This research was set up to gain understanding on the concept ‘social entrepreneurial opportunity’, which is considered a key focus of social entrepreneurship research. This research is based on five multiple case studies of social enterprises. Firstly, the determinants accessibility and radicalness were found to be specific determinants with strong support. The case studies showed strong support for the effectuation approach of entrepreneurship due to the shown effect-based logic of the entrepreneurs, and the iterative learning techniques involved, the representation of high levels of uncertainty and the exploitation of new markets.

Pennink describes in his local economic development model that development exists on three levels, namely on the national, regional and local level. This thesis compares five selected countries on the national and the local level of that model. 

In this thesis, differences between sub-Saharan African countries in the determinants and economic impact of FDI inflows are analysed. This topic is studied with two types of research methods: a statistical analysis on FDI flows to different groups of subSaharan African countries and a qualitative research on Dutch investment projects in Ghana and Ethiopia. The statistical analysis shows that sub-Saharan African countries with large natural resource endowments have natural resources and infrastructure as the main determinants of FDI inflows and show a relatively weak relationship between FDI inflows and economic growth.

The main purpose of this research is to investigate how technology introduction projects in rural areas should be coordinated in order to achieve local economic development and the role of social capital and entrepreneurial activities. Characteristics of three approaches were considered including top-down conventional coordination, communities of practice (CoP) andsocial entrepreneurship.  By qualitatively researching two successful case studies in Indonesia, it was found that for a top-down approach using CoP elements, bridging social capital was developed leading to both profit and non-profit entrepreneurial activities. However, the reverse was also found, even though it was less obvious.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not Humanness as a managementpractice is present within the Dutch business environment and if there is a positive causal relation with both Knowledge Sharing as well as Leader Behavior. The theoretical considerations and empirical findings show that Humanness as a management practice isindeed present within the Netherlands and that there is a positive causal relation withKnowledge Sharing.

This study investigates the role of host-country political risk and law unenforceability on the (in)stability of international joint ventures (IJVs). Adopting a case study method in two international JVs the study is the first of its kind to investigate IJV instability in the East African region. 

This thesis contributes to the lacking scientific literature on the motivational values of social entrepreneurs, as well as to the newly arising literature on New Business Models. Through interviews with multiple support organizations, social entrepreneurs’ main motivational values are derived and mapped, then visualized within the Schwartz structure of human motivational value types. Furthermore, the main external actors involved with social entrepreneurship are presented, as well as the most common issues encountered among social entrepreneurs when scaling up their enterprises. 

This study develops a matrix to evaluate and compare social businesses. The main use of this matrix is a simple but clear graphical illustration of where different kinds of businesses strong points lie in case of value creation and what actors they use to create these values. If we compare different companies, irrelevant of the fact what the main objectives are of these companies, we can get an indication of the reasons why they perform well or poor on certain aspects of the value-creation process, and which stakeholders are involved in this.

This paper examines whether foreign direct investment influences the management styles in sub-Saharan African countries. Firstly a measurement instrument is established to be able to measure differences in management styles between countries. On the .other hand an empirical research is done on the country level of foreign direct investment, to establish its influences on economic circumstances within countries. The study concludes that a careful relationship can be inferred from the research, that the level of foreign direct investment influences the management style within the recipient organization.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship between organizational structure and knowledge sharing. It investigates the knowledge sharing process within the government of Tanzania to see if its structure influences this process. This dissertation is based on the expectation that differences in success and satisfaction of knowledge sharing can be based on organizational structure. The concept of social interaction seems to have an enormous influence on this relationship and has therefore also been tested. The empirical data shows a positive correlation between the indicators trust andcommunication and the satisfaction of knowledge sharing. Besides, a negative correlation is found between the indicator dependency and the success of knowledge sharing. The regression results did not show the expected mediating role of social interaction and results turned out to be insignificant.

