The Global Business School Network interviews Henrietta Onwuegbuzie:
Lagos Business School faculty member Henrietta Onwuegbuzie won the first prize in the Emerald/Association of African Business Schools’ 2012 case competition. The winning case was titled, "Nike Davies-Okundaye: Building a Family Social Enterprise”. The case highlights features of indigenous entrepreneurship in a traditional African setting and show cases the merits of traditional training methods.
Henrietta Onwuegbuzie, image courtesy of KAD
It is an intriguing case of a social enterprise, inspired by the difficult experiences of an entrepreneur, who grew up in dire poverty. The difficult circumstances in which she found herself, led her to establish an enterprise based on her inherited skills in arts and crafts. The venture not only ensured her livelihood, but also provided a means for her to lift others out of poverty. The case captures the life of Nikes Davies-Okundaye, who was strongly committed to helping the poor. Her painful experiences while growing up gave her a sense of solidarity with those in need.
The case provides clear learning objectives for educators to use in the classroom. It highlights features of indigenous entrepreneurship, providing insights regarding how traditional societies transmit entrepreneurial skills, how difficult experiences can motivate the creation of a social enterprise, and an understanding of the organizational challenges of a family social enterprise in terms of leadership, succession and governance. Onwuegbuzie’s case demonstrates how using local cases to teach business and social enterprise can be as, or more, effective for students in developing countries. By profiling a local business, Onwuegbuzie is able to inspire and engage her students on a familiar and personal level, while introducing important lessons in family business succession and social enterprise.More here
In selecting a case to feature, Onwuegbuzie focused on two main objectives: The need to be engaging and to have clear learning objectives. It is important to her to use a good number of local cases in her classroom teaching in addition to more globally available ones. When writing this case, Onwuegbuzie commented, "It was like going back to my roots. City life in Nigeria is so westernised and different from Okundaye’s story.
One of her biggest challenges was to keep it "Nigerian.” She noted that, It is important for the case to have a Nigerian feel. The students identify more easily with the case and the learning happens more effectively,” said Onwuegbuzie. "The first time I taught this case, I got a standing ovation from the Executive MBA students.” For those who would be using it outside of Nigeria she includes information on Nigerian culture.
Onwuegbuzie turned a moving story into an effective learning tool by exploring how Okundaye was able to create free workshop training sessions to educate people while still making a profit for her business through her art gallery. Onwuegbuzie thus demonstrated an indigenous business model of an enterprise that achieved business objectives of profitability and sustainability, while maintaining a social mission.