The Impact of the Institutional Environment on the Use of Licensed Technology

The robustness of the institutional environment is a requisite factor for the growth and development of a firm. This study is focused on the impact of factors of institutional environment on SMEs’ acquisition and use of licensed technology from abroad. The independent variables considered as the factors of institutional environment are: financial institutions, regulatory institutions, infrastructure, and security, while the dependent variable is the use of licensed technology from abroad. Data from the manufacturing and the service sectors of the economies of Africa and the Middle East are collected from the database of the World Bank Enterprise Survey. The survey employs random sampling to select firms in each country. The firms are stratified based on the number of employees and the geographical region. Questionnaires are administered to firms from 2006 to 2018 through cross-sectional data collection method. By focusing on the scope of research on the two regions and SMEs, the sampled observations are scaled down from 136,887 to 33,977 firms in 53 countries. Although not all the Pearson correlation coefficients of the independent variables with the dependent variable are high, there are satisfactory levels of significance with p-values below 5%. The independent variables in the regression model have a statistically significant impact on the use of licensed technology from abroad. The forecasting power of the regression model, the possible implications from the test results are shown. The limitations of the research and the possible areas for future research are discussed in the last section

The Impact of Human Capital on Product Innovation

This research study is focused on the influence of human capital on innovation in SMEs. The human capital factors are the independent variables: employee’s education, employee’s development, and employee’s challenge, while the dependent variable is product innovation. Data of manufacturing and service firms in the economies of Africa and the Middle-East are taken from the World Bank Enterprise Survey database through a stratified random sampling. A sampled of 33,977 firms are observed in 53 countries. The methodology employed in this study is the quantitative research approach. A pairwise correlation, regression model and forecasting model are used for the analyses of the data. The findings from the analyses show satisfactory levels of significance with pvalues below 1% even though not all the Pearson correlation coefficients of the independent variables with the dependent variable are high. The goodness-of-fit, in terms of R-squared, Root MSE, and mean percentage error, found from the regression of human capital with product innovation is slightly poor. This is due to the loose relation between independent and dependent variables in real life and partly to the data available for this research. However, human capital acquired from skilled and formal training of employees has a more positive and significant influence on SMEs to innovate products. The findings have implications on managerial decisions and governmental policies. The results also give insight into the limitations of the research and areas for further investigations

An Empirical Enquiry into the Attributes of Residential Satisfaction that Predict Students’ Satisfaction in Public Halls of Residence in Technical Universities in Ghana

This study aim at identifying the attributes of residential satisfaction that predict students’ satisfaction in public halls of residence in Technical Universities in Ghana, and to establish the relative significance level of each of the attributes, using Takoradi Technical University as a case study. The study adopted a questionnaire survey approach; and questionnaires were self-administered to 558 students. Data were analysed using RSI and percentages, and were presented in tables. The study revealed that, in order of relative significance, Building quality, Owners’ maintenance culture, Social, Neighbourhood, Management, and Dwelling unit features with corresponding RSI values of 0.80871, 0.80753, 0.80172, 0.79345, 0.79313, and 0.78374, respectively, were the main residential satisfaction attributes that predict students’ satisfaction in public halls of residence in Takoradi Technical University. The inclusion of Owners’ maintenance culture in predicting students’ satisfaction in public halls of residence gave the study a more holistic approach. This study will inform management of Takoradi Technical University, and Technical universities in general about the attributes that holistically define students’ satisfaction in public halls of residence. Keywords: Technical University, Public, Hall, Satisfaction, Student

Chest radiograph image enhancement with wavelet decomposition and morphological operations

Medical image processing algorithms significantly affect the precision ofdisease diagnostic process. This makes it crucial to improve the quality of a medical image with the goal to enhance perceivability of the points of interest in order to obtain accurate diagnosis of a patient.  Despite the reliance of various medical diagnostics on utilize X-rays, they are usually plagued by dark and low contrast properties. Sought-after  details in X-rays can only be accessed by means of digital image processing techniques, despite the fact that these techniques are far from being  perfect. In this paper, we implement a wavelet decomposition and reconstruction technique to enhance radiograph properties, some of which include contrast and noise, by using a series of morphological erosion and dilation to improve the visual quality of the chest radiographs for the detection of cancer nodules

