Purpose: The article describes how cross-cultural communication might impact purchase decisions in the fourth stage of the decision-making process. It also examines how cultural value influences the Ghanaian consumer. The results and conclusions aim to help MNEs comprehend Ghanaian culture. Literature review: The reviewed literature discussed cross-cultural communication. Such as Hofstede's cultural aspects and how they affect the purchase decision. The author offered six hypotheses for the research model from the literature review. Methodology: A quantitative research design was used with a deductive research technique. An online questionnaire constructed with Google Forms was used to collect primary data, and it received 154 replies. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, and Pearson's correlation were used to analyse the data. Findings: Hofstede's cultural qualities are positively linked to purchase decisions. Indulgence is the most vital link. The correlation research linked buying decisions to Hofstede's cultural characteristics. Positive connections were made. The thesis author analyses empirical data showing that Ghanaians keep to their culture but also follow trends.

The focus of this study is to examine the factors that lead to growth in small firms in a Least Developed Country (LDC). The research is based on the manufacturing sector in Ghana. The main objectives of the research are to identify the key variables that lead to small firms' growth and to ascertain the critical barriers that impede growth. A research model which is developed out of an initial exploratory research and existing literature focuses on how the characteristics of the owner/manager, the characteristics of the firm and the business strategy variables interact to affect growth in employment. In addition factors that are perceived to have constrained the growth of the small firms during the study period are ascertained and discussed. To properly test the hypotheses developed a face to face interview survey involving 122 owner/managers of small manufacturing firms is conducted. This resulted in a range of variables that allowed for the construction of a comprehensive multivariate model of small firm growth. A resulting regression model provides about 68 percent of the explanation for the growth of the small firms sampled. It also indicates that the owner/manager characteristics variables offer the most powerful explanation to small firm growth. We find that the owner/manager's growth aspiration is the most influential factor in achieving growth. The other owner/manager characteristics variables that have positive influence on growth are level of education, prior industry experience and entrepreneurial family background. Owner/managers with local experience and/or with other business interests are less likely to achieve faster growth. Foreign owned/managed firms grow faster. Younger and smaller firms appear to grow faster. While firms with multiple ownerships tend to grow at a slower rate than firms owned and managed by one person. Business planning, marketing and export have positive and significant impacts on growth. Other business strategies such as innovations and staff training also have direct relationships with growth but not significant. Some of the main constraining factors to growth are cost of borrowing, lack of access to credit, high cost of inputs, lack of trust within the business community, high bureaucracy, late payments and lack of efficient support system. While the external environment plays important role in small firm growth and development, the behaviours, response and strategies pursued by individual owner/manager are significant factors that determine the rate at which a firm will grow. / Ghana Leasing Company Limited.

This thesis is an investigation into the unique rural banking system in Ghana and the role of information systems in fraud control. It presents a robust information security and internal control model to deal with fraud for the banking system. The rural banking industry has been noted for poor internal control leading to fraud. This has resulted in poor performance and even the collapse of some banks. The Focus of the study was on the processes used to deliver banking services. To design a protection system, a number of rural banks were visited. This was to understand the environment, regulatory regimes and the structure and banking processes of the industry and banks. Systemic vulnerabilities within the industry which could be exploited for fraud were found. The lack of structures like an address system and unreliable identification documents makes it difficult to use conventional identification processes. Also the lack of adequate controls, small staff numbers and the cross organisational nature of some transactions among other cultural issues reduces the ability to implement transaction controls. Twenty fraud scenarios were derived to illustrate the manifestation of these vulnerabilities. The rural banking integrity model was developed to deal with these observations. This protection model was developed using existing information security models and banking control mechanisms but incorporating the nature of the rural banking industry and culture of its environment. The fraud protection model was tested against the fraud scenarios and was shown to meet the needs of the rural banking industry in dealing with its systemic vulnerabilities. The proposed community-based identification scheme deals with identification weaknesses as an alternative to conventional identity verification mechanisms. The Transaction Authentication Code uses traditional adinkra symbols. Whilst other mechanisms like the Transaction Verification Code design v internal controls into the banking processes. This deals with various process control weaknesses and avoids human discretion in complying with controls. Object based separation of duties is also introduced as a means of controlling conflicting tasks which could lead to fraud.

