Ghana's Industry Research Articles

Managers’ Personality Traits and Employee Job Performance in the Telecommunication Industry

The study examines the effect of managers’ personality traits on employee job performance in the telecommunication industry in Ghana. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted using structured questionnaires to collect primary data from a sample of 350 employees and managers in four selected telecommunication firms. Correlation and regression techniques are used. The study discovered that the dominant personality trait of leaders’ in the telecommunication industry in Ghana is open-minded with extraversion. Furthermore, there is a fairly strong significant positive relationship between each of the five leaders’ personality traits and employee job performance. After controlling for demographic characteristics, it was revealed from the analysis that the personality traits of leaders have significant effects on employee job performance. Years of experience and age collectively were very significant to job performance. The study recommends among other things that formalized leadership training programs should be instituted in the telecommunication industry in Ghana to train leaders and employees on leaders’ personality traits and its effect on employee performance.

Examining the dynamics of industry–university collaborations in Ghana

PurposeUniversity–industry (UI) collaborations are now a crucial issue as universities explore innovative means to secure industry funding for research and improve the employability content of existing curricula. This paper explores the dynamics of the antecedents of UI collaborations in management education. It further investigates the moderating variables (motivation, national policy and institutional factors) that are likely to influence the positive relationship between the antecedents of collaboration and the intention to collaborate.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey sent to 300 participants in academia and industry in Ghana achieved an 83% response rate. The data was analysed using bivariate and multivariate techniques.FindingsThe results revealed a positive relationship between knowledge sharing, trust, communication and motivation for UI collaborations. Motivation did not have a moderating effect on the positive relationship between any of the five independent variables and UI collaborations. Institutional factors were found to moderate the positive relationship between knowledge sharing and collaboration.Practical implicationsPolicy to encourage UI collaborations should build on reputational and intrinsic rather than purely financial motivations as academics are motivated by a complex mix of monetary and non-monetary factors.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the need for an intricate alignment of the interests of academia and practitioners to encourage UI collaboration efforts.

Ghanaian Local Aluminum Cast Utensil Forms for Fountain Production

In Ghana, movable fountain production has not been industry friendly especially to our local material producing industries in Ghana. Materials like Resin, silicon and fine marble stone which are not traditionally produced materials in Ghana are what most fountains used in Ghana are made of. This has made fountain production and repairs very difficult and expensive. The local material producing industries equally produce strong and good materials and forms that can be effectively employed in fountain production. Applying and repairing fountains produced in these local materials and forms are less costly and easier. For this reason, this study focuses on the forms of locally cast aluminium utensils for the production of fountains. In spite using these utensils for cooking purposes, it was also observed that, they have form that elated to some elemental forms in the production movable fountains. This study aimed at identifying the forms of the Ghanaian aluminum cast utensils suitable for the different parts of a movable water fountain. In this regard, data was collected through observation and interviews of selected stakeholders of the foundries in Tamale and Kumasi which formed the population for the study. In relation to existing fountains the forms were subjected to conceptual analyses which resulted in three concepts. these concepts were further subjected to matrix evaluation based on affordability, attractiveness, sustainability, strength, functionability, lightness of weight, and size. This arrived at a more efficient design. This was further subject to fabrication experimentations in line with the design. The result of this study is a locally cast aluminum utensil water fountain. it is called ‘water fall and cascading’ fountain based on the design and water flow. The study has proven that the forms and functions of these utensils make an ideal fountain that is ecofriendly, safe, less costly and easy to maintain.

Stakeholder Collaboration in Climate-Smart Agricultural Production Innovations: Insights from the Cocoa Industry in Ghana.

