PurposeThis study examines the effect of working capital management on profitability of listed manufacturing firms in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a quantitative research approach within the causal research design using a balance panel of 20 manufacturing listed firms from 2015 to 2019.FindingsThe study reveals that inventory management, account receivables, account payables, cash conversion cycle, current asset, current ratio and firm size have positive effects on return on assets (ROA) and return on return on equity(ROE) whilst leverage affects them negatively.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only covers 20 manufacturing firms generally due to data unavailability. However, the outcome has useful information for manufacturing firms.Practical implicationsThe study brings to light effective ways of improving the profitability of manufacturing firms through policies.Social implicationsThe findings are beneficial to manufacturing firms and countries for the purpose of improving performance of firms and welfare of the people through direct and indirect chain effects of increasing investments, remunerations and scales of production.Originality/valueThis study adds insights into the existing literature on working capital management namely methodology, effects of components on profitability of manufacturing firms and socioeconomic implications- evidence from Ghana.

PurposeThough affective commitment has been thought to be critical in team selection, it is yet to be integrated into current models on team selection primarily due to lack of understanding of its contribution to teamwork effectiveness and performance. This study tests the contribution of complementary person team-fit (CF), supplementary person team-fit (SF) and affective commitment (AC) to teamwork effectiveness in construction project teams. By this examination, a theoretical case is made for the inclusion of affective commitment in team selection and deployment in construction project delivery.Design/methodology/approachBy using a deductive questionnaire survey on project team participants and experienced human resource managers in recruitment and team selection in project organizations, structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the contribution of CF, SF and AC parameters to teamwork effectiveness from a total of 105 responses gathered from project team participants in project delivery.FindingsThe SEM revealed that, CF, SF and AC together account for about 81% predictive effect to teamwork effectiveness which is higher than joint effect of CF and SF in existing models in team selection and deployment. By this, it can be affirmed that, in considering CF, SF and AC in an integrated manner in team selection and deployment, higher team effectiveness can be achieved that can stimulate high performing teams and effectiveness in project delivery.Originality/valueThe findings give theoretical assertiveness to extending consideration of competence and values in team selection to embrace affections and commitment to engender effectiveness in teamwork, cohesion, collaboration and performance. This present novel attempts to include affective commitment in teamwork toward higher team effectiveness.

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to evaluate key factors considered in the maintenance and management of property and facilities in a public tertiary institution in Ghana, taking reflective cognizance of the poor maintenance culture in the country.Design/methodology/approachThe cross-sectional design was adopted, employing both structured and semi-structured interview questionnaires for quantitative and qualitative interview data, respectively from multiple individuals in the Koforidua Technical University. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) tool was deployed to analyze the quantitative data, while the focus group interview was recorded, transcribed and thematically analyzed.FindingsThe paper reveals the need for a working policy and strategy for the maintenance of public property to ensure sustainability of practices. Essential factors such as effective communication flow and the competence of the maintenance team were highly ranked in the maintenance of public property. The use of computerized systems and other technological tools in maintenance practice featured low, and this calls for improvement in the delivery of maintenance services. Another critical finding was the need for effective engagement of all stakeholders in the planning and development of strategies to improve property maintenance.Practical implicationsThe findings have practical implications for practitioners and society at large. Notably, they enjoin public sector institutions to embrace policy-driven public property management and maintenance, strategic outlooks for public property maintenance, technological advancement in property management and effective engagement of all stakeholders in property maintenance delivery.Originality/valueThis paper reviews a collection of maintenance practices and moves further to evaluate them using a case study of a public institution to draw useful outcomes. It offers new knowledge pursued to fill a revealed gap in the literature.