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Understanding Entrepreneurship and International Business Knowledge Transfer by Diaspora Knowledge Networks: The Case of Honduras Global

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Diaspora Networks in International Business

Part of the book series: Contributions to Management Science ((MANAGEMENT SC.))

Abstract

To date there is limited insight on how successful members of a diaspora can contribute to their countries of origin in terms of knowledge transfer. We argue that understanding Diaspora Knowledge Networks (DKN) may provide important insights into knowledge transfer for international business and entrepreneurial practices. This chapter focuses on the case study of Honduras Global, a DKN that brings together scientists, artists, business owners and organization executives of the Honduran diaspora. Based on human and social capital theories and the knowledge based view this chapter delves into knowledge transfer dynamics engaged by Honduras Global. Findings suggest that a DKN can be understood as a vehicle for knowledge transfer through three interrelated dimensions. An inclusive membership base, relationship development, and internal coordination facilitate a comprehensive and holistic knowledge transfer. Opportunities and challenges for further research are presented.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas de Honduras http://www.ine.gob.hn

  2. 2.

    Central Intelligence Agency, USA, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ho.html

  3. 3.

    Banco Central de Honduras http://www.bch.hn/pib_base2000.php

  4. 4.

    Centro de Estudios Monetarios LatinoAmericanos (CEMLA) http://www.cemla-remesas.org/informes/report-honduras.pdf

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster, UK

    Allan Discua Cruz

  2. Asociación Comunidad de Emprendedores CEMPRENDE, Comayaguela, DC, Honduras

    Pedro Marcial Cerrato Sabillon

Authors
  1. Allan Discua Cruz
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  2. Pedro Marcial Cerrato Sabillon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Allan Discua Cruz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics, Belt & Road, Institute of International Business, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China

    Maria Elo

  2. Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Maria Elo

  3. Migration Institute of Finland, Turku, Finland

    Maria Elo

  4. Mona School of Business and Management, The University of West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica

    Indianna Minto-Coy

  5. International Migration Research Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada

    Indianna Minto-Coy

Appendix

Appendix

Selection of Honduras Global members focusing on entrepreneurship and international business knowledge. Source: Honduras Global website

Maya Selva

Master of Science in Operational Research. Bachelor’s Degree in Systems Engineering. She is the founder and managing director of “Flor de Selva”, a fully integrated tobacco and premium cigar manufacturer and exporter to Europe and the USA. She has received several quality awards for her cigars in European competitions. More than 20 years ago, she entered into the cigar industry as a way to stay connected with Honduras. Today her operations provide employment to several dozen people in the south-eastern part of Honduras. She has participated in HG Academic Weeks and has given conferences on “New Market Trends” and “Niche Markets”. She is an official ambassador of “Marca Pais”, the Honduran Government’s positive branding campaign.

Maribel Lieberman

Founder and General Manager of MarieBelle New York, a line of fine chocolates that are sold through her own stores in New York, USA, and through franchisees in Kyoto, Japan (www.mariebelle.com) and resellers in Europe. She serves as a role model for self-improvement in Honduras and is also an ambassador of “Marca Pais”. Each time she visits Honduras, she participates in different conferences on entrepreneurship and international business and shares her business success story. Given the rise of cacao production in Honduras, she plans to buy and develop her own cacao farm in the country. She, and Maya Selva, have been considered among the most influential females in Central America.

Carlos Campos

Studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. He has won several fashion design awards in the USA. In 2015 he became the first ambassador for Marca Pais. Through the coordination with HG, he became involved in the development of a fashion design curricula at a private Honduran university. In 2008, the Honduran media community named him of the “10 Most Influential Hondurans Abroad”. He recently began to support FEIH, the Foundation for Education in Honduras, a charitable organization committed to providing education to children in impoverished areas of rural Honduras. Each time he travels to Honduras, he is a guest speaker of the local media and in different business and academic events. He has provided seminars for HG in terms of international fashion, fashion markets and fashion branding. He is also working in partnership with one of the largest local clothing manufacturers.

