Dennis Yao Dzansi

Many small-scale manufacturing firms in Ghana often operate under difficult, unpredictable and resource-scarce conditions, yet many use informal and/or weak approaches to strategy with the risk of poor performance. Thus far, it is unclear how the way owners/managers “do” strategy translates into concrete strategic decisions and ultimately impacts performance levels for these firms. Based on the contingency theory, the study examined how different modes of strategic management affect small-scale manufacturing performance both directly and indirectly through the strategy adopted. Adopting a quantitative research methodology, data were collected from 435 owners and managers of small-scale manufacturing firms and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results showed that strategic management mode of entrepreneurs significantly and positively affects both strategies adopted and small-scale manufacturing performance. Strategy adopted also has a significant positive effect on small-scale manufacturing performance and mediates the relationship between strategic management mode and small-scale manufacturing performance. The study contributes to entrepreneurship and strategic management literature by specifying the pathways through which strategic management modes lead to performance outcomes. Theoretically, the results offer relevant suggestions to entrepreneurs and policymakers to improve competitiveness, resilience and sustainability of small manufacturing firms in Ghana.

This study examined the relationships between norm perceptions about innovation, innovation source and customer satisfaction with sample data from small-scale hospitality businesses in Ghana. We adopted the quantitative approach and correlational survey design using sample data from 465 small-scale hospitality firms. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling was used to analyse the data. Measurement model classification and validation procedures comprised construct specification, indicator reliability assessment, internal consistency reliability, convergent validity (AVE), discriminant validity (HTMT and Fornell–Larcker), and collinearity diagnostics within the PLS-SEM framework. Results showed that a significant negative relationship exists between subjective norms about innovation adoption and customer satisfaction. This finding diverges from the Theory of Planned Behaviour because, contrary to its assumption that subjective norms foster positive behavioural outcomes, socially driven innovation in small-scale hospitality settings may encourage conformity-based decisions that undermine customer-oriented value creation. However, a significant positive relationship was found to exist between subjective norm perceptions about innovation adoption and innovation source. A significant positive relationship was also found to exist between innovation source and customer satisfaction. Innovation source positively mediated the relationship between subjective norm perceptions about innovation adoption and customer satisfaction. The study’s findings are relevant for owners and managers of small-scale hospitality firms seeking to align innovation decisions with customer needs, as well as for policymakers aiming to strengthen industry support systems. It offers insights into how social influences and innovation sources can be leveraged to enhance service quality and customer satisfaction in small hospitality businesses.

Sustainable environmental performance (SEP) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has attracted researchers and practitioners’ attention. The achievement of sustainable environmental performance has been largely dependent on the prevailing external ecosystem conditions. Yet in emerging economies such as Ghana, there is limited research and evidence on the extent to which external ecosystem resources influence sustainable environmental performance. This study aims to investigate how external entrepreneurial ecosystem resources including policy, access to finance, market availability, institutional support, human capital and culture influence the sustainable environmental performance (SEP) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using sample data from Ghana. A total of 386 SME manufacturing and service firms were sampled to participate. Structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) tested a multi-theory framework grounded in the Resource-based View (RBV), Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Stakeholder Theory. The results indicate that policy, finance, institutional support, and markets exert significant positive effects on SMEs’ SEP. Culture and human capital were found to have a weaker contribution to SMEs’ SEP. The novelty of this study lies in empirically demonstrating the primacy of ecosystem structural levers over softer ecosystem factors in driving SME sustainable environmental performance, thereby offering a new explanatory hierarchy of ecosystem drivers for sustainability in developing economies. We advance the RBV, RDT and the Stakeholder Theory by showing that external ecosystem resources act as critical environmental enablers for SMEs in developing economies. The findings offer globally relevant policy insights for advancing SDGs 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and 13 (Climate Action) through targeted ecosystem interventions.

The Ghanaian economy faces significant challenges in providing robust policy support and cohesive ecosystem structures that enable small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the country to effectively convert entrepreneurial marketing activities into sustainable social outcomes. The research examines the effect of entrepreneurial marketing on sustainable social performance of SMEs using entrepreneurial ecosystem policy as the mediating variable. The Resource Dependency Theory, Resource-Based View and the Stakeholder Theory were utilized, and the study was designed a cross-sectional survey. The data collected were based on 386 SME owners and managers of different sectors in Ghana. Structural equation modeling with SmartPLS 3 was used to test the proposed relationships. The results indicate that entrepreneurial marketing has a significant positive impact on sustainable social performance. In addition to that, ecosystem policy has a strong and positive impact on sustainable social performance. The mediating effect of ecosystem policy in the relationship between entrepreneurial marketing and sustainable social was found to be positive. The research has limitations in that it was cross-sectional and specific to Ghana, which might limit its generalizability. Longitudinal and cross-country designs may be used in future studies to include the dynamic effects of policy interventions. Hypothetically, the research moves towards the mediating role of the ecosystem policy in the relationship between marketing and sustainability. In practice, the study findings highlight the necessity to use combined policy frameworks that empower SMEs to enhance their marketing strengths and social investments to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8, 9, and 12. The research finds that enabling policies of entrepreneurial ecosystems are needed to convert the marketing efforts by SMEs into a sustainable social value.

