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The study aims to investigate the factors influencing consumer buying behaviour towards online shopping in Ghana.

A web survey was employed to test the concept mode. Perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived usefulness (PU), perceived hedonic value (PHV) and perceived trust (PT) served as the independent variables, while consumer online buying behaviour (ConOBB) served as the dependent variable. The convenience sampling method was adopted to solicit data from 437 respondents. SPSS 26 and STATA 17 were the analytical tools used for the study. The analysis of the data includes a structural equation model (SEM) to assess the measurement and the influence of PEOU, PU, PHV and PT on ConOBB.

The study revealed that PEOU (Beta = 0.262), PU (Beta = 0.216), PHV (Beta = 0.354) and PT (Beta = 0.630) all had a positive relationship with ConOBB. The study also established that there are significant relationships between the factors (PEOU, PU, PHV and PT) and ConOBB in Ghana.

The study focuses on Ghanaian consumers and emphasises mainly online shopping factors, which are PEOU, PU, PHV and PT. E-commerce businesses face fierce competition due to the increased availability of websites and other online platforms. To attract potential customers, companies must streamline processes, ensure user-friendliness and create a user-friendly experience.

The uptake of online shopping in Ghana is relatively slow compared with other countries, particularly in Africa. Online shoppers and service providers in Ghana are keen to sustain the industry. However, there is currently a scarcity of empirical studies in Ghana that focus on specific factors that influence consumer online buying behaviour. This study offers a new model that offers novel insights into the specific factors that aid in consumer online shopping behaviour in Ghana. The measuring instrument, which was found to be reliable and valid, also serves as an added value that this study offers. Both the model and measuring instrument can assist managers offering online shopping opportunities to be able to measure and formulate strategies that would enhance consumer online shopping experiences. By adding perceived hedonic value and trust to the model, this study offers a unique extension of the technology acceptance model. Thus, the findings add to the body of knowledge in the field of online shopping, particularly in the context of Ghana.

Globally, guesthouses provide an important source of accommodation to visitors and tourists. Surprisingly, research into this sector is rather sparse. The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensions of experience value, determine guests’ perceptions of experience value, analyse the influences of various profile variables on experience value, and investigate the relationship between experience value, satisfaction, and customer behavioural intentions regarding guesthouses in Ghana.

A quantitative research design was followed. A total of 541 useable questionnaires were received from 650 guests conveniently selected from 51 guesthouses in Ghana. The guesthouses were selected by means of stratified random sampling.

The results of the study reveal that atmospherics, enjoyment, entertainment, escape, efficiency, excellence and economic value measure guests’ perceptions of experience value. Atmospherics and economic value attracted the highest positive rating while escape had the most negative rating. In addition, the study showed that there is a strong positive relationship between experience value, satisfaction and behavioural intention.

The first limitation relates to the sample. Only the major city from each of four regions was selected for the study. These regions include Accra, Koforidua, Cape Coast and Kumasi. Future research should investigate perceived value provided by guesthouses in the remaining six regions of the country in the quest to generalise the findings. Lastly, the study derived the experience value dimensions from the literature and verified these. While this is not regarded as a limitation, future research could investigate further dimensions of experience value such as novelty, nostalgia and social interaction.

Guesthouse managers could use the outcome of this study as a form of differentiation. Second, managers should take note of the positive relationships between experience value, satisfaction and respondents’ intentions to return to the guesthouse and tell others about their experiences (behavioural intentions). This can strengthen the organisation’s competitive position within the accommodation industry. Finally, the research resulted in a fairly simple instrument guesthouse managers can use to assess their guests’ perceptions of value provided by the guesthouse. It is recommended that guesthouse managers measure guests’ perceptions of value on a regular basis.

Theoretical implications and recommendations following the empirical findings and recommendations are provided. First, defining the concept of value is complex. While the underlying foundation of value as benefits relative to sacrifices (Zeithaml, 1988) remains relevant, affective forms of value should also be considered. This suggests that organisations that focus only on providing benefits may be at a competitive disadvantage. Second, experience value is multidimensional. Seven dimensions, namely atmospherics, enjoyment, entertainment, escape, efficiency, excellence and economic value were shown to contribute to the guesthouse experience. These included emotional factors in addition to the conventional functional factors.

