De-Graft Owusu-Manu

Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science and Technology | KNUST · Departmemt of Construction Technology and Management

Purpose The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the influences of three dimensions of social capital (the structural, relational and cognitive dimensions) on five situated learning processes (institutionalization, socialization, knowledge articulation, experience accumulation and knowledge reuse) in projects. Design/methodology/approach Drawing...

Purpose The integration of building information modelling (BIM) and life cycle assessment (LCA) is an effective means of achieving sustainability in the built environment. However, research remains scant on BIM-LCA integration in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI). This study aims to evaluate the barriers to BIM-LCA integration in the GCI fro...

Purpose To transition into a green/circular economy (CE), both academics and industrialists have undertaken research into various areas of circular business models (CBM), yet despite numerous studies conducted, the ensuing discourse contains scant information regarding the barriers to CBM adoption in the built environment. Therefore, this present s...

Purpose This paper explored the socioeconomic factors affecting green cities development. Extant literature have highlighted green cities as a major path towards sustainability in the construction industry but very little is known on the socioeconomic aspect of green cities and its bid in promoting sustainability in the construction industry; hence...

Purpose This paper is a response to the failure of construction firms to use sufficient attention to their working capital management (WCM) practices, resulting in operational challenges, and leading to the collapse of firms in most developing countries. Hence, this study aims to explore the empirical perspective of WCM practices among large buildi...

Because Ghana's microeconomic market relies primarily on import demand, changes in products and product prices might affect government income. Numerous currency depreciations hurt economic growth and budgetary balance. According to the argument, manufacturing promotes growth, profitability, and development while services provide lower-paying jobs....

The construction industry is exposed to a wide range of risks that can have detrimental impacts on the construction business, environment, and society. Sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility (SCSR) is a risk mitigation strategy that can help to mitigate such risk from the construction businesses and at the same time chip in the best interest o...

Firms employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) to influence stakeholder perceptions and positively induce desirable business outcomes. The mechanism through which stakeholder management affects the sustainability of CSR projects has been under-explored despite the burgeoning literature on corporate social responsibility. In response, we systema...

With an unequivocal objective that cities should provide their residents with high-quality places, the prospect of rapid growth in the world's population has spurred a need to develop new cities or enhance the sustainability and resilience of existing cities to effectively adapt to future changes. Despite these efforts, studies indicate that there...

This study aimed to explore the socioeconomic factors influencing the adoption of sustainable energy technologies and practices in Ghana. To identify the socioeconomic factors influencing the adoption of sustainable energy technologies, a comprehensive literature review was conducted which provided context on linkages between energy and economic de...

Purpose In recent times, both academics and industrialists have undertaken research into various areas of circular business models (CBM) in a bid to promote a green economy. Yet despite numerous studies conducted, the ensuing discourse contains scant information regarding the contributions of CBM towards the transition of green economy in the const...

Brief introduction to the Problem Construction accident studies often overlook the internal perspective of employees on site accidents’ impact on corporate reputation. Purpose This study investigates the effects of construction site accidents on corporate reputation from an internal viewpoint of stakeholders, focusing on employees. It also determi...

enhancing Smart Building Technologies’ (SBTs’) implementation for smart building projects indeveloping countries. A desk literature review is first conducted to identify and categorize thepotential factors. It is further analyzed using partial least square structural equation modelling(PLS-SEM) based on 227 valid data from experts in Ghana. The stu...

Purpose Public-private partnership (PPP) power projects are associated with varying risk factors. This paper aims to develop a fuzzy quantitative risk allocation model (QRAM) to guide decision-making on risk allocation in PPP power projects in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach A total of 67 risk factors and 9 risk allocation criteria were establi...

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to first identify and then model the impact of critical success factors (CSFs) of public–private partnership (PPP) power projects. Design/methodology/approach Review of empirical literature came out with 20 CSFs which were ranked by experts and industry practitioners through a two-round Delphi questionnaire su...

Purpose In comparison to other countries, power generation in Sub-Sahara Africa is poor. Public–private partnership (PPP) model has become increasingly popular for addressing infrastructural challenges, especially in the power sector. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and classify the factors that influence public sector involvement in Ghana...

Purpose Firms in the architectural, engineering, construction and operations (AECO) sector continue undertaking projects in a disruptive environment due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aims to explore environmental turbulence in the AECO project delivery space and suggest mechanisms for enhancing resilience against f...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges of pricing quantity surveying (QS) professional services to enhance the understanding of practitioners in developing strategies for the determination of fees for their services. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts the quantitative approach by administering 150 survey quest...

Construction projects are premised upon contractual arrangements, and contracts constitute the basis of their success. A contract enables execution of work and transfer of payments, tracking of key performance indicators, and facilitation of collaboration among project stakeholders. Historically, construction projects have faced critical challenges...

Most commercial entities depend on the availability, and reliability of electricity supply for their business ventures. Poor energy security, unreliability, and high cost of electricity characterize the utility grid of Ghana, forcing most of these facilities to resort to using diesel generators to supplement their energy needs. This study, therefor...

Purpose This study aims to identify the critical success factors of public private partnership (PPP) power projects in Ghana and further evaluates the most significant critical success factors (CSFs) influencing both the public and private sector participation in PPP power projects. Design/methodology/approach Ranking-type Delphi survey in two rou...

