Organizations In Ghana Research Articles

The Impacts of Performance Appraisal on Employees’ Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment: A Case of Microfinance Institutions in Ghana

Performance appraisal is credited by researchers as a tool for spurring employees towards the attainment of organizational goals. Considering employees’ attitudes as a vital component in the attainment of organizational goals, this study investigated the impacts of performance appraisal on the job-satisfaction and commitment of employees. The study used a descriptive research design. A stratified random sampling was used to sample 200 respondents from Microfinance organizations in Ghana. The study used questionnaires as its data collection instrument. Regression Analysis and correlations were used to analyze the data collected. The study revealed that employees’ job satisfaction is positively related to and impacted by fairness in the appraisal system, linking appraisals with promotion, clarity of roles and feedback about their performance. The study also revealed that employees’ commitment is positively related to and impacted by the linkage of appraisals with salary, identification of training needs, clarity of performance appraisal purpose and employee involvement in the formulation of appraisal tools. The study recommends that organizations comply with rewards systems linked to performance levels, provide training to employees identified to be in need of training so as to further enhance the relevance of performance appraisal, and also instigate and/or maintain communication between management staff and their subordinates especially with regards to their performance.

Relevance of public relations in building the corporate reputation of an organization: An exploratory study of two manufacturing organizations in Ghana

In a globalised world that is also very competitive, businesses are faced with the enormous challenge of surviving and staying strong. One of such big challenges is building and managing the reputation of the organisation. Corporate reputation has been identified over the years as one of the most important intangible assets of any organisation. The success of any organisation is strongly linked to how it is perceived by its stakeholders. Scholars across various disciplines, including marketing, sociology, communication and management have devoted much attention to this phenomenon. In order to build and manage a strong reputation, an organisation must be able to communicate effectively with the stakeholders. Effective communication allows an organisation to convince and persuade its stakeholders to remain loyal in the face of keen competition. Studies have shown that public relations should be at the forefront of such communication activities. Public relations facilitates the efforts of the organisation to build and manage a positive reputation in the eyes of its stakeholders. This paper tries to understand the relevance of public relations in building the corporate reputation of an organisation. The paucity of literature in a developing country like Ghana makes this research even more essential. The qualitative research approach was used in gathering data. Face to face interviews were held with two communication managers of two multinational companies to provide input for the research. Result demonstrated that public relations plays a critical role in building the reputation of an organisation. The day to day communication activities of an organisation's PR department coupled with other activities such as social responsibility, feedback and constant engagement with the publics contributes largely to positive evaluation of the organisation. This outcome has significant implications for the practice of public relations.

Factors that Influence the Glass Ceiling. Evidence from Formal Sector Organisations in Ghana

Factors that Influence the Glass Ceiling. Evidence from Formal Sector Organisations in Ghana

Assessing and Mapping the Supply Chain of Pineapple Production in Ghana

The aim of the study was to evaluate fresh pineapple production processes and activities in Ghana and to graphically map the various stages of the value stream involved. The study targeted pineapple producing organisations in Ghana. Three organisations were selected based on their experience in the field and their readiness to provide data and other relevant information for the study. Names of the selected organisations are withheld for ethical reasons. The stu dy adopted qualitative approach using primary data. Departmental heads and supervisors from the selected organisations constituted the target population of the study. The primary data was collected using semi - structured interview and observation instrument s. The data obtained was analysed through deductions and inferences. The study established that pineapple Supply Chain (SC) processes and activities starts from the supply of pineapple production inputs from various suppliers to production of pineapples, e xport, through to retailing at the destination countries. The value chain of pineapple production and export was mapped graphically. The SC mapping developed from the study could

Contribution of Human Resource Development to Organisations: A Case Study of Asuogyaman District Assembly

