Kwasi Dartey-Baah

The effect of sponsorship on marketing communication performance: A case study of Airtel Ghana

The purpose of this study is to have a clear understanding of how sponsorship contributes positively to marketing communications performance. The methodology is based on social survey technique, which examines opinions, behaviors, and perceptions by asking people questions. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data to ensure a structured approach. An increase in brand awareness, brand preferences, brand recall, projecting the company’s image and above all goodwill, can lead to increased sales, and consequently increase organizational value, indicating that sponsorship contributes positively to marketing communication performance. Due to the limited resources, future research needs to examine sales as an additional factor to measure the effect of sponsorship on marketing communication performance to give a better view of the effect of sponsorship. For firms, the study indicates that sponsorship contributes positively to marketing communication performance and consequently increase organizational value.

Resilient leadership: a transformational-transactional leadership mix

Purpose – This paper aims to bring to bear the resemblance between the current resilient leadership theory and the transformational–transactional leadership theories. It does this with the view of re-focusing discussions of leadership on an effective mix of the transformational–transactional leadership theories to achieve the desired organisational performance, rather than a new look at leadership from the resilient leadership perspective – which is quite the same. Design/methodology/approach – It achieves this purpose by reviewing literature on the three leadership styles; and further goes on to draw a conceptual link among them to buttress the point that resilient leadership is a repetition of the ideas underlying the two already existing theories – transformational and transactional. Findings – A review of the three leadership theories in literature showed that qualities such as strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, adaptation/change orientation, learning, performance orientation and collective l...

CSR‐OHS: Expert views, analysis and commentary on the two potent contrivances towards achieving MDGs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to trace the path to achieving the millennium development goals (MDG) in developing countries through the lens of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and organisation health and safety (OHS). Design/methodology/approach – The paper employed discourse analysis of views of participants of the workshop on CSR‐OHS project in Accra, funded by the British Councils Development Partnership in Higher Education (DelPHE). The analysis was shaped by the various theorizations and conceptualisations of CSR and OHS in developed and developing countries, in order to establish any link between CSR‐OHS and the MDG. Findings – The paper established some linkage between CSR, OHS and the MDG. Although the paper observed divergence in practice between the two concepts of CSR and OHS, Ghanaians viewed OHS as a key competing dimension of CSR. Problem areas were identified with respect to OHS implementation and regulations and standardization proposed for its improvement. The paper calls for the provision of effective and efficient OHS services and the introduction of OHS courses in the curricula of higher educational institutions as a national strategy. Originality/value – The paper demonstrates the relevance of OHS in the CSR concept as a tool for achieving the MDGs.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Ghana: A Sectoral Analysis

CSR as the strategic decision of an organisation to voluntary act upon the social factors that have the potential of militating against the fulfilment of corporate goals is a fast evolving concept in Ghana, led by large scale multinational companies. The concept has been “bastardised” in the country with various sectors of the economy having a different interpretation to it. It is common to read daily in the news print various activities which are classified as part of the social responsibilities of various organisations. The lack of uniformity in the definition/description of the concept is worrying and therefore calls for a baseline understanding of the concept as practiced by different sectors of the Ghanaian economy. This work therefore adopts a sectoral approach to the classification and understanding of the concept. A documentation review, specifically, a thematic analysis of various newspaper reports, website information on CSR undertakings of companies and previous literature of CSR activities undertaken by various organisations from 2007 to 2015 formed the framework and methodological approach for the study. The various organisations were classified based on their main operations and based on the CSR activities undertaken. Notable amongst the findings were the following; Organisations in the mining industry were more into community relations, curative and preventive health issues and environmental protection activities. The telecommunication sector was into health related activities, education and infrastructure development. The banks were into donating to the underprivileged and offering scholarships to needy but brilliant students and also involved in refurbishing school buildings and financing adult literacy programmes. The manufacturing sector on the other hand support education and health related activities and sometimes lend extension services to producers of their raw materials. The CSR activities of the agriculture sector are geared towards the betterment of the lives of farmers who supply produce to them and the development of farming communities in which they operate. For religious bodies’ especially Christians and Muslims, the concept of CSR has been one of charity. This is because of the belief that God blesses those who give especially to the needy and the underprivileged such as orphans, the sick and the poor. Generally in Ghana, the concept has tended to focus on externalities to the neglect of the internal issues that bother on employee well-being.

Emerging “Dutch disease” in emerging oil economy: Ghana’s perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the Ghanaian economy within the context of its macro‐economic indicators and the performance of the agricultural sector against the backdrop of the exogenous economic explanation of the resource curse. This is aimed at equipping policy makers with the tools needed in identifying symptoms of the Dutch disease as it transitions from an agrarian to an oil economy.Design/methodology/approach – This is a research paper, employing quantitative and qualitative data of the macro‐economic indicators in the last ten years (2000‐2010) and policy initiatives since the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Ghana. Furthermore, it also examines theoretical perspectives of the Dutch disease as frames of analysis to gauge the existence of any symptoms of the latter.Findings – The paper questions a previous World Bank (2009) report classifying the Ghanaian economy as already showing signs of the Dutch disease. The paper suggests that the macro‐economic indicators sho...

