ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of processing methods and microbial analysis of Pito (an African indigenous beer), at selected production sites in Ghana

Pito is an African indigenous sorghum-beer brewed on household basis. The brewery processes in assuring the quality of the drink have not been clearly defined nor studied. To evaluate the brewery processes at selected pito brewery sites in Ghana, the study adopted oral interviews/survey, observations and laboratory tests that sought to elucidate the presence of aflatoxins in the drink and to quantify and identify the yeasts and moulds present. Qualitative coliform tests were also performed on the drink to ascertain the hygienic conditions of the brewery sites. Pito samples were taken from selected centres at dominant pito producing areas; Upper West Region (Nandom), Northern Region (Tamale) and Ashanti Region (Kumasi). The survey results revealed there were currently five processing methods being used to brew the drink in the selected regions. The processing methods were similar but sequentially different. Pito samples from Kumasi showed the highest moulds contamination of 3.7 x 10 3 ± 0.424 and 1.3 x 10 3 ± 0.424 at Ayeduase and Tech-Junction respectively compared to all the other samples. The moulds identified in the drink were Aspergillus clavatus, Mucor hiemalis, Cladosporium sphaerospemum and Cladosporium herbarum. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Debaryomyces hansenii and Pichia anomala were also isolated as the yeast species in the drink. There was no aflatoxin in all the beverage samples collected but malted grains samples collected from Tech-Junction in Kumasi showed aflatoxin concentration of 9.58 ppb. Coliforms test using violet red bile agar were also negative for all the samples.

Source: KNUST
Evaluation of procurement processes and its operational performance in the public sector of Ghana: A case study of Kumasi South Hospital

In this era of globalization, procurement has remained a key function of every organization whether private or public. All procurement process regardless of their complexity follows a laid down procedure that requires proper management to maintain the integrity and sanctity of the procurement process. The study sought to evaluate the procurement process and its operational performance of Kumasi South Hospital. A quantitative method approach was adopted and a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 65 procurement and management staff of Kumasi South Hospital. Using descriptive statistics, it was revealed that the hospital practices some aspects of procurement such as request for tenders, tender opening, tender evaluation and inspection of deliveries that are conforms to PPA requirements. It was discovered that electronic is being utilized in the procurement process of the hospital at a small extent. Most of the respondents strongly believed that e-procurement system would lead to quality purchase, less time of procurement process and less costly. The study revealed that procurement process affect procurement performance in terms of cost, time, and quality. It emerged that labour productivity, resource/equipment utilization and reduced cost are significant (p=0.000) in influencing the procurement efficiency. The study also revealed that challenges such as bureaucracy and its related problems like corruption is a major problem as far as procurement process of the hospital is concerned, delay in payment (55.4%). It was realized that, the activities of the procurement process ensures performance in the hospital as a whole, however, for an organization to attain operational efficiency in the procurement system such organization needs to adopt a system that minimizes redundancy, cost and wastage while leveraging the resources that contributes to success and utilizing the best of its technical knowhow, workforce, quality, cost and flexible business process. The study therefore recommended that the government should review the existing procurement law to reduce bureaucracy to meet each organizational needs. Bureaucracy delays procurement efficiency and affects operational performance of hospitals; this review should be done so that hospitals will have some policies to streamline their operations.

Source: KNUST
An evaluation of project cost management in the mining industry: A case study of Anglogold Ashanti (Gh) Limited – Obuasi mine

Some businesses are by their exact peculiar nature riskier than others and therefore, investing in them is inherently riskier. Projects are means to achieving strategic objectives. To ensure projects meet such goals, there have to be controls, one of which is Project Cost Management. It is not minimizing cost but ensuring an optimum balance between costs, quality and time requirements. Project cost overruns may cause solvency issues and therefore the need to curtail such risks. Mining projects are usually large scale, complex, involve huge capital outlay and needs to be completed on time. It is an incontestable fact that the capability to use veracious and tenacious project cost controls in the Ghanaian mining projects has inevitably raised concerns to the equity holders in mining sector. The resultant effect is the increased unsystematic risks associated with such mining endeavors. The study focused on the evaluation of project cost management in AGA with specific objectives being the assessment of project cost success criterion, project cost management processes examination and project cost variance investigation. With AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi mine halting its operations and fully entering into a limited operation phase, only a sample size of forty nine (49) personnel were available in the project and feasibility department. Questionnaires were administered to them with follow up interviews of some selected project sponsors. 316 projects from 2008 to 2015 were also evaluated. From the findings, a non-conformity to project cost management objectives and processes was established with 144 project cost overruns. The study recommends a strict adherence to project control mechanisms by project managers and suggests the award of fixed sum engineering, procurement, construction and management (EPCM) contracts with a co-integration of value engineering and alternate analysis from the owner’s team.

