Managing Global Transitions

Abstracts in Slovene

2025-03-29

Can Increased Intra-Continental Trade Partnerships Diversify Export Baskets in Africa?

Sibusiswe Mchani — 2025-03-29

The study investigates the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement in fostering diversified export baskets through increased intra-continental trade partnerships. It aims to evaluate how these trade partnership influence export diversification within Africa. Using network analysis, it develops three indices to measure the degree, closeness, and prestige of trading partners across 54 African countries from 2000 to 2020. These indices, along with traditional estimators, reveal two key findings. Firstly, the quality of trade partnerships, focusing on ‘who’ a country trades with, holds more significance than quantity. Secondly, there is a geographical imbalance, where the effect of trade partnerships turns negative for countries with higher product diversification. In conclusion, while intra-continental trade diversification shows promise, more advanced African nations may experience diminishing returns, suggesting a need for expanding trade networks beyond the continent for sustained export diversification.

Assessing the Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Employee Performance: Toward an Integrated Emotional Intelligence Framework

Yash Krishna Gaya — 2025-03-29

Emotional intelligence has garnered significant attention in the field of business management. It encompasses a range of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills that profoundly impact multiple aspects of human behaviour, relationships, and general well-being. Emotional intelligence has been demonstrated to be a pivotal element in shaping workplace dynamics, maintaining the well-being of employees, and improving organisational performance. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate and analyse the impact of emotional intelligence on employee performance. A survey was conducted in the business process outsourcing sector in Mauritius.
Results demonstrated that factors including years of experience, educational level, age group, motivation and job roles positively influence emotional intelligence and employee performance. In addition, an emotional intelligence framework was proposed to mediate conflicts between higher management and employees. Finally, relevant recommendations have been put forward on how to improve performance and also how to reduce conflicts.

Does Financial Development Drive Entrepreneurship in Africa? A Panel Data Analysis

Afees Oluwashina Noah — 2025-03-29

Entrepreneurship in Africa faces a multitude of challenges, with financial issues being prominently discussed in scholarly literature. Thus, this study explores how financial development plays a crucial role in encouraging entrepreneurship in Africa, analysing both short- and long-term impacts alongside the direction of causality within the continent. The study utilises panel data regression techniques to analyse data from 28 African countries, spanning from 2006 to 2020. The analysis reveals that financial development, alongside the growth of financial institutions and markets, consistently boosts entrepreneurship development in both time frames. Even though this is more pronounced in the long run, this suggests that the influence of financial development and its components is uniformly positive, with no significant differential impacts observed in either the short or long run. Causality results establish unidirectional causality between entrepreneurship, financial development, and its components, flowing from financial development and its components to entrepreneurship development. Given these insights, the study underscores the necessity for policymakers to focus on sustainable financial development strategies that enhance stability and inclusivity within financial markets.

Unveiling Organizational AI Adoption Patterns in Italian Companies through the Lens of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory

Grazia Garlatti Costa — 2025-03-29

This paper investigates the adoption and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within a sample of 237 Italian enterprises using the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory as the theoretical framework. It examines the characteristics of companies leading in AI adoption, evaluating their alignment with the innovator and early adopter profiles defined by Everett Rogers in 2003 within the DOI framework. The research emphasizes AI’s significant role in enhancing operational efficiency, fostering innovation, securing competitive advantage, and driving long-term growth. It also identifies challenges such as lack of skills, data management issues, and ethical concerns. Our findings contribute empirical evidence to the academic literature on the DOI theory, addressing the underexplored context of AI in Italy. The study provides a nuanced perspective on AI’s impact on employment and sets a foundation for future research, offering managerial insights for strategically deploying AI.