ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The impact of stock markets on corporate finance: the case of Ghana Stock Exchange

A lot of theories provide a conceptual basis for the assertion that larger, more efficient stock markets provide an avenue for business firms to access cheap, long-term capital for the pursuit of their developmental goals, and ultimately, boost economic growth. This study examines whether there is a strong empirical association between the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and long-run economic growth in Ghana. Empirical evidence gathered from nations with efficient exchanges suggest that stock market development is positively and robustly associated with long-run economic growth. However, our findings indicate that although the companies listed on the GSE have registered enormous growth during the period under review, much of the growth registered in the small, private firms (which constitute over 80% of companies in Ghana) has been financed through borrowed capital and retained profits. Furthermore, the expectation of many Ghanaians as far as generation of investor interest and company listing on the market has not been adequately met. The study establishes, however, that given the necessary support, especially in the area of relaxing enlistment requirements and investor awareness creation, the GSE will play its rightful role as a vehicle for the mobilisation of cheap, long-term capital for the economic development of the nation as a whole.

Source: KNUST
Impact of stakeholder influence on project success: evidence from Asanko Gold Ghana Limited.

Project stakeholders are organizations or persons who actively engage in the project or whose anticipations and needs negatively or positively impact how project activities are completed or carried out. Project stakeholders sometimes have conflicting opinions regarding the factors most crucial that result in severe roadblock. The project team must understand the situation at hand, manage squarely the demands, and promote communication that is proactive with all the project stakeholders aiming to deliver a successful project. The current study focuses on assessing the effect of Stakeholder Influence on Project Success using Asanko Gold Ghana Limited as a case study. The issues the study concentrates on are various stakeholders and their roles, and stakeholder influential variables. The study used fifty-two (52), respondents. The instrument for the data collection was developed by the researcher, preceded by a pilot study. The pilot study was initially conducted on a similar project in the mining sector to ascertain its validity and reliability. The data for the study was basically from a primary source in that closed-ended questionnaire was designed and distributed to respondents. The data generated were analyzed using the mean score ranking. Descriptive statistics were used to test the data. The study concludes that communities directly affected by mining operations are recognized on the project to be the crucial stakeholders and therefore play a vital role in the project. Again, the study indicated interest is one of the most important stakeholder influential variables that affected the Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) Project. Further, the study found that performance is one of the important project success criteria of the TSF Project. Based on these, the study recommends that stakeholders especially, Asanko Gold Ghana have formal analysis of the downstream impact on community stakeholders, ecosystems and critical infrastructure in the event of catastrophic failure been undertaken and to reflect final conditions.

Source: KNUST
The impact of strategic planning on newspaper performance in Ghana

Over the years, strategic planning has been practiced in many organizations and its impact on performance has shown positive results through researches done by renowned management experts and scholars. Many are the challenges facing the newspaper industry and the fast moving pace of technology has given birth to alternative sources of information, thereby causing decline in the patronage of newspapers. This research therefore sought to investigate into the application of strategic planning and its effects on performance, that is, circulation/ readership in Ghana’s newspaper industry. Primary data used for the study was obtained by administering 80 questionnaires to respondents in the Accra Metropolis of the Greater Accra Region in Ghana. 76 employees drawn from a population of 460 responded to the questionnaires and they were sampled using both purposive and simple random methods of sampling. Findings from the research revealed that participation of staff in the implementation process was low due to lack of motivational systems to reward employees who meet performance targets in their respective organizations. Also, the economic instability of the country had affected the quality and prices of newspapers produced because of the high prices of raw materials increasing cost of production. Even though the industry has qualified and skilled staff to take up its business operations, lack of adequate financial resources to help push implementation processes and improve on technology has become a major problem. Some newspapers readers also gave their views on the challenges facing the industry and gave their opinions on the way forward for the industry. Recommendations based on these findings included the placement of reward systems to motivate staff when they meet set targets to enhance their participation in the strategic planning process.

