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Book part
Publication date: 7 April 2015

Bad Gögging is a health spa resort in Bavaria with a long tradition of sulfur springs. Due to reforms in the health care system, the destination has experienced a structural…

Abstract

Bad Gögging is a health spa resort in Bavaria with a long tradition of sulfur springs. Due to reforms in the health care system, the destination has experienced a structural crisis, particularly noticeable in the 1980s. The establishment of new resorts under the corporate model in the 1990s led to a change in the destination’s life cycle. The case study of Bad Gögging illustrates challenges for the governance of a destination where both the community model and corporate model coexist at a local level. This historical health spa town displays characteristics of both models and typical diverging control mechanisms and interests of a small-scale destination. The case study also shows how both organizational and management approaches affect destination governance and stakeholder relations.

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Contemporary Destination Governance: A Case Study Approach
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-113-7

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Expert briefing
Publication date: 3 June 2021

This comes amid continued piracy and attacks against vessels, the apparent ineffectiveness of current operational mechanisms and frustration and mutual mistrust between local…

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Article
Publication date: 13 August 2021

Senanu Kwasi Kutor, Emmanuel Kyeremeh, Bernard Owusu, Daniel Amoak and Temitope Oluwaseyi Ishola

This paper examines how one group of frontline health workers (nurses) amid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic perceive the Government of Ghana (GOG)'s decision to ease…

251

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines how one group of frontline health workers (nurses) amid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic perceive the Government of Ghana (GOG)'s decision to ease the lockdown restrictions when cases were increasing. This paper contributes to the literature on Igor Grossman's concept of wise reasoning and its applicability to COVID-19 management decision-making by political leaders.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employed an exploratory qualitative design. The decision to adopt qualitative method is linked to the paucity of research on wise reasoning, political leadership and COVID-19. The paper draws on qualitative online survey with 42 nurses located in Accra Metropolis, Ghana.

Findings

The paper demonstrates that a confluence of research participants perceived the government's act of easing the lockdown restrictions to be in bad faith on account of (1) nonrecognition of different perspectives and viewpoints from stakeholders and interest groups; (2) rising number of cases which naturally make the decision to lift the restriction unwise; (3) concerns about the prioritization of peripheral issues over citizens' health and (4) concerns about limited and robust health facilities and their implications.

Research limitations/implications

The key claims must be assessed against the limitations of the study. First, the study is an exploratory study and, therefore, not intended for a generalization purpose. Second, the research participants are highly educated, and the responses in this study are skewed toward them.

Originality/value

The paper is novel in seeking to explore wise reasoning and political leadership during a global pandemic such as COVID-19. This exploratory study demonstrates that COVID-19, though devastating and causing havoc, presents an opportunity to test Igor Grossmann's wise reasoning framework about decision-making by political leaders. This extends the literature on wise reasoning beyond the discipline of psychology (the fact that all the authors are geographers) and Global North to Global South since the data for this study are gathered in Ghana.

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International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

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Article
Publication date: 25 July 2023

Smith Oduro-Marfo

The proliferation of surveillance-enhancing laws, policies and technologies across African countries deepens the risk of privacy rights breaches, as well as the risks of adverse…

112

Abstract

Purpose

The proliferation of surveillance-enhancing laws, policies and technologies across African countries deepens the risk of privacy rights breaches, as well as the risks of adverse profiling and social sorting. There is a heightened need for dedicated advocacy and activism to consistently demand accountability and transparency from African states, governments and their allies regarding surveillance. The purpose of this paper is to understand the issue frames that accompany anti-surveillance and privacy advocacy in Ghana and the related implications.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative and interpretivist approach, the author focuses on three different surveillance-oriented incidents/programs in Ghana and analyzes the frames underpinning the related advocacy and narratives of various non-state actors.

Findings

Privacy and anti-surveillance advocacy in Ghana tends to be less framed in the context of privacy rights and is more driven by concerns about corruption and value for money. Such pecuniary emphasis is rational per issue salience calculations as it elevates principles of economic probity, transparency and accountability and pursues a high public shock value and resonance.

Practical implications

Economics-centered critiques of surveillance could be counterproductive as they create a low bar for surveillance promoters and sustains a culture of permissible statist intrusions into citizens’ lives once economic virtues are satisfied.

