Cultural intelligence and managerial relational performance: a resource advantage perspective

Purpose – Since managerial rationality is often bounded; managers use their cognitive capabilities and social interaction to manage their operational cultural and environmental differences. Drawing on the resource-advantage theory, we theorize that import manager’s cultural intelligence (CQ) is an intangible but valuable human capital capable of diminishing the effect of their foreign counterpart’s psychic distance and ultimately, their relational performance. Design/methodology/approach – Our measure of CQ in this study comprises metacognitive and motivational CQs to examine the relations between metacognitive and motivational CQs on psychic distance and its ultimate effect on relational performance. Survey data collected from 228 Nigerian automobile import managers were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to examine the relationship among the study variables. Findings – Our study revealed that metacognitive CQ reduces the effect of psychic distance in the exchange relationship. Moreover, in the presence of a low-level psychic distance, relational performance increases. This finding confirms the intervening role of CQ on performance relationship. The study offers insights into the under-researched area of CQ in international business research. It highlights the role of CQ and its influence on psychic distance in the success or failure of relational exchanges in the international market. Originality/value – We present the concept of CQ as human capital that has the potential to improve managerial relational performance. We go further to advance the potential significance and relevance of CQ in improving international buyer-seller exchanges

Biophysical studies of the intracellular domains of the EGFR family of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases

The epidermal growth factor receptor and its three orthologues, HER2, HER3 and HER4 have been the subject of intensive basic, clinical and translational research due to their involvement in cancers. These proteins are part of elaborate networks that interact with a myriad of other molecules to effect diverse signaling pathways and affect cellular processes such as migration, apoptosis, cell differentiation and so on. In addition to the formation of preformed dimers, it is well established that ligand engagement leads to receptor dimerization in all family members, except HER2. In the past decade, it has been shown that their intracellular domains dimerize in an asymmetric fashion where the C-lobe of the donor kinase interacts extensively with the Nlobe of the receiver kinase. This structural model is critical for activation of the receiver kinase and subsequent phosphorylation of the C-terminal tail. While the structures of the different domains have been solved, minimum structural and biophysical studies have been performed on the C-terminal tails. In this thesis, we use multiple approaches to characterize the C-terminal tails of EGFR and HER3, and show that they are intrinsically disordered regions of these receptors. We also developed a strategy that has been employed to site-specifically fluorophore-label the EGFR kinase domain, and would serve as a biological probe to directly measure EGFR kinase domain dimerization on lipid surfaces

Poisson Regression Modeling For Incidence of Maternal Deaths In Ghana

The death of a woman while performing her naturally mandated duty of childbirth remains sad and sensitive to every nation worldwide. This paper seeks to explore the application of Poisson models in the study of incidence of Maternal Deaths at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital – Kumasi, Ghana. Analyses were based on data available at the Obstetrics & Gynecology directorate of the Hospital for the period 2000-2010. We found that within the eleven (11) year period, a total of 1,223 maternal deaths occurred with the years 2008 and 2009 recording the highest deaths of 138 and 144 respectively. Also, the mean incidence of maternal deaths remained approximately the same over the period. The results also show that compared to year 2010, the incidence of maternal death was significantly high in 2004, 2005 as well as 2008. We conclude that management and government reevaluate all existing intervention programs for reducing maternal deaths since they seem not to have yielded the expected results over the past eleven years (2000 - 2010) reference to this teaching hospital. Key words: Poisson Regression Model, Bio-statistics, KAT

Cigarette smoking among in-school adolescents in Yilo Krobo municipality in the Eastern Region of Ghana

Background: Adolescent cigarette smoking is of public health importance since many adult smokers had initiated the habit as adolescents. This study aims to determine the prevalence of cigarette smoking among in-school adolescents in Yilo Krobo Municipality, Ghana and factors associated with cigarette smoking.Methods: A school-based cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in February 2017 in Yilo Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region of Ghana. A stratified random sampling method was applied to select 700 students. After obtaining informed consent, structured questionnaires were administered to collect information on demographic characteristics,behaviours, family, peer and school factors. Data was entered into SPSS and analysed with level of significant as p-value of less than 0.05. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis were applied to determine prevalence and risk factors of cigarette smoking.Results: A total of 700 students participated in the study and the prevalence of cigarette smoking was 14.3% (100) and 77.5% (76) were introduced to smoking by their peers. Those who started smoking cigarette at the age of 10 years and below were 32% (32). Factors associated with cigarette smoking were being in JHS 1 (AOR:2.23, p=0.006), closefriends smoking cigarette (AOR: 2.26, p=0.001), having drank alcohol before (AOR: 6.0, p<0.001) and having ever used marijuana (AOR: 6.48, p<0.001). However, recognizing marijuana usage to be wrong was protective against cigarette smoking (AOR: 0.58, p=0.006).Conclusion: Cigarette smoking among in-school adolescents exists in Yilo Krobo Municipality and school-based interventions such as counselling services on substance use should be implemented to address these behaviours.Funding: No external funding was received to conduct the studyKeyword: Cigarette-smoking, Adolescents, Prevalence, Factors, Ghan

The Growth Performance of Triplochiton scleroxylon, Terminalia superba and Ceiba pentandra in Pure and Mixed Stands.