Although collaboration is vital in addressing global environmental sustainability challenges, research understanding on stakeholder engagement in climate-smart production innovation adoption and implementation, remains limited. In this paper, we advance knowledge about stakeholder collaboration by examining the roles played by stakeholders in scaling-up ecological sustainability innovations. Using the illustrative context and case of green cocoa industry in Ghana, the analysis identified three distinctive phases of stakeholder engagement in ecological sustainability innovations implemented from 1960 to 2017. We highlight defining periods of ecological challenges encompassing the production recovery sustainability initiative phase solely driven by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD)-a governmental body responsible for production, processing and marketing of cocoa, coffee and sheanut. During the period, major initiatives were driven by non-governmental organisations in collaboration with COCOBOD to implement the climate-smart agriculture scheme in the cocoa sector. The findings have implications for cocoa production research and stakeholder collaboration in environmental innovations adoption.

Energy insecurity, pollution mitigation, and renewable energy integration: prospective of wind energy in Ghana.

Wind energy is seen as an important energy to sustainably meet the energy needs of Ghana. However, the industry in Ghana is yet to take off due to policy uncertainty and regulatory costs. The paper analyzed the key determinants and how they interact to impact the scaling up of wind energy in Ghana, using time series data, the vector auto regression (VAR) model from 2013 to 2019.There were four endogenous variables, grouped under policy, population growth, wind capacity, and electrification rate. The findings revealed the dynamic behavior of the variables from the VAR to a strongly significant positive correlation to deploying wind energy in Ghana. The impulse response functions (IRFs) equally exhibited a positive impact long-run trajectory growth of the variables after a shock to the system. The response of the first lags had differences of log policy and that of the log of GDP produced a curious result from the shock by taking a steady positive growth path in the short run and nosedived to a negative pathway in the long run. On the other hand, the interaction of the first differences of the lags of log wind capacity and log policy is quite instructive, as the headwind produced a negative relationship in the short run and to a positive growth path in the long run. This was anticipated, as the wind capacity installation of Ghana is expected to increase in the long run, when pipeline projects materialize.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance in the Banking Industry in Ghana

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of corporate social responsibility on financial performance to understand whether and how CSR policies impact the overall financial performance of listed banks in Ghana. Secondary data have been collected, content analysis was used to measure corporate social responsibility and financial performance, and a multiple panel regression approach using eight listed banks was used. Results indicate that corporate social responsibility is found to be positively and statistically significantly related to financial performance. Nevertheless, the effect of CSR is very weak. A significant relationship between size, inflation, and exchange rate and financial performance is found. For CSR to become development tool in Ghana, it is imperative that coordinated and concerted efforts must be undertaken at both private and public sector levels, in realising equitable, inclusive, and sustainable development.

Measuring the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on pharmaceutical industry's effectiveness: the mediating role of employee competencies

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to examine the mediating role of employee competencies in the association between human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational effectiveness of the pharmaceutical industry in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachAn integrated research model was developed by combining principal factors from existing literature. The validity of the model was tested by applying structural equation modelling (SEM) to the data collected from 550 employees of the selected pharmaceutical industries. The reliability and validity of the dimensions are established through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and related hypotheses tested using SEM.FindingsThe results indicate that some HRM practices influence organizational effectiveness through their impact on employee competencies. The study further revealed that employee competencies mediate the association between HRM practices and organizational effectiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was undertaken in the pharmaceutical industry and the analysis based on cross-sectional data which cannot be generalized across a broader range of sectors and international environment.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study have the potential to help stakeholders, policy makers and management of the pharmaceutical industry in espousing suitable and well-articulated HRM practices to influence and shape the skills, knowledge and behaviour of employees and inordinately enhance organizational effectiveness.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature by adducing evidence empirically that employee competencies mediated the association between HRM practices and organizational effectiveness of the pharmaceutical industry in Ghana.