Originality/value

While anti-surveillance and privacy advocacy is budding across African countries, little is known about its nature, frames and modus compared to such advocacy in European and North American settings. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is likely the first paper or one of the first dedicated fully to anti-surveillance and advocacy in Africa.

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Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-996X

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Article
Publication date: 19 April 2013

Paul Alhassan Issahaku and Sheila Neysmith

The purpose of this paper is to discuss trends in demographic ageing in West Africa and asks the question of what policy challenges are posed by the increasing presence of older…

1567

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss trends in demographic ageing in West Africa and asks the question of what policy challenges are posed by the increasing presence of older persons in the subregion. We explore the unique dimensions of population ageing in the subregion, including its rural‐urban and gendered distributions, the occupational history of older persons, among others with the view to identifying the health, housing, and income security implications of ageing. The paper discovers and reviews what policy initiatives are being pursued in respect of older persons and suggests ways for their improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on the existing literature on ageing and policy in both published and grey sources, including national and international policy documents. The discussion looks at policy responses in Ghana as a case example for the West African context. Policy information pertaining to Ghana is interpreted in light of the first author's personal familiarity with the context as a national of that country. The age of adults in this context is hard to determine due to low birth registration. In this paper older persons are defined as those 60 plus in chronological years, the age of retirement in Ghana.

Findings

It is established that older persons are concentrated in the rural areas of West Africa and a higher proportion of this demographic group is female. Further, the majority of older persons in West Africa has low formal literacy, is in the informal economy, and has no income security in old age. Yet, older persons continue to play the significant role of grandparenting. This examination of Ghana's policy on ageing revealed inadequacies which need to be addressed. A key recommendation is a policy of universal non‐means‐tested old age security to provide basic income for persons aged 60 years and above.

Originality/value

A recommended policy of universal non‐means‐tested old age security to provide basic income for persons aged 60 years and above in Ghana is the original contribution of this paper.

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Book part
Publication date: 19 December 2017

Christine L. Williams

Professional careers have become more precarious in recent decades. Corporations today engage in downsizing even during profitable times, a practice that impacts workers…

Abstract

Professional careers have become more precarious in recent decades. Corporations today engage in downsizing even during profitable times, a practice that impacts workers throughout the labor force, including those with advanced degrees. Using a case study of women geoscientists in the oil and gas industry, I investigate how the increasing precariousness of professional careers reinforces gender inequality. The compressed cycle of booms and busts in the oil and gas industry permits an investigation into how women fare in precarious professional jobs. Extending gendered organization theory, I argue that three mechanisms are built into professional careers today that enhance women’s vulnerability to layoffs: teamwork, career maps, and networking. I illustrate how these mechanisms disadvantage women with in-depth portraits of three geoscientists who lost their jobs during the recent downturn in oil prices. Their personal narratives, collected over a 3-year period of boom and bust, reveal how a particular multinational corporation is structured in ways that favor the white men who dominate their industry. The rhetoric of diversity obscures the workings of gendered organizations during good times, but when times get tough, management’s decisions about whom to lay off belies the routine practices the reproduce men’s advantages within the industry.

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Precarious Work
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-288-8

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Article
Publication date: 2 January 2020

Emmanuel Coleman, Isaac Kwesi Nooni, Samuel Korenteng Fianko, Linka Dadzie, Ebenezer Nickson Neequaye, Jasmine Owusu-Agyemang and Edna Obuo Ansa-Asare

This study aims to investigate the attainment of quality in Government of Ghana’s (GoG) infrastructural projects through effective contract management and especially, relating to…

701

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the attainment of quality in Government of Ghana’s (GoG) infrastructural projects through effective contract management and especially, relating to qualification, competence and experience of supply chain stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey questionnaire and field observations were used to collect primary data from staff of the education ministry and construction professionals. Documentary analyses of contract documents were also undertaken.

Findings

The results show that executing agencies’ failure to apply appropriate contract management processes was linked to the gap between stakeholders’ knowledge and actual practice. This was confirmed by Spearman’s rho tests of correlation between overall mean ranks given by professionals and non-professionals, which indicated strong agreement between those groups. Factors such as contractors’ engagement of unqualified supervisory staff, lack of proper projects monitoring and evaluation by executing agencies mainly contribute to the poor quality of work.

Research limitations/implications

Investigations were limited to the Funds and Procurement Management Unit of the Ministry of Education, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and local contractors. Nonetheless, the methodology used could be used in future studies to analyse the socio-economic implications on the quality of education infrastructure.

