Department of Operations and Management Information Systems
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Item To leave or retain? An interplay between quality digital banking services and customer satisfaction(International Journal of Bank Marketing, 2021) Egala, S.B.; Mensah, S.A.; Boateng, D.Purpose – In this paper, the authors investigated the impact of quality digital banking services delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic on customers’ satisfaction and retention intentions. Design/methodology/approach – This study combined constructs drawn from the E-S-QUAL and BSQ models to measure the impact of digital banking services on subscribers of digital banking services in Ghana. The study utilized structural equation modeling with partial least squares (PLS-SEM) to analyze 395 responses. Findings – Results revealed a significant direct effect between digital banking services satisfaction and customer retention decisions. The results also revealed that digital banking service quality dimensions such as ease of use, efficiency, privacy/security, and reliability impact customers’ satisfaction and retention intentions. Research limitations/implications – Digital banking service portfolios and their quality dimensions vary among banks. This offers an opportunity for banking institutions and other non-bank financial service providers to be wary of the impact of quality service delivery on customers’ decisions. This paper makes significant theoretical contributions and practical implications on the relevance of quality digital banking services in customers’ retention strategies for competitive advantage. Originality/value – This study has underlined the significance of quality digital banking services in developing countries. The study underscored the need for banking and non-bank financial institutions to embrace the much-anticipated quality service demanded by customers and the need for continuous service improvement relative to the growing deployment of financial technologies.Item Use Of Ridesharing Platforms In A Developing Country: A Boundary Object Theory Perspective(University of Ghana, 2022-11) Simmons, R.O.The purpose of this study is to understand the use of ridesharing platforms in a developing country. Ridesharing platforms have attracted many studies. A review of the studies suggests knowledge gaps which warrant research attention. First, the literature on ridesharing platform overlooks explaining the goals of actors on the platforms. Second, previous research also tends to be silent on explaining how the platforms enable or constrain the realisation of actors’ goals. This research gap can be addressed through a theoretical lens which exclusively accommodates both the social and technical aspects of ridesharing platforms. However, theoretical applications predominantly focus more on other phenomena such as agency theory for shared use of resources and platform theory for entry of ridesharing platform with less research attention on actors’ actions, interactions, and transactions across boundary objects (platforms). Thus, there is a need to use boundary object theory to understand actors’ activities across boundaries. Finally, extant research is silent on how contextual factors such as business climate and government regulations potentially influence ridesharing platforms use. Such knowledge is critical to a developing country context, as ridesharing platforms has received mixed reactions. To address the research gaps, this study, therefore, uses three questions, (1) Why do actors (drivers and riders) use ridesharing platforms? (2) How do ridesharing platforms enable or constrain the realisation of actors’ goals? (3) What contextual factors influence actors’ use of ridesharing platforms and the achievement of their goals? Responding to the research questions, this study employed the interpretivist research paradigm, the qualitative methodology, the case study method, and the boundary object theory to understand the use of ridesharing platforms in Ghana, a developing country in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, the study seeks to explore the phenomenon for developing countries using Uber and Dropping ridesharing platform companies as case studies from Ghana. The cases were selected via theoretical sampling. The participants were also selected through snowballing and purposive sampling. The findings show that drivers use ridesharing platforms because of the following goals: linkage, flexibility, traffic update, unrestrictedness, and security. Riders also use ridesharing platforms because of the following goals: mobility, legitimacy, accountability, security, and convenience. The findings also show that drivers and riders have personal goals for using ridesharing platforms. Some drivers pursue personal goals to maximise revenue illegally such as accepting riders outside the platform. Some riders also pursue personal goals such as endangering drivers. Comparably the personal goals of riders tend to be more undesirable since drivers are endangered and violent crime is sometimes committed. Addressing these are critical especially in the context of developing countries where public transportation still remains a challenge and thus, ridesharing platforms are necessary for both employment and public mobility. This may require a combined effort of law enforcement agencies (e.g., the Ghana Police) and other authorities (e.g., driver unions). In terms of process, the findings show that ridesharing platforms enable drivers