ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Ensuring confidentiality and privacy of cloud data using a non-deterministic cryptographic scheme

The amount of data generated by electronic systems through e-commerce, social networks, and data computation has risen. However, the security of data has always been a challenge.The problem is not with the quantity of data but how to secure the data by ensuring its confi dentiality and privacy. Though there are several research on cloud data security, this study proposes a security scheme with the lowest execution time. The approach employs a non linear time complexity to achieve data confidentiality and privacy. A symmetric algorithm dubbed the Non-Deterministic Cryptographic Scheme (NCS) is proposed to address the increased execution time of existing cryptographic schemes. NCS has linear time complex ity with a low and unpredicted trend of execution times. It achieves confidentiality and pri vacy of data on the cloud by converting the plaintext into Ciphertext with a small number of iterations thereby decreasing the execution time but with high security. The algorithm is based on Good Prime Numbers, Linear Congruential Generator (LGC), Sliding Window Algorithm (SWA), and XOR gate. For the implementation in C#, thirty different execution times were performed and their average was taken. A comparative analysis of the NCS was performed against AES, DES, and RSA algorithms based on key sizes of 128kb, 256kb, and 512kb using the dataset from Kaggle. The results showed the proposed NCS execution times were lower in comparison to AES, which had better execution time than DES with RSA having the longest. Contrary, to existing knowledge that execution time is relative to data size, the results obtained from the experiment indicated otherwise for the proposed NCS algorithm. With data sizes of 128kb, 256kb, and 512kb, the execution times in milliseconds were 38, 711, and 378 respectively. This validates the NCS as a Non-Deterministic Cryptographic Algorithm. The study findings hence are in support of the argument that data size does not determine the execution time of a cryptographic algorithm but rather the size of the security key.

Source: KNUST
Ensuring total quality management in recruitment and selection (a case study of Sinapi Aba Trust, Kumasi)

Service Organizations are doing all they can to increase the quality of services they render to their customers. Total Quality Management (TQM) has therefore generated huge interest in many sectors of the Ghanaian economy, including manufacturing, service, government and education. TQM, has been applied extensively in the manufacturing sector, and gradually finding its root in the service sectors. Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT), which was incorporated in Ghana in 1994 as a member of the opportunity International Network, has firmly embraced the idea of TQM since it want to remain in competition. Most literature on TQM, and human resource, centered on employee involvement, teamwork, and good reward system, however, the recruitment and selection of qualified and experienced people to work to achieve TQM have been ignored. The study therefore assessed the challenges the Human Resource Manager (HRM) past through before employing the best candidate to work in SAT to achieve the goals of the organization. For the methodology, both primary and secondary data were used. The researcher focused on the Head Office of SAT, which is located in Kumasi. Two sets of questionnaires were administered on all the 48 personnel. Interview and discussions were also used to seek information relevant to the study. This was done randomly. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. It was found out that, most of the candidates who applied to work at SAT lacked the requisite experience. Because members of the interview panel are made of human beings, particularistic sometimes override universalistic criteria of selecting the right candidate. It was recommended that discrimination must be avoided and that all applicants should be given equal opportunity in selection. Also information on recruitment and selection must be made available and should not be kept in secret.

Source: KNUST
Ensuring value for money in public procurement: A case study of Koforidua Polytechnic

Value for Money (VFM) is the primary driver for procurement. Given the limited resources available to government, ensuring VFM in procurement is key to ensuring the optimum utilisation of scarce budgetary resources. Value for money is therefore not a choice of goods or services which is based on the lowest bid price but a choice based on the whole life costs of the project or service. The aim of the study is to assess ways of ensuring value for money in procurement in Koforidua Polytechnic. The objectives of the study among others includes; identify the challenges in ensuring value for money and measures to ensure value for money in the procurement of goods and services. The main tools for the collection of data included questionnaires and interview whiles the target population for the data collection included administrators, finance officers and procurement officers. Statistical package for social scientists (SPSS V 20) using mean score ranking was employed to analyze data obtained. Procurement entity liaises with Public Procurement Authority always for timely and required procurement information, procurement activities of the institution are assessed annually by the Public Procurement Authority, management supports VFM objectives and institution plans annual procurement spending to ensure VFM were the major factors in ensuring value for money in procurement. The findings also revealed that inadequate skilled personnel in the procurement sector and inadequate measures for monitoring and evaluation of the procurement policy to ensure VFM are major challenges in public procurement. On measures to ensure alue for money, procurement contract document should be stated in simple language devoid of different interpretations requiring revisions and reviews and regular procurement audits and monitoring for compliance with procurement activities were suggested. The findings of the study will add to the existing body of knowledge in ensuring value for money in the procurement of goods, works and services in public institutions in the country.