Human resource development is currently as an important strategic approach to improved productivity, efficiency and profitability. However, the level of human resource development which should be the central driving force in the achievement of organisational goals and economic development in Ghana is not encouraging and should be given the needed boost by building the knowledge, skills, working abilities and innate capacities of all the people across the society. This study therefore examines the potential contributions of human resource development to organisations in Ghana in order to make recommendations that will ensure that the required human resource needs are provided. To do this, Asuogyaman District Assembly was selected as a case study. Both primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed. The study found out that 72.5% of staff in the organisation was involved in a training programme. Most staff occasionally had their training needs assessed. Performance management/appraisal and human resource planning are promoted. Human resource development contributes to increased productivity and builds manpower abilities. Based on the findings, it is recommended among others things that; all organisations should establish a human resource development policy that will encourage systematic learning, performance and change as a means to increase productivity.

Product Traceability and Identification: An Examination of Its Effectiveness at the Coca-Cola Company of Ghana Limited, Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa

This research sought to examine the effectiveness of product traceability and identification systems in organizations in Ghana using the Coca-Cola Company Limited, Kumasi Plant as case study. The study population included all employees of the Coca Cola Bottling Company as well as distributors for the company. The study was conducted with a quantitative method, executed through questionnaires and interview. The sample size for the study was sixty. The study utilized a quantitative research approach along with a descriptive research design. The quantitative data collected were subjected to statistical analyses using simple linear regression and correlation analysis. Findings indicated that that Coca Cola Company Limited has effective mechanisms in place to oversee the effective implementation of traceability and identification systems. The study also showed that the traceability and identification system by Coca Cola Bottling Company Limited was significantly effective in tracking products in supply chain. This implied that the coca cola traceability system contributes significantly to tracking products in supply chain.

Accountability and internal control in religious organisations: a study of Methodist church Ghana

This paper studied the financial accountability and internal control practices of societies within the Kumasi Diocese of the Methodist church. A questionnaire survey was used to collect the data from 86 societies out of the 115 (75%) of the Kumasi Diocese. Secondary data was collected from books, journals, annual reports of churches and related researches from the internet. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data. The results indicate that the church can improve its internal control system with regard to receipt of income and disbursement of funds. Establishing segregation of duties, recording of financial transactions and authorising the disbursement of funds can greatly improve internal controls. Though this is an exploratory study, it may provide the basis for further studies in examining the internal control practices in other religious organisations in Ghana.

The contribution of community leadership upon the performance of mutual health organisations in Ghana.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of social dynamics on the performance of mutual health organisations (MHOs) exploring the influence of community wealth and community leadership on policy implementation. Four operating district mutual health insurance schemes were selected using geographical locations, among other criteria, as case studies. Data were gathered through interviews and documentary review. The findings were analysed using community field and social capital theories. Traditional leaders like the Chiefs serve as the pivot around which social and human capital of the communities revolve in the developmental process of the country. Lack of exhaustive examination of the financial and institutional viability issues of the MHOs. Future studies could assess the interplay between financial, institutional and social viability models when measuring the financial and overall sustainability of MHOs. Health policy makers need to involve traditional leaders in the formulation and implementation of national policies since their acceptance or rejection of central government policy could have negative consequences. Ghana is a dynamic country and there is the need to utilise existing social networks: inter-family and inter-tribal relationships to ensure the viability of MHOs. There is and can be a successful interplay between public sector funding and community sector revenue mobilisation for financing the health sector in Ghana. This justifies the complementarity between government funding and community's resource mobilisation efforts in the health sector.

Health of the corporate worker: health risk assessment among staff of a corporate organization in Ghana.

