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E-business in the Ghanaian Tourism Industry
Get PDFPurpose: Ghana\u27s tourism sector is hypothesized to be a major economic growth catalyst. The role of e-business in improving the fortunes of Ghana\u27s tourism sector cannot be over emphasised. This exploratory study sought to generate a preliminary understanding of the benefits of e-business to tourism firms in Ghana and also to ascertain the commitment of top management to e-business development in Ghanaian tourism firms. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study was exploratory and adopted a small scale survey approach. Data was collected by final year undergraduate students in the University of Ghana Business School from 60 tourism firms in Ghana. Presentation of findings is by simple descriptive statistics. Findings: The Research revealed that 56% of Managing Directors of Ghanaian tourism organizations are e-business champions. Advantages of e-business to tourism firms are distributed nearly proportionately across various firms\u27 improvement parameters such as improvement in marketing management (14%) as well as improvement in process management (13%). Also reported were improvements in marketing communications (12%)z human resource management (10%), as well as improvement in distribution (9%). Other benefits reported were improved logistics management (8%), efficient financial management (8%) as well ase-scouting(4%). Research Implications: This study is the first in a series of studies that will investigate website use, Internet use, and e-commerce usage in Ghanaian tourism firms. This first study, therefore, provides some basis for hypothesis formulation in the upcoming studies alluded to earlier.Limitations: The Study is exploratory and therefore does not make any generalisable claims. It is only useful as an initial eye-opener to e-business issues in Ghana\u27s tourism sector.Originality/Value: One of the few studies focusing on e-business adoption in the tourism sector in West Africa, in spite of the growing importance of the tourism sector
Strategic planning and SMEs
Get PDFDo small enterprises need strategic planning? What should be the horizon of such a plan, given the high mortality rate of new ventures often postulated in the literature? A small business is not necessarily a little big business, so the elaborate corporate strategic planning process may not be strictly applicable to small enterprises. Consequently, within the constraints of their "smallness" what approaches to strategic planning can entrepreneurs use that will represent a middle ground of planning paralysis and no planning at all? This paper critically evaluates the importance and benefits of strategic planning to SMEs. It suggests that if planning is tailored to the appropriate stage of development of a typical small enterprise, then the few that may evolve as they grow could be developed into a strategic plan that provides direction for future growth
Responsibility for Corporate Debts in Ghana: A Conceptual Perspective
Get PDFThis paper analyses the corporate entity theory and the lifting of the corporate veil in Ghana. Two major principles form the basis of the analysis. First, a company is a separate legal entity with the powers of a natural person of full capacity. Secondly, members of the company usually have limited liability. The paper notes that there are many inroads into these principles. In some situations, the Companies Code 1963 (Act 179) enforces corporate debts and liabilities against the company. In other situations, the Companies Code enforces the company\u27s debts and liabilities against corporate officers who knowingly allowed the commission of wrongful acts. This paper therefore concludes that, under the Companies Code, a company is both a separate corporate person and an economic entity. To this end, the courts can treat the acts of corporate officers as either those of the company itself or those of the officers themselves. This paper also urges the courts to abandon lifting the corporate veil and suggests that the courts should admit remedies based on well known business principles in agency, contract, conveyance, industrial law, insolvency, tort, and trust
Convergence of Corporate Governance Systems: A Critical Review
Get PDFThe apparent convergence of international systems of corporate governance has become important to developing countries. It is gradually being accepted that formal convergence is taking place at ownership and board structure levels. Corporate behaviour seems to be converging at functional levels. The convergence at these levels is powerfully being driven by internationalisation of equity markets, regulatory mechanisms, and international investors1 desire for corporate governance systems which are best fit for corporate efficiency, and shareholders\u27 wealth and corporate value maximisation. In 2001, participants at the West Africa Regional Conference on Corporate Governance recommended, among other things, that "there is the need to customize international corporate governance principles to suit the challenges of the African sub-region" so as to attract foreign direct investment. This paper reviews this recommendation by examining the historical evolutions of the two traditional corporate governance systems, and the factors driving towards convergence. In addition the present state of corporate governance practice in Ghana is examined. It is argued that, the existing regulatory mechanisms should be reviewed and strengthened to adequately respond to global corporate governance practices (law and enforcement). It would be prudent to promote and allow market forces to evolve to best practice rather than customization