Plantation developers mostly prefer exotic to indigenous tree species in restoration of degraded forests due, perhaps to, inadequate information on indigenous tree plantations to enable them change in that direction. The study was conducted at the Jimira Forest Reserve in the Nkawie Forest District to compare the growth performance of Ceiba pentandra, Terminalia superba and Triplochiton scleroxylonin their pure and mixed stands. Four plots, each divided into four subplots measuring 50m x 50m, of one hectare demarcated represented three pure stands of Ceiba pentandra, Terminalia superba and Triplochiton scleroxylon and one mixed stand of the three species. Simple random sampling was used to a subplot from each plotand diameter and height measurements were taken. The mean growth rates in diameter of Ceiba pentandra, Terminalia superba, and Triplochiton scleroxylon in the pure stands and the mixed stand were 1.73 and 1.61cm/year; 1.77 and 2.02 cm/year; and 2.70 and 2.57 cm/year respectively and those in height were 1.06 and 0.80 m/year; 1.16 and 1.25 m/year; and 1.98 and 1.59 m/year respectively. The statistical analysis carried out to determine the variations in tree diameter and height in the pure and mixed stands indicated no significant differences. Keywords: Growth Performance, Triplochiton scleroxylon, Terminalia superba, Ceiba pentandra, Pure and Mixed Stands. DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/9-4-0

The Impact of Socio-Demographic Factors on Domestic Tourism Consumption Expenditure in Ghana

This study applies quantile regression approach to analyse socio-demographic factors that affect domestic tourism consumption expenditure in Ghana. The approach uses household domestic tourism expenditure as a response variable. The internet access of the household, whether a household owns a mobile phone, and /or at least one car or not are represented as proxies for information and transport accessibility, respectively. Other variables included to constrain household domestic travel budgets are yearly household income and household loan. The rest are demographic characteristics such as age and educational level of household heads. The empirical results show that relatively older and well educated household heads with higher earnings are prepared and willing to expend more on domestic tourism in Ghana. The results further show that, in Ghana, household loans are one of the major constraints of domestic tourism spending for medium and heavy spenders, but positively and significantly influence light domestic tourism expenditure households. Internet access, ownership of a car and mobile phone have no relation with the amount of money spent on domestic tourism in Ghana. Keywords: domestic tourism, quantile regression, tourism consumption expenditure, socio-demographic variables, same-day visitors and overnight tourists. DOI: 10.7176/JTHS/41-05 Publication date:May 31st 201

Modelling Domestic Tourism Demand for Ghana

The research analyses the demand for tourism goods and services in Ghana by domestic tourists. For this purpose, it uses the Linear Almost Ideal Demand System (LAIDS) model (static and dynamic) to estimate price and expenditure/income elasticities for the study. The tourism goods and services include: accommodation; food and drinks; transport; recreation, culture and sporting activities; shopping; and other services. The uncompensated and compensated price and expenditure/income elasticities were calculated from the estimated parameters of the LAIDS model, static and dynamic. The results show that all own-price elasticities are negative and significant for uncompensated and compensated elasticities, while expenditure/income elasticities are positive and significant. The findings show that, by short-run, the demand for tourism goods and services in Ghana is price inelastic and expenditure/income elastic, and are normal goods and services. KEY WORDS: Static, dynamic, uncompensated, compensated, AIDS, elasticity. DOI: 10.7176/JTHS/40-0

The energy security situation of Ghana; A Country Comparative Analysis of 34 other countries worldwide

This study employed the composite energy security index developed (CESI) by B. K. Sovacool (2011) to compare Ghana’s energy security situation with those of 34 other countries — ASEAN, USA, EU, Japan, South Korea, China., India, Oceania, and 17 African countries — over a 20-year period. The aim is to determine which metrics of the composite index these countries outperformed Ghana. These metrics were captured under the categories of availability, affordability, technology development and efficiency, environmental sustainability, and regulation and governance. The top five performers were Brunei (273), Japan (260), New Zealand (254), USA (253), and EU (252) while the five worst performers were (from the bottom) Tunisia (123), Libya (124), Algeria (127), Egypt (128), and Morocco (132). Ghana was 17th, with a score of 185. The best-performing African countries were Congo DR (201), Cameroun (201), Angola (200), Tanzania (199), and Zambia (187). Ghana was the sixth best performer amongst the African countries. Keywords: Energy Security, CESI, environmental sustainabilit

Determinants of Bank Lending Behaviour in Ghana

This paper investigates the determinants of bank lending behaviour in Ghana. Using the GMM-System estimator developed by Arellano and Bover (1995) and Blundell and Bond (1998), we find that bank size and capital structure have a statistically significant and positive relationship with bank lending behaviour. We also find evidence of negative and significant impact of some macroeconomic indicators (central bank lending rate and exchange rate) on bank lending behavior. Again, competition in the industry was found to have a positive and significant impact on bank lending behaviour. Finally, relationship banking was found to have a positive correlation with bank lending behaviour in Ghana. Thus, policies aimed at maintaining stable macroeconomic fundamentals would greatly accelerate bank lending decision. Keywords: Banks, lending behaviour, Ghan

The timing of exogenous ethylene supplementation differentially affects stored sweetpotato roots

The effects of continuous supplemental ethylene (10 μL L−1) timing on the physiology and biochemistry of sweetpotato roots during storage at 25 °C were examined. Alongside continuous ethylene or air treatments, a subset of the roots were transferred at dormancy break, from those previously stored in ethylene into air and vice-versa. The study showed distinctive ethylene-induced effects on the metabolism of individual sugars, phenolic compounds and phytohormones (abscisic acid and zeatin riboside) across the spatial gradient of the root flesh and skin tissues. Although ethylene flushing doubled root respiration, sprout growth was significantly suppressed. Supplementation of roots with ethylene after dormancy break effectively inhibited sprout growth as much as continuous ethylene alone. On the other hand, truncating ethylene application after dormancy release promoted vigorous sprout growth. After prolonged storage, ethylene treatment was associated with increased weight loss and incidence of proximal rots. Supplemental ethylene also accelerated the catabolism of monosaccharides, and promoted accumulation of phenolic compounds in the proximal root sections