ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Investigating Customer Retention in Mining Industries: (Case Studies of Mill Liners Suppliers in Ghana)

The aim of every profit making organisation is to remain competitive and improve its market share. Traditionally, firms have achieved this goal by focusing their attention on marketing strategies that attract new customers and increase their market share. However, due to globalization, most industries and markets are becoming more and more competitive forcing significant changes in the way firms do business. In order to retain customers in industries characterized by high competition, firms need to meet each individual customer’s needs and expectations. Against this backdrop, the study sought to examine customer retention in the mill industry of Ghana. A total questionnaire of 186 were administered (consisting of 116 Customers and 70 Suppliers). Descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies, mean and standard deviation were used to describe the responses obtained. The study found that the main strategies being used by mill liner suppliers to retain their customers include the implementation of flexible pricing and payment, value creation and offering differentiated products/services to stay above the competition. It was also found that the main factors influencing customer retention in the mill lining industry is price, consistency in quality of products offered and quality service delivery. It was found that customers generally perceive the products and services offered by these mill liner suppliers as satisfactory and are willing to remain with their current suppliers. The study recommends that, since competition in the industry is keen, mill liner suppliers must offer differentiated products and services to enable them retain and attract new customers.

Source: KNUST
Investigating customer attitude towards Automated Teller Machine; (a case study at GCB Bank Limited)

ATMs serve the primary purpose of allowing people to withdraw money from their bank accounts from virtually anywhere in the world. The machines work by reading the magnetic strip of an ATM or debit card. This study seeks to examine customers’ attitude towards ATM services at Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) Limited. The study was quantitative in nature and adopted descriptive and explanatory research approach. The population for the study consisted of all customers of GCB in Ashanti region of Ghana. Using convenience sampling technique, 30 customers each were selected from the five branches used for the purpose of this study (Bekwai, Bantama, KNUST, Suame and Adum). Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data and analysis was done using frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation, one sample t-test, and binary logistic regression. The study revealed that four demographic variables of customers significantly affected the use of ATMs at GCB. These were gender, education, occupation, and level of income. The type of account operated (be it savings or current), did not significantly influence the usage of ATM services. The study indicated that, the majority of the customers had GCB’s ATM card. And they mostly used either once or twice a month. The customers of GCB were satisfied with the existing ATM locations, speed of response, convenience of service, 24/7 service accessibility, the process of money withdrawn under ATM scheme, and the easy of login. The major challenges faced by customers when using GCB’s ATM were, unreliable network system, machine out of order, valid limit on amount of cash withdrawn, wrong debits, reduction in balance without cash payment, card gets blocked or locked up, and machine out of cash. The study found out that males were more likely to use ATM services more than females. The researcher recommends that, for banks to fully realize the potential benefits of customers using its ATM facilities, it must have special promotional packages to attract females unto the ATM service.

Source: KNUST
Investigating employee retention strategies in a non-unionized environment: A case study of Anglogold Ashanti Obuasi

The research was conducted to investigate employee retention strategies in a non-unionized environment at AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi (AGA). The study sought to establish the effectiveness of these strategies in terms of employee turnover and performance. In all 150 self-administered questionnaires were sent out to employees in non-unionized departments like the industrial relations department, all secretaries, management and outsourced companies that the company has engaged their services. Interviews were also used in the data collection process. The data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS). The study revealed that retention of employees is not only based on financial rewards but also on recognition, feedback mechanism and work life balance. Other findings include: turnover rates, which has significantly reduced as a result of strategies being used. Feedback was also a major strategy used in employee retention and this has led to high levels of morale among employees in the study area. On a similar score, most employees believed retention strategies had significant effect on the cost of recruitment and significant effect on level of wastage. On the basis of these findings, it is recommended that management should include other strategies in the form of training and development, high performance work system like job security for employees, high involvement decision making strategy, and high commitment strategy. Lastly, staff retention is a shared responsibility of employees and managers and both must be involved in the development and implementation of retention strategies.

