Kevin McKague
Organizational Behaviour, Schulich School of Business, York University
Predictors of Sustainable Local Enterprise Network Effectiveness: An Institutional and Dynamic Capabilities Perspective
mckague@yorku.ca
Kevin McKague has finished his first year of the PhD program in Organizational Behaviour at the Schulich School of Business. Previous to this Kevin consulted to major multilateral and bilateral organizations (International Finance Corporation, United Nations Development Program, International Development Research Centre, Canadian International Development Agency, etc.) on the role of entrepreneurship and the private sector in international development and sustainability. Kevin also currently holds positions as a Senior Research Fellow with the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability at York University and as President of the Foundation for Sustainable Enterprise and Development. Kevin's research and teaching interests focus on issues at the interface between international business, sustainability, entrepreneurship and sustainable development.
Kevin is co-author with David Wheeler and others on "Creating Sustainable Local Enterprise Networks", published in MIT/Sloan Management Review, Fall, 2005. Kevin has also developed over 50 best practice case studies of various dimensions of sustainable enterprise for the IFC, UNDP and others and authored or co-authored five teaching cases, primarily published by Ivey Publishing, including E+Co: The Path to Scale; City Water Tanzania; Shell, Nigeria and the Ogoni: Prospects for Reconciliation and Sustainable Development; Suncor's Venture into Alternative and Renewable Energy and The Body Shop International.
With the Foundation for Sustainable Enterprise and Development, Kevin recently designed and implemented a $3.2 million fund for Private Sector Development research in Africa, funded by the International Development Research Centre and the Ford Foundation. Prior to his current positions, Kevin has held the posts of Associate Director, Erivan K. Haub Program in Business and Sustainability, Schulich School of Business, and Associate Director, Sustainable Enterprise Academy. Kevin has an MBA from the Schulich School of Business focusing on business and sustainability and an undergraduate degree from McMaster University focusing on international development. Kevin has worked in Africa including Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Kenya and Sudan as well as in India and the Middle East.
Predictors of Sustainable Local Enterprise Network Effectiveness: An Institutional and Dynamic Capabilities Perspective
Kevin McKague with Christine Oliver, York University
Previous research on economic development in low-income countries has begun to yield a variety of models of enterprise development that can contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable development. These include the microfinance model (Yunus, 2003), the social entrepreneurship model (Seelos and Mair, 2005) and, most recently, the bottom of the pyramid model (Prahalad, 2005). This paper conceptualizes an alternative model of economic and social development in the contexts of market failure and proposes a theoretical model of the antecedents of this approach. We argue that 'Sustainable Local Enterprise Networks' describe a distinct phenomena that possess distinctive dynamic capabilities and network characteristics that lead to their capacity to achieve both financial and social goals simultaneously. Drawing on an institutional perspective, sustainable local enterprise networks can be understood as collective-level institutional entrepreneurs in low income economies by providing an alternative model to existing institutionalized means of alleviating poverty and stimulating economic development.