and riders to perform: 1) user-boundary actions – platform entry, platform utilisation, user identification, user set-up, and user rating; 2) user-boundary interactions – platform connection, users’ update, pick-up interactions, and end trip interactions; and 3) user-boundary transactions – booking transaction, trip transaction, and service transaction. The platforms, on the other hand, constrain drivers and riders from achieving their goals, namely, registration, information and reversal, location, and complaint constraints. The findings also show contextual factors that prevent drivers and riders from using ridesharing platforms in developing countries. The factors are internet outages, poor digital address system, lack of public phone charging systems and services, working condition, and car model. The study’s findings also show that innovations are coming up from drivers and riders due to the contextual factors. The innovations include drivers' and riders' interactions outside the boundary objects via text message and/or phone call for location identification, use of power bank to charge mobile phone battery rundown, and multiple users across different ridesharing platforms. Also, cars used by drivers have become part of the boundary object with tracking system and camera that can be stopped remotely when snatched by thieves. The thesis contributes to knowledge in terms of theory, research, practice, and policy. For theory, the study advances knowledge on the use of boundary object theory for studying a phenomenon involving a divergent group of users’ actions, interactions, and transactions across boundaries. The study also adds one concept to the theory called user-boundary transactions. Furthermore, this study introduces ridesharing platforms as boundary objects. For research, the study contributes to ridesharing platform literature. First, ridesharing has been introduced into a context which has a tradition of how cars are accessed and used from a public perspective and traditional riding is a social and physical infrastructure phenomenon. Second, however, ridesharing is a digital-enabled service which needs physical infrastructure. But in developing countries that physical and digital infrastructures are under-developed. Hence, for these to work efficiently, adaptations are occurring on the perspective of digital, physical, and social infrastructure. For practice, the study provides new insight into the use of ridesharing platforms, such as how drivers’ and riders’ profiles can assist security agencies to investigate post-trip activities in case of taxi fraud. For policy, the study provides lessons and guidelines for policy formulations in developing countries to guide ridesharing platforms in the sharing economy. The findings are limited to one developing country and the choice of interpretive research paradigm. These contributions from the study have been published in one book chapter and three conference papers. Furthermore, this study is the first to use the boundary object theory to understand users’ actions, interactions, and transactions across multiple organisations.Item The Impact Of Supply Chain Strategies On The Operations Performance Of Retail Firms In The Food And Beverage Industry In Ghana.(University of Ghana, 2021-10) Konlan, P.B.The Food and Beverage (F&B) industry contributes greatly to the development of the economy under the manufacturing sector. However, the F&B subsector of the manufacturing sector has received little attention in literature although, it provides both direct and indirect employment opportunities. This sector needs to be coordinated and integrated properly through its supply chains to create value and competitive edge to enhance retail operations performance. This study therefore, sought to assess the impact of supply chain strategies on the operations performance of retail firms in the F&B industry in Ghana. The supply chain strategies identified in the study are the lean, agile and Leagile. The retail operations performance is a dependent variable which was measured by efficiency and responsiveness. The study also sought to determine if the financial position of a firm mediates the supply chain strategies and the operations performance of the retail firms. Quantitative method and a cross-sectional survey research design were used. The study adopted a simple random and purposive sampling techniques for the study. A total of 300 responses out of the 363 retail firms issued with the questionnaires were received. The study used Structural Equation Modelling to analyze the data with the aim of drawing relationships between the independent and dependent variables. The study found that retail operations challenges such as stiff competition and stock out were the major challenges confronting retail operations in the F&B industry in Ghana. It also discovered that while lean supply chain strategy influences efficiency, it does not influence responsiveness. Again, the study revealed that while agile supply chain strategy influences responsiveness, it does not influence efficiency. The study further discovered that, leagile supply chain strategy influences both responsiveness and efficiency. The study again revealed that financial position of a firm has no mediation effect on the relationship between supply chain strategies and retail operations performance. The study ends by examining key contributions to policy, theory and practice on how supply chain strategies can be used to achieve maximum retail operations performance.Item Supply Chain Resilience: Strategies And Impact On Sustainable Operations Among Ghanaian Manufacturers.