Record Keeping and the Bottom Line: Exploring the Relationship between Record Keeping and Business Performance among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana

This paper explores the relationships between record keeping and business performance among SMEs in Ghana. Relying on a sample of 100 SMEs in the Tamale Metropolis, and employing simple regression analyses and Pearson Correlation Coefficient, we found a positive correlation between record keeping and business performance. In particular, we show that the two variables are linearly related. After swapping both the dependent and independent variables in the estimated models, we found a more robust impact on record keeping when it depends on business performance than when the latter depends on the former. We however could not show which variable causes changes in the other, necessitating further research efforts in this direction. While recognising the impact of record keeping on business performance, we conclude that at least in our study area, other performance metrics such as improved customer relations, access to sustainable finance, technology diffusion, and expanding the frontiers of access to internal and international markets are equally critical drivers of SME performance. This calls for conscious and coordinates efforts aimed at enhancing the performance of SMEs in Ghana. Keywords: SMEs, Record Keeping, Business Performance, Entrepreneurshi

Causality and Cointegration Analysis: Evidence from the Brazilian Stock Market

Many studies have focused on examining the cointegration and causality between or among stock markets of different countries. This paper departs from these traditional inter-relationship studies through its investigation on the causality and cointegration between the Brazilian Stock Market (Bovespa) and a listed company (Petrobras) by employing the Granger causality test and error correction technique based on autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) modelling approach to cointegration. We find empirical evidence of cointegration and that deviation from long-run equilibrium is corrected according to the speed of adjustment. In particular, a disequilibrium resulting from a shock to the stock market is corrected by 3.8% per week. Our findings also show a unidirectional causality running from Bovespa index to share price of Petrobras thus revealing the predictive power of the former. While our Granger causality finding is inconsistent with the preaching of efficient market hypothesis (EMH), it nonetheless fortifies the need for investors and financial analysts to closely monitor the movements of the Brazilian stock market index when investing (or analyzing changes) in Petrobras. Keywords: Bovespa, Petrobras, Cointegration, Causality, Equilibrium, Short-run, Long-ru

Influence of unscheduled stop and dwell time of minibus public transport on transit time in Kano Metropolis

Minibus has been one of the modes of public transport in Nigerian cities. Despite its positive impact on urban mobility demand, it is however,  associated with some problems which make its service ineffective. This study explores the operating characteristics of minibus public transport in  Kano metropolis. It also examines the influence of unscheduled random stops and dwell times of minibus on passengers' transit time. Data were collected on the number of random stop, dwell time per stop, and travel time from route’s origin to destination using an in-vehicle observation  technique. Four major routes on which minibuses operate were used for the study. Finding from this study revealed that minibus public transport in Kano city is characterized by recurring unscheduled random stops and long dwell time. Across the routes studied, the total number of unscheduled  stops ranges from 18 to 23 per trip while the cumulative dwell time per trip constitutes 40 to 60% of the transit time leading to increase in overall passenger’s travel time, with attendant delay to the users. A weak correlation exists between the number of unscheduled stops and transit time,  indicating a less influence on the transit time. However, a strong correlation exists between dwell time during stops and travel time which is an indication of a substantial influence on transit time. Further analysis revealed that variations of recurring unscheduled stops and dwell times  account for about 74% of variability in minibus transit time. Finding from test of significance at α 0.05 revealed pvalues of 0.845 and 7.34E-43 for number of stop and dwell time, respectively. This suggests that the number of stop does not influence the transit time significantly; whereas, the  dwell time influences the transit time significantly. This implies that increase in passengers’ transit time is substantially due to the long dwell time during unscheduled random stop rather than the number of stop itself. Keywords: Minibus, public transport, unscheduled stop, dwell time, transit tim

Analysis of sildenafil citrate in herbal aphrodisiac preparations marketed in Sokoto metropolis and its public health implications

Aphrodisiacs are among the most widely marketed and consumed herbal products in North-Western Nigeria. There are speculations that these products are being adulterated with orthodox medicines in order to boost their effects and sales. The objective of current research was to analyse the presence of adulterated sildenafil citrate in some herbal aphrodisiacs commonly sold and consumed in Sokoto metropolis. Ten different liquid herbal aphrodisiac preparations marketed in Sokoto metropolis were collected from different areas of the city. Each of the preparation was analysed for adulteration with sildenafil citrate using thin layer chromatography and UV spectroscopy. Five of the preparations were found to contain sildenafil citrate in the range of 34 – 291 mg per daily dose. The findings from this study indicate that some of the herbal aphrodisiac preparations marketed in Sokoto metropolis are being adulterated with substantial amount of undeclared sildenafil citrate, a practice that poses serious public health hazard to its consumers. Consequences of which ranges from nausea, dyspepsia, pain, dizziness, abnormal vision, and headache and potentially heart attack especially among adults with underlying chronic diseases such as hypertension among others

The Effects of ICT Development on Firm-Level Technology absorption: The role of IT Usage

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development on technology diffusion and firm’s capacity to absorb new technologies. The study analyses the relationship between ICT development measured by mobile broadband subscriptions, broadband internet, percentage of internet users and mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions on one hand and firm-level technology absorption on the other by examining the mediating role played by Information Technology (IT) usage by businesses and governments. A quantitative approach based on Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is employed to analyse country-level data across 134 countries for the year 2016 from both developing and developed countries. Analysis of the results presents evidence of ICT development having a significant role in shaping technology absorption by firms and that this direct relationship is also positively mediated by IT usage. The study provides implications for research, practice, and policy

