Purpose The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the interaction effects among organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), work overload (WO) and employees’ performance in the Ghanaian construction industry, thus identifying the thin boundary between advocating OCB and avoiding WO in attempt to increase higher employee performance. Design/methodology/approach Using a quantitative research method, three hypotheses were tested. The views of 86 project teams were elicited using a structured questionnaire, and linear regression was utilized to validate the hypotheses. Findings The study proved that OCBs positively affect employee performance in the construction industry. The results implied that increased work load on employees do not increase their productivity levels, but adversely increase the unconsiderable effects of employees’ work lives. In addition, WO played the role of homologizing moderation in the relationship between OCB and employee performance. Practical implications The findings suggest that there is a considerable effect of WO on overall employee performance in the construction industry; thus, there is a need for stakeholders to address this issue for performance improvement. Originality/value The application and investigation of these issues have dominated the banking industry but lacked in the construction industry. The current study therefore provides useful insight into the interaction effects among organizational citizenship behavior, WO and employees’ performance in the Ghanaian construction industry.

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Introduction: Cervical cancer is one of the significant public health problems in the world, especially in Less developed countries. In Ghana, cervical cancer is the leading cause of gynecological cancers. This study was aimed at assessing the level of awareness of this dreadful disease among adolescent female Senior High School students in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional study of female adolescents was conducted using self-administered questionnaires to elicit information on demographic characteristics, knowledge, awareness, and perception of cervical cancer. The association of demographic characteristics and other important study variables were investigated. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for questions asked. Logistic regression was used to make predictions. Findings: The mean age of participants was 16.6 years (± 1.6). Majority (63.0%) had heard about the disease. About one-third (30.2%) reported getting their information from Television/Radio with a relatively lower proportion (0.4%) getting their information from the internet. Some risk factors

Purpose Cost estimation model serves as a framework for forecasting the probable cost of proposed construction projects. It can be classified either as traditional or non-traditional depending on the cost variables formulation. However, in the building industry, quantity surveyors traditionally estimate the initial cost of building projects using the traditional models, which have been criticized overtime for its inaccuracies. This paper therefore aims to examine barriers for the utilization of non-traditional cost estimating models. Design/methodology/approach By using a questionnaire survey, respondents were invited to rate their level of agreement on 23 barriers identified from literature and interview (expert’s opinion). Findings Based on factor analysis inefficient techniques, perceptions of model techniques, unavailability of cost data and lack of understanding and unstable economic conditions were identified as barriers to the utilization of non-traditional cost estimating models. Practical/implications Findings demonstrate that there is need for quantity surveyors to get adapted to utilization of non-traditional cost models which offers better accuracies than the traditional approaches in their quest to improve their professional practices. Originality/value This study demonstrates that there are barriers to the utilization of non-traditional cost estimating models in the Ghanaian construction industry, as evident of this will help in policy formulation for the improvement cost estimating practices.

Purpose International construction joint ventures (ICJVs) implementation is plagued with several barriers, full understanding of which is still lacking due to a lack of an in-depth exploration of them, particularly in developing countries. To fill this knowledge gap, this study aims to investigate the critical barriers to the success of ICJVs hosted in developing countries by examining the Ghanaian case. Design/methodology/approach This study builds on a previous study that identified 37 barriers factors to ICJVs success via a systematic literature review. Through expert interviews, 34 potential barriers were identified, and a two-round survey was conducted with 84 ICJVs practitioners in Ghana. The data collected was analyzed using the combination of a multidimensional fuzzy logic method and confirmatory factor analysis. Findings Results showed that 22 barriers were critical. The top five most critical barriers were “lack of preparedness to accept company philosophy,” “competing objectives,” “opportunistic behavior of parties,” “conflicts” and “lack of management control.” Furthermore, the results uncovered and confirmed five significant underlying components for the 22 critical barriers, namely, organizational-related, cultural-related, knowledge-related, individual-related and logistics-related barriers. Practical implications The findings could be useful to ICJVs practitioners and policymakers in developing suitable strategies for the successful implementation of ICJVs. Further, foreign firms aiming to execute and promote ICJVs in Ghana could have prior knowledge of the critical barriers and prepare for them. Originality/value This study empirically analyzed the individual levels of barriers criticalities in ICJVs context and from a specific-country perspective – the developing country of Ghana – rather than in the context of construction joint ventures and from a cross-country perspective in extant studies.

How traditional industries adapt to the digital economy to achieve sustainable development has attracted scholars and practitioners. Exploring the concept of BMA (business management adaptability) can not only theoretically explain adaptive micro-operation mechanisms but can provide practical guidance for enterprises to form adaptability. To date, although a lot of effort is being spent on detecting the adaptive construction elements, refining the BMA to specific management levels, a comprehensive review combines adaptability construction elements and specific levels have not yet been formed. In this trial, this paper innovatively utilizes a hybrid method that consists of a bibiometric and structural literature review to conduct a comprehensive theoretical study of relevant literatures from 1970 to 2020. By displaying current research conclusions and their defects, this study combines adaptability construction elements and innovatively forms a multi-level BMA framework. In this framework, this paper reveals the importance of setting up performance evaluation systems that focus on corporate profitability, probing and counterpoising relations between internal and external environments. Finally, this paper provides recommendations for practitioners about how to build their own competitive advantages when the digital economy hits the global world.

In this global era and insurgency of technology, education is seen as a first pace for every human activity. However, there seem to exist various determinants which results in difference in academic performance among students. This study was designed to examine the attribution factors affecting academic performance of construction post-graduate students of KNUST-Kumasi. Based on extensive literature review the attribution factors could be grouped into five main components. Presented are results from statistical analyses of 49 questionnaire survey responses from construction post graduate students of KNUST-Kumasi. The results validated all the 15 attribution factors of academic performance used for the survey. Personal study periods, the role played by lecturers and financial status are identified as the most attributed factor affecting academic performance of tertiary students. To analyse the data, non-parametric statistical testing using descriptive statistics, mean score index and Relative Importance Index (RII) were used through appropriate statistical package. The findings of this paper could help policy makers especially those in the Quality Assurance unit, the Central Academic office and the Ministry of Education on what policies and strategies can be employed to improve academic performance in institutions of higher learning as well as students, parents and teachers to guide them properly and as per their abilities. For further studies, it is recommended that more predictive variables be added so as to ascertain more significant predictors of academic performance of tertiary students.