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Challenges in the Era of Globalization - iaabd

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Proceed<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 12th Annual Conference © 2011 IAABD<br />

Integrat<strong>in</strong>g Scientific with Indigenous Knowledge: Towards a conceptual framework <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

<strong>in</strong>novation process <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>digenous entrepreneurs<br />

Henrietta Onwuegbuzie<br />

Faculty <strong>of</strong> Entrpreneurship and Decision Mak<strong>in</strong>g, Lagos Bus<strong>in</strong>ess Scool<br />

Pan African University, Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.<br />

Norma Juma, norma.juma@washburn.edu<br />

Washburn University, School <strong>of</strong> Bus<strong>in</strong>ess, Topeka, KS, USA<br />

Abstract<br />

Extant literature <strong>in</strong>dicates that <strong>in</strong>digenous knowledge (IK) has <strong>the</strong> potential to solve contemporary problems. IK<br />

applied by <strong>in</strong>digenous entrepreneurs(IEs) and <strong>the</strong> result<strong>in</strong>g grassroots <strong>in</strong>novations(GIs) provide an unexploited<br />

idiosyncratic source <strong>of</strong> value creat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>novations which hold great potential for solv<strong>in</strong>g contemporary problems as<br />

well as deliver<strong>in</strong>g susta<strong>in</strong>able development, especially <strong>in</strong> develop<strong>in</strong>g countries. Though GIs represent an important<br />

source <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>novations that have provided affordable, effective solutions <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>digenous communities, <strong>the</strong>y are<br />

sometimes not so effective and usually fail to scale up as most IEs lack <strong>the</strong> funds and knowledge required to<br />

commercialize <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>novation on a large scale. This conceptual paper however seeks to provide a deeper<br />

understand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>novation process <strong>of</strong> IEs. It proposes an <strong>in</strong>tegrative model <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>novation process <strong>of</strong> IEs.<br />

The authors conclude by generat<strong>in</strong>g research questions <strong>in</strong>formed by <strong>the</strong>ir conceptual framework.<br />

Introduction<br />

The purpose <strong>of</strong> this conceptual paper is to propose a conceptual model that may lead to a better<br />

understand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>novation process <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>digenous entrepreneurs (IEs). The literature reveals that IEs<br />

who are rich <strong>in</strong> IK generate low cost GIs which are just as effective as and sometimes even more effective<br />

than exist<strong>in</strong>g modern scientific solutions (Gupta, 2000). In spite <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> formal education,<br />

<strong>in</strong>digenous populations have cont<strong>in</strong>uously found solutions to <strong>the</strong>ir problems and a means <strong>of</strong> survival<br />

without hav<strong>in</strong>g recourse to modern means which tend to be unaffordable for <strong>the</strong>m.<br />

A fundamental component <strong>of</strong> any country’s knowledge system is its <strong>in</strong>digenous knowledge (H<strong>in</strong>dle &<br />

Lansdowne, 2007; Sen, 2005; Subba Rao, 2006) and a number <strong>of</strong> authors po<strong>in</strong>t out that more susta<strong>in</strong>able<br />

and effective solutions are generated by build<strong>in</strong>g on <strong>the</strong> exist<strong>in</strong>g knowledge base (Grenier, 1998; Gupta,<br />

1995; Monaghan, 2009; Sen, 2005; Subba Rao, 2006). A review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> literature reveals that a number <strong>of</strong><br />

scholars and development workers are gradually beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g to realize <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> build<strong>in</strong>g on<br />

exist<strong>in</strong>g knowledge <strong>in</strong> seek<strong>in</strong>g to achieve susta<strong>in</strong>able development (Sen, 2005; Subba Rao, 2006: Gupta,<br />

S<strong>in</strong>ha, Koradia, Patel, Parmar, Rohit, Patel, Patel, Chand, James, Chandan, Patel, Prakash, &<br />

Vivekanandan, 2003) and that <strong>in</strong>deed, IK has <strong>the</strong> potential to solve contemporary problems (Agrawal,<br />

1995; Gupta Kothari & Patel, 1999; Kuznets , 1973; Lalonde, 1993; Monaghan, 2009; Peredo, 2004, Sen,<br />

2005; Sillitoe, 1998; Sr<strong>in</strong>ivas & Sutz, 2008; Subba Rao, 2006).<br />

We <strong>the</strong>refore argue that IK applied by IEs and <strong>the</strong> result<strong>in</strong>g GIs provide an unexploited idiosyncratic<br />

source <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>novations which holds great potential for solv<strong>in</strong>g contemporary problems (Gupta, 2000) as<br />

well as deliver<strong>in</strong>g susta<strong>in</strong>able development (Gupta, et al, 2003). Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, consider<strong>in</strong>g that <strong>the</strong> current<br />

world economic crisis has enlarged <strong>the</strong> niche for cost-effective solutions as a preferred alternative<br />

(Prahalad & Mashelkar, 2010), <strong>in</strong> this paper we advocate <strong>the</strong> need to <strong>in</strong>tegrate IK systems and western<br />

knowledge systems as a means <strong>of</strong> generat<strong>in</strong>g effective, scalable low-cost solutions.<br />

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