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ПЕРЕДМОВА

Дослідження еволюції виробництва електроенергії в Гані (1900–1960 роки)

The literature on the history of electricity production have studied the evolution of electricity in both developed and developing countries and its impact on their economies. Some have laid foundations upon which other works are carried out. A close examination of historiography and multidisciplinary research on electricity production in Ghana shows that more efforts are required to improve the electric power landscape in Ghana. From the colonial era, the increasing demand for electricity has been the biggest challenge plaguing the energy sector. Respective governments have made significant strides in ensuring reliable and universal access to electricity throughout Ghana, yet such efforts have been accompanied by different levels of challenges. The study uses a qualitative and exploratory research approach to trace the activities that helped, in many other ways to the creation of a sustainable electric power provision to household and industry in Ghana, particularly in two of Ghana’s cities; Accra and Kumasi, within the period 1900 to the1960s. The work focused mainly on archival sources in its quest to arrive at how indigenous Ghanaians provided power for industrial activities and for household purposes. Results from the study show that local and cottage industries relied predominantly on wood, fuel, and biomass for their operations even before the introduction of the more sophisticated means of power generation. Also, the study revealed that in finding solutions to the challenges of electricity production, policymakers have focused more on current issues with little or no effort to trace the historical foundation of electricity production. This notwithstanding, the little efforts that have been made examined the history of energy production, with a limited focus on the immediate post-independence era.

Industrial Attachment and Employability: Perspectives of Graphic Design Students and Industrial Supervisors

To provide students with career focused tertiary education that enhances employability for middle-level supervisory and managerial positions in business and industry in Ghana, the Polytechnic Act 2007, Act 754, was enacted. This Act makes it mandatory for all students to undertake Industrial Attachment. The focus of Industrial Attachment is to help enhance graduate employability through the acquisition of employable skills and knowledge, to assist students to build or improve their personal skills to increase their chances of obtaining secured jobs in their respective fields of study and to be able to contribute meaningfully to economic growth and national development (Walker II, 2011; Nunfam et al 2015). Although Graphic Design students spend six months (on different vacation periods) out of the total three years on the HND Programme on Industrial Attachment, yet most of them find it difficult to obtain jobs relating to their area of specialities, while some of those employed in the Graphic Design industry also lack the needed industrial skills to enable them to perform effectively (Nunfam et al 2015). The aim of this paper was to explore and describe the extent to which Graphic Design students of the Takoradi Technical University are equipped with industrial experience and practical skills through Industrial Attachment to enhance employability. Mixed research strategy (Qualitative and Quantitative) was employed. A case study research design was used, and research instruments employed to obtain data were survey questionnaire and interview for the collection of qualitative and quantitative data to answer the research question: What are the perceptions of students and industrial supervisors on the impact of Industrial Attachment on employability? Purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 217 respondents, made up of 209 level 300 students and 8 industrial supervisors.Qualitative data was analysed through thematic analysis and quantitative data was also analysed with SPSS statistics software. Students have good understanding of theoretical knowledge. However, due to ineffective collaboration between Takoradi Technical University and the various industries, and the lack of effective strategic management of the Industrial Attachment programme, some students have limited practical skills. Collaboration between Takoradi Technical University and industries is critical for the development of employability skills. For Graphic Design students to benefit from the Industrial Attachment programme, all stakeholders of Takoradi Technical University need to put in the technical expertise, resources, infrastructure, incentives and motivations to foster a seamless partnership between the University and the industries. Also, the current inadequate Industrial Attachment programme requires a critical evaluation through effective strategic management. Keywords: Technical University Education, Industrial attachment, Graphic Design, Employability skills. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-18-10 Publication date: June 30th 2020

IT Project Showstopper Framework: The View of Practitioners

The study intended to unravel critical IT project showstoppers which tend to halt IT projects temporarily or permanently, and ultimately cause them to fail, by positioning them in the systems development life cycle (SDLC) framework. Interviewing 8 IT project and program managers of the banking and telecommunications industries in Ghana individually and in a group, 19 critical showstoppers were identified spanning the whole SDLC. Generally, it was observed that for the successful completion of IT projects, the expertise and availability of project managers and team members are critical. Again, the project manager must be able to prove that the project is in line with the objectives and strategic direction of the business, is being mounted to gain competitive advantage, and has a solid business case. Thirdly, funding is key at all stages of the cycle, as well as approval for continuation at various stages.