This paper aims to assess the rate and land category contributing to the changes in seven land-uses in the Kintampo North Municipality of Ghana and the effect of the decisions of land users on future landscapes.

LANDSAT images were classified to generate land use/cover maps to detect changes that had occurred between 1986 and 2014. In total, 120 farmers were also interviewed to determine their perceptions on land use changes. Interval, category and transition levels of changes were determined. Savanna woodland, settlement and forest were mostly converted to farmland in both intervals (1986-2001 and 2001-2014).

Results showed that rock outcrop, plantation, cropland and savanna woodland increased at an annual rate of 13.86, 1.57, 0.82 and 0.33 per cent, respectively, whilst forest, settlement and water body decreased at 4.90, 1.84 and 1.17 per cent annual rate of change, respectively. Approximately, 74 per cent of farmers will not change land use in the future, while 84.2 per cent plan to increase farm sizes.

The study shows that more land cover will be targeted for conversion as farmers expand their farmlands. There is the need for strict implementation of appropriate land use/cover policies to sustain food production in the region in this era of changing climate and population increase.

This research assessed the land use changes in the Kintampo North Municipality and its impacts on agriculture and carbon stocks release via land use changes. It identified how the decisions of the local farmers on land management will affect future landscape.

Africa's diverse geographic regions are replete with indigenous business knowledge and practices embedded in the traditions, values and culture of the people. Many of these practices have been explored in the previous chapters of this book. This final chapter provides viable recommendations for adopting and improving Africa's indigenous business practices and methodologies. We expect that these observations and recommendations will support Africa's educators', business actors' and policymakers' efforts to draw from and apply rich insights from indigenous business knowledge and practices. However, beyond this, we hope that international enterprises operating in the continent can learn about the uniquely African business values and incorporate them appropriately into a context that fits. This concluding chapter, therefore, discusses how these objectives may be achieved.

This study aims to assess the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on supply chain performance both directly and indirectly through entrepreneurial competence, as well as the moderating role of local community networking in these relationships, within the context of institutional voids in Ghana.

The study utilized a cross-sectional survey data from 225 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in order to test the hypotheses. The data analysis was conducted using partial least squares structural equation modelling techniques.

The results revealed that entrepreneurial orientation is a significant positive predictor of both entrepreneurial competence and supply chain performance. Similarly, entrepreneurial competence was shown to positively predict supply chain performance, both directly and as a mediator between entrepreneurial orientation and supply chain performance. Local community networking, however, positively moderated the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial competence but not the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and supply chain performance.

This study contributes to literature by looking at the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial competence, local community networking and supply chain performance within the context of an emerging economy with institutional voids. The study shows the importance of an entrepreneurial mindset in developing the necessary skills, competences and abilities needed to survive in the turbulent business environment.

This study examines the gender gap in financial literacy in Ghana.

This study employs primary data and probit models together with the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition strategy.

The authors found that males are generally more financially literate than females are. The results also show that much of the gender gap in financial literacy is explained by differences in coefficients or how literacy is produced and not by differences in the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of men and women. Thus, the gap may be attributable to unobserved behavioural and psychological traits, as well as cultural and social norms regarding gender roles in financial decision-making.

It is evident that further action is needed to bridge the gap between men and women with regards to financial literacy. Effective interventions may include improving women's access to financial information and education, as well as encouraging their participation in household financial decision-making and planning. In particular, less educated women need to be targeted by policy initiatives in this regard.

This study contributes to the scant literature on gender gap in financial literacy in developing countries.

COVID-19 came as a surprise to the global economy and devastated many sectors worldwide, including the construction sector. Small construction firms are believed to be an engine of growth in many developing countries, including Ghana; thus, their survival cannot be trivialized. This study explored the impact of the COVID-19 on the businesses of the small confirms in Ghana.