Source: KNUST
Ensuring sustainable peace in Ghana: peace council’s role and stakeholders contributions.

Peace building is a continuous process which requires that structures are put in place to keep it running. Ghana’s National Peace Council (NPC) has been praised for being the one of the first, existing institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa to deal with conflict situations and to build peace that lasts. There is however little research on how the National Peace Council executes its mandate as an institution. The study therefore employed qualitative research methods in which 9 participants were interviewed with one focused group discussion. The study was also complemented by secondary data of 8 weeks’ audio records of peace education programmes held by the Garden city TV/radio with the NPC to explore into how the NPC executes its objective. Using an exploratory design, the researcher assessed the nature and extent of stakeholder collaboration. It also explored into how the NPC builds capacities of these stakeholders as well as how they increase the awareness of these stakeholders on the use of non-violent strategies. The study revealed that the NPC works with both governmental and non-governmental institutions as well as international organizations. These stakeholders play direct roles such as joining the NPC on the field to prevent conflict and indirect roles such as funding and, monitoring and evaluating conflict hotspots across the nation. The study also revealed that the NPC builds the capacities of stakeholders (chiefs, queen mothers, youth, parliamentarians, etc.) through peace education programmes and increasing their awareness on the use of non-violent strategies. It was concluded that the NPC is a reliable institution for dealing with conflict situations in Ghana. However, the institution is not only faced with financial challenges but as well do not have enough strategies and programmes for building the capacities of stakeholders and increasing their awareness on the use of non-violent strategies. The study therefore recommended that the NPC amends the policy document guiding the work of the NPC. They should also collaborate with stakeholders such as the UNDP, CEDEP and WANEP to develop more comprehensive and strategic programmes for capacity building and awareness creation which will lead to building peace that lasts.

Source: KNUST
Enterprise risk management (erm) amongst insurance firms in Ghana

This study investigates enterprise risk management (ERM) activity amongst insurance companies in Ghana by focusing on three key issues: degree of ERM implementation; organizational factors that determine ERM implementation; and relationship between ERM implementation and financial performance. To gather empirical evidence on these three related areas, a conceptual model was developed that linked organizational-level factors including Firm Size, Industry Diversification, Board Independence, and Type of Auditor to ERM, which is in turn linked to Financial Performance. A quantitative correlational research design was adopted, utilizing a standardized questionnaire to collect research data from Chief Risk Officers, Chief Audit Officers, and other managers of 34 firms in Ghana’s insurance sector. The questionnaire amassed self-report data on eight dimensions of COSO-ERM activities, organizational-level antecedents, financial performance, and demographic variables. Employing Ordinary Least Square regressions, Descriptive Statistics and Factor Analysis in analyzing research data, some interesting findings emerged. Regarding extent of ERM implementation, none of the eight COSO-ERM dimensions was implemented robustly by the sampled insurance companies, with overall implementation being ad hoc at best. Regarding organizational factors associated with ERM implementation, although adding firm size, industry diversification, board independence, and type of auditor into the equation changed the percentage of explained variation in the predicted level of ERM by 11.4 percent, none of the regression coefficients is statistically significant. Finally, a positive, insignificant relationship was found between financial performance and ERM.

