit growers have found it difficult to reform or invest well. Key concepts include: Even among the most successful countries, double-digit growth in real GDP has been a rare outcome over the last 50 years. Despite double-digit growth, the correlates of such growth generally leave question marks as to the broad impact on the population of many episodes of economic performance. Although their macroeconomic numbers look better than the slower growers, the double-digit group looks precarious in other respects-notably governance and the regulatory environment. On average, the double-digit growers exhibited a worse performance on every indicator of the quality of the business environment compared to the 6-7 percent growers. For example, legal rights were weaker, it took more time to register property, more money to start a business, and there were higher corporate taxes and informal payments to government officials. Many members of the double-digit group have failed, even after the high-growth episode, to reduce corruption, invest in education, and raise human development indices. Liberia is actively working to improve a number of indicators-physical infrastructure, internet connectivity, governance, and health measures-that appeared in this study as being weaker than those of the double-digit-growth countries. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 03 Dec 2012
- HBS Case
HBS Cases: Against the Grain
Dealing with pervasive, institutionalized corruption is tough but not impossible. A new case study on Tanzania joins a series of cases in professor Karthik Ramanna's research that explore the deep-seated problems of corruption as well as multiple entrepreneurial paths to combat it. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 27 Nov 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
No Margin, No Mission? A Field Experiment on Incentives for Pro-Social Tasks
Organizations from large corporations to NGOs use a range of nonfinancial performance rewards to motivate their employees, and these rewards are highly valued. While theory has suggested mechanisms through which nonfinancial incentives can elicit employee effort, evidence on the mechanisms, and on their effectiveness relative to financial incentives, remains scarce. This paper helps to fill this gap by providing evidence from a collaboration with a public health organization based in Lusaka, Zambia, that recruits and trains hairdressers and barbers to sell condoms in their shops. This setting is representative of many health delivery programs in developing countries where embedded community agents are called upon to deliver services and products, but finding an effective way to motivate them remains a significant challenge. Findings show the effectiveness of financial and nonfinancial rewards for increasing sales of condoms. Agents who are offered nonfinancial rewards ("stars" in this setting) exert more effort than either those offered financial margins or those offered volunteer contracts. Key concepts include: Nonfinancial rewards can motivate agents in settings where there are limits to the use of financial incentives. Nonfinancial rewards elicit effort by leveraging the agents' pro-social motivation and by facilitating social comparisons among agents. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 03 Apr 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
Clear and Present Danger: Planning and New Venture Survival Amid Political and Civil Violence
Strategy theory often takes for granted the role of state institutions in providing stable, predictable environments in which new firms are founded. Yet, many states around the world (such as Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) lack political institutions of sufficient strength to ensure personal safety and public order, thereby creating environments where civil and political violence can ferment. This paper explores the impact of such violence on new venture processes. Results show that comprehensive planning was negatively correlated with venture survival in such environments. While there are implications for strategy theory, the study is also relevant to entrepreneurs and organizations promoting new venture planning in less-developed countries, particularly those experiencing political and civil turmoil. Currently, prospective entrepreneurs are taught the importance of business planning by both universities and non-governmental organizations that offer entrepreneurial training. But this study suggests that such training will have mixed effects on new venture survival, depending on the extent to which these entrepreneurs pursue ventures in violent and uncertain environments. In such contexts where governments fail to maintain public safety and order, these training programs may actually increase the likelihood of new venture failure. Key concepts include: This paper theorizes and tests how contexts characterized by weak political institutions and ensuing high levels of violence create uncertain and unpredictable environments that alter entrepreneurial behavior and disrupt resource flows and organizational routines, thereby increasing new venture failure rates. In contexts of high uncertainty as a result of violence, the benefits of comprehensive planning vanish as prior predictions become obsolete and even harmful to venture survival. Strategy theories often assume specific types of environments. But it is important to consider carefully the macro institutional factors. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 29 Mar 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
An Exploration of Luxury Hotels in Tanzania
Tanzania is justly famous for its incredible natural landmarks such as the Rift Valley, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Mount Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, and, above all, the Serengeti and the Great Migration. Why, despite being so richly endowed in touristic resources, does Tanzania receive relatively few tourists and little revenue from tourism? Diego Comin explored the drivers and influencing factors on the size of the tourism sector, using as a starting point the abnormally high prices of upscale hotels in Tanzania, especially in the safari areas. Findings suggest that the cost of supplying upscale hotel services is not sufficient to explain the abnormally high prices, and the more likely candidate is high markups. Interviews with hotel managers supported this conclusion. In addition, while cross-country differences in demand are large, once we control for these differences, discrepancies in upscale hotel prices account for a significant share of cross-country differences in demand, and cross-country differences in demand are very persistent. On the basis of the role of word-of-mouth, learning by doing, and pecuniary externalities in driving differences in demand, there may be room for the Tanzanian government to induce lower hotel prices and to try to independently increase the foreign perception of the country's attractiveness. Key concepts include: Despite its world-famous natural resources, Tanzania receives surprisingly few tourists and little revenue from tourism. In 2008, for example, revenues from tourism in that year brought US$17 per inhabitant, the 22nd lowest out of 137 countries surveyed. Hotels in the safari area in Tanzania are expensive, and this difference in price cannot be accounted by differences in supply constraints: It must be largely due to differences in markups. Once we take into account cross‐country differences in demand, upscale hotel prices account for a significant fraction of cross‐country differences in tourism. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Jul 2011
- Research & Ideas
Experimental Researcher Helps Improve Health Care in Zambia
In seven years of field work in Zambia, Africa, professor Nava Ashraf's work is helping get low-cost health care products and services to the people who need them most. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Jun 2011
- HBS Case
Mobile Banking for the Unbanked
A billion people in developing countries have no need for a savings account–but they do need a financial service that banks compete to provide. The new HBS case Mobile Banking for the Unbanked, written by professor Kash Rangan, is a lesson in understanding the real need of customers.
The Perils of Building Democracy in Africa
Results from a text messaging experiment conducted before the 2013 National Election in Kenya show that basic information provided via short message service (SMS) resulted in small turnout increases but had a large effect on attitudes towards electoral institutions.