The Impact of Innovation of the Construction Industry in Ghana

The essence of this paper therefore, is to bring out the impact of innovation of the Construction industry in Ghana and also to establish tangible and intangible benefits associated with innovation.  Analysis of the relevant literature indicates the impact and the problem of slow adaptation of innovation and new ways of working within the construction industry is a great concern to most organization that operates within and outside the industry. To bridge this conservatism attitude of innovation in the industry, it is fundamental to explore the impact and for that matter the benefits of innovation within the industry. This paper however, seeks to embark on this investigation on the impact of innovation and to bring to light its related benefits and how these would be achieved. Data were collected among construction professionals (Consultants) and Contractors via questionnaires supported by informal interviews. Analysis of the data was done using simple percentage method and the findings were represented in the form of pie-chart and bar-chart using micro-soft excel programme. The study established that innovation within an industry brings about increased in economic growth and profitability. The study also revealed that ease of working at a lower cost with much precision is assured when there is innovation Recommendation of effective coordination between Consultants and Contractors must exist to facilitate innovation beginning from research and development set-up within the firms. Keywords: Impact; innovation; Construction; industry; Ghan

Solar energy policy implementation in Ghana: A LEAP model analysis

Current global climate change mitigation programs have been unable to meet the Paris Agreement's targets, and Ghana's situation is no exception. There is, therefore, an increased need for intensification of renewable energy deployment programs with an emphasis on solar energy as it constitutes about 90% of Ghana's installed renewable energy generation capacity. The study demonstrates how appropriate renewable energy policy can drive solar energy development in Ghana. Electricity demand scenarios were developed using historical data from 2000 to 2018, after which projections were made up to 2030 based on the average year-on-year electricity growth rate. Of the three electricity demand categories, residential demand experienced a steeper growth rate in comparison with the special load tariff, non-residential, and street lighting sectors. On the supply side, low, moderate, and visionary supply scenarios had increased solar penetration of 5 %, 10 %, and 15 % of the installed generation capacity respectively. While appreciable gains were made in the low and moderate supply scenarios, the visionary supply scenario could meet the renewable energy target with solar energy by 2030; leading to universal access to electricity while offsetting over 13 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide in the process

Perceptions of Students Towards Tertiary Weekend School In Ghana

Weekend School has become a more flexible and recognized delivery format for widening access to higher institutions in Ghana. The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions of undergraduate students, about the weekend school system being offered by the Garden City University College in Kumasi. A survey questionnaire was designed to mainly obtain information on students’ opinions on content of academic programmes; academic facilities; tuition quality; and manpower skills. The ordinal regression model was used to model students’ responses. Results of the study indicate that weekend school is mostly patronized by students aged between 26-35 (56.9%) and by the actively employed (75.7%), largely because it provides a flexible way to combine work and study and life-long learning. The analysis using the ordinal regression model identified age, sex, marital status, current domicile region and students’ department as statistically significant demographic profiles that informed students’ views about GCUC’s weekend school. Keywords: higher education, weekend school, perception, ordinal regression model

MODELLING STUDENT’S SATISFACTION WITH LIBRARY SERVICES IN A TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS: EVIDENCE FROM KUMASI POLYTECHNIC

An effective and efficient academic library system can significantly contribute to student and other user’s development in a wider perspective. This paper seeks to determine the satisfaction level of students with respect to the available reading materials and the services provided by the school library officials. Using a survey data obtained from students using the Kumasi Polytechnic library, the overall service satisfaction model was specified using ordinal logistic regression. Among the sampled students, 57%, 30.8%, 6.7% and 4.3% of them believes that the overall service quality is good, moderate, excellent and poor respectively. Also from the estimated model, the overall service quality decreases when students are less satisfied with the individual service components. In general, the estimated model suggest that among all the variables, availability of current and relevant materials; adequate user instructions; reliable internet facilities as well as friendly and helpful library staff are the first four (4) library service segments that highly influenced the students ratings for overall service quality. Keywords: Ghana, Kumasi Polytechnic, Library Services, Student Satisfaction, Ordinal logit model