Factors Influencing Cyberloafing Behaviour among Employees.
The research was mainly to investigate on factors influencing cyberloafing behavior. Basically, the researchers identified the factors influencing cyberloafing within some Ghanaians organizations and critically analyse the impacts of cyberloafing behavior on both employee performance and organization. The researcher examined the determining factors and consequences of cyberloafing behavior, identified the factors at the origin of cyberloafing and then investigated on the controlling measures as a toll for management to eradicate to the phenomenon. The factors that can justify cyberloafing behavior vary from one place to the other. The main factors influencing cyberloafing were found as individual factors, organizational factors, and situational factors. Among the multitude of individual attitudes and behaviors in the workplace, personality traits seem to be the focusing area of many scholars to explain the behavior and might be used in this research as well. The examination of individuals’ prexisting tendencies can provide the proof that the internet is misused. The research was based on one main source of data, quantitative research approach, thus, primary and secondary sources of data collection were used to help identify the result of the study. The primary data sources include collection of data from certain organization in Ghana. Data collection was through the use of questionnaires. Secondary data were obtained through supportive material and research works from text book, articles, report and other electronic sources as well as those from the University library and international journals available online which were a great support for this study. The data analysis were done through one sample t-test to assess cyberloafing prevalence and employee performance, while path coefficient analyses were used to assess factors influencing cyberloafing and its impacts on employee performance. The result revealed that there is a relationship between cyberloafing and employee performance. Further studies also demonstrated that cyberloafing was having a great impact both on employee performance and organization.
Assessing the Environmental Impacts due to oil spillage resulting from Oil and Gas products Transportation: A case study of Chase Petroleum g Ghana Limited
Oil spillage is a global worry which is associated with any oil and gas activities mainly during oil and gas products transportations. It is undoubtedly the most responsible for marine and terrestrial organisms acute killing causing biodiversity loss and desertification, human health threatening by several ways which can lead to mortality, loss of job increasing poverty and starvation and displacement; in short it is human’s nightmare. These can no longer continue otherwise the earth will be rendered unlivable for all living things and announced the end for human. In this research, the researcher used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to collect data. Its primary data were gathered from Chase Petroleum Ghana Limited which is one of the largest Ghanaian bulk distribution oil companies while its secondary data were collected from peer reviews, journal and internet. The findings showed that on all environmental issues exposed a mean of 29 respondents representing (71.7%) had admitted oil spillage to have extreme concern in all cases, a mean of six 6 accounting (14.4%) expressed that oil spillage played moderate concern in all cases, and a mean of five 5 weighting (13.9%) attributed that oil spillage produced low concern in all cases. For mitigating such impacts and avoiding similar fail in Ghana mining sector, the research findings demonstrated that the implementation and enforcement of health, safety and environment (HSE) practices have been effective in Chase Petroleum Ghana Limited, but these practices alone are not able to ensure safety during oil and gas products transportation. Therefore, finding showed that they had to be complemented by the following strategies for an effective regulation in order laws enforcement, binding national environmental laws concerning oil and gas transportation to international environmental laws, establishment of national legislations addressing only oil and gas industry, and implementation of Environmental Management System (EMS).
The Effectiveness of Health and Safety on Employees Performance: A Case Study of Ghana Oil Company
On 3rd June 2015, the Ghana Oil Limited (GOIL) fuel filling station at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, near the Ghana Commercial Bank Towers in Accra was destroyed by fire during heavy flooding in the capital. The fire gutted the entire station including all the employees who worked at the station. Though one could have attributed the sad incident to the rains, there are frequently asked questions about the health and safety of the employees, whether the company adhere to occupational health and safety principles for their employees, as well as whether there are welfare supports services for the employees amongst others. With respects to accidents, the oil industry appears to disregard that fact that they happened. These studies examined examine the effectiveness of health and safety on employees within the oil and gas industry, considering the case of GOIL. Survey design was used in this study and adopted the quantitative research approach. Forty (40) questionnaires were distributed to respondents selected for the study through convenience sampling technique. The researcher used structured questionnaires to collect data. Microsoft Excel was used in analyzing the data collected. It was found out that using protective clothing, prompt reporting of accidents/injuries and re-training on safety and health practices were the level of awareness of health and safety programmes in the organization. In addition to this, employees were required to put on protective clothing in the performance of their duties. It was recommended that management effort in providing safe work environment through maintenance of effective health and safety system, goes a long way in satisfying worker’s safety needs, and capable of motivating them. Effective workplace health and safety practices can help to save the lives of workers by reducing hazards and their consequences.