This thesis continues to work on a previously developed framework aimed at analysing emerging markets. The analysis includes the institutional context, an industrial analysis and a company analysis, and adds the component of optimistic overconfidence to address the sometimes illogical behaviour of international entrepreneurs. While the previously developed framework assumed a rational decision making. The new framework will help in part explain why an entry mode is chosen. A longitudinal research design, rather than in-depth interview post market entry to Indonesia, could provide more precise results for the decision making process.

A way to increase empowerment on a local level is micro funding. Important to take in consideration are things like training lenders beforehand and monitoring them afterwards for guidance and making sure the money or products are used in a right manner. Furthermore, group lending is recommended over individual lending since it creates a means of control in the form of peer pressure. Lastly, a thing to keep in mind is multiple lending, thus lenders should work together more in order to avoid this. 

This research examines how business performance among female entrepreneurs in Tanzania is measured differently than in existing literature. The perception of the subjective measures on business performance are questioned through open interviews in Arusha, Tanzania, in May 2014. The input for the interviews is based on a review of literature which is selected on two criteria. Firstly, Female entrepreneurs or a comparison of male and female entrepreneurs. Secondly, business performance measures as a variable. The open interviews revealed that business performance by Tanzanian female entrepreneurs in the tourism industry is, in line with the literature review, not strictly regarded as financial but rather a combination of financial and non-financial measures.

This research explores the role of citizen entrepreneurs from developing countries in stimulating local entrepreneurial activities within local communities. Five real-world case studies of citizen entrepreneurs are analyzed. New inductive theory is developed during this process of data analysis which explains the theoretical framework of understanding the social phenomenon of how citizen entrepreneurs stimulate local entrepreneurial activities effectively in order to increase local economic development. 

This research investigates the differences in local economic development in developing and developed countries by using a model by Pennink (2014), based on local economic development (LED) in developing countries and applies it to a developing country. The findings are that multinational enterprises and their activities do not seem to play a role in LED. Universities have a supporting role and the regional and local level overlap. The supranational power and the role of social capital are added to the model. The supranational power appears to a supportive role in LED, like other institutions on all levels. Social capital plays a critical role as entrepreneurs and their relations need to take initiative.

This thesis therefore employs a case study to assess whether microfinance as a development tool can live up to its promise of alleviating poverty and creating gender equality. Moreover this thesis assesses how and if microfinance can help in the struggle against HIV and AIDS.It is concluded that the intervention aimed at economic and social empowerment of female sex workers can be deemed successful. These findings translate to clients of a microfinance project in Zimbabwe being less involved in commercial sex work and thus reduces the spreading of HIV and AIDS. Accordingly, microfinance can be a powerful tool in the struggle against HIV and AIDS.

The following paper aims conducts a case study on how foreign firms are currently adapting to changes in Myanmar’s economy and successfully entering the country. A framework for analyzing business sectors in emerging countries was adopted as foundation for the research. The framework was expanded to include an analysis of the external social and economic impacts investment in a sector can generate. The study found that the demand for tourism is growing tremendously in the region due a variety of factors including countries improved foreign relations, easing access for tourists and improved investment climate. However, challenges and barriers to entry were found to be prevalent. 

Chinese entrepreneurs increasingly start businesses in Africa, even though it is one of the poorest continents in the world. This research aims to find out the reasons and the motivations for Chinese entrepreneurship start-ups in Africa. According to previous study, a model is developed. This model contains economic and social motivations. Through a qualitative research by conducting interviews with Chinese entrepreneurs in Dar es Salaam, we found out that both economic and social motivations intrigue Chinese entrepreneurs to start business in Africa.

This research discusses the effect of the interest yield and outreach to poor indicators on the financial performance of 63 Micro Finance Organizations (MFO) in Tanzania. Two types of financial sustainability are investigated for all the three types of MFOs: operational self-sufficiency and return on assets. Two extra variables are added for the analysis of the SACCOs and the MFIs: portfolio at risk and the operational cost per borrower. Evidence was found indicating an inverted U-shape relation between the interest yield and financial performance. Moreover, the results shows a positive relationship between serving women and being sustainable, but a tradeoff is found between the profitability and the average loan size.

