An Evaluation of Vehicle Component Procurement on the Performance of Road Transportation, A Study of Public Bus Transit, Ghana

Road transportation is anessentialtransit medium for development and economic growth in developing countries. Procurement of vehicle component partshas serious impact on the performance of the road transport industry. Shortage and unavailability of technically specified and quality vehicle component parts resulting in broken down transit buses tend to affect the overall management of public bus transit system.We use the public transit system in Ghana as a typical case study in the West African sub-region. Data gathered through questionnaires, interviews and observations and the adoption of a hybrid form of Just-In-Time (JIT) and Total Quality Management (TQM) supply chain management systemsfor procurement procedures revealed some results. The study findings outlined ineffective procurement practices as contributing to the difficulties in shortage of vehicle component parts. Difficulties relating to poor provision of technically detailed parts specification, inaccurate purchased quantities, delivery delays and dysfunctional supplier relationships, amongst others. Proposed recommendations are measures of enforcing on the procurement function and strengthening of communication within procurement stages, information flow and improvement in the use of fully electronic computerized data management in the procurement and inventory systems

An Investigation of Yam Ingestion Customs in Ghanaian Urban Communities, Ghana

This study examined the major factors that drive changes in yam consumption patterns across income groups, seasons and urban centers in Ghana to inform food policy formulation. The study, among other things, sought to provide evidence on whether or not yam had become a luxury food commodity in Ghanaian urban communities. Special attention was also given to the question of whether household income allocation between males and females had any significant effect on yam consumption. The study estimated yam expenditure elasticities for the pooled/aggregate data and the four different urban centers across different income groups to test Engel's law. Results of the study showed that majority (>80%) of yam consumers in Ghanaian urban communities preferred white yam to yellow and water yams, and the most important reason for their preference was taste. Boiled yam (ampesi) was the most preferred yam product in Ghanaian urban centers followed by pounded yam (fufu). Rice was identified as the most important substitute for yam in urban communities. In a typical Ghanaian urban center, household food budget formed about 51% of the total household budget. Yam constituted about 12% of household at-home food budget and 13% of its away-from-home food budget. The shares of food budget that households allocated to yam generally increased during the peak harvest season and dropped during lean season across all urban centers in Ghana. Yam expenditure elasticity for the pooled sample was found to be inelastic (0.76), suggesting that yam is a basic food commodity in a typical Ghanaian urban center. Yam expenditure elasticity was lowest for Tamale (0.64), a less urbanized center, and highest for Accra (1.01), a more urbanized centre. However, in each particular urban center, Engel's law was affirmed; yam expenditure elasticity was higher for low-income households and lower for high-income households. Yam expenditure elasticity was found to vary across seasons; yam was expenditure elastic during the lean season and expenditure inelastic during the harvest season. Women's share of household income was found to be positively related to household yam budget share. Evidence from this study did not support the hypothesis of economies of household size with respect to household yam budget share when the pooled data was used for analysis. However, the hypothesis of economies of household size was supported in the seasonal consumption analysis where households were found to enjoy economies of size during the relatively yam abundant period of August to December and diseconomies of size during the lean season. The study showed that yam budget share was down-price elastic but expenditure inelastic. Urban households were more responsive to changes in yam prices than changes in household income, implying that the substitution effect is stronger than the income effect. The high price elasticity for yam budget share stresses the importance of food price changes for households, and it is important that households' reactions are taken into account in the development of comprehensive agricultural and food policies in Ghana

Implementation of Budget and its Preparations in the Private Organization, Ghana

The study was conducted to know about implementation of budget and its preparations in the private organization (Ahantaman Rural Bank Ltd in Ghana). The purpose of the research was to emphasize the importance of budget and budgetary control and to investigate whether this important tool for focusing on corporative objective is being used by private sector organizations. Specifically the study seeks to investigate the budgetary process in the selected private company, Assess the implementation and monitoring process of budgets in the selected organization, Make recommendation for efficient budget and budgetary process in the selected organization. To address the issue of delay in budget implementation, the researcher suggests that, the appropriate persons are to constitute the budget committee being the head of the various departments. In their absence, the next in command should represent them to ensure proper coherence among the budget staff. There should be an authority in place to check proper and faster implementation of the budget. This will move budget implementation faster as different group of people are involved and can also serve as a check on one another. In so doing, the budget committee members will be somehow independent of what happens at their various departments. The authority should institute training programmes for budgeting officers. Such training should cover both senior and junior staff. This will update their knowledge and facilitate their workAgain, the instituted budgetary control system in the Authority should also go beyond identifying deviations and taking corrective actions. Where deviations usually occur, the departmental head responsible must be called upon to explain the causes and must be put on track. If deviation still persists, some disciplinary action must be taken against them. It will bring some improvement. Lastly, there should also be in place some reward scheme for budget officers who perform and discharge their work with proficiency. This will serve as a motivational tool for budget officers and even inspire others to work hard