ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Exploring critical success factors for stakeholders’ management in engineering installation projects in Ghana.

Engineering project includes all components of manufacturing or processing plant design, whether fresh, modification or expansion works which involves planning, scheduling, implementation and controlling processes in each of the project phases. Proper management of these will lead to the project being completed. But because of incorrect stakeholder management, significant projects are not accomplished within timeline. Many critical factors were identified by the researcher to have direct or indirect impact on the project success as a result of improper management of stakeholders and these factors must be examined. This paper therefore aimed to identify critical success factors and their level of impact for managing stakeholders in engineering project installations. The researcher used a methodological quantitative method based on deductive reasoning to sample views of engineers in project management fields. Thirty four (34) critical success factors were recognized through the literature review process. Hundred and thirty (130) questionnaires were sent to project managers/managers, Directors, supervisors and technicians in the industry with these thirty four (34) critical success factors part of the questions sent; one hundred and seventeen (117) responses were fully retrieved from the respondent and analyzed. The top three ranked stakeholder management factors were "Identification of stakeholders, managing stakeholders with social responsibility, and development of suitable policies for stakeholder management. Base on the opinion of respondents analyzed, the Relative Importance Index values obtained, falls between 0.5449 and 0.9275 which implies that all the factors identified were very important to project success but have distinct impact level. From the findings, the researcher recommends that Project managers should carry out a stakeholder profiling in order for an efficient stakeholder management strategies to be drafted to ensure proper coordination of projects.

Source: KNUST
Exploring Labour Turnover and Employee Performance at UBA in Ashanti Region.

Organisations all over the world strive to keep their employees, especially the experienced and dedicated ones. This is because organisations believe in the normal saying that: the devil you know is better than the angel you do not know. This maxim suggests that employers will be better off working with their existing employees than new recruits. The study was conducted to explore the labour turnover situation in the Ashanti regional branches of United Bank for Africa (UBA). Specifically, the study examines the causes, effects, and challenges of labour turnover. Also, the study sought to ascertain the relationship between salary levels and employees intentions to quit the bank. .The two main sources of data used for the study were primary and secondary. The primary data refers to the data obtained from interviews and questionnaires that were administered to workers and management staff of the bank. The secondary sources of data were obtained through journals, textbooks and annual reports of the Bank. Convenience sampling was used to select respondents for the study. The result of the study indicated that poor compensation package, lack of respect for workers and lack of career development opportunities are the main causes of labour turnover in the bank. Also, the study established that high labour turnover in the bank has negative effects on the performance of employees. The study concluded by recommending efficient and effective measures which the UBA in particular and other banks in general can adopt in order to maintain their existing employees so that productivity could be sustained.

Source: KNUST
Exploring Immortality Through Natural Fibre

Art and man are totally inseparable. So far as there is a constant change in nature, man being part of it is destined to change. Art therefore cannot be static in relation to the style, material, techniques and all that makes a work of art. Sculptors, some years back were seriously dealing in materials for permanency like stone, wood, cement and metals Impermanent materials for sculpture are not a thing of the present time. However, in recent times, artists have moved into impermanent materials to create ephemeral art such as ice sculpture, explosives, gun powder, fruits and insects as it has become more fashionable. In this project, I produced soft sculptures using natural fibre materials with simple tools. The natural fibre material although not very strong was used to execute works that are permanent. That is using mortal to create immortal. Using non-conventional sculpting methods natural fibres such as coconut fibre, palm tree fibre, jute fibre and raffia have been used to produce sculptures which are titled ‘eternity’, ‘obaatanpa’, ‘still searching’, ‘anidaso wo ho’, ‘the living legend’, the ‘black stool’ and ‘ɔsɔreԑ’ in two and three dimensional form to investigate the concept of immortality.