Practical implications

Construction is booming in Ghana but the capacity to improve the work quality through effective contract management is limited. However, with the effort of stakeholder and statutory bodies’ support in capacity building initiatives, GoG projects could offer some novel solutions to improve quality of work.

Social implications

Construction industry professionals and students’ knowledge and perception on construction industry and contract management is significantly improved.

Originality/value

This study provides information on respondents’ knowledge on contract management process, which, if not properly understood, can lead to poor quality of work and loss of money.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2011

Louis Dodson and Dianna A. DaSilva

The main thesis of this paper is that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) hold tremendous opportunities for enhancing the quality and coverage of public goods in…

243

Abstract

The main thesis of this paper is that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) hold tremendous opportunities for enhancing the quality and coverage of public goods in developing countries. Within this context, the paper examines, through a SWOT analysis, the opportunity for using Computer‐Assisted Instruction (CAI) to enhance the quality and coverage of education delivery in Guy ana at the General Secondary School (GSS) level. Its main conclusion in this regard, is that through the use of CAI, the negative effects which the shortages of trained teachers have on the quality of education delivery at the GSS level, can be reduced if not eliminated. Noteworthy, CAI can be used to support Conventional Teacher‐Centered Instruction (CTCI). In addition, it can serve to reduce urban‐rural inequal ity in terms of access to quality secondary education. The paper considers, however, that these opportunities must be predicated on an understanding of the character istic weaknesses of the education system and the related possible threats to effective application of ICT to education delivery. Of import are the informal dynamics that inter‐play in the use of certain ICT in schools, namely computers; the risk of erosion of local educational materials and tools for learning given current indigenous capacity weaknesses and the increased marketability of trained teachers for the foreign market where the application of ICT to learning occurs on a higher level. However, this paper suggests that with prudent policy approaches, the weaknesses can be overcome, the threats can be minimised and therefore the opportunities can be accomplished. In this regard, this paper concludes with policy recommendations.

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Book part
Publication date: 3 August 2017

Matt Bower

This chapter provides an overview of two generally applicable frameworks relating to the use of technology-enhanced learning – ‘affordances’ and multimedia learning effects…

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of two generally applicable frameworks relating to the use of technology-enhanced learning – ‘affordances’ and multimedia learning effects. First, the concept of ‘affordances’ as action potentials of technologies is identified as a way to think through technology-enhanced learning design possibilities, so as to help make technology selection decisions. Second, multimedia learning effects including the multimedia effect, the modality effect, the redundancy effect, the split-attention effect, and the personalization effect are presented as a scientific basis for understanding how to create cognitively effective learning experiences using text, images, sound, and video. Both affordances and multimedia learning effects are characterized as ongoing areas of research that are somewhat related, with the successful utilization of each depending on critical application by the designer.

Details

Design of Technology-Enhanced Learning
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-183-4

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Article
Publication date: 8 June 2015

Samuel Adomako, Albert Danso and Ernest Ampadu

Previous scholarly studies on institutions tend to create a sombre picture of institutions by ignoring to examine the antecedents of formal and informal institutions. The purpose…

780

Abstract

Purpose

Previous scholarly studies on institutions tend to create a sombre picture of institutions by ignoring to examine the antecedents of formal and informal institutions. The purpose of this paper is to overcome this limitation by proposing a conceptual framework of the antecedents of formal and informal institutions of entrepreneurial climate in a less developed market setting.

Design/methodology/approach

This study builds on a comprehensive survey of the literature on institutions by using a synthesis thematic methodology to identified key scholarly studies which have been published in previous theoretical and empirical studies and proposes a conceptual framework of the role of formal and informal institutions in defining entrepreneurial climate in a developing economy’s context.

Findings

The findings of the paper suggest that political factors and economic factors define formal institutions whilst socio-cultural factors define informal institutions. These factors rooted in political, economic and socio-cultural factors have a major influence on the rate and nature of entrepreneurial activity in a developing country setting.

Practical implications

This paper contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship and intuitional theory by focusing on the antecedents of formal and informal institutional factors that shape entrepreneurial climate in Ghana.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review that explores the nature of entrepreneurial climate and proposes a conceptual framework of the role of formal and informal institutions in defining entrepreneurial climate in Ghana.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 42 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

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