Source: KNUST
The impact of stress on employee performance. A case study of Moolman Mining Ghana Limited

Stress is a universal element and persons from nearly every walk of life experience it in one way or the other. In their quest to achieve high productivity in a safe environment, employers today are critically analysing stress management issues that contribute to lower job performance of employees. The main aim of this research was to assess the impact of stress on the performance of employees of Moolman Mining Ghana Limited. The researcher employed Quantitative data analysis and descriptive study in assessing the research. Purposive non - random sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used in selecting a sample size of 100 out of which 15 were of managerial positions. Microsoft excel was used to analyse the data and from the results obtained; four types of stresses was identified namely; acute, chronic, traumatic and episodic acute stress. It was evident that most of the causes of these stresses were managerial related and few were personal related. It was also evident that there were many stress factors that the respondents endured, and the enquiry proved that stress had an effect on performance either positively or negatively. Based on the findings, it was recommended that stress management should be incorporated into Moolmans induction and orientation programmes. It was also suggested that Special stress identification and management programmes should be organise for managerial staff, front line supervisors and shift supervisors.

Source: KNUST
Impact of stress on the occurrence of accidents on construction sites in Ghana

Organizational stress in Construction has been noted to be on the rise due to several antecedents such as; ambitious deadline, work load, role conflict, poor communication, working in dangerous environment etc. One of the noted denouements of stress is the causation of accidents on construction sites. The study aimed at investigating the impact of stress on the numerous accidents that occur on construction sites in Ghana. Deductive approach to research, together with Quantitative research methods were used to address the research objectives. The aim was achieved by using (n = 204) data obtained from construction site workers in Ghana. The data attained was analyzed using SEM and RII together with mean score ranking. Data on the job related stressors showed ambitious deadlines, low salary and working in dangerous environment to be the stressors causing the most stress on construction workers in Ghana. The overall impact of the job stressors on accident occurrence achieved was 0.968 (96.8%) which denotes a very high influence. Results from the Structural Equation Model (SEM) showed workload to be the stressor impacting the most (79%) on accidents occurring on construction sites. Stepping on sharp objects was noted to be the accident that occurs mostly as a result of work place stress. The findings suggest organizations provide realistic and standard deadlines for construction projects so as to reduce the pressure mounted on the site workers to complete their work packages.

Source: KNUST
Impact of Stakeholder Engagement on the Success of Projects in the East Mamprusi Municipality

Stakeholder engagement is emerging as a means of describing a broader, more inclusive, and continuous process between a company and those potentially affected that comprises a broad range of activities and approaches and spans the life cycle of a project. The aim of the study was to improve stakeholder engagement in the East Mamprusi Municipality on project success. In order to achieve the aim of the study the following objectives were established for the study: to identify the indicators for measuring stakeholder engagement of public projects; to identify the levels of stakeholder engagement in East Mamprusi Municipality; to evaluate the impact of stakeholder engagement on the success of projects and to recommend the stakeholder engagement practices that will enhance project success. The study adopted the quantitative research strategy in assessing the impact of stakeholder engagement on project success. The study employed the use of questionnaire in gathering primary data for the study. The sample size of 100 was conveniently and purposively sampled from the Assembly men and key assembly officials of East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly as well as opinion leaders and community members of East Mamprusi Municipality. Relative Importance Index, Mean Score Ranking and Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance were employed in analysing the data. It was seen that the respondents ranked the interest of stakeholders in projects and stakeholder inputs during project being the highly ranked indicators for measuring stakeholder engagement in public projects. However, it was clear from the responses that respondents disagreed that the levels of stakeholder engagements were employed on most of the public projects in East Mamprusi Municipality. From the findings it was prevalent that stakeholder engagement avoid conflicts on projects and stakeholder engagement improves stakeholder relationship. It was discovered after analysis the most important stakeholder practices that was likely to impact project success according to the study respondents was gathering feedback from stakeholders on a project. The study recommended that stakeholders must be continuously engaged during project implementation as a measure to ensure project success in EMA.

