Yes / Despite the burgeoning interests in the environmental strategy, there is a limited understanding of how human resource slack drives sustainable innovation and environmental performance. This paper contributes to filling this gap by examining the effect of human resource slack on sustainable innovation and its impact on environmental performance. Besides, this paper investigates the contingent effects of intangible resource advantage on this relationship. The hypotheses are tested using data from 301 small and medium‐sized enterprises in Ghana. The results suggest that human resource slack positively relates to sustainable innovation and this relationship is moderated by intangible resource advantage. Also, we find that sustainable innovation mediates the relationship between human resource slack and environmental performance. The insights from our paper provide a nuanced understanding of the relationships among human resource lack, sustainable innovation, and environmental performance. Implications for theory and practices are discussed. / University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Yes / This article investigates the impact of environmental collaboration on sustainable innovation and its impact on firm growth. The hypotheses are tested using data from 455 small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. The findings from the study show that environmental collaboration positively relates to sustainable innovation and this relationship is moderated by environmental commitment. The results also show that sustainable innovation is positively associated with SME growth. Finally, the results suggest that sustainable innovation mediates the environmental collaboration‐SME growth relationship. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

Yes / This paper uses insights from the natural resource-based view (NRBV) to examine the conditions under which proactive environmental strategy (PES) drive firm performance. Using data collected from 266 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Ghana, the results suggest that the impact of PES on firm performance is more pronounced in firms that do not purse bottom of the pyramid (BOP) orientation but not significant for firms pursuing the BOP orientation. Besides, the findings show that the influence of PES on firm performance is amplified for firms adopting imitation orientation but not significant for non-imitation oriented firms. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Yes / Despite the growing research on the performance implications of technological and organizational innovation, our understanding of how they impact SMEs’ international performance is limited. Drawing from the dynamic capability and the institutional theories, this study argues that technological and organizational innovation has a synergistic effect on international performance and that this effect is contingent on unique domestic institutional factors. We test this model using structural equation modeling on a sample of 204 internationalized SMEs operating in Ghana. The findings from the analysis show that high levels of organizational and technological innovation jointly improve SMEs’ international performance. In addition, the results show that institutional environment specificity and institutional environment enforceability enhance the complementary effect of organizational and technological innovation on the international performance of SMEs. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Yes / This paper utilizes insights from the knowledge-based view and ambidexterity literature to examine the effects of knowledge integration (KI) on innovation via contextual ambidexterity (CA). The paper also investigates the potential moderating role of human resource (HR) slack on the relationship between KI and CA. Using survey data collected from 245 entrepreneurial firms operating in Ghana, the findings show that KI positively relates to CA, and this relationship is moderated by HR slack. In addition, we observed that CA mediates KI and innovation. The broader theoretical and practical implications of the study are outlined.

Yes / This article examines local non-governmental organizations (LNGOs) approaches to women's empowerment amid crisis and the implications for decolonizing women's empowerment praxis. The article draws on lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic and decolonial critique of development praxis to analyse LNGOs approach to women's empowerment. The study relied on snowballing to select twenty-six LNGOs operating in northern Ghana for in-depth interviews. Our study found that LNGOs deploy local and international frameworks on women's rights and combine these with indigenous knowledge principles and economic empowerment. Yet there are tensions between negotiating culturally appropriate approaches and meeting the interests of philanthro-capitalist donor agencies. The LNGOs are dependent on Western donors for financial resources and have become more vulnerable due to Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath as funding for women's empowerment work continues to dwindle. LNGOs have modified their interventions to address specific needs of beneficiaries arising from the consequences of the crises. This study enriches understandings of the specific vulnerabilities of LNGOs in northern Ghana, resource-scarce and semi-arid settings across the global South. For women's empowerment to achieve meaningful results, especially during and after crisis, activism needs to be centred on indigenous knowledge. This is central to building the resilience of LNGOs and women beneficiaries to effectively position themselves to absorb the shocks that attend crisis and to cope more effectively with it.

This dissertation compares the family and marriage traditions of the Ashantis of Ghana and Ancient Hebrews. Some common features characterize the two societies, principal among which is the idea that having children is the key purpose of marrieage above love and intimacy. Others are the low status of the wife in the domestic context; endogamy rules based on consanguinity; and payment of bride price. However, the two traditions differ in important areas. For example, the Ashantis follow kinship system based on matrilineal descent, succession and inheritance and the girl child is preferred. The patriarchal system of the Ancient Hebrews invest all authority in the father and the male heirs is preferred. Other defining factor in Ashanti and Pentateuchcal marriage is their religion and belief systems. Much of the marriage traditions seem to be cultural references rather than religious imperatives binding on Christians today. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies / Thesis (M.Th.)

