Abstract
Entrepreneurial Nigerian youths called Yahoo boys are believed to annually cause billions of U.S. dollars in damages to millions of individuals all over the world. Through the use of qualitative interviews and observations in Nigeria, this thesis seeks to investigate the previously unexplored reasons for the Yahoo boys apparent success in conducting Internet fraud. The main finding is that the Yahoo boys have organized themselves into tightly knit communities of practice where mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and a shared repertoire of stories, jargons, and discourse are key characteristics. This mode of organization has enabled the Yahoo boys to effectively distribute the predominantly tacit skills and knowledge required for desired success in Internet fraud. Skills, tools and services not found in the community of practice are sourced through an external network of suppliers located both in the criminal and legitimate business sector. Although most of the Yahoo boys innovations would be labeled imitations in the strictest definition of the term, they have adapted new technologies to their local context and rapidly exploited new markets and sources of supply in order to warrant the term innovation being applied. This thesis provides new insights into a previously unexplored phenomenon in the field of innovation studies. Further, the thesis contributes new knowledge to the discussion of what innovation entails, how it can be effectively utilized, and what forms of organization could be useful for achieving growth.