Source: KNUST
Investigating factors that influence individual’s demand for loans in Ghana: a case of Kwahu West Municipality

Following the liberalization of the financial sector in Ghana, individual’s demand for loan has increased. However, banks are reporting high rate of loan defaults and nonperforming loans (NPLs). Much is not known regarding the factors influencing individual’s demand for loans in Ghana. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence individual’s loan demand in Ghana. A sample of 600 individuals was selected from Kwahu West Municipality using simple random sampling technique. Logistic regression model was applied to the data. The study showed that age, education level, employment status, marital status, individual wealth, health status, remittance, income, savings and financial literacy are the major demographic and socio-economic factors that influence individual’s loan demand. Again, the study revealed that 54.5% of the 400 individuals who indicated that they have ever demanded loan are between the ages of 18-39 years. Majority of these individuals might be furthering their education and might also not be well established to repay loans demanded. It is therefore recommended that, banks should conduct a thorough check on the individuals who demand loans and those with no properties to ascertain their credit history to ensure loan repayment. Banks should also identify and adopt a type of loans that will be suitable for less wealthy and low income individuals.

Source: KNUST
Investigating into Earnings Management and the Performance of Selected Listed Firms in Ghana

Earnings management is crucial for the growth and survival of a firm. Most firms indulge in earnings management in order to report a certain target earnings, but the practices of earnings management has led to the collapse of lot of firms such as Royal A-hold, Worldcom in the U.S.A and lot more across the world. The extent of earnings management among listed firms in Ghana was still not well studied and therefore there was the need for a detailed research on earnings management. This thesis investigated the existence of earnings management among some selected listed firms in Ghana and their performances from the period of 2008 to 2013. Discretionary accruals which were used as a measure for earnings management were derived from the modified Jones model and return on assets (ROA) were also used as firm performance indicator. The thesis also determined the impact of earnings management on performance. The results showed that firms in Ghana indulged in earnings management. Also the results indicated that earnings management had a negative impact on performance. The study recommends that prospective investors must analyse financial statements of firms critically in order to avoid throwing their monies into firms that suffer from going concern problems. Also the study proposes that corporate governance practices and regulations should be wholly enforced in firms in order to protect the interest of shareholders

Source: KNUST
Investigating foreign direct investment and economic growth nexus in Ghana.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Economic growth nexus continues to be a major concern to economists and policy makers. This is particularly due to the mixed trends of GDP and FDI flows experienced over the years in Ghana. In the bid to attract foreign capital inflows and investments, Ghana democratize and also reformed its economy under the Bretton woods institutions economic reform programs. This study aims to wade into the controversies surrounding the FDI and Economic growth nexus and ascertain the true impact of FDI inflows on economic growth in Ghana in the Fourth Republic. The choice of the post democratic era is to examine whether the introduction of democratic reforms towards enhancing economic growth and attracting more FDI have yielded the results so desired, as literature reveal that the theoretical and empirical impact of democracy on FDI is unclear. The study employed the ARDL-ECM approach and Granger causality test to empirically investigate the nexus and directional relationship between FDI and economic growth in Ghana’s post democratic era (1992 – 2017), using annual time series data sourced from WDI and IMF categorized under Global Database’s Ghana.The study established through the bounds test using the ARDL approach that there is a long run relationship between FDI and economic growth. Specifically, the study estimated the long run coefficients of the determinants of economic growth and found that FDI, government expenditure and return on investment are the significant drivers of economic growth in the long run much like in the short run whiles inflation and Trade do not have any significant relationship with economic growth in the Fourth Republic. The study further found out that there is a unidirectional Granger causality between FDI and economic growth. In other words, FDI Granger causes economic growth and there is no feedback relation from economic growth towards FDI. The study concludes that to maintain sustainable economic growth, policy reforms that seek to attract more FDI and stimulate growth should be encouraged by government through GIPC. In addition, government should channel its resources into productive projects that support growth.

