PurposeThe significant impact of innovation in stimulating economic growth cannot be overemphasized, more importantly from policy perspective. For this reason, the relationship between innovation and economic growth in developing economies such as the ones in Africa has remained topical. Yet, innovation as a concept is multi-dimensional and cannot be measured by just one single variable. With hindsight of the traditional measures of innovation in literature, we augment it with the number of scientific journals published in the region to enrich this discourse.Design/methodology/approachWe focus on an approach that explores innovation policy qualitatively from various policy documents of selected countries in the region from three policy perspectives (i.e. institutional framework, financing and diffusion and interaction). We further investigate whether innovation as perceived differently is important for economic growth in 25 economies in sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1990–2016. Instrumental variable estimation of a threshold regression is used to capture the contributions of innovation as a multi-dimensional concept on economic growth, while dealing with endogeneity between the regressors and error term.FindingsThe results from both traditional panel regressions and IV panel threshold regressions show a positive relationship between innovation and economic growth, although the impact seems negligible. Institutional quality dampens innovation among low-regime economies, and the relation is persistent regardless of when the focus is on aggregate or decomposed institutional factors. The impact of innovation on economic growth in most regressions is robust to different dimensions of innovation. Yet, the coefficients of the innovation variables in the two regimes are quite dissimilar. While most countries in the region have offered financial support in the form of budgetary allocations to strengthen institutions, barriers to the design and implementation of innovation policies may be responsible for the sluggish contribution of innovation to the growth pattern of the region.Originality/valueSegregating economies of Africa into two distinct regimes based on a threshold of investment in education as a share of GDP in order to understand the relationship between innovation and economic growth is quite novel. This lends credence to the fact that innovation as a multifaceted concept does not take place by chance – it is carefully planned. We have enriched the discourse of innovation and thus helped in deepening understanding on this contentious subject.
The purpose of the study is to investigate how manufacturing firms in Ghana create value along the supply chain by integrating their unique skill-sets and building strong relationships among partners of the chain. The key objective is to examine how strategic supply chain management practices improve organisations performance. Data were collected and analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, correlation, regression analysis and other analytic techniques. The findings revealed that although supply chain management practices have some level of impact on supply chain performance, the effect is less influenced by value creation. With a β =.568; t=5.316, the implication is that there is about 53% change in supply chain performance when a single value is created. However, value creation does not perfectly moderate supply chain management practices. Additionally, the study shows that value creation influences information and technology management to significantly contribute negatively on supply chain performance by about 26% (β =-0.26; t=-2.226). It is therefore imperative for practitioners in the manufacturing sector to identify key supply chain management practices, which greatly impact on supply chain performance in order to optimize production.
Public universities in Ghana are funded by the state. In spite of this privilege, increased demand for improved facilities and the need for the introduction of innovative and competitive programmes, coupled with intense competition from their private counterparts have increased the pressure on these universities to either innovate or risk being crowded out from the market. The purpose of the paper is to investigate branding strategies adopted by public universities and their effects on meeting stakeholder expectations. The study analysed branding strategies of six public universities in Ghana. The findings revealed that most public universities’ branding strategies focused mainly on improvement of physical infrastructure; the provision of state-of-the-art laboratories; broad band internet services; the introduction of market driven programmes; the mounting of huge signposts and pull-up banners among others. Indeed, the research revealed that the ultimate goal of branding these institutions is to be able to appeal to prospective students and attract well-qualified and competent faculty members. However, further findings point to the fact that little attention is paid to perhaps the most important stakeholders - the students, who according to the extant literature serve as major stakeholders and brand ambassadors for these institutions. This study is significant because it brings to the fore essentials of branding and brand strategies appropriate to academic institutions and also re-orient educational authorities about the importance to rethinking the educational supply chain from the upstream through the midstream or the institutions through the downstream.
The quality of herbs used to make herbal medicinal products largely influences the safety and effectiveness of these herbal treatments. It is therefore important to investigate the extent to which manufacturers are ensuring the quality supply of herbal medicine used in production of herbal medicine. This study examines how small and medium scale manufacturers assure the quality and continual improvement of the raw materials (raw materials) used for production of medicinal products in a developing economy, the state of Ghana, and the methods used by the company. The study adopted exploratory research design. Using interview quide with open ended questions, data was collected from 88 respondents (small and medium scale manufacturers and their representatives). The data was analysed using NVivo 11. Findings of the study indicated that herbs were collected from the wild (forest), physical inspection of the herbs and best manufacturing practices, good relationship management or collaboration were measures used to promote quality of raw material supply. Also, proper documentation or recording of processes and quality measures do not have much attention or acceptance among Traditional Medicine Practitioners (TMPs).
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