ABSTRACT Oil and gas is an important factor in the economic growth and development of most economies and an integral part of the global economy. Oil producing countries (OPCs) play a substantial part in the ownership, production and marketing of extracted hydrocarbons. This has made oil and gas production and supply decisions at the country level key to operations managers globally. To enhance their oil and gas management capabilities, some countries in the international oil industry have c...
ABSTRACT This study utilizes a nonparametric DEA approach, to assess the energy efficiency of 135 selected countries across the globe during the period of 2000 - 2014 to account for environmental factors in energy efficiency analysis and to analyze the relationship between economic factors and energy efficiency within a two - stage framework. Three kinds of variables are used: input, desirable output, and undesirable output. The inputs are labor, capital, and energy consumption. The undesira...
ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to assess the efficiency and productivity change of three groups of cooperative credit unions (CCUs) in Ghana using a DEA metafrontier and the metafrontier Malmquist productivity index (MMPI) framework. The framework helps to decompose the technical efficiency change and technical change components in the standard Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) into a pure technical catch-up (PTCU) and frontier catch-up (FCU) in order to account for the catch-up effect. A...
ABSTRACT Globalization presents both opportunities to economies in the form of new market as well as threat of competition from foreign entrants due to trade liberalization. In addition to globalization are changing need of the customer and technological advancement. This situation is adversely affected by local businesses in countries in Africa including Ghana. It is also evident that about 90% of businesses in Ghana are SMEs. Therefore, the operations of SMEs are affected by these new trend...
ABSTRACT The ―total quality‖ concept is a general philosophy of management which includes all key requirements that contribute not only to customer-perceived quality, but also to customer satisfaction. The International organization for standardization defined Total Quality Management (TQM) as coordinated activities aimed at the control and direction of the organization towards quality. This has driven most organizations to provide products or services which consistently meet or exceed cu...
ABSTRACT The signing of the European partnership agreement (EPA) between the ECOWAS economies and the European Union in April 2014 has facilitated trade agreement between the two economies. This coupled with increasing globalization and technology has contributed to the adoption and implementation of total quality management (TQM) by most organizations in West Africa to provide products which are consistent with the needs and expectations of all stakeholders and to enhance competitive advanta...
ABSTRACT The Ghanaian electric power system, like most Sub-Saharan African countries, is bedevilled with the problem of inadequate generation of electric power amidst growing demand for electricity. Governments over the years have tried to tackle the issue of inadequate generation capacity and supply of electricity in Ghana to meet the increasing demand for electric power. Yet electricity supply in Ghana remains erratic and inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to develop a long-term (...
ABSTRACT Information Technology (IT) plays a key role in health care management. Over the years, numerous IT artifacts have been introduced to improve health care delivery and access. These artifacts are often largely under the control of health professionals with little or no patient involvement. Recently however, there is a growing phenomenon of user-controlled health IT artifacts that give direct power and control to its users. One of such health IT artifacts are so-called infomediaries wh...
ABSTRACT The role of the banking sector in promoting economic growth cannot be underestimated. In view of this, the assessment of the performance of the banking industry is very important. Increasingly, a number of methods have been used to effectively account for the total factor productivity of banks. This study employed the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) cost Malmquist productivity analysis to assess the productivity of banks in Ghana. This is a technique that has strong roots in optimiza...
ABSTRACT In today's complex healthcare environment, a focus on quality is of particular importance. Hospitals are increasingly realizing the need to focus on improved efficiency as a means of eliminating poor quality of services, and as well, improve on their competitive position. Within any industry, organizations must strive to continuously improve on their efficiency while dealing with the complex and dynamic business environment. Reports have shown that efficiency levels in the healthcare...
ABSTRACT Air transportation plays a vital role in the socio-economic life of many people especially in the developing countries. The provision of air transport services in Ghana is done by AWA and STARBOW airline transport companies. This study set out to investigate customer satisfaction in the local airline industry using a total quality management approach. Using the customer satisfaction index, the study investigates customer satisfaction of the two airlines using the five dimensions of...
ABSTRACT The participation of countries in the international oil industry in the form of national oil companies started in 1914 and has continued to this date. Although their role in market systems has been seen in literature to be a major cause of inefficiency, active state participation does not seem to be waning. This is primarily because of state dependence on oil products, growth of major state-owned oil companies and the belief that state control over its resources is a major sign of na...
ABSTRACT Globalisation and intense competition have compelled organisations to think of better ways to improve their performance and still remain competitive. It is therefore necessary to ensure proper management of the supply chain due to increasing costs and depleting resources. The oil industry involves complexities in its operations and hence a proper management of its supply chain is appropriate to ensure that customers are duly satisfied. The focus of this study is to investigate...