Ghana, a West Africa country, is deeply burdened by poverty, and relies on the production of gold for economic sustainability. The gold mining companies in the country have international origins and receive most of their requirements from international sources. The extraction of gold from the crushed ore requires sodium cyanide as a lixiviant, which is imported into Ghana from other countries in wooden intermediate bulk containers (IBC) for further distribution to the mines. A life cycle assessment was completed to determine the burden that this packaging, which includes the wooden container and polyethylene and polypropylene liners, places on the environment in Ghana when disposed of. It was found that the life cycle of the incinerated IBC impacted on the Ghanaian environment the most, due to the incineration and the transportation of the IBC. The International Organization for Standardization 14040 management standard was used as a methodological framework for the assessment. / Environmental Science / M.Sc. (Environmental Science)

On s’accorde à dire que les adolescents constituent l’avenir quel que soit le temps et l’espace considéré. Il est également reconnu que le développement de leur capital humain et social, nécessaire pour une vie adulte de qualité, dépend des conditions dans lesquelles ils vivent et de l’environnement dans lequel s’opérera la transition vers cette vie adulte. Plus que dans toute autre partie du monde, ce constat est encore plus d’actualité en Afrique sub-Saharienne où, à la situation socio-économique déjà précaire, s’ajoutent d’importants problèmes de santé sexuelle et reproductive auxquels font face les adolescents en particulier le VIH. Conscients de l’enjeu majeur que représente la santé des adolescents, les gouvernements en Afrique sub-Saharienne, aidés en cela par les organismes non-gouvernementaux et toute la communauté internationale, ont inscrit la promotion de stratégies efficientes en santé sexuelle et reproductive des adolescents comme haute priorité dans leurs agendas. Mais force est de constater que l’élaboration et la mise en œuvre de telles stratégies supposent la production de connaissances sans cesse actualisées ainsi que la formulation de politiques innovatrices basées sur des données probantes et éprouvées en matière de santé sexuelle et reproductive, ce qui n’est pas toujours le cas. De plus, le fait que ce segment particulier de la population ne constitue pas un groupe homogène pose un défi supplémentaire quant à l’élaboration de stratégies généralisables. Fort de ce qui précède, le présent travail, qui porte sur le Burkina Faso, le Ghana, le Malawi et l’Ouganda, fait d’abord le point sur les problèmes majeurs de santé sexuelle et reproductive auxquels fait face cette frange spécifique de la population, tout en jetant un regard critique sur les efforts déployés par les sciences sociales pour les analyser. Il apporte ensuite des réponses à des questions spécifiques de recherche que nous nous sommes posées à travers les trois articles qui constituent l’ossature de cette thèse et dont l’essentiel de l’analyse empirique peut être résumé comme suit : Dans le premier article, nous sommes partis du constat suivant : dans les quatre pays étudiés, une importante proportion des adolescents qui se déclarent non encore sexuellement actifs pensent paradoxalement que leurs chances de contracter le VIH sont très grandes. Face à un tel constat, la question que l’on est en droit de se poser est celle de savoir pourquoi sont-ils si préoccupés? Quels sont les facteurs qui déterminent cette perception du risque? Les résultats confirment ce que certaines études ont déjà démontré à savoir que les individus élaborent leur propre définition du risque qui peut ne pas se résumer nécessairement à une opposition binaire «risque/aucun risque», mais est plutôt fonction des caractéristiques individuelles mais aussi du contexte social et épidémiologique dans lesquels ils vivent. Le deuxième article de la thèse analyse le contexte dans lequel s’opère la transition vers le premier rapport sexuel chez les adolescentes des quatre pays étudiés. Il part du constat selon lequel les recherches ont très souvent abordé les comportements sexuels des adolescents sous un angle marqué par la dichotomie entre les «sexuellement actifs» et les «non encore sexuellement actifs». Or le calendrier de l’entrée en sexualité et le contexte dans lequel elle a lieu (dans l’union ou hors union) sont non seulement des marqueurs des comportements sexuels à risque vis-à-vis du VIH, mais ils conditionnent aussi et surtout la qualité de la transition vers l’entrée dans la vie adulte. Les résultats montrent ici également que le contrôle parental est significativement associé à une faible probabilité pour les adolescents d’initier la sexualité hors de l’union. Quant au troisième article, il se penche sur un cas précis de comportement à risques chez les adolescents: le multipartenariat sexuel aggravé par la non utilisation systématique du condom, pourtant le seul moyen pour l’instant (en dehors de l’abstinence) de se protéger contre les infections sexuellement transmissibles et le VIH/SIDA. Les résultats montrent entre autres que le contrôle parental est significativement associé à une faible probabilité de comportement sexuel à risque, défini ici comme étant la co-occurrence de plusieurs partenaires sexuels au cours de 12 derniers mois et la non-utilisation