(University of Ghana, 2022-06) Siaw, J.O.In recent times, firms’ supply chains are increasingly faced with disruptions and uncertainties. The ability of firms to effectively respond to these disruptions is crucial for their survival. Thus, firms are required to build resilience capacity into their supply chains. The adoption of resilience and sustainability practices have become of paramount importance to firms in enhancing the performance of their supply chains performance in this turbulent business environment. This study examines the resilience strategies adopted by manufacturing firms in Ghana and determines the impact of these strategies on the sustainable operations of these firms. The purpose of this study is to examine the resilience strategies of manufacturers and ascertain the extent to which manufacturing supply chains are resilient and also to evaluate the impact of the resilience strategies adopted on the sustainable operations of manufacturing firms in Ghana. The study employed a quantitative approach with data collected from 186 of manufacturing firms through questionnaire. Purposive sampling was applied in selecting respondents. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Partial Least Square- Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data. The study found out that manufacturers are indifferent towards the environmental uncertainties affecting their supply chains. The result further establishes that manufacturers largely do employ agility and redundancy as resilience strategies to enhance their sustainable operations. Also, the results from the data analysis reveal that agility and financial performance have a positive significant relationship. While agility has a positive but insignificant relationship with employee wellbeing and raw material consumption. The results further indicate that redundancy do influence financial performance, employee wellbeing and raw material consumption. Furthermore, collaboration had a negative relationship with financial performance but positive relationship with employee wellbeing and raw material consumption, but these effects are statistically insignificant. Likewise, there was a positive significant relationship between information sharing and financial performance, while a positive insignificant relationship was exhibited between information sharing and employee wellbeing and raw material consumption. The study recommends that owners/managers of manufacturing firms should adopt resilience strategies to minimize supply chain disruptions. Again, managers should strengthen their internal practices within firms as the first priority to use in dealing with environmental uncertainties.Item An Examination Of The Supply Chain Of Cashew In Ghana. A Case Study Of The Upper West Region(University of Ghana, 2021-10) Alhassan Bawa, T.R.This research is to examine the state of the cashew nut supply chain in Ghana, thus from production to consumption using the Upper West Region as a case study. To have an in depth understanding of all actors along the cashew nut supply chain, a qualitative research approach was adopted. The cashew nut supply chain comprised of cashew farmers, middlemen or aggregators and cashew exporting companies. The method of data collection used in this paper included semi-structured interviews and observations and was carried out with the use of detailed interview guides administered to a selected sample of each population (farmers, aggregators, and exporters) to participate in the study. Five communities in the Dafiiama-Bussie-Issa district were selected for the study. The various sample sizes included 50 farmers, 10 Middlemen or Aggregators, and 1 official from each of the exporting companies, giving a total sample size of 62 participants employed in the study. After having recognized the economic potential of cashew nuts the government of Ghana implemented an economic recovery program in the 1990s to revamp the cashew sub sector in Ghana. Since then, cashew nuts have undoubtedly contributed massively to the socio-economic wellbeing of people who are into the cashew business and especially amongst small holder cashew farmers. Reduction in poverty, creation of employment especially for women, increase in income amongst others are some of the advantage’s cashew farmers and other actors in the supply chain benefit from this cash crop. The Ministry of food and agriculture carried out a research to identify potential areas in Ghana with arable land suitable for the production of cashew nuts and they included Brong Ahafo, Bono East, Northern region, Volta and the Upper west region, to mention a few. However, production of cashew nuts in the Bono east and Ahafo regions have been buoyant, hence these regions are considered the hub of Ghana’s cashew nuts. Yet Ghana is unable to meet demand in the international market, though other regions in the country have been marked as potential cashew growing areas. The research revealed that cashew farmers from the Upper West Region are facing some difficulties and that is hampering their production of cashew nuts. They mentioned issues of lack of storage, Extension service Officers, ineffective cashew plants and so on. However, one major challenge that was common among all three populations was the issue of pricing. Nevertheless, some recommendations on how to improve operations and as such increase production of cashew nuts were made. One of the exporting