Knowledge Management Practice in The Ghanaian Construction Industry: A Case Study of 4 Firms in The Tamale Metropolis

The paper investigates the environmental enablers that promote Knowledge Management (KM) implementation and test them in Ghanaian construction firms. A case study design was used. Data were collected from a set of questionnaires administered to four (4) different construction firms. Findings revealed that the right environmental enablers (culture, infrastructure, and technology) are essential to knowledge management implementation. Construction firms in Ghana are not equipped with adequate environmental enablers of knowledge management implementation. As a step to KM implementation, the firms must begin to see KM as a strategic tool and nurture the environmental enablers of KM implementation within their respective organizations. The study is limited to four (4) construction companies (a case study approach) through a longitudinal survey would have represented the true situation of knowledge management in Ghanaian construction firms. Lack of the right environmental enablers hinders knowledge management implementation. This paper is one of the first to investigate the environmental enablers of KM implementation in construction firms in Ghana and Africa. Inadequate environmental enablers are a challenge to KM implementation in Ghanaian construction firms. Keywords: Construction firms, Environmental enablers, Ghana, Knowledge management,

Holistic Algorithms for Examining the Non-Performance of Lean Method of Construction for Accelerating Efficient Utilization of Lean Construction Methods in Ghana

Lean construction process is key to efficient, sustainably and economical project delivery success of construction project; however, globally, LC is a critical tool in construction project management in the construction industry; especially in the developing economies of which Ghana is no exception. This study sought to examine nonperformance of lean construction method to enable efficient utilization of lean construction methods for sustainably, economical and proficient project delivery in Ghana. The study adopted mixed research approach. Using empirical data obtained from administration of questionnaires to Operational Managers/Staff and Expect personnel in Ghana; the data was analyzed using NVivo 11 software method. The study indicated that the surveyed participants across the cases had limited understanding, familiarity, and usage of lean construction methods. The study further revealed that the lean implementation challenges identified, in addition to the key indicators which represent the performance of LCM, were all significantly negative from the statistics of the study, establishing the non-performance of LC in Ghana. The study concluded that the adoption of lean principles will lead to more economical and sustainable projects in the industry. As a recommendation, it was suggested that management develop LC policies to guide the implementation and commit to the methods to enable efficient utilization of LC. Keywords: Lean, Construction, Method, Efficient, Utilization, DOI: 10.7176/IKM/14-2-02 Publication date:March 31st 202

Investigating the Cost Management Practices of Indigenous Firms in the Ghanaian Construction Industry

Cost management is key to project implementation and an important tool for maximizing profit nonetheless it has been a major challenge for most indigenous construction firms in Ghana. The study seeks to investigate the important factors influencing cost management practices among indigenous construction firms in Ghana and to ascertain whether there is a significant difference between the responses of the categories of the firm (construction and consultancy firms) in Ghana. A total of 82 questionnaires were retrieved from 100 administered questionnaires to professionals with indigenous construction firms representing 82% response rate. Data gathered were analyzed descriptively using Mean Item Score (MIS) via SPSS version 24 to identify the most important factors. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett’s test of sphericity conducted showed a KMO score of 0.894. Bartlett’s test of sphericity also revealed a significance level of 0.000 (p˂0.05). The ANOVA suggest that there is no significant difference between the responses between the categories of firms. Indigenous firms are encouraged therefore to consider managing disagreement between project team members by ensuring constant project implementation meetings and to understand ground conditions of projects by visiting proposed sites prior to estimation and tendering. Finally, communication and expenditure control measures should be enhanced and introduced respectively. The implication of this study while contributing to the discourse on cost management practices of indigenous constructions firms in Ghana, also outlines the major (highly ranked) factors influencing indigenous firms in the management of project cost, before, during and after project implementation.&nbsp

Complete mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis of Bluespotted seabream, Pagrus caeruleostictus (Perciformes: Sparidae)

Pagrus caeruleostictus is a benthopelagic marine species found in tropical regions and a member of the family Sparidae and genus Pagrus. In this article, a mitochondrial DNA sequence by high-throughput technique (HTS) was carried out on muscle of the above species and determined the complete mitogenome. The complete mitochondrial DNA sequence was 16,653 bases pairs in length (GenBank Accession number: MN319701) and comprises of 37 genes; 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes as well as a control region as in a typical vertebrate mitochondrial DNA gene. The phylogenetic analysis showed P. caeruleostictus clustered with the clade of P. auriga