Critical success factors for data governance: a theory building approach

Thinking about data strategically is a challenge for many organisations today. Governing data has become vital in running a business successfully. In recent years, the volume of data used within organisations has increased dramatically, playing a critical role in business operations. The implementation of data governance remains problematic for the majority of organisations. Data governance is considered to be a relatively emerging subject, and several researchers have proposed different models that help in understanding the concepts related to it. Reviewing the literature, however, reveals a lack of research into the critical success factors (CSFs) for data governance, which shows a need for further studies aimed at understanding the success factors in governing an organisation’s data. This research study aims to identify the critical success factors for data governance that enable organisations to introduce an effective data governance programme. The research follows the building theory from case studies approach by conducting two in-depth case studies in Saudi Arabia. To gather the data, a CSF approach is employed in order to conduct the interviews. The data are then analysed using open, axial, and selective coding techniques in order to inductively identify the CSFs for data governance along with the recommended actions associated with each CSF. This study contributes to data governance research by providing nine CSFs for data governance, as well as identifying a list of recommended actions for putting the CSFs into practice. In addition, follow a rigorous inductive research approach, two theoretical models emerged: 1) a data governance activities model, which helps in better understanding the activities related to data governance that are reported in the literature; and 2) an open, axial, and selective coding framework, which helps in understanding how to use these coding techniques when analysing qualitative data

The Effect of IFRS Adoption on Foreign Direct Investment in Africa

Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is supposed to help enhance comparability of financial statement, improve the quality of financial reporting and accounting information of businesses in a country. This is expected to help improve Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the adopting countries. This study examined the effect of IFRS adoption on FDI inflows in Africa. Unlike previous studies that sample both adopting and non-adopting countries, this study sampled only Africa countries that have adopted IFRS to determine whether the adoption has improved FDI inflows. To achieve this objective, 20 African countries that have adopted IFRS were sampled covering a period 1980 to 2015. Data was sourced from The World Bank financial and Economic Data. Control variables such as GDP growth, openness of the economy, government debt and population growth were included in the model. The correlation and regression analysis showed that IFRS adoption has a positive and significant influence on FDI inflows in Africa. On the other hand, open economy, government debt and population growth had a positive and significant association with FDI. Overall, the results show that African countries that want to improve FDI inflows must improve the quality of their reporting environment by adopting IFRS

State of the Art on Vehicular Engine Exhaust Emissions Standards and Regulations: a Review

The burning of fossil fuel introduced massive quantities of pollutants leading to many adverse effects on human health. Therefore, regulations to reduce or eliminate exhaust gases and pollutants emissions from fossil fuels began to be issued worldwide in the 1970s. Automotive emissions issue has been strictly regulated since 1980. Therefore, this article reviewed some significant countries' vehicular emission standards for diesel and gasoline engines. The review began with an overview of considerable diesel and gasoline exhaust emissions, how they are generated, and their impact on the environment and human health, then surveyed the emission standards and regulations for motor vehicles in the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia, China, India and Nigeria. This section discovered that most countries have modelled their regulatory standards using the European and US regulatory models. Since Countries like Japan and Europe have already been following the worldwide harmonised test cycle (WHTC) to rectify the differences in present emission standards followed by different countries, more concerted research is needed for evolution to a shared universal emission standard implementable worldwide so that other countries may introduce the same shortly. Policies to discourage growth in personal automobile use are also potentially most significant. Thus, the review herein has been discussed to have better insight into the status of existing vehicular emission standards, which may be helpful for future improvisation and implementation of vehicular emission standards in Nigeria

A single antenna with wideband and narrowband functions

Wireless communication is the process of exchanging information between two or more entities over air facilitated by wireless devices. Antenna serves as the interface between the hardware and free space. To achieve high data rates and high capacity it is essential that a system capable of attaining such rates be complemented with the appropriate wideband antenna, for specific applications requiring less adjacent channel interference and also concentrated power at certain utilized/desirable frequencies requires antenna with good out of band rejection and precise resonance at the desired frequencies.In this project a CPW fed slot single antenna is proposed to be reconfigurable by implementing switches in order to operate in the wideband(1.7-6.0Ghz) mode and narrowband modes (3.5Ghz and 5.0Ghz). In particular, this antenna will find application in GSM (1800/1900), Bluetooth (2.4Ghz) and WLAN/WiMAX (2.4/3.3/3.5/5.0/5.5/5.8Ghz) bands which can all be found within the considered range of 1.7-6.0GHz

Determinants of Financial Sustainability of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Ghana

Financial sustainability of NGOs has become a global concern in the wake of global financial crisis which has reduced donor funds from developed economies to developing countries. NGOs play an important role in developing countries like Ghana and as such their financial sustainability is very important not only for the NGOs but the Ghanaian economy. The study examined the factors that determine financial sustainability of NGOs in Ghana based on the following variables; sound financial management practices, income diversification, own income generation, good donor relationship and the use of ERPs and Cloud Accounting by NGOs. The study sampled 56 NGO where data was collected through the administration of questionnaires. Data was analysed using various statistical tools such as frequencies, graphs, tables, Kruskal Wallis Test and regression analysis. The results of the study showed that NGOS in Ghana are donor dependent and have little diversification of income as well as less own income generation measures in place. This results show that NGOs in Ghana are not financially sustainable and as such need income generating income measures that will help them to be financially reliable. The results show that sound financial management practices, own income generation by NGOs, diversification of income and good donor relationship are the key determinants of financial sustainability of NGOs in Ghana. The use of ERP systems and cloud accounting had positive effect on NGO financial sustainability but statistically insignificant. The results call for NGOs to take steps to improve these factors in their respective organization if they want to improve their financial sustainability