companies beckoned on government to resource the Tree Crop Development Authority to make it actively operational so that issues especially relating to price instability can be curbed. The research is organized in seven chapters: introduction of the study, context of the study, literature review, methodology, data analysis and presentation, discussions and finally, conclusions and recommendations respectively.Item An Examination Of The Supply Chain Of Cashew In Ghana. A Case Study Of The Upper West Region(University of Ghana, 2021-10) Alhassan Bawa, T.R.This research is to examine the state of the cashew nut supply chain in Ghana, thus from production to consumption using the Upper West Region as a case study. To have an in depth understanding of all actors along the cashew nut supply chain, a qualitative research approach was adopted. The cashew nut supply chain comprised of cashew farmers, middlemen or aggregators and cashew exporting companies. The method of data collection used in this paper included semi-structured interviews and observations and was carried out with the use of detailed interview guides administered to a selected sample of each population (farmers, aggregators, and exporters) to participate in the study. Five communities in the Dafiiama-Bussie-Issa district were selected for the study. The various sample sizes included 50 farmers, 10 Middlemen or Aggregators, and 1 official from each of the exporting companies, giving a total sample size of 62 participants employed in the study. After having recognized the economic potential of cashew nuts the government of Ghana implemented an economic recovery program in the 1990s to revamp the cashew sub sector in Ghana. Since then, cashew nuts have undoubtedly contributed massively to the socio-economic wellbeing of people who are into the cashew business and especially amongst small holder cashew farmers. Reduction in poverty, creation of employment especially for women, increase in income amongst others are some of the advantage’s cashew farmers and other actors in the supply chain benefit from this cash crop. The Ministry of food and agriculture carried out a research to identify potential areas in Ghana with arable land suitable for the production of cashew nuts and they included Brong Ahafo, Bono East, Northern region, Volta and the Upper west region, to mention a few. However, production of cashew nuts in the Bono east and Ahafo regions have been buoyant, hence these regions are considered the hub of Ghana’s cashew nuts. Yet Ghana is unable to meet demand in the international market, though other regions in the country have been marked as potential cashew growing areas. The research revealed that cashew farmers from the Upper West Region are facing some difficulties and that is hampering their production of cashew nuts. They mentioned issues of lack of storage, Extension service Officers, ineffective cashew plants and so on. However, one major challenge that was common among all three populations was the issue of pricing. Nevertheless, some recommendations on how to improve operations and as such increase production of cashew nuts were made. One of the exporting companies beckoned on government to resource the Tree Crop Development Authority to make it actively operational so that issues especially relating to price instability can be curbed. The research is organized in seven chapters: introduction of the study, context of the study, literature review, methodology, data analysis and presentation, discussions and finally, conclusions and recommendations respectively.Item The Impact Of Strategic Behaviour Of Smes On E-Commerce Adoption And Customer Responsiveness(University Of Ghana, 2022-07) Newman, F.The purpose of the study was to deepen understanding of the operations strategy of SMEs by examining the extent to which the strategic behaviour of SMEs (using Miles and Snow’s typology) influences their customer responsiveness and adoption of e-commerce. Little empirical findings exist on the relationship between strategic behaviour of firms, customer responsiveness and e-commerce adoption among SMEs, particularly in a developing economy context. To achieve the research purpose, this study employed the quantitative research approach, using a cross sectional study design. Data was gathered from 320 service firms from Information and Communication, Administrative and Support Services and Fashion sub sectors. The collected data was analysed using SPSS and PLS-SEM. The PLS-SEM was used to analyse the relationships between the strategic behaviour of firms, customer responsiveness and e-commerce adoption. Findings from the study indicated that the sampled service SMEs are indifferent about their strategic behaviour options relative to Miles and Snow’s typology. Also, based on the Miles and Snow’s typology, these firms’ differ with regards to e-commerce adoption making them more of defenders than prospectors or analysers or reactors. Finally, the analyser, prospector and defender behaviours have been statistically proven to influence e-commerce adoption leaving out reactor behaviour which statistically, does not have a relationship with e-commerce adoption. With regards to customer responsiveness, only the prospector behaviour has been proven statistically to have a relationship with the construct. Statistically, there is no relationship between the analyser, defender and reactor behaviours and customer responsiveness. Conclusively, this study has advanced knowledge that strategic behaviour (using Miles