systématique du condom avec chacun des partenaires. Sur un plan programmatique, ce résultat est plutôt encourageant car il prouve que l’autorité parentale jadis considérée comme érodée, demeure une pierre angulaire dans les stratégies de prévention du VIH chez les adolescents. / Adolescent girls and boys represent key segments of the population for the future in all societies across the world. The readiness of these young people to assume adult roles and responsibilities in the future, both for themselves and for their countries, depends in large part on how successfully they manage their critical transitions to adulthood and on the support they receive from their families, communities and governments during this period of their lives. Investment in adolescent sexual and reproductive health is likely to be of enormous importance to the development prospects of sub-Saharan Africa and the future wellbeing of African populations, as it enables adolescents to grow into healthy and productive adults. While protecting the health of young Africans is recognized as a priority at the community, national and international levels, policies and programs, if they are to be effective, need to be evidence-based and appropriate to each local context. This thesis focuses on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents in four sub-Saharan African countries: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda. It aims to expand the knowledge base needed to develop and implement programs and policies that will increase adolescents’ ability to prevent HIV and contribute to the creation of a safe and supportive environment essential to their growth and development. The research is organized around three empirical articles along with introductive chapters and a general conclusion, and is designed to answer a number of questions of policy importance. The first article deals with the perceptions of HIV risks by adolescents who are not yet sexually active. The topic is of considerable interest because of its potential importance for HIV prevention programs, particularly when sexually inexperienced adolescents report high levels of concern over their likelihood of contracting HIV over time. Findings show that there is no single influence on adolescents’ HIV risk perception, but rather a range of determinants that operate at the individual, environmental and community levels. This finding suggests that programs and policies should take into account factors that extend beyond the characteristics of adolescents when addressing their sexual and reproductive health needs. The second article of the thesis examines the context in which adolescent girls’ transition to first sexual intercourse occurs in the four countries. Going beyond the usual dichotomy of sexual experienced versus inexperienced adolescents, it analyzes simultaneously the factors associated with sexual initiation before and within the first union for adolescent girls aged 12-19. The results show that a high level parental monitoring is significantly associated with a decreased risk of adolescents’ becoming sexually active prior to marriage. A policy recommendation of this study is that public and nongovernmental organizations need to more fully integrate parents into their programs on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. The third article examines two specific aspects of sexual risk behaviour among adolescents: multipartnership and condom use. Our findings show that adolescents who report high levels of parental control are less likely to have multiple sexual partners. In terms of policy and programmatic implications, this result again suggests that parents’ influence over their children’s behavior, widely assumed to have declined over time, remains important to reproductive health interventions in diverse contexts in sub-Saharan Africa.

At present, in Adansi and Daboase, two rural communities in Western Ghana, changes are both internally and externally driven. Combined with ongoing negotiations of authority, landownership, history, tradition and culture, the interconnectedness of these areas shapes the realities of these communities. This thesis investigates these land-related conflicts and authority negotiations from a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Inspired by action-oriented research, the lives of local residents are investigated and attempted to be understood through their own explanations.  Four months of internship with an oil palm and rubber plantation company, focus groups and semi-structured interviews in two local communities to the plantation, lay the foundation of this thesis. It shows an intimate connection between landownership and resource rights, and history, heritage and traditional authority.Land is key to power or a secured future for one’s family, which makes it an inflamed topic. Landownership and the underlying negotiations are crucial to the understanding of what occupies many local residents in a setting of globalised markets. The thesis points to gaps of understanding and varying interests in-between government, external actors, chieftaincy and community members. Thorough consultation process procedures prior to projects in rural communities are proposed. The project adds to a larger discussion on sustainability, corporate social responsibility, local knowledge and experiences on land conflicts, and post-colonial settings in Ghana.