Dr Demola Obembe

• Picking up the pieces: social capital, psycho-social support and livelihood recovery of displaced populations in Northeast Nigeria
  Picking up the pieces: social capital, psycho-social support and livelihood recovery of displaced populations in Northeast Nigeria Kolade, Oluwaseun; Smith, Robert; Obembe, Demola; Taiwo, Abigail; Eyong, Joseph; James, Saliba; Kibreab, James The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
• Microfinance and Entrepreneurship: The Enabling Role of Social Capital among Female Entrepreneurs
  Microfinance and Entrepreneurship: The Enabling Role of Social Capital among Female Entrepreneurs Babajide, Abiola; Obembe, Demola; Solomon, Helen; Woldesenbet, K. This paper examines mechanisms through which social capital strengthens microfinance impact on fostering female entrepreneurial success. Specifically, the study focuses on how and to what extent resources embedded in social networks determine microfinance impact on entrepreneurial success. Survey data were collected from 276 female micro- institutions entrepreneurs using multi-stage stratified random sampling across 80 micro-finance institutions in three South-Western Nigerian states. Hypotheses were tested using ordinal regression analysis. The study found that relational and network social capital had a positive and significant influence on female entrepreneurial success. Specifically, intra-group trust and productive network ties among female entrepreneurs in poor communities predicated the positive impact of microfinance on entrepreneurial success. Also, resources embedded in networks are more positively correlated to education level and marital status. Furthermore, microfinance could have a more positive impact for borrowers with sustainable relationships with loan officers who organise microfinance provisions and understand the entrepreneurs' context. The research provides empirical evidence for the relationship dynamics between female entrepreneurs and microfinance institutions by emphasising the importance of deploying different forms of social capital in sustaining microfinance impact on female entrepreneurial success. The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
• The Palgrave Handbook of African Entrepreneurship
  The Palgrave Handbook of African Entrepreneurship Kolade, Oluwaseun; Rae, David; Obembe, Demola; Woldesenbet, K. This comprehensive handbook offers a state-of-the-art guide to new frontiers of African entrepreneurship. Written from a Pan-African perspective by a cast of international authors, the book addresses the rapid modernisation and evolution of African entrepreneurship and business practices. It maps new developments in entrepreneurial ecosystems, technology and digital entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship in conflict zones, and gender and diversity issues. It proposes new models for entrepreneurial financing and explores the contrast between entrepreneurship in high-technology urban centres with peripheral rural districts and conflict zones. Bringing together empirical insights and case studies from countries across Africa, the Handbook illuminates regional and contextual differences and shares theoretical and practical insights which inform policy and practice. It is an ideal guide for researchers and students working on international business, entrepreneurship and emerging economies. It will also inform policymakers in developing context-informed entrepreneurial policies and initiatives in Africa.
• Introduction to Palgrave Handbook of African Entrepreneurship
  Introduction to Palgrave Handbook of African Entrepreneurship Kolade, Oluwaseun; Rae, David; Obembe, Demola; Woldesenbet, K.
• Agricultural value chain in a turbulent environment
  Agricultural value chain in a turbulent environment Adeyeye, Adebowale; Kolade, Oluwaseun; Obembe, Demola; Ogunsade, Adekunle The development of agricultural value chains is typically associated with strong institutions, supporting infrastructures and stable political and policy environment. In developing countries characterized by environmental turbulence, smallholder farmers in particular, grapple with a wide range of obstacles and challenges that hinder them from full participation and optimisation of agricultural value chain by smallholder farmers. These factors include regulatory, market, competitive, weather, economic and political turbulence factors. This paper reviews the extant literature on agricultural value chain in the context of a turbulent environment. Drawing insights from the empirical context of Nigeria, where agricultural and other economic activities have been severely disrupted by terrorist violence, political instability and derelict infrastructure, we propose a conceptual framework that maps the impact of environmental turbulence on agricultural production, and discusses the technological and strategic options for smallholders to overcome these challenges in order to benefit optimally from agricultural value chain
• Covid-19 and the tourism industry: an early-stage sentiment analysis of the impact of social media and stakeholder communication
  Covid-19 and the tourism industry: an early-stage sentiment analysis of the impact of social media and stakeholder communication Obembe, Demola; Kolade, Oluwaseun; Obembe, Funmi; Owoseni, Adebowale; Mafimisebi, Oluwasoye This paper examines tourist public responses to crisis communications during the early stages of Covid-19. Using the social-mediated crisis communication model, the paper explores the key factors that influence public sentiments during nascent periods of the crisis. The choice of data collection dates was determined by key milestones events with significant implications in relation to UK tourism. Sentiment analysis of data sets of public tweets and news articles were done in order to interrogate how the trends and performance of the airlines and the tourism sector have been shaped by the sentiments of the tourism publics, the crisis communication interventions from key institutional actors, and the news sentiments about tourism organizations, particularly airlines. Sentiment analysis, also known as opinion mining, falls under natural language processing (NLP) and is used to identify different sentiments and polarities in texts. Our findings indicate that institutional actors have a significant impact on the sentiments of tourism publics. Our study contributes to existing research on crisis communication by illuminating how public narrative about, and stakeholder responses to, crisis are shaped not just by organizational communication strategies but also institutional actors, on the one hand, and the interested publics too. open access journal