Edwin Hernandez

Ph.D. in Computer Engineering. Master in Computer Engineering. Bachelors of Science in Electronics Engineering. Fulbright Scholar. He has been granted 10 patents in the USA. Worked for Microsoft and Motorola for a few years. He is the founder and owner of Egla Communications (www.eglacomm.net), a company that has developed a cloud-based platform for media (Cable TV) distribution. He is based in Florida, USA, but he is constantly traveling to Honduras and sharing his technical knowledge with high school and university students arranged by HG. He has participated in several Academic Weeks and Conferences providing information about international science patents and computer science.

Arturo Enamorado

Master in International Commerce. Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Business Administration. He is the Chief Operating Officer of the ISEAD Business School for North & Central America and the Caribbean. He founded the Honduran Chamber of Commerce USA in Miami, USA, in 2009 (www.haccw.org). In 2012, his organization received a donation of medical equipment worth a USD 2 million that was later delivered to the two largest public hospitals in Tegucigalpa. He has presented at Academic Weeks and other events organized by HG on topics related with international commerce.

Mayra Orellana-Powell

Bachelor of Science, Business Administration and International Business. Marketing and Outreach Director for Royal Coffee, Inc., a green coffee importer located in California since 2013. Owner & Founder of Catracha Coffee Co., a specialty coffee buyer from small producers from the rural community of Santa Elena, where Mayra is from. She is relocating back to Honduras in September 2016 to continue working with coffee producers and other community projects, such as youth conferences and development organizations. She has participated in Academic Weeks and other HG events related with coffee import/export.

Stanley Marrder

Entrepreneur. Founder and owner of Marrder Omnimedia, a company based in Tegucigalpa, which develops software applications for foreign customers; Xybera, a company that produces audiovisual content, and Locsatt, which develops solutions for USA petrochemical companies. His initiatives have earned him international awards, including an Addy from the American Advertising Federation. After HG conducted the first Academic Week, he invited the participants to create an “Intelligence Lab”, an initiative by which the young students could made proposals and submit ideas on how to strengthen the climate of innovation in Honduras. This initiative lasted 2 years and gave the opportunity to university students to engage in research and think “out of the box”. His seminars also provided information of software export development.

Pedro Cerrato

Master in International Business. Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. In the year 2011, he launched an internet portal called Wilinku (www.wilinku.com) to promote the best talents, artistic and cultural activities, and touristic places in Central America. He set up a local company in Honduras and hired four interns from a local university for 2 years. In 2012, he traveled more than 2500 km across Honduras to meet local handicrafts manufacturers to assess their readiness to export their products to Germany. Sadly most entrepreneurs he met were not ready to deliver the quality and quantity required by the European market. In mid-2015, he returned to Honduras with a 6-month consulting contract in hand to support the financial and commercial activities of Tegu Toys (www.tegu.com), a magnetic wooden building blocks manufacturer, which produces and exports Honduran-made pieces overseas (USA and Europe). In 2016 he began to organize a group of entrepreneurs to open the first Center for Entrepreneurs in Tegucigalpa in 2017 as part of the Impact Hub network (www.impacthub.net). Among its goals, this center aims to promote further relevant approaches for international entrepreneurship.

Allan Discua Cruz

PhD in Management. Master of Manufacturing, MBA, BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering. He has conducted several researches on Honduran family companies that have shed a better light of this country’s internal business dynamics and improve the country’s visibility in front of academia. Due to his ongoing relationship with private universities in Honduras, he is regularly invited as a guest lecturer and visiting professor in the areas of small and medium sized enterprises, internationalization and family business. He has been invited previously by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to deliver seminars on international outlooks in European economy and business strategies for women entrepreneurs.

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Discua Cruz, A., Cerrato Sabillon, P.M. (2019). Understanding Entrepreneurship and International Business Knowledge Transfer by Diaspora Knowledge Networks: The Case of Honduras Global. In: Elo, M., Minto-Coy, I. (eds) Diaspora Networks in International Business. Contributions to Management Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91095-6_24

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