Examining the Decision-Making Approaches and Challenges Affecting Ghana’s Railway Sector
The rail system in Ghana has received increased attention since patronage from both passengers and freight traffic plummeted as a result of lack of infrastructural development in rail tracks, station buildings, bridges, culverts, locomotives, passenger coaches, and mineral wagons. The purpose of the study is to assess the decision-making framework in Ghana’s rail sector and how it can further be strengthened to address the challenges in the rail system and thereby promote national development. The study employed mixed methods of descriptive quantitative method and a qualitative method to address the specific objectives of the study. The specific objectives of the study were to assess the existing decision-making framework and its effectiveness on capital investment for the railway sector in Ghana; to examine the implications of decision-making policies on the performance of Ghana’s railway sector; to identify the challenges affecting decision-making framework of Ghana’s railway sector; and to examine the role of information in the decision-making framework of Ghana’s railway sector. The study showed that the decision-making framework of the Ghana Railway Company Limited has adverse implication including inefficiencies and poor service delivery on the performance of the railway sector. It also came to light that the existing decision-making framework of GRCL does not promote capital investment due to the low level of commitment towards the expansion of infrastructure and an uneven allocation of funds in the railway sector. Moreover, the major challenge of the railway sector was noted as pecuniary while embezzlement and a virtually non-existent maintenance culture posed an everyday threat to Ghana’s railway sector. Lastly, the study established the vital role information play in the decision-making approaches of the railway sector in the developing world. It is recommended that adequate capital investment must be injected into the railway sector through the arrangement of public-private partnerships.
A Study of Supply Chain Management Practices of Selected Beverage Manufacturing Firms in Ghana.
Assessing the Effect of Internal Control Systems on Financial Performance of Rural Banks in Brong Ahafo Region in Ghana
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Business Administration.
For banks to be effective and efficient there is the need to put measures in place to strengthen the internal controls to avoid misappropriation of financial resources and also to protect the assets of the organization. The main purpose of the study is to assess the impact of the internal control systems on financial performance of rural banks in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. The study utilized the COSO framework as variables to model a conceptual framework for the study. From the conceptual and theoretical framework, six hypotheses were stated and tested using structural equation model. Quantitative research methods with exploratory and descriptive designs were used in this study. Data were collected from all the 22 rural banks in the Brong Ahafo region. The underlying paradigm for the study is pragmatism that facilitated the utilization of suitable methodologies to answer the research questions. There were 257 structured questionnaires that were distributed out of which 211 were returned and 202 valid questionnaires were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study indicate that the relationships between the variables stated were not significant in their ability to ensure financial performance of rural banks. This clearly suggests that control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, monitoring procedures in Ghana have lost touch with the activities on the controls. This means that most rural banks fail to perform due to the lack of attention given to its supervision. Finally, the study recommends that banks must put pragmatic measures in place to make sure the internal controls are strengthened within rural banks.
Investigating the Interrelationships among Financial Development, Strategy Efficiency and Economic Growth: Evidence from Ghana and Nigeria.