A qualitative research approach was adopted for this study. Open-ended interview questions were distributed via email to 45 small construction firms (D3K3 and D4K4) purposefully selected. Thematic contents analysis was used to analyze 30 interview questions received.

This study has revealed that the COVID-19 has severely affected small construction firms in Ghana. Small construction firms are struggling in their finances; their cash flow/payments for work done are severely affected; they cannot secure contracts and management site efficiently. Their worker's productivity level has dwindled, which has subsequently escalated their project cost and completion time. These effects identified are significantly affecting the survival of these small construction firms.

The study included small construction operating in the Central, Western and Greater Accra regions of Ghana during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the findings may be applicable to construction sites outside these regions.

The implication is the COVID-19 pandemic hugely impacts the small construction firm's business operations. Therefore, they must be mindful of the new norm (COVID-19) and institute strategies to help them overcome the challenges and sustain their businesses.

The study gives insight into the effects of the COVID-19 on the businesses of small construction firms in Ghana and proposes strategies that they must implement to overcome their challenges and sustain their businesses.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one dark social-media phenomenon in particular has experienced a significant rise: consumer-to-consumer (C2C) conflicts, i.e. consumers who verbally attack each other in response to COVID-19 service failures. The aim of this paper is to uncover the sources of such conflicts and to gain an insight into the corresponding conflict moderation strategies that international brands adopt.

The methodology consists of non-participatory netnographic observations of 13 national, international, and global online brand communities (OBCs) on Facebook. The authors use purposeful sampling to collect relevant data on conflict sources and brand moderation strategies during COVID-19 service failures and a hybrid approach to thematic analysis to derive distinct themes from these data.

The paper identifies five C2C conflict sources: brand attack, brand dissatisfaction, brand skepticism, brand contention and brand defense; these are then classified as having either an individualistic (self-oriented) or collectivistic (other-oriented) orientation. The authors also uncover several moderation strategies: non-engaging, automated, bolstering, asserting (direct, indirect) and informing (factual, empathetic, apologetic), which are broadly categorized into two levels based on their passive vs active approach and authoritative vs cooperative orientation. The paper further highlights that brands adapt their moderation strategies to specific sources of C2C conflicts, thereby producing a range of OBC outcomes.

The study's empirically informed framework comprising sources of undesirable conflicts and brand moderation strategies offers a practical tool that can aid marketing managers in nurturing civil C2C engagement and interactive behaviors in their OBCs. By adopting our framework, brand and marketing practitioners can tailor their communication strategies toward different sources of C2C conflict and minimize their adverse consequences, thus, fostering an overall constructive OBC engagement.

The authors offer a novel framework to international marketing research, consisting of C2C conflict sources and corresponding moderation strategies that take place in response to service failures during the COVID-19 pandemic. These insights, in turn, inform international marketers about new ways of transforming the dark side of OBCs into a source of competitive advantage based on real-world brand practice.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between environmental pressure, green logistics strategy (GLS) and sustainability performance as well as the moderating role of competitive intensity in the relationship between environmental pressure and GLS in the context of the Ghanaian Manufacturing firms.

The study included a thorough review of the literature and an empirical questionnaire-based data collection with responses from 220 participant manufacturing firms in Ghana. The data collected was statistically analysed using the PLS-SEM software.

The findings of the study indicated that environmental pressure positively influences the implementation of GLS. Again, it was revealed that there is a significant relationship between GLS and sustainability performance. Likewise, the study also found that environmental pressure significantly influences sustainability performance. Also, competitive intensity was found to moderate the relationship between environmental pressure and GLS.

This study gives insight into GLS and sustainability performance and also suggested that when managers in manufacturing industries adopt green practices as a result of environmental pressure, sustainability performance will be achieved. The geographic scope of the study area and time constraints were some of the research's limitations.

Although there have been studies carried out on the subject of green logistics, this study is the first of its kind to examine the relationship between environmental pressure, GLS and sustainability performance within the context of developing economies such as Ghana. Also, this study shows how intense competition in the market can moderate the adoption of GLS.