Source: KNUST
Evaluation of public financial assistance policy for small scale enterprises in Ghana

The enormous potential of the small scale enterprises (SSEs) in diversifying the economy and absorbing the huge unemployed Ghanaians have been recognizes. Nonetheless, these are numerous challenges confronting the SSEs. Among these challenges are the lack of access to credit, competition from the large scale enterprises, the liberalized economy, difficulty in access to advisory service and access to research finding. The access to financial assistance has been singled out as the most formidable challenge. In solving or at least ameliorating the problem, the government has established a number of credit lines for the sub-sector and the study attempted to evaluate the policy documents and the performance of the credit lines. The credit lines studied are the PAMSCAD credit line for Small Scale Enterprises, the Revolving Fund Loan Scheme and the Business Assistance Fund. The analysis is carried out by using data from the offices of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in Accra and Kumasi as well as primary data collected from 70 entrepreneurs in the Ashanti Region. The major findings of the research among other things include a static policy document, a rather small loan size, not encouraging repayment performance and skewness of loan disbursement to the enterprises located in the Kumasi Metropolis. In an effort to solve the problems identified, it is recommended that the financial assistance policies for the SSEs should reflect the general macroeconomic situation of the economy and the use of existing norms and practices of Ghanaians as a social collateral to enhance loan recovery.

Source: KNUST
An evaluation of project management practices in the healthcare sector of Ghana: A case of family planning unit in KNUST Hospital

Family planning projects deal with preventive health or screening services, as well as referrals to other health care providers. The study sought to identify challenges of project management practices regarding family planning projects in the health care sector of Ghana using University hospital, KNUST as a case study. Put forward as objectives were to identify project management practices used in the delivery of family planning projects, identify the challenges of project management practices regarding family planning projects at University hospital, KNUST and to identify the strategies to alleviate the challenges of project management practices on family planning projects at University hospital. The study adopted a survey research approach. The main source of data was primary. The population of the study included channel lead, regional director of Ghana Health Service (GHS), GHS accountant, donor accountant, project implementation agency, hospital accountant, head of maternal department, midwives, nurses, district director of nursing and donor lead, all staff of University hospital, KNUST in Kumasi. The study adopted a purposive sampling technique to select 50 respondents. The mean as well as RII scores were the analytical tools employed on this study. The results indicated that as many as 88% of respondents had knowledge of project management practices. Usage of Checklists was ranked as the major variable in terms of project management practice /methodology that is applicable in the delivery of health care projects as revealed from the study‟s analysis. Findings from the results showed that the highest challenge faced by project managers in applying theory to practice in the health sector is risk associated with project staffing even though other important factors such as technical illiteracy, contingency and uncertainty and poor adherence to proven processes also exist. Improvement in team communication proved to be the best means of fast tracking the application of project management theories /methodology into practice in the health care sector. As a recommendation for the study, the Concept of project management should be inculcated into the tertiary education curriculum for the health care sector

Source: KNUST
Evaluation of proucurement challenges in the Colleges of Education, Volta Region