Source: KNUST
Exploring Dynamic Systems Analysis to Support Risk Based Auditing of Quality Assurance Standards for Food Chains in Ghana

There is an increasing demand to ensure worldwide food safety due to the expanding global economy and international trading of foodstuffs. The most significant driving force for increased attention to food safety has been the continued surge in new food borne pathogens, chemical contaminants and different food borne accidents. The purpose of food safety audit is to verify that the food producer have developed, documented and implemented a food safety management system. This is because food quality management system increases the security and safety for employees and management of the company as well as the general well-being of a nation. The study population were some selected government and regulatory bodies and manufacturing companies. The population was taken from Accra and Tema Metropolis. The sample size for this study is 100 respondents purposively chosen from the selected organizations. The random sampling method and purposive sampling method were used in selecting the sample size for the study as well as the respondents respectively. The literature revealed that there are still challenges with the certification of many manufacturing companies because safety standards are not the same all over the world to facilitate working with food safety for producers and retailers, especially those that have a common foundation of requirements. Finally, based on the findings and conclusion of the study, it came out clearly that current food safety standards designed on checklist does not give party assurance. The grey areas revealed in a risk based audit exposed serious lapses in the current pre-requisites issued out by regulatory bodies in Ghana. The researcher recommends the following interventions; (keywords). These are; companies should partner themselves to obtain local regulatory bodies should team up with international certification bodies and review existing blue prints on Ghana food safety.

Source: KNUST
Exploring Immotality through Natural Fibre

Art and man are totally in separable. So far as there is a constant change in nature, man being part of it is destined to change. Art therefore cannot be static in relation to the style, material, techniques and all that makes a work of art. Sculptors, some years back were seriously dealing in materials for permanency like stone, wood, cement, metals and some others. Artists have moved into impermanent materials to create ephemeral art such as ice sculpture, explosives, gun powder, fruits, insects and many more. In this project, I produced soft sculptures using natural fibre materials with simple tools. Using non-conventional sculpting methods natural fibres such as coconut fiber, palm tree fiber, jute fiber and raffia have been used to produce sculptures which are titled ‘eternity’, ‘obaatanpa’, ‘still searching’, ‘anidaso wo ho’, ‘the living legend’, and the ‘black stool’ in two and three dimensional form to investigate the concept of immortality.

Source: KNUST
Exploring livelihood options among women: the case of employees of small-scale palm oil producers in the kwaebibirem district, Ghana

The study explores livelihood options among women: The case of employees of small-scale palm oil producers. The main objective was to identify alternative sources of livelihoods and coping strategies, socio-economic status of women employees of small-scale palm oil processors in the Kwaebibirem District. Livelihood options in this paper refer to the ‘different ways’ in which women employees of palm oil processors meet their daily needs. Census was used to interview 290 women employees. Random sampling of 10 communities and 25 palm oil processing enterprises were picked to represent the District. The data analysis was done by employing Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20) as a tool in order to make meaning out of the data. Based on the study, the following findings were made; Women employees (84%) of palm oil producers have no employable skills and want skill training. These women employees have five main sources of livelihood. Palm oil processing, Farming and Petty trading form a coping strategy for the women employees of palm oil producers in the District. All women employees are casual workers, 5% belongs to Community Based Organizations and Farmer Based Organizations. Ghana Oil Palm Development Company affected households of the respondents constitute 6%. The incomes of 78% of the women employees fall below the minimum wage of Ghana for 2015 which ensures that their minimum standard of living as workers is met. Finally, the study revealed that women dominance in the palm oil processing industry is due to the fact that processing is traditionally meant for women. The study recommends that; The District Assembly as a matter of urgency strengthen the LESDEP programme in training school dropout, unskilled people, including women employees (84.3%) of palm oil producers without employable skills which pose a poverty threat and other social problems in the future. The District Assemblies could do this through collaboration with local NGOs interested in skill development. The collaboration between the District Assemblies and the NGOs may take the form of sharing both human and material resources through public- private partnership.

Source: KNUST
Exploring leadership qualities of project managers for successful project execution

Strategic means of achieving organizational goals is to undertake projects and organizations spend huge sums of money to execute projects. However, recent studies show that most projects fail or are abandoned despite advances in knowledge in project management. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring leadership qualities of project managers for successful project execution. The research had three (3) objectives; to identify key leadership qualities of project managers, to identify key factors for successful project execution and to establish the relationship between leadership qualities and factors for successful project execution. Extensive literature review was conducted based on each objective and variables were identified. The study adopted a quantitative research method and thus, a structured questionnaire was developed and distributed to project managers whiles sixty (60) responses were retrieved for the analysis. The data were analyzed using mean score ranking and regression analysis. With the success criteria, the highest ranked success criterion was schedule success factor, followed by quality success factor, health and safety success factor and cost success factor. With the leadership qualities, the highest ranked leadership quality was managerial qualities dimension. With the relationship between leadership qualities and project success, schedule success factor, relationship with stakeholders and health and safety success factor has significant positive relationship with leadership qualities. Based on the findings, it was recommended that, project managers must enhance their leadership qualities to improve on the success factors realized on projects. Also, project managers must also enhance their managerial leadership qualities in terms of managing resources, efficient communication and achieving objectives as a way of improving on leadership abilities

