Original Contribution to the Theory of Sustainable Manufacturing Transitions in Resource-Constrained Industrial Systems

This dissertation makes an original contribution to the theory of sustainable manufacturing transitions, developing a novel theoretical framework specifically designed for resource-constrained industrial systems characterised by infrastructure deficits, institutional capacity limitations, and capital scarcity, conditions prevalent across Nigerian and broader sub-Saharan African manufacturing sectors. Existing sustainable manufacturing transition theories, including Multi-Level Perspective theory and Strategic Niche Management, were developed and empirically grounded in high-income European industrial contexts and demonstrate significant explanatory limitations when applied to environments where the enabling conditions underpinning those theories are absent or fundamentally different. The framework development methodology integrates a systematic review of one hundred and forty-seven transition management studies, comparative case study analysis of twelve manufacturing sector transitions across six African countries, primary fieldwork encompassing one hundred and nine expert interviews across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones, and two rounds of theoretical framework validation through international expert panels. The resulting Resource-Constrained Transition Framework introduces four original theoretical constructs: informal innovation intermediaries, adaptive institutional voids navigation, resource substitution pathways, and community-anchored sustainability legitimacy, each of which is demonstrated to operate as a critical transition mechanism in the Nigerian context but is absent from existing theory. Keywords: sustainable manufacturing transitions, resource-constrained systems, Multi-Level Perspective, theoretical framework, sub-Saharan Africa