Leader Integrity and Employee Outcomes: Where Do They Collide?

This study samples 270 employees from Ghana’s Civil Service to examine their perception of their leaders and the relative influence this leadership attribute has on their citizenship and unproductive behaviours at the workplace. The study finds that leader integrity is strongly related to the OCB of followers but has no significant relationship with their deviant behaviours. The study thus recommends that managers be mindful to demonstrate integrity in the search for positive employee outcomes. This study is the first to examine the relationship between these variables in an African context.

Goal integration through transformational leadership: A panacea to Ghana’s public sector corruption menace

Purpose The purpose of this study was to present a conceptual analysis of how the issue of corruption in Ghana’s public sector can be curbed through an integration of individual (public sector worker) and organisational goals (the public sector itself). It further sought to explain this possibility by focusing on a goal integration process through transformational leadership. Design/methodology/approach To meet this end, the study conducted a review of literature on goal, goal-setting, corruption, employee motivation and transformational leadership to develop a conceptual framework to explain this link between goal integration through transformational leadership and corruption reduction. Findings Findings from this study showed that dissatisfaction with work (especially pay) amongst Ghana’s public sector workers is a major factor necessitating the emergence of corruption in the country. It is also shown in the study that through the transformational leadership approach, individual worker concerns such as concerns with pay (a facet of job satisfaction) when treated as an institutional concern and appropriately dealt with could curb corruption in the public sector. Research limitations/implications Based on these findings, the study recommends that leaders in Ghana’s public sector (both political and administrative) must exhibit qualities of transformational leaders to foster individual and organisational growth as a means to curb corruption in the sector. The study also recommends that training programmes be organised for leaders to equip them with the needed knowledge and practice of transformational leadership. Furthermore, the study recommends that further studies could be done by other researchers on the training programmes that could be useful in equipping these leaders, as well as how and when to organise these programmes. Originality/value The study is novel in that it demonstrates the relevance of integrating individual and organisational goals through the application of the transformational leadership concept as a tool for reducing corruption in Ghana’s public sector.

“Carrot and stick” leadership style: Can it predict employees’ job satisfaction in a contemporary business organisation?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the relevance of “carrot and stick” (transactional) leadership style in predicting employees’ job satisfaction in a modern business organization. Design/methodology/approach - The study was cross-sectional in nature and made use of structured questionnaire to collect data. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the respondents. In total, 215 questionnaires were returned by respondents out of the 220 administered. Taylor and Bowers (1974) overall job satisfaction questionnaire and Bass and Avolio (2004) multifactor leadership questionnaire, were used to measure job satisfaction ( Findings - Results indicated significant and positive relationship between managers transactional leadership style and employees overall job satisfaction ( Originality/value - This study adds to research that transactional leadership is broadly ideal for employees of manufacturing firms in Ghana where tasks are routine, objectives are clearly stated and work outputs can easily be measured.

Turning potential collision into cooperation in Ghana’s oil industry

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the potential impact of the presence of oil resource on the Ghanaian society. Specifically, the paper investigates the relationship between key stakeholders in the oil sector, how stakeholder interactions create the potential for collision and advances measures aimed at turning possible collision into cooperation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a literature review-based approach, drawing on existing literature in a number of areas including corporate social responsibility (CSR), oil and gas industry in Ghana and Nigeria as well as communication. Findings – The paper advances that expectations of stakeholders as regards oil being a panacea to all their problems must be managed to avoid possible collision. Additionally, Ghana’s oil industry must identify and engage all stakeholders in planning suitable and sustainable CSR programmes for economic development, thus fostering a friendly environment for oil companies. Transparency and accountability are also ne...

Rent-seeking resource and institutional challenges in Ghana’s nascent oil economy

Purpose – The paper aims to assess the institutional readiness of Ghana prior to and after the production of her first oil. The paper also assesses the influence of politics in directing the appropriate use of the oil rents in facilitating the developmental needs of the country. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a literature review of the main theories regarding national politics and institutional policies in explaining the economic demise of a country due to a natural resource find. It also uses the natural resource find in Norway as a case study, drawing lessons from the effectiveness of Norway’s institutional policies in harnessing maximum benefits from their oil find and how developing nations such as Ghana can do same. Findings – The paper establishes that Ghana’s institutional architecture as regards the production of oil and gas is fraught with inadequacies on all fronts as regards regulations, regulators and the needed logistics. Additionally, the paper also highlights the role of Ghana...