and Snow typology) can affect e-commerce adoption and customer responsiveness to some extent.Item Regional Sectoral Electricity Consumption Pattern In Northern Ghana: A Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) Approach Analysis(University Of Ghana, 2021-10) Atampugre, E.Electricity consumption is an essential metric for tracking any country's economic development. As a result, knowing the methods and factors that influence this consumption is critical for energy planning and national policy development. This study, therefore, employed the LMDI method to decompose the factors that influence energy consumption into activity effect, intensity effect, and structural effect considering Northern Ghana’s electricity consumption from 2016 to 2020. The results show that the activity effect strongly influences electricity consumption. Besides, the consumption dynamics in the various sectors in the regions follow the same trend as the activity effect is the major driving factor of consumption changes in the non-residential sector. On the other hand, the intensity effect significantly drives consumption changes in the southern part of Ghana. Furthermore, the number of subscribers influences the growing trend in electricity consumption. Therefore, while the study informs policymakers on the factor(s) and the sectors driving electricity consumption changes, it is recommended the creation and awareness of electricity efficiency among households and businesses in Ghana should be heightened and sustained.Item An Evaluation Of Liquidity Risk Management Among Banks: A Case Study Of Barclays Bank Ghana And Standard Chatered Bank(2019-07) Sowah, D.N.AThe effective handling of liquidity risk as pertains in the banking industry has in recent years attracted global attention. This is largely attributable to recent global developments in the financial sector. Liquidity creation is usually regarded the foremost function of the bank, as it guarantees the sustainability of any bank. It is also their source of vulnerability and a reason why they need fortification from liquidity crises. The licences of some indigenous banks in Ghana were recently revoked after they were unable to improve upon their capital adequacy and insolvency challenges. Against this background, this study sought to undertake an evaluation of two foreign owned banks in the country to determine their soundness in relation to liquidity risk management. The study adopted the quantitative method approach and collected primary data through a questionnaire. Data obtained from published statements of financial standing of the banks, covering 2013-2017 were also gathered for financial ratio analysis. Financial analysis and techniques including financial ratios were used to evaluate the past financial statements of the two banks for the period under consideration. The findings indicated that both banks had a high composition of corporate deposit (70%) as against retail deposits (30%) but had no issue with deposit concentration as the 20 largest depositors for each bank was less than 10% of total deposits. The study also found both banks, especially Standard Chartered to be exposed to liquidity risk in relation to their liquid assets to demand deposit ratios. The incidence of non-performing loans was also found to be a challenge to liquidity of the banks. The study concluded that both Banks had good liquidity positions and adequate liquidity management systems. It was recommended that each bank should balance its credit activities (loans) with the maintenance of adequate liquid assets.Item Impact of Strategic Information System Planning (SIPS) on SMES in a Developing Country – The Case Study Of Northern Ghana(University of Ghana, 2022-08) Alhassan, S.The importance of information systems (IS) or information technology (IT) in supporting business operations is expanding, necessitating effective IS/IT planning. Firms can better link their IS and strategic business goals with effective IS/IT development. As a result of this alignment, firms can achieve competitive benefits from their IT investments. Despite substantial research into strategic information system planning (SISP) techniques in big businesses, work in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is relatively restricted, especially in developing countries. Given the rising relevance of IT to support many aspects of SMEs' operations, this topic warrants additional examination. Despite the specificity of how SISP has been examined by other researchers or scholars in recent years, there is still a scarcity of research in the domain of SISP's influence on SMEs. Moreover, it was revealed that very little research has been conducted in the area of SISP and SMEs, particularly from a Ghanaian perspective. Furthermore, a search for relevant literature from similar studies indicates that the majority of them do not employ any theory, concept, or framework. Due to this, a theory-based study is required in this study; and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) theory was seen as the most suitable one to perform this research in order to fill the gap in the literature. The purpose of this research is to see how advantageous SISP is for small businesses, as well as the issues that come with its use and implementation. The study is based on critical realism principles and adopts a qualitative methodological technique to gather the experiences of small business actors. Fifteen business operators from three different SMEs were interviewed for the study.