Research - Dr. Cranmer Rutihinda
Dr. Cranmer Rutihinda
Williams School of Business
Dr. Rutihinda's research focuses on entrepreneurship and globalisation of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). He is currently working on two different projects looking respectively at the Eastern Townships and Tanzania.
The purpose of the study funded by the Eastern Townships Research Centre is to explore the challenges and costs involved in developing foreign markets for SMEs in the Eastern Townships, and to investigate what factors may explain any observed differences in their export performances. The specific location of the Eastern Townships with their proximity to the large US market provides them a better access and more interaction with the United States businesses. Their unique bilingual population also adds an advantage of overcoming cultural barriers associated with international business. It is expected that the unique geographic characteristics of the Eastern Townships will influence the export marketing behaviour of SMEs located in the Eastern Townships.
Dr. Rutihinda has been awarded funding by the Senate Research Committee for his project on the role of foreign direct investment on SMEs in the pre-emerging economy of Tanzania. The study assumes that the impact of foreign direct investment on SMEs will be influenced by four main factors: foreign firm characteristics, characteristics of host country's SMEs, the institutional environment, and the economic environment. So far research has been done on the more affluent developing countries such as those in Eastern Europe, South Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Very little has been done on the countries at the lowest ranks in economic development. By prividing empirical evidences on Tanzania, one of the least developed countries in the world, this study will provide avenues for radically different findings that may contributes towards filling up the current theoretical and empirical gap. By providing empirical evidence and constructs on the interaction processes between international firms and SMEs, this study will benefit policy makers in both developed and developing countries as well as business managers of transnational firsm and SMEs.