The Government of Ghana passed the Public Procurement Act 663 in the year 2003 and it also passed the Colleges of Education Act 847 in 2012. The Colleges of Education Act paved the way for the elevation of the then Thirty-Eight (38) Teacher Training Colleges in the Country to tertiary status. This study aimed at identifying some if not all the challenges, militating against the implementation of Act 663(2003) following the elevation of the Colleges of Education to tertiary status by Act 847(2012).To do this research, interviews were conducted out of which questions were framed and distributed to principal offices of the seven (7) Colleges of Education. Their responses were collected and analyzed in using relative importance indices. The result of the analysis showed key challenges such as; High cost of doing business, threshold limitations in the choice of appropriate procurement methods and contract packages stated in clause 21 and schedule 3 of the Public Procurement Act 663(2003) a confirmation in the Ugandan Procurement report presented in Tunisia and finally, delay in paying contractors, suppliers and consultants. The study also revealed that the key recommendations to deal with the challenges include; (a) Cost of procuring goods, works etc. should be reduced by entities. Large monetary guarantees from bidders as a condition for bidding may prevent otherwise qualified small bidders from entering the tender process. (b) Procurement Practioners should be trained and retrained. (c) Cartels and Corruption should be discouraged by putting in place more stringent laws to prosecute offenders and implementing the existing laws under the Public Procurement Act 663(2003) while ensuring transparency at all levels.

Source: KNUST
Evaluation of Quality Service Delivery in the Banking Industry- A Case Study of Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited

Service quality is an important antecedent of consumer assessments of value. Value assessments in turn have been found to influence consumer satisfaction and motivate behavioural intentions (Zeithaml, 1988; Babakus and Boller, 1992). Notable examples of behaviours motivated by a favourable service quality assessment are branding, intentions, advertising, loyalty and word of mouth. Recent research also suggests that the causal order of this means-end value chain (i.e. service quality-satisfaction-behavioural intentions) is robust across national borders and as such has utility for international marketers (Brady and Robertson, 2001). In an attempt to establish a competitive advantage, marketing practitioners often seek to differentiate their service offering upon service quality. Leveraging service quality has been shown to assist in both the retention and expansion of the existing customer base (Zeithaml, 2000). Service quality and customer satisfaction are inarguably the two core concepts that are at the crux of the marketing theory and practice (Spreng and Mackoy, 1996). In today’s world of intense competition, the key to sustainable competitive advantage lies in delivering high quality service that will in turn result in satisfied customers (Shemwell et al., 1998). The study sought to assess the of quality customer care and service delivery at GT Bank and to examining the level of customers satisfaction of the service delivery. According to some employees of the bank, even though GT Bank provides a higher level of satisfactory service to its customers but rather a much more improvement is needed in its operations. Again the service quality dimensions all affects the total service delivery of GT Bank and their inclusion is very significant to the overall performance of the company. In summary this study will help managements of GT Bank to know the performances of their service delivery and improve upon the various variables which fall below the expectation of their customers which in the end will generally aid in the improvement of the overall service quality and customer care of GT bank.

Source: KNUST
Evaluation of Quality Management System for an Alcoholic Beverage Industry

The QMS of an alcoholic beverage industry was evaluated using a local company as a case study. The research assessed the knowledge of management on the benefits of implementing a QMS. A survey was used as the means for carrying out the study. Data was collected as a means of oral interviews and multiple response questionnaires. The company has a Quality Assurance System based on quality control, process monitoring and end product testing. The system however does not entirely conform to the requirements of ISO 9000: 2005 and ISO 9004:2009. Management commitment is demonstrated in resource provision and training of staff. Management review of quality is not done. The Company’s QA system which is an aspect of QMS is maintained in accordance with best industry practice. The company has a quality manual and documented standard operating procedures (SOP) to promote due diligence in its operational activities. The generation of documents was well under control. These documents are fully supported by the completion of records for planned activities, maintenance and verification. The company conducts end product testing based on the Codex Alimentarius guidelines aimed at assessing the quality and safety level of finished product prior to distribution. Traceability systems have been established and maintained. Non-conforming products are either discarded or reworked based on an internal SOP. With regards to knowledge assessment of managers, majority of the respondents (90%) attribute quality to high cost. Three major barriers or challenges facing the implementation of quality management systems are lack of expertise/resources in quality management system, tendency to cure symptom rather than get to the root cause of a problem and rigid attitude of executive management towards quality. Management however appreciates that the implementation of an auditable QMS will benefit the company in a competitive environment as the company strives to enter the international market. It is recommended that some financial inputs be made to improve their QMS and staff training.