• The Impact of Digital Transformation on Knowledge Management During COVID-19
  The Impact of Digital Transformation on Knowledge Management During COVID-19 Obembe, Funmi; Obembe, Demola Technology and digital transformations are increasingly important in today’s world. The COVID-19 pandemic that the entire world has been grappling with for the last year has made this even more so. The speed at which different organisations across various sectors have had to embrace digital transformations has been unprecedented. In some sectors this has been driven by the need to simply survive during this pandemic. However, beyond just responding to crisis, digital transformation, and the use of data to drive it has over the years brought about disruptions which have led to great innovations and progress. In many instances these innovations have not only been driven by digital transformations but by a merging of digital transformations and intelligent/adaptive knowledge management systems that have arisen from it. Even before the emergence of the pandemic, digital transformations, AI, machine learning techniques and various innovative technologies had started to be used to design intelligent and adaptive knowledge management systems. COVID-19 has greatly accelerated the uptake of these technologies across a wide range of sectors. Organisations that would successfully navigate these times and be ready for the future need their knowledge management systems to be intelligent and highly adaptive. Digital transformations and innovative technologies are increasingly making this possible. In this work in progress paper, we start to explore the impact of digital transformation and innovative technologies on organisations’ knowledge management systems and the changes in the factors that contribute to whether organisations adopt these innovative technologies/digital transformations in times of crisis such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowledge management systems that can respond to inevitable changes that arise in crisis situations such as COVID-19 are invaluable. These systems are positioned to naturally produce actionable intelligence resulting in competitive advantage.
• Uncovering the role of institutional context for nascent entrepreneurial ventures
  Uncovering the role of institutional context for nascent entrepreneurial ventures Ogunsade, Adeknunle I.; Obembe, Demola; Woldesenbet, K. Existing research increasingly provide evidence to support the view that formal and informal institutions significantly influence entrepreneurship generally, and are particularly key influences for new venture creation. These institutions invariably act as triggers for economic growth and development. However, within the Sub-Saharan Africa context, nascent entrepreneurial ventures face wide range of challenges, which hinder entrepreneurial activities and limit development. By evaluating formal and informal institutional challenges facing nascent entrepreneurial ventures, we present a multi-dynamic view of embeddedness to uncover barriers to nascent entrepreneurial activity in Africa. Specifically, the study proposes an enterprise-enabling policy framework to promote economic action and bridge institutional voids which limit entrepreneurial venture development.
• Strategy consensus and social practice: A perspective from public sector managers
  Strategy consensus and social practice: A perspective from public sector managers Almansour, Jarrah; Obembe, Demola Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate consensus formation among top and middle managers during the strategy process. Specifically, the paper seeks to gain insight into to the role of strategic consensus during transition between strategy formulation and implementation. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting a social practice perspective and a single case study approach, we undertook semi-structured interviews of twenty-seven managers working in a Kuwaiti Ministry. Data collected was analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: We found that social interaction among individuals with similar characteristics and shared understanding fosters consensus. Factors such as alignment of strategic priorities, managerial flux, and centralised control, contribute to the extent to which strategic consensus is achievable. Additionally, managerial turnover and lack of empowerment hampers development of shared understanding. Finally, that consensus on strategy content is insufficient for effective inter-group communications. Originality: The research contributes to the strategic consensus literature from a social practice perspective as it provides new insights into the dynamics between top managers and middle managers. Significantly, it highlights the importance and need for common understanding, as well as communications prioritisation among managers for consensus development and successful implementation of organisation strategy. The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.
• Enterprise survival and growth: A conceptual exposition of entrepreneurial activities in Sub-Saharan Africa
  Enterprise survival and growth: A conceptual exposition of entrepreneurial activities in Sub-Saharan Africa Olagboye, Deji; Obembe, Demola; Okafor, Godwin Research on Informal Economy has advanced over recent years and gained increasing popularity. Despite this interest, there is a dearth of research exploring the institutionalisation of informal economy enterprises (IEE), particularly enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and implications for the institutional environment. This chapter begins to address the deficit by conceptualising the establishment of a Nano Enterprise (NE) classification as an enabler for the institutionalisation of informal economy enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa. The survival and growth of IEE would be inherently challenging as informality creates resource-constraints. We argue that the establishment of a Nano Enterprise classification as an enabler for institutionalisation should operationally enhance the legitimacy and prospect of survival and growth among IEE in Sub-Saharan Africa. Also, that the nature of the context and institutionalisation pressures will equally impact any outcome. Finally, the chapter explores new avenues for entrepreneurship researchers to empirically test the institutionalisation proposal presented in this study.

 Journal reviews: Organization Studies, Management Learning, Public Money and Management, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. African Journal of Management.

Conference reviews British Academy of Management; International Conference on Information Systems