Management Challenges in Different Types of African Firms: Processes, Practices and Performance

Dr. Leona ACHTENHAGEN is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Business Development at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), Jönköping University, Sweden. Professor Achtenhagen’s current research interests are related to entrepreneurial and strategic activities of micro as well as small and medium-sized companies in a range of different contexts. She has conducted a number of different research projects on aspects of entrepreneurship and SME management in underprivileged contexts. Her recent papers address issues such as the status of women entrepreneurs in Pakistan, business development in micro-firms, business model innovation and innovative pedagogical tools for entrepreneurship education. Her research has been published as numerous book chapters and in leading international journals like Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development and Long Range Planning. Professor Achtenhagen has also conducted a number of projects for the OECD and European Commission’s initiatives for promoting entrepreneurship. Together with Ethel Brundin, she edited the volume Entrepreneurship and SME Management Across Africa: Context, Challenges, Cases, published by Springer in 2016.

 

Dr. Ethel BRUNDIN is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Business Development and Associate Dean of Research at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), Jönköping, Sweden. She is Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa and has led a number of research projects in previously disadvantaged contexts. Her research on Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) has been well received by policymakers and has been published in journals such as the Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, and the International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability. Her recent research focuses on micro-processes among entrepreneurs and in family businesses, including emotions, entrepreneurship, and strategic leadership. Professor Brundin has published widely on strategic and entrepreneurial leadership with a focus on family firms, as well as immigrant and social entrepreneurship, in books and leading international journals. Her most recent books are Entrepreneurship and SME Management Across Africa: Context, Challenges, Cases published by Springer and Contextualizing Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies and Developing Countries published by Edward Elgar.