Source: KNUST
Impact of sub-contractor risk management on construction schedule performance

Numerous construction projects are faced with late completion dates due to technical difficulties. These delays may also be attributed to the increasing complexity of projects and the underestimation of the complexity of a project. Due to the increasing complexities of projects, subcontracting is the order of the day so that firms can focus on their core competencies. However, there are situations where subcontractors disrupt the success of a construction project. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the impact of sub-contractor risk management on schedule performance of construction projects. Four (4) objectives were established which were to determine the significant factors of subcontractor risk in construction project management, determine the significant factors of Schedule performance in construction project management, determine the relationship between factors of subcontractor risk and Schedule performance in construction project management and determine to what extent the risk factors impact schedule performance in construction project management. With these objectives, an extensive literature review was conducted from which variables on sub-contractor’s risks and schedule performance were identified. The variables were subsequently used in the development of a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed and fifty-four (54) were retrieved and used for the analysis of the study. The analysis was done using the mean score ranking and the multiple regression analysis. From the analysis, it was realized that, the most significant risk was site coordination risks followed by poor organization and co-ordination of subcontractor, poor workmanship by the sub-contractor and lack of proper communication. With the second objective, it was realized that, the first ranked factor was high technical ability of the project manager. This was followed by the competence of the construction manager, effective communication and the availability of resources as and when required. With the third and fourth objectives, it was realized that, lack of proper communication, excessive change orders, legal disputes, material shortages and poor organization and co-ordination shown significant relationship with schedule performance. Generally, the results indicated that, there is a significant relationship between subcontractor risk factors and schedule performance in the Ghanaian construction industry. From these findings, it was recommended that, contractors should adopt strategic risk management procedures in managing sub-contractor risk, project managers must communicate effectively with sub-contractors and main contractors in order to eliminate any form of misunderstanding and contractors must actively be involved in the site organization of sub-contractors to avoid work interference. This study was also limited to only schedule performance construction success criterion. Lastly, this study was also limited to the number of dependent variables that could be used as multiple regression uses only one dependent variable

Source: KNUST
Impact of subcontractors risk management on construction project cost performance

This study was conducted to determine the impact of subcontractor risk management on cost performance in construction project management using structured questionnaire and 150 participants. Specifically, the study sought to achieve the following: determine the significant factors of subcontractor risk in construction project management; determine the significant factors of cost performance in construction project management; determine the correlation between factors of subcontractor risk and cost performance in construction project management and assess the extent of impact of risk factors on cost performance in construction project management. Quantitative research design was used in this study along with descriptive and explanatory designs. The study found that there was a significant positive (R=0.491, p-value = 0.000<0.05) association between cost performance and risk of subcontracting management. The study found that subcontractor risk management explains about 24.1% variance in cost performance. The study concludes that risk of subcontractor management significantly predicts cost performance. This implies that with all things being equal, a change in risk of subcontractor management leads to 27.6% change in cost performance. Moreover, the study concludes that factors such as short-term relationships with the main contractor, low management competency of the subcontractor, financial problems, amendments, poor site safety, shortage of construction materials, site coordination risk, lack of safety, inexperienced workmanship of the contractor and site coordination challenges were ranked very high and significant risks in subcontractor management. The study recommends that management of construction project must conduct proper assessments on sub-contractors before awarding contracts to them.

Source: KNUST
The impact of succession planning on productivity: a case study of VALCO

The Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO) Tema, in mid 2005 realized that it needed to identify and specify systems, symbols and behaviors that its managers will implement/model in order to lead the company to the visionary state, christened “THE VALCO FUTURE STATE”, with a sense of urgency The underlying problem of rampant redundancies due to the unreliability of the Akosombo Hydro Electric Dam, compelled most of its key senior/management staff to seek employment with companies whose operations do not depend on solely on the level of water in the Hydro Electric Dam. The major objective encapsulate in the VALCO FUTURE STATE principles is that, VALCO will have in place an effective organizational structure with adequate and qualified employees capable of assuming duties with professionalism in the future. The evaluation research design method employed to look at Valco’s future state depended on the population of (120) respondents selected within the eight (8) departments were also analyzed along with a two focused groups discussions and face-to-face interview technique organized for three (3) production heads of departments. The major findings elicited by the study revealed that, management of Valco in realizing the looming danger on its future state has initiated an elaborate Succession Planning Programme to avert manpower difficulties in its future operations.