IntroductionHealth promotion at the workplace and for workers is important to promote workers’ health, improve working environments and work practices. The goal of this analysis was to provide an example of health risk assessment conducted in a large media organization in Ghana for its workers and to identify correlates of health risks identified among different categories of workers.MethodsThis was a cross sectional study of the health risk of staff in a large corporate media organization in Accra, Ghana, conducted in 2012. In all 161 members of staff were screened and records included in the analysis. An abstraction form was used to collect data on age and sex of staff, staff category, self-reported health risk, history of chronic disease and self-rated health status. Measurements included weight, height, Body Mass Index, fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol/ HDL cholesterol and blood pressure. Data were entered into SPSS version 21, and analyzed by simple frequencies, proportions and ratios. Measured health indices were analyzed by mean ± standard deviation. Significant association between categorical outcome measures were determined with chi-square test at the 95 % confidence level.ResultsThe sex characteristics of the workers indicated more males than females, male: female sex ratio of 2.3: 1. Close to half of the workers 66 (41.0 %) self-reported history of chronic disease and 40 (24.8 %) self-rated their overall state of health as poor. In all, 31.7 % of workers self-reported hypertension, while measured blood pressure indicated 60.2 % prevalence of diastolic blood pressure. Prevalence of obesity was 63.8 %; 49.1 % of staff had above normal total cholesterol levels and 12.4 % had blood glucose indicative of diabetes. Senior and management staff had relatively higher prevalence of obesity, high blood pressure, above normal cholesterol and fasting blood sugar levels.ConclusionMore staff were unaware of their individual health risks and the health risks were higher among senior staff and management members. Adoption of regular health educational and health promotion activities as well as health surveillance procedures is essential to improve health of workers and promote positive social climate at the work place.

An Empirical Study on the Entrepreneurial Environment of College Students of Science and Technology Demand Based on Life Cycle

Increasing women’s participation in paid employment is a fundamental step towards women’s economic empowerment and national performance enhancement. The benefits of increasing women’s labour force participation extend well beyond improving the economic status of women themselves. For the past five decades, gender inequality in labour force participation has proven to negatively affect economic growth. Therefore, increasing women’s labour force participation is important not only to tackle persistent gender gaps but also to enhance economic growth and accelerate national progress on development goals. However, women generally face the challenge of combining maternal duties with work usually after childbirth. With an attempt to ease women of their enormous responsibilities after childbirth, a number of regulations, including the ILO conventions and the Ghanaian Labour laws provide women with maternity leave after childbirth. Despite this attempt, women still struggle to obtain work-family balance after childbirth. This paper therefore examines the prevalence of the maternity leave concept among selected organisations in Ghana and its implications on work-family balance of working mothers.

Quality of working life and commitment amongst employees in public organisations in Ghana: does job involvement matter?

This study tested a mediation model of job involvement to predict organisational commitment from quality of work life. A total of 137 workers employed in two public organisations participated in the study (males = 52.6%, females = 47.4%, junior staff = 67.9%, senior staff = 32.1%, age range 24 to 53 years). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was computed on the data to model the effects of job involvement on organisational commitment taking into account quality of work life. The results indicated job involvement partially mediated the relationship between quality of worklife and organisational commitment (β = 0.242, t(134) = 4.475, p = 0.05). Thus job involvement is important to employee commitment and should be targeted for intervention support in work organisations.

The Health of Farmer-Based Organisations in Ghana: Organisational Diagnostics and Governance Implications

In this paper we use primary data on 500 Ghanaian FBOs collected through semi-structured interviews and risky dictator games (RDG) to test the validity of the cooperative life cycle theory and formulate a measure of cooperative health. We first define cooperative health as the alignment of heterogeneity in risk preferences and the effectuation of collective investments. We then use cluster and correlation analysis to categorize FBOs on the basis of their health and correlate these typologies with various performance indicators. Our findings reveal that organizational health is generally low as there are only a few organizations that manage to provide member-farmers with both risk-sharing and cost-saving opportunities. Further, healthier FBOs experience stronger growth in membership while health is lower in FBOs that have been established for the purpose of benefitting from external incentives.

