Journal of Business and Enterprise Development (JOBED)

Economic valuation of consumers’ preferences for bush yam attributes: Implications for breeding commercial crop in Ghana

Samuel Kwesi Ndzebah Dadzie — 2022-06-01

Bush yam has been underutilized and underrated for long due to its undesirable attributes or traits, hence the commercial and food security potentials of the crop have been downgraded and unexploited. This paper, therefore, explored the Ghanaian bush yam consumers’ decisionmaking behaviour towards the crop’s cultivar selection and the values they place on its diverse attributes. With the aim of examining consumers’ preference and willingness to pay for bush yam, we designed a choice experiment which was implemented through a cross-sectional survey, involving 390 bush yam consumers in the Western-North, Eastern and Central Cocoa Regions of Ghana. We employed Conditional logit to model consumers’ preference behaviour for bush yam attributes from the choice experiment and, subsequently, computed their willingness-to-pay for each attribute, following the Lancaster consumer theory, using the ratios of specific product attributes and cost parameter. Our estimates of consumers’ preferences for bush yam attribute revealed a highly significant preference for bigger tuber size, no colour change and sweet taste attributes. Age, education, marital status, and years of consumption were found to have influenced consumers’ preferences for bush yam attributes. Furthermore, we found that bush yam consumers are willing to pay extra price value for improvement in tuber size, colour change and taste to meet their indicated preferences. We, therefore, recommend that, for breeding programmes to be more effective and sustainable towards developing a commercial cultivar, breeding institutions and policy makers should focus on the preferred attributes as indicated by consumers for a successful future commercialization of bush yam in the country

Elements of Working Conditions and Retention of Course Tutors in Distance Education in Ghana

Moses Segbenya — 2022-06-01

This study examined the relationship between elements of working conditions and retention of course tutors facilitating distance academic programmes in Ghana. The descriptive cross-sectional survey design from the quantitative approach was adopted for the study. A sample of 612 tutors was drawn with the help of simple random and stratified sampling techniques from a study population of 2,700 from two public universities in Ghana—the University of Cape Coast and the University of Education, Winneba. The study adopted the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling technique for the analysis of the results. It was found that elements of working conditions, such as compensation, workload and welfare, had a statistically and significant relationship with retention of course tutors. In conclusion, compensation, workload and welfare influence retention of part-time academic staff in distance education programmes in Ghana. Therefore, it was recommended that the management of the two universities should introduce attractive compensation and welfare packages for their course tutors facilitating their distance education programmes. It was also suggested that tutors assist in the enrolment drive for students, since more students lead to better working conditions through the workload as an element of working conditions.

Effect Of Job-Related Stress on Employee Performance at Selected Banks in Ghana

Moses Segbenya — 2022-06-15

This study investigated the effect of job-related stress on employee performance in the banking sector. The study adopted a cross-sectional study design. The population of the study was 320 employees from 7 selected banks with a sample size of 160 respondents. Simple random sampling was used in selecting the respondents for the study. The data was solicited using closed-ended questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to find out the level of stress and work-related stressors of participants. An inferential statistic of regression was used to analyse the effect of job stress on performance. The study found a high level of job-related stress among employees in the banking sector. Job stress was found to have a significant effect on employee performance at the selected banks. The study also established that stress management on the part of the management of the selected banks was low, which contributed to the high level of the negative effect of job-related stress on employee performance at the banks. It was recommended that the management of the banks should conduct a stress audit to identify the level of stress of its staff and put measures to alleviate or curtail them.

Analysis of Socio-Demographics of Necessity-driven Entrepreneurs in Selected Cities in Ghana

Daniel Agyapong — 2022-06-01

The study analysed the dynamics of necessity-driven entrepreneurs, using the sociological approach to start-ups. The paper explored the risk appetite and the entrepreneurial potential of those involved in the street hawking business. Utilising the sequential transformative design, structured interviews were used to collect data from 306 street hawkers in Accra, Kumasi, and Cape Coast. Subsequently, 25 follow-up interviews were conducted, using a structured interview guide. Data were collected over ten months due to the complex nature of the respondents of the study. Descriptive statistics and texts were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that the majority of the respondents had only basic education or no formal education. Furthermore, the respondents were mostly women and young people without formal jobs nor any means of livelihood. The study has implications for policy on education, especially basic and adult education, as several of the respondents barely have basic education. There needs to be a social intervention programme to equip the street hawkers with the right employable skills to help develop their skills and promote the growth of their businesses. The paper also makes a case for nurturing their skills as a means of poverty alleviation.

Is the selection of Ghanaian policy makers based on socio-cultural and ethnic reasonings relevant in today’s politics? Evidence from the Cape Coast Metropolis in Ghana

D.O Akuffo — 2022-06-01

This study examines the effect of appraisive attitudes on citizens’ participation behaviour at the sub-national electoral levels in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana. The study was quantitative with cross-sectional explanatory design. The study population was 1145 with a sample size of 291. The SPSS was employed for descriptive analysis and the Smart PLS was employed for structural equation modelling. It was found that all the three dimensions of appraisive attitudes (policy responsiveness, performance and integrity) used in this study have positive effects on citizen participation behaviour in the study area of the Cape Coast Metropolis in Ghana. This means Africans have come of age and the days of choosing Africa policy makers based on socio-cultural and ethnic reasoning appear to be over. Policy makers must, therefore, take into consideration the interests of the citizens and work to improve on their living conditions in order to sustain their political career.