As an Associate Professor in the Strategy & Organization area at Desautels, Anna Kim has spent over a decade exploring how local perspectives shape sustainable development across East Africa. Her ethnographic research spans Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, where she has partnered with Fairtrade-certified tea producers and mobile money innovators to uncover unique, ground-level insights into impact creation. A Fellow of the Interdisciplinary Network of Technology and Entrepreneurship Research in African Societies (INTERA), Professor Kim鈥檚 work has been published in leading journals and featured in international case studies. In this Q&A, she shares what excites her most about working in Africa, what she鈥檚 learned, and how students and alumni can get involved.
Please tell us briefly about the nature of your research work in Africa
I have collaborated with Fairtrade-certified tea producer organizations in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, as well as users and agents of mobile money services in Kenya, for my ethnographic and qualitative studies on the topic of organizing for sustainable development. I am also a Fellow of the .
What do you find most exciting about this collaboration?
Learning about how perspectives and practices that are deeply rooted in the local context can meaningfully contribute to sustainable development.
What have you learned from your data about the topic you are researching?
My research in East Africa has offered new ways of seeing and acting for sustainable development, such as a long-present perspective (Kim et al. 2019, AMJ), trajectory dynamics in innovation for development (Oborn et al. 2019, Organization Science), and the role of target beneficiaries in social impact creation (Kim, forthcoming, ASQ).
- Kim, A. (forthcoming) 鈥�Harambee! A Triadic Perspective of Social Impact: Organizations, Evaluators, and Target Beneficiaries in Kenya.鈥� Administrative Science Quarterly, doi: 10.1177/00018392241303580.
- Kim, A., Bansal, P., & Haugh, H. (2019) 鈥淣o time like the present: How a present time perspective can foster sustainable development.鈥� Academy of Management Journal, 62 (2): 607鈥�634. [] [] []
- Oborn, E., Barrett, M., Orlikowski, W., Kim, A. (2019) 鈥淭rajectory dynamics in innovation: Developing and transforming a mobile money service across time and place.鈥� Organization Science, 30 (5): 1097鈥�1123. [] []
- Ethnography Atelier (2024). 鈥楢nna Kim: Fieldwork with Respect鈥�, Ethnography Atelier Podcast, September 2.
- Kim, A. & Perreault-Henry, J. (2018) 鈥淧layPumps: Playful solutions to water problems in Africa?鈥� (芦 PlayPumps : la solution au manque d鈥檈au en Afrique, un jeu d鈥檈nfant? 禄) International Journal of Case Studies in Management, vol. 16, no. 3. [] [] []
- Barrett, M., Kim, A., & Prince, K. (2011) 鈥淢-PESA power: Leveraging service innovation in emerging economies.鈥� The Case Centre: 911-007-1. [] []
Links to relevant publications/resources.
Are there ways for students or alumni to get involved with your work? If so, how?
I鈥檓 open to your ideas 鈥� please get in touch聽to discuss collaboration opportunities.