Source: KNUST
Investigating Gold Mineralization Potentials in part of the Kibi-Winneba Belt of Ghana Using Airborne Magnetic and Radiometric Data

Gold is an important resource located within the subsurface, and its mineralization is controlled by geology, structures and hydrothermal alteration within rock formations. The search for gold is therefore the search for structures within hydrothermally altered zones in the subsurface. For this reason two geophysical surveys namely airborne magnetic and radiometric, proven to be excellent in mapping structures, geology and hydrothermally altered zones were employed in the Birimian formation in the Eastern region of Ghana. The airborne magnetic and radiometric data obtained were processed into grids with Geosoft. Data enhancement filters such as reduction to the pole, vertical integral, analytical signal, first and second vertical derivatives and continuation filters were applied to the total magnetic intensity grid to enhance anomalies. The radiometric data were also gridded to produce the concentration maps of K, Th, and U. Additionally, ratio maps of the three elements and their ternary images were produced. The images obtained from the enhanced magnetic data and the radiometric data showed that the study area is structurally complex with a few of the structures corresponding to D1 deformation and most structures corresponding to D2 deformation. The structures are dominate in the mafic volcanic, metavolcanic and the Tarkwaian formation. The metasediments and the Buem formation had very few structures. The results also showed a number of hydrothermal alterations within the mafic volcanic, Tarkwaian, and metavolcanic formation. From the results obtained, a composite map of the study area consisting of the geology, structures and hydrothermally altered zones were produced with ARC GIS. From the composite map eight zones were delineated as having potentials of considerable gold mineralization.

Source: KNUST
Investigating into the barriers of e-procurement at the Volta River Authority (VRA)

Public procurement represents one of the main components in many public organisations. Numerous researches indicate that the old ways of implementing procurement is constituted by a lot of ineffectiveness. Hence the introduction of e-procurement was intended to curb these inefficiencies. Unfortunately, e-procurement is liable to a number of challenges with hinder the smooth operation of the system. This study was conducted to investigate these barriers to e-procurement at the Volta River Authority (VRA). The objectives of the study were, to identify the status of e-procurement in terms of its implementation in Volta River Authority (V.R.A.), to identify the challenges faced with the implementation of e-procurement in Volta River Authority (V.R.A.) and to identify possible solutions to the named barriers of e-procurement in the Volta River Authority (V.R.A.). Quantitative method of collecting data was used in collecting data. Data Collected was analysed using descriptive statistics which included percentages, frequencies and mean aided by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). SPSS is an analytical too that was used in analysing the information collated. Essential results of the research established that e-procurement has a number of barriers that hinder its smooth implementation. The research revealed that factors such as poor internet connectivity, managerial interference and unskilled personnel were major challenges that affect the usage of e-procurement. The study further goes on to suggest possible solutions to these identified barriers to e-procurement at VRA. Some of these are, training procurement staff on the use of the system, improving the quality of internet connectivity and as much as possible, eliminating managerial interference from the procurement process. The research suggests that government support is very essential for the success of the system. Resources are also needed both in the technological and software aspect of procurement for training and equipping staff. The research findings suggests that constant education combined with workshops for procurement officers who find themselves involved in procurement helps to improve their skillset.

Source: KNUST
Investigating into recruitment and selection practice at Juaben Oil Mill

For work organization to succeed, it needs staff which is competent in meeting its aims and objectives. However, management of these organizations paid little attention to proper recruitment and selection practices. This study investigates into recruitment and selection practices at Juaben Oil Mills. The study was undertaken to find out whether this Company follows proper recruitment and selection practices. It was also to unearth the problems associated with staff recruitment and selection practices in the factory. The sample for the research covered fifty (50) personnel of the factory. That was 45 staff and 5 Management personnel. The method used for the analysis of data was quantitative and qualitative - questionnaires and interview. It was found that Management was not following proper recruitment and selection practices. People were not interviewed and tested before employed. There was nepotism in recruitment and selection process. Enough advertisement were not made to recruit applicants, job description was not outlined in the advertisement. There was no specific date for submission of application forms. Few people constituting panel for interview. Not only these but also there were problems like lack of funds and time to recruit and select applicants. TO end this, some recommendations and suggestions were made to rectify the problem.

