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1 – 10 of 12Reason Baathuli Nfila and Kwasi Darko‐Ampem
Traces the term “library consortium” as a form of co‐operation among libraries. Focuses on reasons for forming consortia and types, ranging from highly decentralised to highly…
Abstract
Traces the term “library consortium” as a form of co‐operation among libraries. Focuses on reasons for forming consortia and types, ranging from highly decentralised to highly centralised. Literature on consortia is mostly reported in four sources. Highlights the formation of the International Association of Library Consortia in 1997. The current trend is one of sharing integrated library systems and computer databases, collection development, purchasing of electronic journals, and staff development. What has been achieved is the provision of resources to patrons that did not have them before the consortia, as well as increased levels of services and convenience of patrons. By libraries banding together, cost savings come through reduced cost per unit as the group of libraries in the consortium shares the expenditure.
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The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the application of project management principles to retrospective conversion of a library catalogue and to share the experience with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the application of project management principles to retrospective conversion of a library catalogue and to share the experience with other libraries.
Design/methodology/approach
Presents the case of retrospective conversion involving the conversion of card catalogue records and the serials automation at the Faculty of Engineering and Technology Library of the University of Botswana.
Findings
Highlights project management concepts as a means of managing library projects for the optimum benefit of the institution, staff and patrons.
Research limitations/implications
The project involved the conversion of 10,000 manual records and the automation of 250 current journals.
Practical implications
Identifies constraints such as staffing, training and retraining; equipment malfunction and access to online resources; and conflict of work priorities.
Originality/value
A case study of project management applications in academic libraries. Both projects involved project scheduling, staff training, scheduling of duties, and writing of in‐house manuals, all based on project management principles.
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George Kofi Amoako, Theresa Obuobisa-Darko, Kwasi Dartey-Baah and Genevieve Sedalo
This paper aims to focus on the nexus between sustainability and desired outcomes for smart cities. The main focus is on how green leadership influences the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on the nexus between sustainability and desired outcomes for smart cities. The main focus is on how green leadership influences the relationship between smart and sustainable activities and stakeholder management.
Design/methodology/approach
The work is essentially a non-empirical review of the literature to develop a conceptual model to be tested in a subsequent study.
Findings
The findings indicate that smart cities and their sustainability activities can drive desired outcomes through green leadership. Also, green leadership has an indirect relationship with the desired outcomes of smart cities; hence, managers in the tourism and hospitality industries should cultivate their green leadership style to assist smart cities in accomplishing their goals.
Research limitations/implications
This research is conceptual, and the proposed model will need to be evaluated to be more valid. Furthermore, the model is restricted to the tourist and hospitality industry, limiting the generalization and application of the findings to that area. Furthermore, because sustainability activities and smart city leadership differ by region or country, the proposed model will be suitable for more developed economies with more developed sustainability policies.
Practical implications
This paper makes a novel theoretical contribution by using stakeholder management as a mediating variable and green leadership as a moderating variable concurrently.
Originality/value
This model suggests that smart and sustainability activities of cities can lead to desired outcomes for smart cities through effective stakeholder management and green leadership.
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Samuel Famiyeh, Ebenezer Adaku, Kwasi Amoako-Gyampah, Disraeli Asante-Darko and Charles Teye Amoatey
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between environmental management practices (EMP) and competitive operational performance with respect to reduced cost…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between environmental management practices (EMP) and competitive operational performance with respect to reduced cost, improved quality, improved flexibility and improved delivery as well as overall environmental performance, of firms, using data from a developing country.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed a survey approach with responses from 164 informants from different industries and used partial least squares structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between EMP and competitive operational performance and their overall impact on the environmental performance of firms.
Findings
The results indicate that EMP by firms have a significant positive effect on firms’ competitive operational performance. Again, firms’ competitive operational performance has a partial positive effect on the overall environmental performance. It was also realized that the EMP initiated by a firm have a direct positive impact on the overall environmental performance of the firm.
Research limitations/implications
There is the need for organizations to take steps to plan and implement EMP since it is likely to enhance their competitive operational performance as well as their overall environmental performance.
Practical implications
The findings demonstrate the impact of EMP on competitive operational performance as well as on the overall environmental performance of firms. This is important as firms struggle with balancing investments in those practices against the perceived benefits that might be obtained from the practices.
Originality/value
The work provides insights and adds to the literature in the area of EMP and firm performance by providing evidence from a developing country environment. This study is among the few that have investigated the impact of EMP on firm performance in developing country environments.
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Yaw Agyabeng-Mensah, Ebenezer Afum, Innocent Senyo Kwasi Acquah, Essel Dacosta, Charles Baah and Esther Ahenkorah
The priority giving to green practices in today's competitive market has made green logistics management practices (GLMPS) a significant driver of organizational performance. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The priority giving to green practices in today's competitive market has made green logistics management practices (GLMPS) a significant driver of organizational performance. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of GLMPS, logistics ecocentricity and supply chain traceability on sustainability performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses structured questionnaires to gather data from 274 managers of manufacturing firms in Ghana. The partial least square structural equation modeling approach is used to analyze the data to test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The results obtained from the analysis indicate that GLMPS positively influence social sustainability and environmental sustainability. However, GLMPS negatively influence business performance. The results further reveal that logistics ecocentricity and supply chain traceability augment GLMPS to achieve significant improvement in both business performance and environmental sustainability through the mediation effect approach.
Originality/value
The study proposes a conceptual framework that tests the combined effect of GLMPs, logistics ecocentricity and supply chain traceability on environmental sustainability, social sustainability and business performance from the Ghanaian perspective.