Towards Improving Performance of the Construction Industry in Ghana: A SWOT Approach

The construction industry is the second largest contributor to GDP and a significant driver of economic activities in Ghana. Given the importance of the construction industry in boosting the national economy, it is essential to develop effective strategies to keep improving the performance of the industry. To achieve this aim, this research conducted the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of the Ghanaian construction industry. Underpinned by the SWOT analysis, strategic recommendations are provided to minimise the weaknesses and neutralise the threats that confront the industry, while taking advantage of the strengths and exploiting the opportunities presented to it. These include investment to facilitate innovation and growth, human resource development, development and enforcement of policy and standards, and conducive procurement practice. The recommendations are expected to provide practical and theoretical directions to the industry’s stakeholders on effective ways to improve the industry’s performance.

Industrialization of Cassava Sector in Ghana: Progress and the Role of Developing High Starch Cassava Varieties

In Ghana, cassava is a marginalized crop in food policies due to low research attention given it. However, high starch in cassava root is an important characteristic that makes the crop a potential industrial cash crop. In light of this, the Government of Ghana in 2001 introduced the Presidential Special Initiative (PSI) on Cassava, which aimed at industrializing the cassava sector for job creation and livelihood improvement through starch extraction. One of the import industrial products from cassava starch is ethanol. Ethanol is reported as the largest opportunity for cassava industrialization in Ghana followed by food-grade starch. However, the local ethanol consuming industry, Kasapreko, operates by importing over 25 million litres of ethanol every year due to inadequate supply of ethanol from local starch factories. This situation exists because of lack of cassava varieties that can yield more starch (75% or more) per total dry weight to feed the starch factories for sustainable production. Therefore, this review explores the relevance of developing high starch yielding cassava to the industrialization of the cassava sector in Ghana and lessons to learn from the success story of Thailand, the country with the world’s most industrialized cassava sector.

Factors Influencing Open Innovation Adoption in the Ghanaian Hospitality Industry : The Role of ICT Infrastructure

This research work adds to extant writings on open innovation by evaluating the factors that impact open innovation adoption in the hospitality industry in Ghana. The research investigates withal the moderating function of ICT infrastructure in the correlation among human skills, managerial style and competition and open innovation. Data collected from 530 managers and owners in the Ghanaian hospital industry, in a cross-sectional observation employed on a five-point Likert scale survey, is analyzed and employed in the validation of the study’s empiric and theoretic contributions. We employed SmartPLS software 3.2.8 to investigate primary data and the outcome indicates that the six determining factors significantly impact on open innovation adoption in the hospitality business. There are, particularly, positive and significant correlations between competition, human skills, management style, IT infrastructure and open innovation adoption. Nonetheless, both cultural and cost factors have negative, yet statistically significant impact on open innovation adoption. In Ghana’s hospitality SMEs, the ICT infrastructure has proven to moderate a positive correlation betwixt open innovation adoption and competition. Similarly, ICT infrastructure moderates the correlation betwixt managerial style and open innovation adoption. Moreover, ICT infrastructure moderates a positive correlation between human skills and open innovation adoption in the Ghanaian hospitality SMEs.

SDG 8 and Elimination of Child Labour in the Cocoa Industry in Ghana: Can WTO Law and Private Sector Responsible Business Initiatives Help?

The issue of child labour in the cocoa industries of producer countries like Ghana has come to the forefront of the discourse on trade related problems in international trade and how the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules can be used to address them. Though the WTO rules are fundamentally aimed at non-discrimination and liberalisation of international trade, they also provide for exceptions that allow member states to impose restrictions or total bans on imports of products that are not in consonance with non-economic objectives like public morals, public health and the conservation of natural resources. This paper conducts analysis of some exceptions to the WTO rules on non-discrimination and trade liberalisation. Using the problem of child labour in the cocoa industry in Ghana as an example, the paper discusses how these exceptions in the WTO rules could be used by an importing country to influence action against the use of child labour in cocoa exporting countries like Ghana. Where either the WTO rules or state action cannot or does not address the problem of child labour adequately, the paper analysis the viability of private sector responsible business initiatives inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as substitutes or complements to the WTO rules and state action.