The thesis examines factors that influence sustainability and success of microfinance institutions in Ghana. The topic is important, particularly in poverty stricken Africa, where microfinance institutions play a significant role in supporting governments¿ initiatives to reduce/alleviate poverty. The developed model is tested using data collected from 14 face-to-face interviews and 114 questionnaires. The data is analysed using different techniques- descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and regression analysis. The research design and scale of the study are appropriate to both the problem addressed and doctoral level research. A number of factors in the model developed were found to be influencing the sustainability and success of microfinance institutions. A model was proposed that seeks to offer an explanation of sustainability and success of Microfinance Institutions in Ghana. The proposed model identified five categories being: institutional characteristics, agency costs, business strategy, environment/governance and success. Single factor analysis established positive relationships between sustainability and all the five factors but placed more emphasis on three out of the five factors namely; success, business strategy and environment/ governance. Multiple factor analysis established no significant differences in the sustainability with respect to the type of MFI, ownership and source of funding. Multiple Regression which allows for the testing of theories or models established a significant relationship between the Operational Self Sufficiency (OSS) and the predictors, especially the drop-out rate of clients and average loans. The Subsidy Dependence Index (SDI) was calculated for the various types of MFIs and the result was a high dependency ratio especially among the FNGOs. Though the dependency is on the decline, it is very slow indicating that most MFIs will depend on subsidies for a very long time to come. Finally it was observed that the relatively high interest rates charged by most of the MFIs tended to defeat the purpose for which the microfinance movement came about. Not only did the study confirm the research model, but it also revealed that most owners did not exhibit a deep sense of involvement and used general knowledge to practice in Ghana. The study concluded that success factors, business strategy, and environment/governance were the most critical of the sustainability factors in Ghana. It is therefore important that managers develop institutional capacities especially in managing the agency problem effectively if they have to be sustainable and successful.

Although much research has been conducted on the association between poverty and happiness, little is known about its mediators and moderators. Thus, our understanding of how – and the conditions under which -- poverty affects happiness is imprecise. This study assessed stress as a mediator of the negative association between poverty and happiness using a sample of 345 farmers and fish farmers living in Ghana. Further, Psychological Capital (PsyCap, consisting of hope, optimism, resilience, and self-confidence) was examined as a two-stage moderator of the poverty-happiness relationship, as mediated by stress. There was no support for the stage 1 moderation, and while there was support for stage 2 moderation, it was in a direction opposite from what was hypothesized (for overall PsyCap and PsyCapF2). The negative moderation at stage 2 suggests that PsyCap (overall and PsyCap2) is associated with a weakening of an unexpected positive association between stress and happiness. PsyCapF2, appears to reflect agency or general self-efficacy. Although the hypothesized model was not supported this study has provided insights into how future research of Ghanaians might be better designed. It also has shown that the positive PsyCap-happiness relationship found in several Western samples is replicable among Ghanaian farmers, a collectivist and highly religious community. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Studies of internationalisation have largely overlooked developing countries with high levels of legitimate informal entrepreneurship. Consequently, this article analyses the internationalisation of Informal African Firms (IAFs) from a network perspective. We undertook in-depth case studies of 14 informal smaller firms in two major enterprise clusters in Ghana. Our findings show that half transacted business in five to seven foreign markets, and more than half sold abroad within three years of inception. The study illustrates the different network ties that influence passive and active internationalisation strategies with evidence that these IAFs developed buyer networks through customer referrals and foreign customer walk-ins to the firm. Overall, we provide a comprehensive understanding of the triggers that initiate international business activities by IAFs so contribute to current theorising noting implications for management practices and policymaking on this important but hitherto, under-explored issue.

This research is an exploration of the extent to which formal vocational education in the domestic trades (catering and dressmaking) for women in Ghana leads to sustainable self-employment in the urban informal sector (UIS) in Accra. The research adopts a qualitative methodological approach using interpretive analysis to gain an in-depth understanding of the primary data collected. A case study approach is adopted to articulate emerging themes in a manner that is comprehensive and intelligible. Two conceptual frameworks are employed: firstly, the research builds on the work of McCauley et al (1995), to ascertain the developmental dimensions of VE catering job roles that provide graduates with the capabilities and opportunities needed for sustainable self-employment. Secondly, the concept of Gender Role Socialization is drawn on to ascertain the gender-specific factors that influence women’s engagement in VE and constrain women’s MSE growth. The research identified three key factors which affect VE graduates gaining employment and prospects for sustainable self-employment. They are: 1) The VE programme pursued and the presence or absence of a transformative environment of skill utilization. 2) The attainment of post-graduation specialist training or advanced certification which provide VE graduates with enhanced prospects for employment. 3) Post-graduation quality workplace development experience (QWDE). Gender-specific factors include traditional Ghanaian expectations of “womanhood”, and the streaming of women towards occupational paths that maintain their gendered role obligations within the household and family. These include ‘domestic provisioning’; male prerogative as principal decision-maker in the household; weak inheritance rights and access to property.

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