This thesis sought to identify strategies employed by the banking sectors in Ghana and Nigeria, establishes finance-growth relationship if any and finance-strategy-growth interrelationships. Ghana and Nigeria were selected because the two countries have the largest Economies in West Africa and undergone extensive financial sector reforms since mid-1980s. The research philosophy and approach employed in this study were positivism and quantitative methods. The annualised data used were from World Bank, Bank of Ghana, and Central Bank of Nigeria, and from all deposit money banks (DMBs) in the two countries from 1985 to 2015 for effective assessment. Porters Fives Forces of Competition Model, SWOT Analysis and Miles and Snow Strategy Typology (MSST) were used to identify different strategies. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model estimated strategy efficiency and econometric techniques such as Johansen Cointegration, Vector Error Correction model, Vector Autoregression Model and Granger Causality Test were employed to establish finance, growth and strategy interrelationships. The banking strategy of each DMB is largely determined by the strategic focus of the individual bank and in part by the monetary authorities. Retail banking is a major segment but vulnerable. Six major strategic themes were identified. The results obtained suggest that strategies employed by Ghanaian banking system are technically more efficient compared to their counterparts from Nigeria. Aggression does not lead to efficiency. In the short run, there was no causal relationship between the market-based financial system and economic growth in both countries. Ghana’s bank-based financial system has no causal link with economic growth. Financial development in Ghana causes economic growth in the short-run and long run while in Nigeria there exist bidirectional causal relationships with economic growth. In the Finance-Strategy-Growth interrelationships, it was established that these variables have some common linkages in both Ghana and Nigeria. DMBs and regulators must address the regulatory compliance, capital management, technology infrastructure and cybersecurity. Ring-fenced retail banking segment for protection from all risks. Push the DMBs from pursing short-term gains compared with long-term gains that contribute to sustainable economic growth. This study contributed to finance-growth literature, opened a discussion on finance-strategy-growth interrelationships, developed strategy and strategy efficiency models.
Optimizing the Berthing Space to Reduce Clearance Time during Importation, A Case of Tema Port - GHANA
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Business Administration
Due to the delays in the clearance time during importation, both maritime industry and academia are seeking for alternative strategies to address these concerns. This is because the port remains the heartbeat of every economy. The reduction of the time in handling vessels and cargoes can be achieved, if effective measures are put in place to reduce the cycle time of operational and documentary activities during importation. The study is motivated by the port expansion project at the Port of Tema which promises to triple the capacity of the port. The dissertation seeks to develop a stylized optimization model using Knapsack to maximize the number of vessels served at the port of Tema, develop and test a simulation model to simulate the current state of vessel operations in order to identify challenges at port of Tema and conduct scenario analysis simulation in order to maximize the number of vessels served to minimize the clearance time during importation. To achieve the objectives of the study, a stylized knapsack and simulation models are developed to optimize the utilization of berthing space while considering resource allocation, berth length, and other operational constraints. To test the effectiveness of the models, a 12 months’ vessel statistics is utilized to run the optimization and simulation models. The simulation model is utilized to further test effectiveness of the model through scenario analysis simulation. The Knapsack model reports of high utilization of 87% of berthing space. The simulation results, on the other hand, records a high berth occupancy rate. However, the number of vessels handled within the time horizon was averagely low with a corresponding high vessel service time (turnaround time). Furthermore, the scenario analysis simulation showed a comparatively high occupancy rate, a low vessel service time and a high berth space utilization.
Recapitalisation and Bank Performance Indices: Evidence from Ghana Using the Slems Framework.
