Dr Charles Mbalyohere

Professional biography

Since 09/2017   Lecturer in Strategic Management at The Open University Business School

Since 10/2022 Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management at The Open University Business School

Previous engagements:  Associate Researcher at the Kingston Business School, London; Management Consultant; Associate Lecturer on an MBA program; Head of a Diaspora NGO; Food Technologist

Research interests

My current research investigates the dynamic capabilities of start-up firms in the off-grid power sector in African markets, with the aim of throwing light on how such firms respond to evolving market and institutional demands. This interest has seen me organising an international workshop at the Open University UK on dynamics and trends in the off-grid power sector: selected cases across Africa, that emerged from an Open University seed corn-funded project in which I was Principal Investigator (PI). Further work thereafter led to a QR GCRF-funded project in Uganda for a pilot on Energy Resource Centres (ERCs) in which I was the PI. The findings from this study have informed growing engagements with the subject, including the conceptualisation of a bid to GCRF to extend ERCs to conflict-affected contexts. I am further investigating aspects of the transition to the use of electric vehicles, with a particular focus on the potential for using repurposed batteries for energy storage that can help improve access to affordable electricity in developing countries. 

I am particularly interested in industrial and organisational structural interventions that can contribute to improved and value-added use of renewable energy across African countries. The interest in strategic management has also seen me extending investigations to the higher education sector in African countries, with a focus on capabilities that enable successful integration of open, online and distance learning options into traditional curriculum delivery. Some of my work here contributed to an international conference co-hosted by The Open University UK, Makerere University, The Association of Commonwealth Universities and the Commonwealth Commission in Kampala, Uganda in December 2019, where I was the organising chair. As the founding chair of this conference, I am currently also involved in conceptualisation of various strands of research and scholarship as a follow up on the first conference and in partnership with various stakeholders.

My research interests also extend to the changing nature of business-government relationships (increasingly referred to as corporate political activity or CPA) in emerging markets and how this in turn is affecting trends in institutional emergence. In other words, I explore the co-evolutionary dimensions of CPA and institutions in these markets that are increasingly important to the global economy. While research here to date has emphasised maturing emerging markets like China, my study focuses on Sub-Saharan African members of the broader family of new emerging markets. I, for example, use pro-market reform experiences in Uganda’s electricity industry as a research context and employ a mix of Advanced Market Multinational Enterprises (AMNEs) and Emerging Market Multinational Enterprises (EMNEs) in my research sample.

Teaching interests

I am currently involved with the production and delivery of teaching materials on strategic management modules at The Open University Business School

My research work is also continually opening up opportunities to integrate teaching aspects. I am for example involved with developing open and distance learning materials for a project on Energy Resource Centres in East Africa

I have been an Associate Lecturer at The Open University Business School in the past, during which I taught MBA foundational module groups. I have further taught at a college in London as well as at the Kingston University Business School. ​

As an outcome of the partnerships that emerged from the Open Impact Conference that was co-hosted by The Open University in Uganda in December, 2019, I am involved with efforts to support African universities to strengthen their capabilities in Open and Distance Learning. In light of the global health crisis ignited by Covid-19, such efforts have attained even higher relevance in the search for strategic responses in the education sector. I envisage a follow-up conference that will dig deeper into the strategies that African countries can pursue to this end. 

Impact and engagement

By virtue of publication in high-ranked journals, my research work is increasingly finding relevance for other researchers. It is also contributing to the development of research grant projects and in turn opening doors for wider collaboration.

The hosting of the Open Impact Conference in Kampala, Uganda in the immediate period preceding the pandemic has provided a good basis for engaging partners in African countries to credibly address Open and Distance Learning (ODL) strategies. In the words of one of the most influential models in strategic management, there was good 'sensing' of the external environment, translating into a unique positioning to 'seize' the opportunities for ODL strategy development together with our African partners. There are possibilities for significant impact therefore. 

External collaborations

Several collaborations, especially those arising from two major conference in 2019:

https://pcf9.org/ 

http://business-school.open.ac.uk/events/open-impact-conference