Source: KNUST
The entrepreneurial competencies of women in Western Region

Present economic and political thinking favours private sector initiatives as a solution to today’s deteriorating economic and unemployment problem. Therefore, there is a worldwide concern to mobilize individual initiative and stimulate the use of entrepreneurial talents for economic development. The Ghanaian government’s educational reforms as well as policies of some non-governmental organizations emphasize the training of women to acquire and build on their talents. The results from such training are usually expensive and only a few people benefit from such training. The changing female role from one who is part breadwinner calls for the developing and building of their skills. A woman usually starts an enterprise to support her family with frequently lower educational background and lack of access to capital. This compels them to enter into traditional economic activities such as petty trading services (restaurant, hairdressing) small processing and production. Traditional women’s skills are already crowded in the sense that many women having had basic education or most often none at all are attached to apprenticeship in hair dressing or dressmaking. The market for their products is already chocked. After their apprenticeship they do not have the patronage they expect and when such a situation arises they become frustrated and turn to the commonest of all trades - petty trading. Stalls are erected in front of their houses or along streets and most often they go hawking to catch a greater share of the market of their wares. The domestic life and the business life of the women is usually intertwined. To improve the business life of the woman, there is the need to understand her circumstances and its effects on the enterprise. This will help identify factors or characteristics which are inherent in individuals as well as external factors such as the dual role of keeping the business going and satisfying their domestic demands and adopt strategies to strengthen positive forces and minimize or remove negative ones. To be able to come out with any meaningful strategy or solution, there is the need to access entrepreneurial qualities that Ghanaian women possess. It is from this point that one can think of improving her business skills, access to credit, technical solutions as well as family problems. Even though there has been significant growth of female self-employment, much of what is known about their characteristics, their motivations, family background, occupational experiences and problems are based on studies of male entrepreneurs.

Source: KNUST
The Entrepreneurial Mind

Unemployment is on the increase in Ghana especially among school dropouts and graduates. The government policy on Structural Adjustment has contributed greatly to this situation. All public sector institutions were reorganised to be more efficient and effective. This lead to the redeployment of man public servants because it was realised most public institutions were over staffed thus placing a high responsibility or burden on government in that the government had to pay all those public workers most of whom were not really contributing effectively to productivity. For the last two decades or so there has really been no job creation in the economy to ease the situation and this has compounding the unemployment problem. This thesis therefore is aimed at providing guide lines to t.th government, private sector as well as individuals on how entrepreneurship or an entrepreneurial spirit can be encouraged in order to eliminate as much as possible the unemployment situation in the country presently. It encourages individuals to establish their own businesses. For this to be possible it makes interested individuals well as the private sector understand the concept of entrepreneurship and how it can effectively be exploited to enhance business creation. It is hoped that this thesis would enable me to come out with some useful results that could be disseminated for the benefit of the general public.

Source: KNUST
Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in retail Pharmaceutical Industry, Kumasi.

The private sector of the economy which had been championed as the engine of growth in developing countries like Ghana is driven by entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) refers to the strategic inclination of a firm towards entrepreneurial activities and had been demonstrated by several empirical studies to be significantly related to firm performance. However, earlier research had also shown that factors such as industry type influences the magnitude and direction of the effect of EO and its dimensions (innovativeness, proactiveness, risk taking, autonomy and competitive aggressiveness) on firm performance. This study examined the effect of EO and its dimensions on performance of firms in the retail pharmaceutical industry in Kumasi. Descriptive and explanatory research designs were adopted for this study. Questionnaires were self-administered to managers of 176 retail pharmaceutical firms using purposive sampling technique. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between EO and its dimensions on firm performance. The findings revealed that entrepreneurial orientation had a positive and significant effect on performance. This implied that the adoption of an entrepreneurial posture by retail pharmacies in Kumasi metropolitan area would lead to improved firm performance. Also findings of the study showed that all the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation independently had a positive relationship with firm performance but autonomy did not. However only competitive aggressiveness and innovativeness had a positive and significant influence on firm performance. This implied that not all the dimensions of EO would lead to significant improvement in firm performance and hence it was more prudent and efficient for managers to strategically allocate resources to those dimensions (innovativeness and competitive aggressiveness) that can significantly improve performance rather than wholesale adoption of EO as firm strategy for retail pharmacies. This research was limited to the pharmaceutical retail sector in Kumasi metropolitan area.

