Bright Frimpong Co-Authors Paper in the Information Systems Journal The business administration professor and his advisors explore the role of crowdfunding in developing Indigenous communities.

Lily Caldwell ’27
October 9, 2024

Bright Frimpong, assistant professor of business administration at Washington and Lee University, co-authored a paper recently published in the Information Systems Journal, an international information technology journal that publishes a broad range of impactful information systems research.

The article, “Harambee as a decolonial digital fundraising approach,” examines the tensions between technology adoption and indigenous values in marginalized communities. The article focuses on Harambee, a Kenyan tradition of community participatory fundraising, and its relationship with digital crowdfunding embedded with Western values and ideologies.

Frimpong authored the article alongside Francis Kofi Andoh-Baidoo from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Emmanuel W. Ayaburi from Baylor University. Together, they advocate for a collaborative approach that integrates digital solutions to highlight traditional community practices. Overall, this provides for respectful technology adoption to prevent digital colonialism.

“I’m happy that the literature is now embracing decolonial theories and concepts,” said Frimpong. “For instance, while the literature on crowdfunding has advocated for the adoption of digital crowdfunding in developing regions, it remains scant on how these platforms might displace precolonial fundraising norms in such communities. The problem does not lie with the platforms themselves, but with the implicit assumption that Indigenous people are expected to adopt them, regardless of whether these platforms uphold their values, to be seen as ‘developing.’ This perpetuates a notion of superiority, where Western models are viewed as superior to Indigenous ones. This study aims to spark conversations about platform design in Indigenous societies.”

Frimpong is in his second year as a member of the faculty at W&L. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in management studies from the University of Cape Coast (Ghana), a Master of Science in marketing from the University of Tampa, an MBA in information systems from Georgia Southern University and a Ph.D. in information systems from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

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