Understanding informal jewellery apprenticeship in Ghana: Nature, processes and challanges

Context: The processes of acquiring education in jewellery in Ghana has been dominated by the informal apprenticeship system and it forms the backbone of the workforce of the jewellery industry in Ghana. However, the patronage of informal jewellery apprenticeship in Ghana in recent times has been on decline even though it has the potential of training human resources to transform Ghana’s precious mineral resources sector.This is based on the belief that jewellery trade and its training are shrouded in secrecy, in other words, the jewellery trade is considered to be a sacred profession where information on its operating systems are not allowed to be shared easily. It is believed to be associated with cult and magic, hence the reluctant to admit people who are from outside the family of particular jewellery enterprise. This study is sought to bring to fore the understanding nature, processes and challenges of the informal jewellery apprenticeship in Ghana. Approach: The study adopted the descriptive and phenomenology research designs (qualitative research methods). Jewellers who own a jewellery business and who are training other people through apprenticeships as well as people who are trained are observed and interviewed. A sample size was selected through purposive and convenience sampling techniques from four jewellery enterprises in Accra, Ghana. A thematic analysis plan was adopted to generate fndings of the study. Findings: The results show that for a person to train as a jeweller, s/he has to enrol by going through induction, futhremore fees (money and perishable items) are to be paid. The training content is driven by orders received by the master jeweller, thereby making it unstructured and lacking criteria for assessing the performance and progress of apprentice jewellers. Teaching and learning methods are usually on-the-job training that rely on demonstrations and observation.Conclusion: Informal jewellery apprenticeship in Ghana uses a fexible, cost-efective approach for transferring jewellery making skills from masters to apprentice jewellers, and it has substantial potential for improving skills training in the country. Sometimes the reluctant of some jeweller to train others is to keep the trade to family members only.

Understanding informal jewellery apprenticeship in Ghana: Nature, processes and challanges

Context: The processes of acquiring education in jewellery in Ghana has been dominated by the informal apprenticeship system and it forms the backbone of the workforce of the jewellery industry in Ghana. However, the patronage of informal jewellery apprenticeship in Ghana in recent times has been on decline even though it has the potential of training human resources to transform Ghana’s precious mineral resources sector.This is based on the belief that jewellery trade and its training are shrouded in secrecy, in other words, the jewellery trade is considered to be a sacred profession where information on its operating systems are not allowed to be shared easily. It is believed to be associated with cult and magic, hence the reluctant to admit people who are from outside the family of particular jewellery enterprise. This study is sought to bring to fore the understanding nature, processes and challenges of the informal jewellery apprenticeship in Ghana. Approach: The study adopted the descriptive and phenomenology research designs (qualitative research methods). Jewellers who own a jewellery business and who are training other people through apprenticeships as well as people who are trained are observed and interviewed. A sample size was selected through purposive and convenience sampling techniques from four jewellery enterprises in Accra, Ghana. A thematic analysis plan was adopted to generate fndings of the study. Findings: The results show that for a person to train as a jeweller, s/he has to enrol by going through induction, futhremore fees (money and perishable items) are to be paid. The training content is driven by orders received by the master jeweller, thereby making it unstructured and lacking criteria for assessing the performance and progress of apprentice jewellers. Teaching and learning methods are usually on-the-job training that rely on demonstrations and observation.Conclusion: Informal jewellery apprenticeship in Ghana uses a fexible, cost-efective approach for transferring jewellery making skills from masters to apprentice jewellers, and it has substantial potential for improving skills training in the country. Sometimes the reluctant of some jeweller to train others is to keep the trade to family members only.