The Role of Culture in Knowledge Sharing in a Public-Sector Organization in Ghana: Revisiting Hofstede’s Model

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the role of culture in knowledge-sharing drawing on Hofstede’s culture framework. The case study research design was employed as the research design. Semistructured interview guide was used as the data gathering instrument. Data analysis was done using the thematic analysis technique. Under power distance, four themes were identified as being crucial in knowledge sharing in Afiya Kwabre District Assembly. These factors are decision-making involvement, power and status, delegation of responsibilities, and respect and fairness. In addition, three major themes emerged under uncertainty avoidance—broadening knowledge, job security, and group membership.

Organizations’ commitment to and communication of CSR activities: insights from Ghana

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine organizations’ commitment and communication of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a developing country’s context. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed an empirical quantitative approach by surveying 193 managers from multiple organizations in Ghana, and used independent sample t-test as well as descriptive statistics to examine the phenomenon. Findings – The study established that firms operating in Ghana know about CSR and are committed to it. But the level of understanding of the concept as evidenced by their practices is limited to philanthropic activities. The study further revealed that firms operating in Ghana communicate their CSR activities to stakeholders in many forms. Additionally, organizations employ equally varied channels in communicating their CSR initiatives. Practical implications – The study contributes the Ghanaian perspective of CSR to the Sub-Sahara African literature, and by that it enhances our present understanding of the commitment and communication channels of CSR activities by companies operating in Ghana. Originality/value – Empirical Literature on CSR communication in developing countries is limited. The paucity of academic enquiry on the issue has stimulated this research, based on the perceptions of managers of firms operating in Ghana about their principles of CSR, their way to disclose these activities and the kind of CSR activities done. Further research directions are also articulated.

Corporate governance in an emergent economy: a case of Ghana

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to examine corporate governance practices in an emerging economy. It focusses on how ownership control and board control systems operate in corporate organisations in an emergent economy, assuming that these systems are essential for enhancing good corporate governance practices in emerging countries.Design/methodology/approach– The paper builds on descriptive multiple-case study with multiple units of analysis to divulge how ownership control and board control systems function to ensuring effective corporate governance in publicly listed corporate organisations in Ghana. A criterion-based sampling technique is used to select the companies. Thereafter, three techniques of data collection are used to gather data from the companies: archival records, semi-structured interviews and observation.Findings– By linking the gathered data to the paper’s theoretical propositions, the study highlights that all the companies are characterised by the presence of large shareholders, and, in consequence, they tend to exert extensive control over the activities of the companies through their involvement in the decision-making processes. However, whilst the presence of large shareholders has the tendency to solve the agency problem, it poses challenges in regards to minority shareholders’ interests in these corporate organisations. The study also reveals that boards of directors tend to exercise control over corporate organisations when majority shareholders stop interfering in their dealings. This implies that when major shareholders fully partake in corporate decision-making processes of companies, boards of directors seem to be sheer advisory bodies to management.Research limitations/implications– This is a paper to shed light on corporate governance practices in four large publicly listed corporate organisations on the Ghana Stock Exchange, so the observable facts do not apply to other emergent economies. In addition, the sample does not represent all corporate organisations in Ghana; thus, the empirical observations cannot be generalised to other organisations that have not been included in this study. However, the empirical results can be applied to other similar corporations in Ghana and other emergent economies in an analytical sense. With the application of inductive reasoning, the results can be applied to provide important appreciation in an effort to understand the structure of corporate governance practices in organisations in developing countries.Practical implications– A comparative analysis of the empirical observations from this study and the recommended guidelines of corporate governance of Ghana has been carried out, and aspects in which organisations need to reform and improve to fully comply with the guidelines are highlighted: director independence, director evaluation, introduction of new directors and board education. This could possibly be the foundation upon which corporate governance structures in these organisations can be restructured and further enhanced.Originality/value– The majority of the studies of corporate governance in emergent economies have used quantitative techniques to examine the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance. However, this study takes a different approach to examine corporate governance practice in an emergent economy by using a comprehensive and defensible qualitative analysis to examine relations between ownership structure and shareholder control, and board of directors and board control. In addition, it highlights how ownership and board control systems interact in corporate organisations in emergent economies.