Source: KNUST
The impact of succession planning practices at Takoradi Polytechnic

Succession planning is a deliberate and formal process that facilitates the transfer of management Control from officers in key positions to others. Its organization at Takoradi Polytechnic is poor because the implementers do not understand the concept very well. This is not making the concept achieve the purpose for which it is intended. Thus, the investigation into the impact of succession planning at Takoradi Polytechnic. Instruments used to elicit information were questionnaires, interviews, personal observation, the internet and library studies. The targeted population was all officers in key management Positions at Takoradi Polytechnic and tools of data analysis included figures and tables. • The results revealed that most officers have been in office for more than five years and the policy has also been in place for not less than five years. Who implemented the policy did not come out clearly. The Rector and the Registrar positions unlike the others are filled from outside while labour turnover appears to be normal. Officers need much understanding of the concept to enable programme achieve its objectives. Recommendation/suggestions included workshops and seminars to be organized for officers in key management positions and implementation of succession planning policy to the letter have also been made for the improvement of the situation for further research work.

Source: KNUST
Impact of supplementary livelihood on cocoa farmers in Ahafo Ano South District (Ashanti Region) of Ghana

The study was conducted to assess the impact of complimentary income on the livelihoods of cocoa farmers in the Ahafo Ano South District. The research study applied the primary data from well crated questionnaire to illicit information from the cocoa farmers. Both the secondary data from documentary sources and the primary data used in arriving at the conclusions. The sample size was 120 of the farmers and was based on the judgement of the researcher and thus a nonprobability sampling method was used to gather the primary data and as a result the choice of 120 was not a true representative of the population in the District. Cocoa farmers were selected from villages and towns that were well noted for growing cocoa and the rural nature of the District reflected in the low educational levels of the respondents which in turn manifested in the mode of answering the questionnaire : respondents answering or ticking and researcher reading to the respondents and ticking on their behave were employed. Income levels from cocoa was low and could not suffice the farmers throughout the year and numerous variables such as the smallness of the farms; none application of fertilizers and other inputs; difficulty in accessing agricultural extension officers; high labour cost; difficulty in accessing credit and worse of all the illegal activities of surface mining referred to as ‘galamsey’ in the Ghanaian parlance. The study established that the stool owns a greater proportion of the land and further ascertained that land could be acquired foremost through the stool. Cocoa farmers contended that food crops were integrated into the cocoa farms. Result from the research study showed that some of the commonest livelihood ventures were animal rearing; petty trading; vegetable farming; bee-keeping “gari” processing and palm oil production. The study further established that the proceeds from the alternative livelihood activities could not alleviate the financial difficulties they go through especially during the lean cocoa season. Nonetheless, the income from such ventures reduces the financial burden of farmers in no small measure.

Source: KNUST
Impact of supplementary livelihood on cocoa farmers in Ahafo Ano South District (Ashanti Region) of Ghana

The study was conducted to assess the impact of complimentary income on the livelihoods of cocoa farmers in the Ahafo Ano South District. The research study applied the primary data from well crated questionnaire to illicit information from the cocoa farmers. Both the secondary data from documentary sources and the primary data used in arriving at the conclusions. The sample size was 120 of the farmers and was based on the judgement of the researcher and thus a nonprobability sampling method was used to gather the primary data and as a result the choice of 120 was not a true representative of the population in the District. Cocoa farmers were selected from villages and towns that were well noted for growing cocoa and the rural nature of the District reflected in the low educational levels of the respondents which in turn manifested in the mode of answering the questionnaire : respondents answering or ticking and researcher reading to the respondents and ticking on their behave were employed. Income levels from cocoa was low and could not suffice the farmers throughout the year and numerous variables such as the smallness of the farms; none application of fertilizers and other inputs; difficulty in accessing agricultural extension officers; high labour cost; difficulty in accessing credit and worse of all the illegal activities of surface mining referred to as ‘galamsey’ in the Ghanaian parlance. The study established that the stool owns a greater proportion of the land and further ascertained that land could be acquired foremost through the stool. Cocoa farmers contended that food crops were integrated into the cocoa farms. Result from the research study showed that some of the commonest livelihood ventures were animal rearing; petty trading; vegetable farming; bee-keeping “gari” processing and palm oil production. The study further established that the proceeds from the alternative livelihood activities could not alleviate the financial difficulties they go through especially during the lean cocoa season. Nonetheless, the income from such ventures reduces the financial burden of farmers in no small measure

Source: KNUST