Source: KNUST
Investigating market orientation of the banking industry in Ghana (a case study of Standard Chartered Bank – Adum branch)

The intense market orientation activities in the banking industry makes financial service companies compete to provide better services to the customers. The policy is very effective in getting new customers and keeping old clients. The purpose of the research was to investigate into market orientation of the banking industry in Ghana – Standard Chartered Bank in Adum, Kumasi was chosen as a case study. The following research objectives were outlined so as to accomplished the research project: the investigation of how Standard Chartered Bank organize its marketing activities; examine how the bank integrate and coordinate its marketing activities; ascertain what motivates the bank in the adoption of market oriented concepts and to finally ascertain the perceived outcome of the adopted concept. Literature was conducted on the research questions which were used in collecting the data. A primary data source which was in a form of questionnaires and interview with both customers and management were used while a secondary data source were taken from the internet, books and other handbook from the chosen company. The data was expressed in percentages and it was analyzed using pie charts, bar charts as well as explanations. The findings revealed that Standard Chartered Bank organized their marketing activities using the price, product, place and promotion to their customers; the integration and coordination of the marketing activities were revealed to be in structured principle which were used by the banks and the perceived outcome of adopting marketing orientation activities were revealed to be benefitting both customers and management. It was recommended to the Standard chartered bank to adopt an internal marketing approach to motivate employees who will in turn motivate the customers.

Source: KNUST
Investigating Procurement Challenges in Colleges of Education in Ghana

The assessment of procurement challenges in Colleges of Education was a study conducted to improve on the sanity in the procurement activities in the Colleges. The objectives pursued were to identify procurement challenges encountered in the Colleges and to suggest measures to surmount the procurement challenges encountered in the Colleges. A sample of 42 procurement practitioners were selected using clusters sampling of the political regions and purposive sampling technique for 6 Procurement tender committee members from each college. Findings were that 28 procurement challenges were identified and arranged in order of magnitude by mean score rating. The ratings ranged from 4.8 representing “strongly agree” to 2.1 representing “disagree” indicating that not all procurement challenges identified were found in literature works with the Colleges of Education in Ghana. In addition, the findings also reviled that out of the 28 procurement challenges identified, 2 were strongly agreed, 19 agreed and 7 disagreed to the procurement challenges in the Colleges of Education in Ghana. The researcher found the following recommendation worthwhile considering that; there should be good procurement plan for all the resources ahead of time; proper step should be instituted to deter public officers from interfering in procurement activities; tendering should be made open; there should be training and education packages to update and develop the procurement knowledge and skills of staff and suppliers; public procurement methods, procedures and thresh holds should be simplified and above all establish good relationship among the procurement stakeholders.

Source: KNUST
Investigating into the working capital management practice at Cocoa Processing Company Limited, Tema

The paper sought to investigate into the working capital management practice of the cocoa processing company as a way of understanding how the company had been managed over the years in that it is a strategic agro-processing company that adds value to the nation's major cash crop cocoa and is also much susceptible to failure. An exploratory and analytical research design was adapted to study the working capital management components of the company througha questionnaire which was administered on the company. The Data analysis was based on ratio*"and chart analysis of the data gathered from the company's financial statements. The study concludes that the company has so far been managed well and that it has an average liquidity position from the following performance: Inventory turnover ratio ranges between 4.3-8.02 times, Debtor days ranges between 64-148 days, payable days between 244-573, current ratio between 0.74-1.48:1, quick ratio of between 0.20-0.94:1. This was as a result of a project loan the company contracted. The company is currently meeting its contractual obligation with respect to the loan

Source: KNUST
Investigating Protein Structure Populations from Simulation Data using Unsupervised Learning

Data obtained from molecular dynamics simulation provides important intuition into the dynamical interactions of biological molecules. The chronicles of sequential time-dependent atomic motions of configurations obtained from simulation and the derived properties estimated from molecule’s trajectory is specified by this sequence. Therefore, knowing how to efficiently extract representative structures from simulation data is important because often, we will want to identify changes in conformation of a protein structure when simulation is performed. We use unsupervised machine learning techniques to cluster such data and investigated a few of protein structural properties. The algorithms implemented in this paper presents clusters of the simulation data that tends to group frames from an adjacent block of time together, even when sampling at 10 ps intervals. We found that sampling of conformational space for a shorter run simulation may not be able to completely visit all structures that belong to a specific cluster. But for the sufficiently long simulation, the systems revisit previous clusters repeatedly. Cluster populations change rapidly at the initial stage of the simulations, but became steady before each got to their terminal values, indicating equilibrium attainment. Investigation of protein structure properties also attest the correspondence between clusters of protein structures obtained from the clustering algorithms.

Source: KNUST