Measuring New Product Adoption in Uganda

The study addresses the question of New Product Adoption in Uganda while confirming the measures of adoption that have been applied in the previous studies. A fair amount of work has been done in the area of adoption across different fields of study in view of the antecedents of New Product Adoption but with minimal emphasis on the measures of adoption. The researchers adopted a cross sectional descriptive research design to measure new product adoption using beverage manufacturers and consumers in Uganda. The study used a sample of 210 beverage manufacturing organizations looking at both marketing staff and customers of those organizations as the unit of enquiry. Using Structural Equation Modeling, the Confirmatory Factor Analysis results indicate a good model fit for Acceptance and Usage as the measures of New Product Adoption in Uganda. The study recommends that manufacturers who are interested in evaluating the level of adoption of their products, need to consider the degree of customer acceptance and usage of the same products. Keywords: New Products, Adoption, Measuring Adoption, Acceptance and Usage

Lessons from Uganda’s Successful Combat of Ebola Scourge: The Strategic Communication Approach

This case focuses on how Ugandan health sector players (both public and private) under the leadership of the ministry of health managed to combat the Ebola scourge that hit the nation in the year 2000 in comparison to the Ebola scourge in West Africa in 2014. The case starts with a brief background of the then state of health in Uganda that comprised of a relatively weak health system with inadequate health and wellbeing promotion campaigns. This challenge has continued to the extent that up to date, 75% of the disease burden in Uganda is preventable through health awareness campaigns. The case study shows that with the weak health system in 2000, the health sector managed to use strategic communication approaches like relational cohesion, information adequacy and interaction quality to combat the Ebola scourge that had spread to nearly the whole country within only 144 days, claiming over 224 lives. The case ends with a discussion of the lessons that can be drawn from Uganda’s successful combat of Ebola basing on the understanding of social network theory and a conclusion that sets direction for future studies. Keywords: management, communication, strategy, strategic communication, Ebol

Enhancing Ethical Orientation through Organizational Rationality: The Case of NAADS Projects in Uganda

This study aimed at analyzing the relationship between Organizational Rationality and Project Managers’ Ethical Orientation on Poverty Eradication Projects in Uganda. A quantitative research design was adopted. Data was collected from 268 project officials and project beneficiaries attached to selected National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) projects in Uganda. Primary data was captured through administering a questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statics, correlation and regression analysis. Results revealed a positive relationship between organizational rationality and project managers’ ethical orientation. Also, each of the four dimensions of organizational rationality, thus, Efficiency, Predictability, Control and Calculability are positively related to Project Managers’ Ethical Orientation.  These findings in part indicate that, within the project organization, if task related inefficiencies are reduced to a minimum and tasks are handled harmoniously towards the project objectives, project managers will accordingly act in accordance with policy regulations and directives with fairness, and they shall always comply with the law and professional standards over and above other considerations which is an indicator of good ethical orientation. Thus, it is advanced that where standards, rules, regulations and control are an essential part of the daily life of the base organization, this leads to improved Project Managers’ Ethical Orientation. Keywords: Organizational Rationality, Project Managers, strategy, Ethical Orientation, Poverty Eradication

Tapping into the Power Lines of Project Success: The Strategic Role of Ethical Climate

Success has continued to elude many projects world over and hence raised the need to step up measures aimed at reversing this trend. Given the unique nature of particular projects, any efforts to cause project success ought to be targeted at a clearly defined set of projects. This study aimed at investigating the strategic role that the ethical climate components of Egoism, Principle and Benevolence play in enhancing the performance of Poverty Eradication Projects in LDCs, particularly Uganda. Cross sectional and quantitative survey designs were used with a study sample of 323 National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) projects.  The results revealed that the ethical climate components of Egoism, Principle and Benevolence positively relate with and predict performance of poverty eradication projects. These findings generate implications and inform particular recommendations on the success of projects in LDCs as this article articulates. Keywords: Project, Ethical Climate, Poverty, Performance, Strateg

Digital Roots : harnessing Digital Platforms in Advancing Traditional and Complementary Medicine for Cancer Care in Sub-Saharan Africa

Publisher Copyright: Copyright: © the authors; licensee.The rise in cancer rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), combined with limited access to Western pharmaceuticals, has sparked growing adoption of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) for cancer treatment in the region. However, many challenges exist, including the lack of reliable evidence-based research on these products, scarcity of standardized documentation as part of cancer registries, limited physician expertise, and negative effects on mortality. Nonetheless, herbal medicines also present opportunities for further research, development, and stakeholder education, potentially benefiting the regional healthcare systems in SSA countries and global health as whole. Recent trends highlight the willingness of patients to use mobile-based applications that provide accurate information on herbal therapeutics, reflecting the increasing adoption of internet and smart/mobile phone services in SSA. To maximize the potential benefits of traditional and complementary medicine, it is necessary to bridge the trust gap between the public, local practitioners, and Western healthcare providers. Sustained funding and policy support are needed to complement these initiatives. Our preliminary survey hopes to inspire the community and policymakers to embrace innovative solutions, fostering a forward-looking approach to cancer care in SSA

The Helicobacter pylori Genome Project : insights into H. pylori population structure from analysis of a worldwide collection of complete genomes

Helicobacter pylori, a dominant member of the gastric microbiota, shares co-evolutionary history with humans. This has led to the development of genetically distinct H. pylori subpopulations associated with the geographic origin of the host and with differential gastric disease risk. Here, we provide insights into H. pylori population structure as a part of the Helicobacter pylori Genome Project (HpGP), a multi-disciplinary initiative aimed at elucidating H. pylori pathogenesis and identifying new therapeutic targets. We collected 1011 well-characterized clinical strains from 50 countries and generated high-quality genome sequences. We analysed core genome diversity and population structure of the HpGP dataset and 255 worldwide reference genomes to outline the ancestral contribution to Eurasian, African, and American populations. We found evidence of substantial contribution of population hpNorthAsia and subpopulation hspUral in Northern European H. pylori. The genomes of H. pylori isolated from northern and southern Indigenous Americans differed in that bacteria isolated in northern Indigenous communities were more similar to North Asian H. pylori while the southern had higher relatedness to hpEastAsia. Notably, we also found a highly clonal yet geographically dispersed North American subpopulation, which is negative for the cag pathogenicity island, and present in 7% of sequenced US genomes. We expect the HpGP dataset and the corresponding strains to become a major asset for H. pylori genomics