Public project performance is shaped by both organisational capability and governance controls, yet the interaction between these factors remains underexamined in decentralised public administration contexts. This study examines the direct effects of team capability and ethical compliance on project performance, and tests whether ethical compliance conditions the capability–performance relationship. A quantitative explanatory survey design was adopted. Structured questionnaires were administered to 320 senior officers involved in project evaluation, procurement, budgeting and technical oversight, and the data were analysed using PLS-SEM to estimate the hypothesised direct and moderating relationships. Team capability and ethical compliance each have a significant positive effect on project performance, and team capability is positively associated with ethical compliance. The moderating effect of ethical compliance is significant but small in magnitude, indicating that higher levels of compliance modestly attenuate the marginal performance gains associated with greater team capability. These findings suggest that while compliance mechanisms strengthen accountability and directly support performance, they may simultaneously constrain the discretionary flexibility through which capable teams generate incremental improvements. The study contributes to public management research by empirically demonstrating a conditional capability–governance relationship in a local government project context. Given the moderate explanatory power of the model, future research should incorporate additional institutional and political variables to further clarify performance drivers in public-sector project systems.

In many hospitality workplaces, customer deviant behaviour is no longer an occasional frustration but a routine part of frontline employees’ day, steadily draining their energy, dignity and desire to deliver great service. Yet in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Ghana, there is still limited evidence showing how this behaviour undermines employees’ motivation and what can realistically be done inside organisations to buffer its impact. This study explored how mistreatment from customers affects the service motivation of frontline employees in Ghanaian hotels and examines whether supportive supervisors can act as a protective buffer. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey of 508 frontline staff in licensed hotels in the Kumasi Metropolis, the study applies Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to test these relationships. The findings reveal that when customers display deviant behaviour, employees feel less motivated to offer high-level service. On the other hand, strong supervisor emotional support uplifts service motivation and partially mediates the harm caused by deviant customers. These results show that everyday supervisory support (listening, empathizing, and standing up for staff) can make a tangible difference to how motivated employees feel after difficult customer encounters. The study therefore offers practical guidance for hotel managers who want to safeguard employees and sustain high service standards in demanding customer environments.

Engineering professionals in Ghana’s seaport industry often experience high job demands and environmental pressures that threaten their psychological well-being and performance. Guided by the Job Demand-Control-Support theory, this study examined the direct and mediating relationships between work-related stress, work roles, and work-related well-being among 230 engineers. The study adopted quantitative explanatory research design and Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis. Results revealed that work-related stress showed a non-significant positive relationship with work-related well-being among engineering professionals. However, work-related stress negatively influenced work role, while work role positively influenced work-related well-being. Work role negatively mediated the relationship between work-related stress and work-related well-being. The findings suggest that clarifying role expectations can mitigate stress and enhance engineers’ well-being. For policy, port authorities should institutionalize supportive work environments at Ghana’s seaports. Practically, seaport organizations should implement stress management and role development programs to enhance employee well-being.

The study investigates the influence of CSR diversity and inclusion, CSR expenditure, and civic engagement on infrastructure sufficiency in gold mining host communities in Ghana. Utilizing a positivist paradigm and cross-sectional data collection from 400 residents in seven mining communities, PLS-SEM is utilized by the study to test direct and mediating relationships. The findings imply that CSR diversity and inclusion have a significantly positive association with infrastructure sufficiency, whereas CSR expenditure does not affect infrastructure sufficiency. CSR civic engagement also works as an important predictor of infrastructure sufficiency. The CSR civic engagement played a positive mediating role between CSR diversity and inclusion and infrastructure sufficiency. CSR civic engagement mediated the relationship between CSR spending and infrastructure sufficiency in the host mining communities in Ghana. The results contribute to the social exchange theory, showing that perceived fairness and inclusiveness motivate positive community responses. The study also advances empowerment theory and fills a gap in the literature by identifying civic engagement as an important mechanism through which communities can transform CSR inputs into grassroots development impacts. The paper provides practical and policy implications for a more inclusive, transparent, and empowerment-based co-branding CSR approach.

Sustainable environmental performance (SEP) among small and medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs) has attracted researchers and practitioners’ attention. The achievement of sustainable environmental performance has been largely dependent on the prevail-ing external ecosystem conditions. Yet in emerging economies such as Ghana, there is limited research and evidence on the extent to which external ecosystem resources in-fluence sustainable environmental performance. This study aims to investigate how external entrepreneurial ecosystem resources including policy, access to finance, mar-ket availability, institutional support, human capital and culture influence the sus-tainable environmental performance (SEP) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using sample data from Ghana. Drawing on a positivist, deductive, objective, cross sectional design, we surveyed 386 SMEs manufacturing and service firms. Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) tested a multi-theory framework grounded in Resource Based View (RBV), Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Stakeholder Theory. The results indicate that policy, finance, institutional support, and markets exert significant positive effects on SMEs’ SEP. Culture and human capital were found to have weaker contribution to SMEs’ SEP. These findings highlight the primacy of structural over internal factors in resource constrained settings such as Ghana. We advance the RBV, RDT and the Stakeholder Theory by showing that external ecosys-tem resources act as critical environmental enablers for SMEs in developing economies. The findings offer globally relevant policy insights for advancing SDGs 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and 13 (Climate Action) through targeted ecosystem interventions.

This study examined the relationships among norm perceptions about innovation, innovation source and customer satisfaction with sample data from small-scale hospi-tality businesses in Ghana. We adopted the quantitative approach and correlational survey design using sample data from 465 small-scale hospitality firms. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling was used to analyze the data. Results showed that a significant negative relationship exists between subjective norms about innova-tion adoption and customer satisfaction. However, a significant positive relationship was found to exist between subjective norm perceptions about innovation adoption and innovation source. A significant positive relationship was also found to exist be-tween innovation source and customer satisfaction. Innovation source positively me-diated the relationship between subjective norm perceptions about innovation adop-tion and customer satisfaction. The study's findings are relevant for owners and managers of small-scale hospitality firms seeking to align innovation decisions with customer needs, as well as for policy makers aiming to strengthen industry support systems. It offers insights into how social influences and innovation sources can be leveraged to enhance service quality and customer satisfaction in small hospitality business.