Local economic development enriches the quality of life of rural communities in Ireland. This study focuses on one particular sector and highlights the positive effect that speciality food businesses have on local economic development. The speciality food business sector has experienced extensive growth in recent years, despite the economic recession of 2008 which damaged much of Ireland’s economic activity. In order to get a comprehensive insight, this case study investigates speciality food businesses in Ballyhoura Country, a rural area in South- West Ireland. 

The main objective of this thesis is to test the applicability of a quick scan model measuring economic development. The method used in doing so is a case study in which Tanzania’s economy is mapped on three geographical levels using said model. The data for this case study were obtained through interviewing a varied group of 17 respondents on site in Tanzania. Their input provided a detailed, useful and accessible overview of Tanzania’s economy on all levels. It is thus concluded that the model functions well, has a broad applicability and can be used with ease by the target group.

In this thesis the training needs of financial employees at Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in Tanzania are analyzed. This thesis focuses on financial decentralization, which means that decisions on resource allocation, planning and financial matters are made at grass root levels. Data are collected by focused interviews with the financial employees at 7 LGAs in Tanzania. A positive conclusion from the research is that a lot of the LGAs use ICT related financial systems. The usage of a financial system in a district is one of the main conditions for a sound financial process with minimal changes on making mistakes.

This master thesis tries to give new insights about future business model opportunities by scrutinizing social entrepreneurs and their community building aspects. Taking business- models and ideas of Porter (Kramer & Porter, 2011) and Jonker (Jonker, 2014) in the multi-actor multi-value matrix by Pennink (Pennink, 2016) into account one could see that those models have a strong company perspective. Unlike their approaches, this paper tries to give a deeper understanding of the society value creation of community projects. 

The goal of this qualitative research is to try to understand why there is such a large amount of Dutch FDI in Vietnam without an obvious foundation. In order to answer this, both theoretical as well as empirical research has been done by means of semi-structured interviews with seven Dutch multinational enterprises (MNEs), who are active investors in Vietnam. The large amount of Dutch FDI in Vietnam at present is the result of a combination of the firm size, international experience and the investment sector of a couple of large well known Dutch MNEs, who have invested heavily in Vietnam. The reason they decided to enter the Vietnamese market was the local market opportunities.

This study aims to contribute to resolving the water hyacinth problem in the Tondano Lake (North Sulawesi province, Indonesia). By taking a design science approach, a small-scale Biomass Supply Chain is designed that utilises water hyacinths to produce energy and organic fertiliser. The products serve to overcome the area’s low electrification rate and dramatic shortage of organic fertiliser. To ensure the diffusion of the technology in the area, the appropriateness of the BSC’s technology is assessed on economical, technical, environmental and social factors. Results show the technology push characteristic of the BSCs technology. 

This thesis proposes a framework through which an emerging market business sector can be analyzed. Such an analysis should lead to the opportunities and threats within that particular sector based on the institutional context, an industrial analysis and a company analysis. The framework includes the decision making process, in which through a rational decision making model the most probable entry mode decision will emerge. It has been applied to the Brazilian soy industry in a case study, to analyze whether the framework is complete and result in the required information. This showed that in this case the framework was successful in identifying the opportunities and threats of the soy industry in Brazil.

The practice of Ubuntu in African organizations, in which culture is employed as a strategic asset, can be an important step towards innovativeness. In this study the relationship between knowledge sharing and the presence of Ubuntu was investigated in Tanzania. It is found that the humanness of Africans stimulates knowledge sharing, a practice which Western organizations are so willing to integrate in their corporate practices.