Regulators and monetary institutions over the period have used various recapitalisation reforms to promote stability within the banking fraternity. The fallout of the global financial crisis in 2007 has confirmed the inadequacy of these reforms and same has led to many reforms within the banking space particularly on the matter of bank recapitalisation. Recapitalisation entails increasing the capital stock of an organisation either in equity or debt components in order to achieve a desired capital structure, - optimum capital structure. In the context of banking, recapitalisation is a regulatory tool that results in a bank securing a long term capital stock by altering its capital structure substantially through the use of equity funding. This regulatory tool is aimed at providing additional cash cover to support a bank’s operations in a given economy. Prior to the year 2008, the Bank of Ghana had caused banks to increase their capital levels in smaller lots to achieve some desired levels. The Bank of Ghana in February 14, 2008, the Bank of Ghana directed banks in Ghana; Foreign Controlled Banks (FCBs) and Domestic Controlled Banks (DCBs) to shore up their capital levels to attain a minimum recapitalisation threshold of GH¢60 million (equivalent to USD 30 million) by December 2009 and December 2012 respectively. Subsequent to the 2012 recapitalisation deadline, there have since been two other directives on bank recapitalisation by the Bank of Ghana with the recent one being the new recapitalised amount of GH¢400 million (equivalent to USD $85 million) to be attained by all banks come 31st December 2018. The 2008 recapitalisation policy was the major recapitalisation reform the Ghanaian banking industry had experienced at the time and same gave the researcher the pleasure to measure the impact of such an exercise on bank performances and whether or not the recapitalisation exercise has achieved its desired outcomes, recapitalisation motives. The 2008 recapitalisation reform was also to enable banks undertake big ticket transactions in the economy, be able to absorb losses and also to improve the overall performance of these banks. The study therefore discusses the subject matter of recapitalisation and how its regulation has affected bank performances in Ghana over the period. The study provides empirical evidence on how additional bank capital introduced in a bank’s capital structure impacts bank performances – through testing of relationships and establishing causality among variables. Performances of banks were measured using the SLEMS framework; solvency, liquidity, earnings, management and sensitivity ratios to market risk via banks system and controls. The study adopted a quantitative research approach and largely used secondary data for a ten year period spanning 2006 -2015. Purposive sampling method was used to sample 20 banks comprising of Nine (9) FCBs and Eleven (11) DCBs. The model specification was developed along the production function theory where output (dependent variables) is deemed a function of inputs (independent variables). This model was further developed using multiple regression equation to include all other variables for purposes of predicting output. The research findings from the study show that it is easier and faster for FCBs to recapitalise than when it comes to DCBs. The research findings also suggest that FCBs do better than DCBs in the short run. The findings however suggest that DCBs recorded higher recapitalisation levels than FCBs thereby improving the positions of DCBs in the long run. The study revealed that there was a positive relationship between recapitalisation and all other independent variables. There were mixed results and outcomes with respect to how dependent variables impacted dependent variables. These mixed results form the basis of future research to interrogate further why a particular approach to achieving regulators recapitalisation directive have been used over the years, and whether or not another type of recapitalisation reform could be used going forward. The research outcome is aimed at helping stakeholders particularly regulators within the financial system; pensions, securities and insurance industries to better appreciate the effects of the recapitalisation in their respective industries and the Ghanaian financial system as a whole.
Assessing the Determinants of Public-Private Partnership Investment Decision Making: A Case Study of the Energy Sector in Ghana.
This study is intended to unravel the determinants of PPP investment decisions in the energy sector to help potential investors and also fill in the knowledge gap. To address the problem, the study adopted mixed method research to analyse the determinants of PPP investment decision to invest in the energy sector of Ghana. The study iidentified five factors that determined the PPP investment decision to invest in the energy sector of Ghana. These are investment opportunities; financial information /government policies; macroeconomic factors; investment promotion agencies and risk. The study found out that PPP investment decision in the energy sector of Ghana was mainly influenced by financial information/government policies which were as a result of the energy crisis experienced between the periods of 2012 to 2015. The study explained that the fact that Ghana had to wait till they got into a severe energy crisis before acting made the country signed on to contracts that did not favour the country. Again the appropriate procedures were not followed to secure the investment. The macroeconomic factors such as inflation and interest rate were significant for explaining the PPP investment decision to invest in the energy sector of Ghana. The researcher recommends that strong policies and clear guideline to signing on contracts that give the country value for money should be explored. Also an efficient public institutions and potential demand for power should be encourage PPP initiative for investment in the energy sector of Ghana.