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Ebenezer Afum, Yaw Agyabeng-Mensah, Zhuo Sun, Bright Frimpong, Lawrence Yaw Kusi and Innocent Senyo Kwasi Acquah
The aim of this study is to explore the link between green manufacturing practices, operational competitiveness, firm reputation and sustainable performance dimensions as well as…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to explore the link between green manufacturing practices, operational competitiveness, firm reputation and sustainable performance dimensions as well as advance a mediation approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The study resorted to structured questionnaire to collect data from 158 manufacturing firms from different industries, and partial least square–structural equation modelling is used to test all hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The results indicate that green manufacturing has a positive significant impact on social, economic and environmental performance. However, firm reputation and operational competitiveness were found not to significantly influence economic performance. The mediation analysis also showed that operational competitiveness, firm reputation and environmental performance play no mediation role between green manufacturing and economic performance. Furthermore, social performance is found to mediate the relationship between green manufacturing and economic performance.
Research limitations/implications
The study did not consider any moderator variables. Also, the universal applicability and generalizability are somewhat a problem since data was mainly collected from Ghana, an emerging country.
Practical implications
The results provide managers with reasonable evidence to proactively implement and invest in green manufacturing practices because such practices will not only have a positive impact on their sustainable performance dimensions but further enhance operational competitiveness and provide firms with superior reputation.
Originality/value
The study provides significant findings that contribute to and expand the literature on green manufacturing, and it is among the relatively few studies that has investigated the link between green manufacturing, sustainable performance dimensions, firm reputation and operational competitiveness, especially from a mediation analysis perspective.
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Richard Kwasi Bannor, Helena Oppong-Kyeremeh, Daniel Anthony Aguah and Samuel Kwabena Chaa Kyire
The paper aims to examine fall armyworm's (FAW) effect on Ghana's farming households' income and food security status.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine fall armyworm's (FAW) effect on Ghana's farming households' income and food security status.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 225 farmers, including FAW-infested households and non-FAW-infested households, were interviewed. Gross margin (GM) analysis was used to estimate farmers' farm revenues, and the Household Food Insecurity Access Scores (HFIAS) was employed to measure the food security status of the households. The seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) was adopted to investigate the effect of FAW infestation on gross income and food security.
Findings
From the study, FAW attack is predominant during the vegetative stage of the maize plant. The empirical results revealed that FAW-infested farms incur loss, whereas non-FAW-infested farmers gained profit. Also, FAW-infested households were mildly food insecure, while non-FAW-infested households were food secured. The results of SUR analysis reveal that FAW infestation decreased farmers' income from maize production and rendered them food insecure.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation of this study is that it largely depended on a survey; however, future studies can combine both survey and experimental data from the farmers' fields during minor and major growing seasons of maize.
Originality/value
Given the negative consequences of FAW, studies have been conducted across Africa and globally. However, most of these studies concentrated on using geographic information system (GIS) and descriptive statistics without necessarily quantifying the effect of FAW on food security and the profit margins of farming households. Therefore, this study adds to the little literature on the effect of FAW on food security and GM from maize production, which has received less attention in Ghana to the authors' best knowledge.
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Ernest Kafui Kwasi Tsetse, Mahmoud Abdulai Mahmoud, Charles Blankson and Raphael Odoom
The purpose of this study is to establish the relationship between stakeholder market orientation (StMO) and sustainability performance (SP) at tourism destinations (TDs).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to establish the relationship between stakeholder market orientation (StMO) and sustainability performance (SP) at tourism destinations (TDs).
Design/methodology/approach
Using a quantitative survey, data was collected from 313 tourism business managers, who are the owners or managers of the tourism businesses at the TDs, and was analysed using the partial least square structural equation model.
Findings
Findings indicate that environmental performance is the highest sustainability management practice adhered to at the TDs. Also, community and visitor orientations predicted SP most, with all its hypotheses supported.
Research limitations/implications
This study focuses on the impact of StMO dimensions on SP within the TDs, thereby limiting generalisation to other sectors.
Practical implications
Tourism marketing managers are given the knowledge that StMO strategy is a precondition for effective implementation and adoption of SP strategy.
Social implications
The results have key social implications, in that a sustainability marketing strategy that will assist in the increase acceptance of sustainability programs within the tourism sector has been noted.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is believed to be the first empirical study to test the relationship between StMO dimensions and three SP dimensions. This study will improve the sustainability management of tourism resources in Ghana. It will further aid in meeting some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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Innocent Senyo Kwasi Acquah, Yaw Agyabeng-Mensah and Ebenezer Afum
The increasing concern for the protection of the environment through pollution prevention, conservation of resources and less usage of energy has attracted several firms to align…
Abstract
Purpose
The increasing concern for the protection of the environment through pollution prevention, conservation of resources and less usage of energy has attracted several firms to align green practices with their supply chain and human resource policies and practices. This study explores the influence of green human resource management and green supply chain management practices on operational, market, financial, social and environmental performances.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses partial least square–structural equation modeling approach to analyze the data gathered through structured questionnaires from supply chain and human resource managers in manufacturing and hospitality firms in Ghana.
Findings
It is established that green supply chain management practices play complementary partial mediating role between green human resource management and operational, market, social and environmental performances, while it plays competitive partial mediating role between green human resource management and financial performance. Subsequently, the analysis reveals that the synergy between green human resource management and green supply chain management creates the highest value in operational performance, followed by market performance, environmental performance, financial performance and social performance.
Originality/value
The study proposes and tests a conceptual model that examines the synergistic influence of green human resource management and green supply chain management on operational, market, financial, social and environmental performances.
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