Being one of the richest in mineral ores in the world, South Africa is also known to be with some of the highest poverty rates on the African continent. As mining companies are accumulating vast amounts of profits it seems that very little is being returned to the local communities and the society in general. From that, certain questions arise, such as: How mining companies contribute to local communities? What are the effects of their CSR strategies over the triple-bottom-line?  

In this study, the opportunities and threats for Dutch retail companies in Vietnam are investigated.It is found that the Vietnamese business system is a combination of a state organized and a fragmented business system. Furthermore, the most important opportunities for Dutch retailers are the favorable demand conditions. The lack of local, skilled staff, the lack of quality retail space in HCMC and Hanoi, and high rental costs are important threats to succeed in Vietnam. Finally, collaborative entry strategy (JV or acquisition) is recommended rather than an independent entry strategy (greenfield investment).

This study adapted the original conceptualization of the Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) construct fit for local entrepreneurs/owner- managers of micro/ small businesses in Tanzania. This study adapted the original conceptualization of the EO construct fit for local entrepreneurs/owner- managers of micro/ small businesses in Tanzania. Empirical evidence shows a positive relationship between humanness and EO. 

This paper investigates which specific factors contributed to the success of mobile payment system M-Pesa in Kenya. Central aspects are the financial and telecommunication industry, cultural and lifestyle characteristics, and the position of the players. The methods to gather data are 40 questionnaires with agents, 91 structured interviews, 3 in-depth interviews and desk research. The combination of these factors results in the success story called M-Pesa.

This particular research has been done in Western companies with Western managers and Western employees, so I am not sure if it is fitted for the LED framework. However, one important thing to keep in mind is that there is a significant difference between employees’ knowledge sharing with host-country national managers and their knowledge sharing with expatriate managers due to differences in social capital. One could conclude that in LED projects, the manager of a MNC should not be an expatriate in order to share knowledge most effectively.  

This study investigates how the Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN) can attract and keep a motivated and committed staff. It is recommended that both organizations have to spend time and energy on Human Resource Management and identify and select the core competencies that they want to sustain. 

This research looks into an agricultural exporter in Indonesia that sources cinnamon from Sumatra: Spicy Exports. More specifically, it investigates how to strengthen the linkages between Spicy Exports and their suppliers by building trust. Currently, the relationship is characterized by arms-length transactions and high opportunistic behavior. Using grounded theory, a model for building trust is developed from the data gathered throughout the research. 

If a local economic development program is a success depends on several factors. There are regional factors which are different for every program and general success factors. The general success factors are active participation of local stakeholders, awareness creation, leadership, collaboration between the public and private sector and involvement of local actors in the planning process.

The objective of this research is to create an evaluation method for firms that considers all the values created by the firm, as well as all the actors that interact with the firm in the process of this value creation. This research examined 30 European Multinationals to identify which values they create besides profit and with which other actors they cooperate in this process. The results show that multinationals create four values and this do this in collaboration with eight other actors. 

The competitiveness of a region is an important factor of local economic development. However, in the existing model there is one variable missing which can influence a region’s competitiveness for the better; human coordination. Public and private companies, entrepreneurs, institutions and the community should all work together in regional/local economic development projects to get the greatest benefit out of it. 

This report analyzes the key aspects needed to successfully operate at the Vietnamese BOP, thereby focusing on the role of local actors. The results were obtained by conducting interviews with businesses operating at the Vietnamese BOP and with a trade promotion centre linked to the People’s Committee of Can Tho. 

There have been set up numerous LERD projects over the past years, but not every project is very successful.Projects need more socialization in the form of collaboration between universities, the government, local leaders and entrepreneurs. Universities can also provide education and stimulate innovation. Furthermore, the quality of the coordination of entrepreneurial activities can be improved by providing a central where local producers/entrepreneurs etcetera can meet. Lastly, empowerment can be enhanced by giving training, providing starting capital (in the form of micro credit) and creating networks.