Source: KNUST
Exploring Mordants for Improved Fastness Of Plant Dyes for Application on Local Vegetable Tanned Leather

Natural dyes which were pushed for long in about six decades by synthetic dyes are gradually emerging to the interest of consumers. This as a result of the possible risk associated with the use of synthetic dyes on the environment. The manufacture of these dyes are energy intensive with adverse impact on environment adding to its greater pollution because of the petro-chemicals in its production. Against this background, that the researcher has delved into the exploration and use of different mordants on plant based dyes to test their affinity on natural leather. Different mordants in the group of metallic, tannins and oil were experimented for the purpose of the research. Plant based dyes namely, Sorghum bicolor leaves and Hibiscus sabdarifa flowers were tested together with identified mordants. The experimental processes were recorded critically and the results were observed and recorded as well. Interviews were also conducted with the sampled population as a means of ascertaining the experimental results obtained. According to the findings secured, it was noticed that plant dyes available locally require mordants to ensure fastness to light and washing, especially if applied on leather. However, not all mordants available on the local market work well with any plant dyes. Mordants used with plant dyes need to be applied in the right quantities to achieve the required efficacy. From all the mordants explored, three main ones worked very well in this study: salt, carbide, lime juice. It was recommended that locally available plant dyes when given the needed attention can serve as a breakthrough for obtaining variety of dye colours to enhance the aesthetics appeal of leathers tanned locally. Dye chemists and leather technicians therefore need to join forces to advance deeper research to harness the potentials of local plant dyes to expand socio-economic benefits.

Source: KNUST
Exploring methods of teaching strength of materials to improve students understanding at Ho Polytechnic

The main objective of this research was to identify and apply teaching methods that can improve students’ understanding of Strength of Materials at Ho Polytechnic. The specific objective was to create practical situations that will enable students to relate the concepts they have learnt to what pertains in practice. This study emphasizes the use of practical demonstrations, and field visits as the main components of a teaching strategy to improve the study of Strength of Materials at Ho Polytechnic. This study shows that the use of lectures, practical lessons, demonstrations, and field visits combined has resulted in considerable improvement in teaching, learning, and understanding of Strength of Materials at Ho Polytechnic This suggests that the method can apply to Building Technology courses in which students have to understand concepts that must be applied to practical situations. This study found that large class sizes have adversely affected students’ understanding in that continuous assessment has been inadequate and ineffective because of the volume of work involved for lecturers. The study has also found that lack of background knowledge in Mathematics is a factor impeding understanding.

Source: KNUST
Exploring mortgage financing in the housing sector of Ghana.

The study explored the mortgage financing in the housing sector of Ghana. With the current effort at social and economic development by Third World countries, a study like this is significant, as it is capable of contributing to the present knowledge in the area of mortgage financing. The populations for this study were made up of workers from formal sectors who qualified to access mortgage loan and mortgage providers. Primary data source was employed. It was found that mortgage financing largely depends on social and financial factors. These two factors have positive correlation with the mortgage performance with the formal explained most of the variations in mortgage performance. Some of the mortgage options identified were residential property for personal use or rental and mortgage for buy, build and own a home. The study also identified high interest rate, high inflation rate and low income levels of workers as some of the challenges facing the industry.