Source: KNUST
Evaluation of Recruitment Methods: A Case Study of Selected Banks in Tamale Metropolis

Recruitment, as a human resource management function, is one of the activities that have the greatest impact on the performance of an organization. While it is understood generally that poor recruitment practices can retard organizational performance and stifle goal achievement, many organizations are yet to take pragmatic steps to evaluate their recruitments methods with the view to identify and implement new, effective hiring strategies. This study had the following objectives: to identify and evaluate the recruitment methods of three selected banks operating in Tamale metropolis, and to offer recommendations to improve recruitments in those banks. To achieve these goals a questionnaire were designed based on the objectives. The questionnaire was personally delivered to 40 potential respondents drawn from the selected banks, namely, Barclays Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Agricultural Development Bank. The completed questionnaires were processed and analyzed using the SPSS system. The findings indicated that the banks used several recruitment methods to attract potential job seekers for employment. The popular recruiting strategies identified included job advertisement, walk-in applicants, employee referrals, specialized recruitment firms and educational institutes. The methods were evaluated relative to the quantity and quality of applicants, cost effectiveness, time consideration, retention, return on investment and compliance with regulations. The findings further highlighted the issues of poaching and the Ghanaian “whom you know” syndrome which has become the major barrier to effective recruitment in the banks. The study concluded that e-recruitments and multiple sourcing strategies hold the key to effective recruitment in the banks.

Source: KNUST
An evaluation of relationship marketing strategies for customer retention in the hospitality industry in Ghana- A case study of Rexmar Hotel, Kumasi.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) practices are a business strategy designed to reduce costs and increase profitability by solidifying customer loyalty. It brings together all data about a client in hotels via software to give a holistic view of a customer. With intense competition among hotels in Ghana, this study sought to find out if CRM was practised in the selected hotels. It was to solve the problem of inadequate service delivery quality in hotels which were not helping customers’ expectations to be met. The study was conducted to identify critical factors necessary for customer retention in relationship marketing in the hotel businesses in Ghana and to develop effective relationship marketing strategies to manage customer retention for sustainability within hotel business with Rexmar Hotel as the case. Questionnaire was the method adopted for the investigation of the study. With a sample of 40 respondents was considered, these were made of customers to enable the researcher examine the hotel by the examination of the relationship marketing variables of the hospitality industry. Completed questionnaires were grouped into frequency tables and expressed in percentages, while interpretation is dependent on the samples of the variables with the use of SPSS. It is recommended that even though the hotels have heard of CRM, there should be some intense awareness program on the benefits of CRM. its understand from the study that most hotels in Kumasi, Ghana do not practice customer retention in relationship marketing with their customers. This lack of awareness of customer retention in relationship building, enhancement and maintenance has affected relationship marketing strategies of hotels. Critical factors necessary for customer retention such as service quality, customer satisfaction measurement and analysis, customer complaints handling and loyalty programme initiative were identified.

Source: KNUST
An evaluation of reader services at the University of Science and Technology (U.S.T) Kumasi Library

The U. S. T. Library, since its inception, has remained the best university agency for collecting and organising knowledge for effective use and continues to provide important services and facilities to support the University to meet her noble objectives. The problem is posed as to whether it is effectively and efficiently fulfilling its educational objectives. This study has therefore, been carried out to determine the extent to which the Library meets demands placed on it by its readers. Using data obtained mainly through the client-centred method and complemented with objective methods, the study evaluated the facilities, resources, services and the overal1 1evel of performance of the Library. It is revealed that whereas the Library’s own total collections are inadequate to meet demands, its resort to cooperative activities immensely helps it to mitigate this problem. It is also revealed that physical facilities are inadequate and that the provision of such facilities for 1 earning and study are unsatisfactory. Its overall level of performance in the provision of information and services is found to be satisfactory in either case. Cognisance is taken of the constraints in the use of both the subjective and objective methods in an evaluation of’ this type. Particularly, the constraints that make it difficult to use the objective criteria, measures and indicators of performance within the environment in which the U.S. T. Library operates are highlighted. The study concludes by recommending measures which would enhance the effective use of the Library and its collections as well as the performance level of’ the Library.

Source: KNUST