Source: KNUST
Entrepreneurship Training for Senior High School Visual Arts Graduates (Case Studies Kumasi and Accra Metropolis)

Senior High School Visual Arts graduates do not have jobs. Some find themselves in apprenticeship training under the tutelage of master craftsmen whiles others end up selling all kinds of products on the streets of Ghana. This research sought to find the causes of unemployment among Senior High School Visual Arts graduates who fail to further their education, and to identify and describe some entrepreneurial training centres in the Kumasi and Accra metropolis which provide vocational skills for Senior High School Visual Arts graduates. The study also sought to assess the effectiveness and impact of these centres in order to make recommendations as to how parents, government and non-governmental organizations can intervene to help the Senior High School Visual Arts graduates gain employment through entrepreneurial training. The qualitative research design was used by the researcher. Interviews and questionnaire were used to collect data to explain the importance of entrepreneurship training to Senior High School Visual Arts graduates and efforts being made by parents, government, non-governmental organizations, entrepreneurs, master Craftsmen and industries to help these Senior High School Visual Arts graduates. Interviews were used to collect data from Senior High School Visual Arts graduates who end up selling on the streets of Ghana as well as vocational training centres. Questionnaire was used to collect data from Senior High School Visual Arts graduates who are pursuing apprenticeship training and self-employed artists (master craftsmen). Data collected from first-hand experience was treated as primary data whiles those that were collected from other sources such as text books, brochures, journals and internet was treated as secondary data. The study found that many Senior High School Visual Arts graduates were unemployed. Vocational training centres and government responsible to train the Senior High School Visual Arts graduates paid little attention to these people. Suggestions are that parents, entrepreneurs, vocational training centres government and non-governmental organizations should come to the aid of the Senior High School Visual Arts graduates by providing them with necessities to make them enter into gainful employment.

Source: KNUST
The environment as a resource for screen development in the second cycle institutions

The development of screen printing has witnessed an enormous growth rate. From periods when simple hand operated machines were used and designs were solely made with hand drawing tools to the present day where computer software programmes have simplified and improved both designing and screen printing. It is therefore clear that, the upcoming designers who do not have access to computer and can not draw properly are left to their faith. It is for this reason that this project explores the possibility of selecting ideas (shapes) from the environment (natural and man-made) and manipulating them into suitable designs for screen printing. It discusses the step-by-step procedure used in organizing the ideas, developing the screens and printing the sample fabrics; it also discusses the results and appreciation of the project. The study shows that ideas in the environment can be manipulated and carefully organized into interesting designs. The researcher adopted the experimental and descriptive research method based on the qualitative approach for the project. Experimentation with the selected objects revealed their suitability for using them for screen development and printing of sample fabrics. The main findings are as follows; 1. Any type of objects can be used for developing screen regardless of their colours. 2. Wet objects can be used successfully in developing screens. 3. Objects can be manipulated into interesting patterns and designs within a short period. 4. The objects (ideas) obtained from the environment could be employed in printing any type of fabrics for a specific end-use. 5. This method of screen developing is good for designer who have good sense colour. 6. The method is limited to use of two dimensional objects. It is therefore recommended this technique of using ideas (objects) from the environment for screen printing should be introduced into the Textiles curriculum especially in the second cycle institutions to foster creativity and interest in designing.

Source: KNUST
Environmental Assessment And Collaboration As Determinants Of Supplier’s Environmental Commitment

This study examines how two green supply chain management practices – environmental assessment and environmental collaboration affect suppliers’ environmental commitment. The study adopted the quantitative research design. A structured questionnaire was developed which was used in the collection of data from 80 respondents. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential analysis. The results reveal that environmental collaboration positively influences suppliers’ environmental commitment; the impact of environmental assessment on suppliers’ environmental commitment is also positive and statistically significant. Furthermore, the analysis shows that both environmental assessment and collaboration have no interaction and significant impact on suppliers’ environmental commitment. The study offers insight into the psychological background of the suppliers' decision to support the environmental management activities of their procuring counterparts by concentrating on the function of suppliers' views. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that purchasing companies' supply chain managers should use caution when using their methods for evaluating their suppliers. Performing environmental audits on suppliers and asking them to submit self-assessment reports, third-party certifications, or both may not be the most effective means to gauge suppliers' commitment to environmental concerns, buying businesses should aggressively market the desirability of their relationships with suppliers to enable seamless and efficient management of environmental concerns across the supply chain and supply chain managers of purchasing firms to concentrate on strategies and processes designed to enhance the system depending on their supplier chain interactions.

Source: KNUST