Source: KNUST
Exploring natural latex for mould making in teaching sculpture

Mould making is important for duplication of designs and therefore play a critical role in sculpture. However, the use of many new and advanced technologies and conventional materials during practical sessions in teaching mould making increases the cost burden on students. Also, the conventional materials contain chemicals that are not environmentally friendly. The objective of this project is to identify and explore natural latex of plants for mould making. Plants with natural latex were identified by making trips to Bobiri forest, KNUST plantation, and forest reserves in the Volta region. Barks of plant species that produce latex were cut with cutlass to bleed. The sticky milky emulsions that bled were collected into plastic containers used for mould making. Alstonia Boonei (Apocynaceae), Funtumia Elastica (Apocynaceae) and Landophia Hirsupa (Moraceae) are among the important ones identified to produce large quantities of latex for mould making. This research employed qualitative approach of which pre-experiments and action research methods were used, focus group interview, personal observation of how latexes were used for mould making. Latex from plants were explored with cassava starch serving as a binder. The moulds felt like plastic and malleable, the details in the moulds came out well but became very soft during the cleaning and when dried again, became very hard. The preliminary results of the research show that the latex identified and explored, Funtum, Gyaman and Nyamedua were successful. Trees which have latex in them are getting extinct, a typical example being the tree Hukpui identified in the Volta Region must be conserved. The Para rubber plantation, identified in KNUST which has been abandoned, the latex must be harvested and processed or used by art students for their project works.

Source: KNUST
Exploring procurement risk management strategies in the health sector (case study, Ashanti Region)

Contemporary procurement management practices are characterized by late delivery, exceeded budgets, shocks in supplier, price risk, reduced functionality, corruption and questionable quality. On this basis, the study aimed to develop procurement risk strategies in the health sector procurement lifecycle. The study employed questionnaire as a means of soliciting for information from 20 experts in health sector procurement in Ghana. The respondents were selected from five randomly selected public hospitals in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The study sought to identify the various forms of risk and procurement risk management practices in the health sector, and propose appropriate procurement risk management strategies for the health sector procurement lifecycle. The study revealed that the four major procurement risks in the procurement process of the public hospitals in the Ashanti Region part of Ghana are (1) market risk, (2) supply risk, (3) fraud risk and (4) compliance risk. The most focused and managed of the procurement risks in the hospitals are fraud risk, compliance, supply risk and market risk. The major procurement management practices of the hospitals in the Ashanti Region include identification of issues and setting the context, assessing key risk areas, rank risks, set desired results, develop options, select a strategy, implement the strategy, and monitor and evaluate procurement performance. The identified procurement risk management strategies in the various hospitals in the Ashanti region include collaboration with suppliers, increased supplier performance/increased collaboration, performance contracts with suppliers, supplier audit, performance and risk controlling, supplier rating, insurance, commodity hedging by using derivate, and vertical integration. On the basis of these findings, recommendations such as the need for risk transparency, designing appropriate procurement structure, the adoption of performance based procurement strategy, hedging of procurement, adoption of dialogue process as a measure to reduce market risk, and the adoption of strategies to expand the market base

Source: KNUST
Exploring Procurement Risk Associated With Contract Closeout: Procurement Entities Perspective

This study was conducted to explore Procurement Risk associated with Contract Closeout in a case study of Metropolitan Assemblies in Tema and Accra, and selected public institutions (AESL and PWD) in the Greater Accra Region. The objectives of the study were to identify the current procedural requirements for contract closeout, to identify procurement risks associated with contract closeout and to establish strategies for effective contract close out. The study took a quantitative and explorative approach, a structured questionnaire survey was administered to officials of the state institutions involved (i.e. AMA, TMA, AESL and PWD) who have insight into procurement or make relevant procurement decisions in their various departments. Data collected was further analyzed using descriptive statistic (Pie chart) Mean and Median. The study revealed that making of final account completion and excess payments or deductions, Completing Contractors audit and ensuring Contractors closing statement is complete were touted as the most important steps in the procedural requirements of contract closeout in the construction industry. Secondly excess budget due to delay in contract closeout, delays in identification and resolution of potential areas of conflict and delays in identification and collection of overpayment to contractors were seen among others to be the major risk elements in untimely contract closeout. Finally, payment of interest penalties when payments are made late, prioritization of contract closeout and identification of possible closeout delays for redress before time majored as some of the strategies for effective contract closeout. A number of recommendations were made to the assemblies and public institutions including: the need for risk treatment actions, creation of awareness about inherent risk in the procurement process, rewarding employees for closeout completion, proper management information systems to monitor the contract closeout process, employment of quick closeout procedures to reduce backlog of unscheduled audits, partnering to reduce disputes in contract closeout, proper monitoring of the procurement process and the need for final payments and invoices amongst others.

Source: KNUST