Understanding Resource Ochestration in Start-ups: Exploratory Case Studies in Africa

Bugandwa, Toussaint [UCL] Biga Diambeidou, Mahamadou [UCL] Gilbert,Brett [American University, USA] Manyabe, Daniel [KNU, South Korea] Diarrasouba, Yeguignafere [CESAG, Senegal] Gailly, Benoît [UCL] Moon, Gyewan [KNU, South Korea]

(eng) Startups in developed countries lack equal access to resources, and this reality complicates entrepreneurs’ ability to orchestrate their resources to create competitive advantage. Despite this fact, we know less about how entrepreneurs in resource constrained environments navigate the challenges of the environment to acquire the resources their ventures require. This research explores this question in the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. Using a qualitative approach, 13 startups are interviewed and analyzed to understand how entrepreneurs structured, bundled and leveraged resources to build companies in an environment with few resources for technology venture creation. Results show that the resource orchestration process is not easily followed by these ventures, and questions its application in resource-constrained contexts, and especially in the under-researched context of Francophone Africa. One of the contribution that this study offers is the insight that local partners at founding may be more important than international partners for helping firms manage resources in resource constrained environments.