Drops in the city: the puzzle of water privatization and consumption deficiencies in urban Ghana

Abstract The water industry in Ghana has recently experienced a massive proprietary change, from its public monotonic system to a public–private system mixed with localized private participation options. Although these changes have contributed to local and national revenue generation, the consumption bracket continually de-equalizes due to inaccessibility and unavailability patterns of water provision. This has made water a scarce commodity for some, whilst others are over-supplied and over-satisfied. In this research, the manifestation of private sector participation in Ghana's urban water sector in the midst of the public water system and its implications on water supply have been investigated using both secondary and primary data. The study reveals significant deficiencies in urban water needs and wider inequality outcomes amongst urbanites despite government's neo-liberal interventions in the water sector. The major proposals include the need for re-alignment of private sector engagements characterized by proper state's regulatory control mechanisms and encouragement of community/neighborhood joint water supply systems to complement state and private interventions in order to reverse the access and consumption deficiencies in the urban water sector.

Service quality of insurance in complex project deals in the construction industry in Ghana

PurposeThe insurance sector provides insurance protection for complex project deals in Ghana. The study assesses the service quality of insurance of complex project deals in the construction industry of developing countries, specifically Ghana. The objectives are to identify the insurance typologies in complex project deals in the construction industry, to assess the level of construction insurance quality, and to assess the challenges faced in complex project insurance.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive literature review was conducted to analyze the previously related works on insurance in the construction industry. The study then adopted quantitative research strategy where a structured questionnaire survey was used to collect information from construction industry professionals. The data analysis was organized in accordance with the specific objectives of the study with the aid of mean score analysis and independent sample t-test. The study again measured the reliability of the adopted scale using Cronbach's alpha, which indicated that all the items reliably measured what they were intended to measure, and thereby, statistical tools can be applied to give in-depth meanings.FindingsThe insurance typologies for complex projects were discovered by the study, as well as the available service qualities of insurance. The study again made it clear that the major challenges capable of affecting complex construction project are low quality of insurance companies' services and the gap in statutory and legal systems.Research limitation/implicationsThe major constraint in this study was the issue of taking only Ghana as a developing country to generalize the result. This is then to provide lessons for other developing countries.Practical implicationThe findings from this study will be useful to construction firms, insurance firms, and regulatory bodies by identifying the effectiveness of insurance as a risk mitigation measure in construction. The study will help the insurance firms to better position themselves to meet the demands of the construction industry. As the findings of this study are Ghana-specific, it is also to provide lessons for other developing countries.Originality/valueThis study delves deep into the complex construction project insurance service quality in developing countries, specifically Ghana.

Assessing the suitability of locally produced gum exudates in the food industry

The over-reliance of the food industry in Ghana on imported gums ultimately increases the final cost of processed food. Gums produced by some trees in Ghana have not been exploited commercially, probably due to lack of data on the properties which influence their application in the food industry. This study was therefore undertaken to assess the suitability of gums obtained from Cashew, Albizia, and Khaya trees in Ghana in food applications, using Acacia gum as a control. The properties studied include organoleptic, pH, solubility, viscosity, swelling power, and water binding capacity. The physicochemical properties were determined through experimentation and observation. The pH, viscosity, swelling power and water binding capacity of the gums were 3.80-5.00, 93.0-11195.0 mPas (at 3% concentration), 1.64-20.56% and 4.0-428.8%, respectively. Cashew gum showed similar properties as Acacia gum, and can be used as a substitute for Acacia gum. Albizia gum was found to have the highest viscosity and water binding capacity, followed by Khaya gum, and thus has the potential to be used as a thickener in jams, sauces, etc., and also prevent stalling in baked goods and crystallization in confectioneries. The acid stabilities of Cashew and Albizia gums were comparable with that of Acacia gum.
 Keywords: Acacia gum, food industry, water binding capacity, swelling power, viscosity, organoleptic properties