Do ‘Harambee Spirit’ and ‘Familiness’ share their meanings in the context of ICT Sector Family Businesses in Kenya?
Date
2017-03-21
Authors
Murithi, W.
Woldesenbet, K.
Vershinina, Natalia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
ISSN
DOI
Volume Title
Publisher
EURAM
Peer reviewed
Yes
Abstract
This paper examines the two seemingly unrelated concepts of ‘Familiness’ and ‘Harambee Spirit’ in the context of Kenya. The key questions addressed in this paper are ‘to what extent are family firms, in particular, those operating in ICT sector, are embedded in ‘Harambee spirit’ and how does such embeddedness shape the family firms’ business operations? Based on the purposively selected three family ICT firms and relevant literature, the study provides evidence which shows the presence of main features of the ‘Harambee spirit’ and ‘Familiness’, and that some elements of these overlap. Furthermore, the study found variations in the extent to which some ‘Familiness” features were observed in sample firms. In a wider plane, the study furthers our understanding of how both the family and the national cultural contexts shape the behaviour of firms.
Description
Keywords
Family Business, Familiness, Harambee Spirit, Social Capital, ICT Sector Kenya
Citation
Murithi, W., Woldesenbet, K., and Vershinina, N. (2017) Do ‘Harambee Spirit’ and ‘Familiness’ share their meanings in the context of ICT Sector Family Businesses in Kenya? Paper to be presented at 17th European Academy of Management Annual Conference, 21- 24th June, Glasgow, UK.
Research Institute
Institute for Applied Economics and Social Value (IAESV)
Centre for Enterprise and Innovation (CEI)
Centre for Enterprise and Innovation (CEI)