Proceedings of the FIREtalk Conference - Research on FIRE! (research-on-fire 2025)

FIREtalk Conference - Research on FIRE! (research-on-fire 2025)

📍Mannheim, Germany🗓️ 26-28 August 2025
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WhatsApp, Boardroom & Beyond: Multi-Channel Deal-Making in African Business

Authors
Saira Moinuddin-Huber1, *
1DHBW Lörrach, Hangstraße 46 – 50, 79539, Lörrach, Germany
*Corresponding author. Email: saira.moinuddin-huber@negostrats.com
Corresponding Author
Saira Moinuddin-Huber
Available Online 13 June 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-705-7_23How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Multi-Channel Dealmaking; WhatsApp Negotiations; Hybrid Negotiation Ecologies
Abstract

The expansion of digital messaging platforms is reshaping business practices in Africa, particularly in the domain of negotiation and deal-making. This research paper analyzes the merger of formal as well as informal negotiation channels in African boardroom structures. A two-step research methodology combines a quantitative survey of negotiation experts (n = 733) with an interdisciplinary literature review. Empirical results highlight the geographic impact on negotiation channels. Significantly, WhatsApp serves as a dominant platform for negotiations across the continent. The discussion draws on Transaction Cost Economics, Social Network perspectives, and Corporate Governance theory to illuminate the hybridization of formal and informal negotiation ecologies. From this, implications for business practice, regulatory frameworks, and negotiation research are outlined, while also identifying future research directions in hybrid channel strategies and AI-mediated negotiation processes.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the FIREtalk Conference - Research on FIRE! (research-on-fire 2025)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
13 June 2026
ISBN
978-94-6239-705-7
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-705-7_23How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Saira Moinuddin-Huber
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/13
TI  - WhatsApp, Boardroom & Beyond: Multi-Channel Deal-Making in African Business
BT  - Proceedings of the FIREtalk Conference - Research on FIRE! (research-on-fire 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 328
EP  - 340
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-705-7_23
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-705-7_23
ID  - Moinuddin-Huber2026
ER  -