Perceived Favouritism and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: Insights from Ghanaian Organizations

The effects of subordinates’ perception of favouritism by their superiors and how it affects subordinates’ commitment and extra-role behaviours in their organisations were examined in this study. Analysis of empirical data from a survey of 296 employees in two organisations in Ghana revealed interesting insights into their work and extra-role values. It was found that although no significant difference in the amount of perceived supervisory support existed, perception of relational demography in particular ethnicity greatly shaped the exchanges between supervisors and their subordinate. The amount of perceived supervisory support was equally shaped by perception of relational demography. Since subordinates with more supervisory support were highly committed, there was an inverse relationship between perceived favouritism and their organisational commitment behaviours. Contrary to expectations, subordinates who perceived supervisor discrimination were unwilling to quit their organisations but rather continued to stay and offer extra-role behaviours. It is suggested that organisational output will increase tremendously if the negative perceptions are corrected.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Ghana's National Development

This article assesses the nature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities carried out by organizations in Ghana and how these activities tie into the government’s key focus areas of development. Documents relating to national development plans and the millennium development goals (MDGs) are reviewed and used as a baseline to assess the contributions of CSR activities to Ghana’s national development. The article uses a website analysis of companies’ CSR activities to assess the general practice of CSR in Ghana. Findings suggest that organizations in Ghana center their CSR initiatives mainly in line with the MDGs and aspects of earlier national development targets, rather than current national development goals put in place by Ghana’s governments, resulting in a neglect of significant development needs of the country. The researchers recommend that businesses strategically deploy their CSR activities to suit the peculiar developmental needs of the country.

Effective Employee Engagement and Best Brand Breeding: A Case Study

Corporate branding is a “strategic tool” that fortifies firms to stay competitive in ruggedly saturated global market as it is exploited for market share increase, high profitability and operational cost reduction via reduction in employee turnover ratio. Maximally, achieving this requires that the greatest and most available asset of the organization, employees, are in good shape, in that they would be the first and best brand ambassadors. Better put, employees must be committed, connected and engrossed with their employer at emotional, social and physical levels, hence their engagement. This paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of employee engagement strategies as a mechanism of breeding best corporate brand giving the practices of telecommunications organization in Ghana. The main research approach adopted was quantitative with 137 responses collected and analysed. In order to heighten the rigor and robustness of the findings, four additional interviews were conducted which qualifies the approach to best described as triangulation. Interestingly, the outcome of the findings revealed that the engagement practices in action at the company currently are yielding desired results which underpins why it was considered most valuable brand in the continent of Africa. Notwithstanding, the best could only remain best when there is persistent improvement.

Effective Employee Engagement and Organizational Success: A Case Study

Employee engagement as an “engine” in talent management drive draws its resilience from the effectiveness of various environmental factors from within and outside an organization. Strategic employee engagement initiatives support organizational branding and reputation among employees. This paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of employee engagement strategies implemented by a telecommunications organization in Ghana. Quantitative research approach was adopted with 137 completed responses. The findings reveal that the engagement strategies deployed by the organization has achieved level of satisfactory. However there are areas of improvement that can be established to integrate the talent management with overall organizational corporate strategies.

Rent-seeking and timber rights allocation in Ghana

SUMMARY This paper describes types, processes and importance of rent-seeking in the allocation of timber rights in Ghana. It is based on an analysis of 30 interviews with large-, medium- and small-scale timber firms, as well as government officials and timber industry organizations in Ghana. The paper documents that timber rights allocation is associated with both bureaucratic and political corruption. The latter comes in two forms. First, the findings suggest that well-established relationships exist between politicians and senior bureaucrats on the one side and large-scale timber firms on the other involving exchange of timber rights for political support and/or material, personal benefits. Second, timber rights are allocated to persons or firms outside the timber sector allegedly as payment for political support. The paper concludes that the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between Ghana and the EU is likely to reduce the observed practises in the future through increased transparency.