Purpose Whereas construction firms in developed economies often exhibit sound and positive financial performance, the opposite is prevalent in developing economies. It is due to a lack of evidence and consensus on what determines financial performance in the construction context. This paper explores the determinants of Small and Medium Construction...

Purpose The demand for power has surged in recent times and continues to increase yearly. In comparison to developed countries, the power industry’s risks, especially in piblic–private partnership (PPP) projects, are more complex and essential in developing countries. Appreciating the inter relationship among these risk factors is crucial. However,...

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effects of moral hazard on quality and satisfaction of public–private–partnership (PPP) construction projects in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach After undertaking a literature review, questionnaires were used to elicit responses from respondents. Population consisted of quantity surveyors, project mana...

The demand for energy infrastructure projects has increased steadily over the last few decades and has come at a high cost. Disruptive technologies (DTs) have the inherent capability to affect the performance of energy infrastructure projects. Therefore, this research aims to explore the implications of DTs on the performance of energy infrastructu...

Within some developing countries, wetlands have long been regarded as dumping grounds. However, there has been a gradual paradigm shift in societal attitudes towards recognising their importance as landscape features that provide benefits for humans and wildlife. Unfortunately, construction activities have continually plagued their existence. There...

Purpose: Many graduates want to become entrepreneurs and set up their own companies to provide employment and future security for them. However, most graduates face limited capital accessibility that could facilitate their entrepreneurial desires. This study was conducted to assess the implications of capital availability and accessibility on gradu...

In response to bankruptcies and undesirable business performance of construction companies in Sub-Saharan African, this paper seeks to identify factors that mitigate financial distress. Findings presented will assist project stakeholders in mitigating the effects of financial distress. A quantitative research design was adopted using primary data g...

Green building (GB) is a key mitigation and adaptation measure in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of Parties to the Paris Agreement. This paper explores the potential of green finance (GF) to support country efforts to shift from conventional construction to GB and to promote green renovations in existing buildings (GREB) within the...

Purpose-This paper examines the barriers to undertaking succession planning in family-owned construction firms. This would unearth the reasons why family-owned construction firms are unable to undertake succession planning which is identified as the leading panacea to unsurvivability of family-owned construction firms beyond the owner-manager. Desi...

Purpose The construction industry is beset with unethical behaviours. Although several studies have investigated the effects of unethical behaviours on project performance, research in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI) remains scant. Consequently, this research assesses the interactive effects of ethical and unethical behaviours of construct...

Purpose Demand for private investment in infrastructure, notably in the power sector remains high, and this is anticipated to expand with the passage of time. Very little research currently exists on the power sector and specifically the private sector influencing factors (PSIFs) for entering into public–private partnerships (PPPs). The purpose of...

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the risk factors and determines the overall risk level (ORL) of public-private-partnership (PPP) power projects in Ghana using fuzzy synthetic evaluation methodology (FSEM). Design/methodology/approach In this paper review of literature led to the development of a 67-factor risk list which was ranked by experts...

Purpose The concept of working capital management (WCM) has been a fundamental financial accounting term that has evolved in financial theory for centuries. Given that the construction industry (CI) is financially dynamic, there is an imperative need to understand its WCM practices. The call for the industry players to adhere to efficient financial...

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the key risk factors inherent in public–private partnership (PPP) power projects in Ghana and further determine the critical risk factors affecting both the public and private sectors in PPP power projects. Design/methodology/approach Ranking-type Delphi survey in two rounds was conducted to establish a comprehe...

Purpose-This article aims to review the literature on succession planning for family-owned construction firms. The purpose is to unearth and contextualize the succession planning information within the construction industry, particularly for family-owned construction firms. Design/methodology/approach-A systematic and meticulous literature search o...

Despite the growing importance of green cities and the contributions in literature, cities still face challenges such as poor planning, flooding, and slums especially in Africa including Ghana. Yet, no study has investigated the sustainability content required to develop green cities in Ghana. In view of this, the primary aim of this study is to ex...

Purpose In the past few years, the public–private partnership (PPP) model has become increasingly popular in the infrastructure projects of developing countries, especially in the power sector. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the motivations for engaging in PPP power projects in Ghana by comparing the public and private sectors. Design/m...

Purpose In comparison to other countries, power generation in Sub-Saharan Africa is poor. The demand for power has surged in recent times and continues to increase at a fast rate. The public–private partnership (PPP) model has been identified as an option to address the challenges in the power sector. The purpose of this research paper is to critic...

Purpose Occupational safety issues among employees remains a contemporary and omnipresent concern. In developing countries, safety-related problems are amplified, resulting in higher incidences of serious accidents and occupational diseases. This study aims to evaluate employees’ knowledge and attitudes toward occupational health and safety, and ho...

This article deals with an innovative approach to maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in power systems using the reservoir computing (RC) technique. Even though extensive studies have been conducted on MPPT to improve solar PV systems efficiency, there is still considerable room for improvement. The methodology consisted in modeling and programming...

Purpose Energy conservation literacy within households is a contemporary and topical issue globally. However, scant research has been conducted on energy-saving literacy amongst Ghanaian households. To substantiate the problem, this paper aims to examine energy conservation literacy and behaviours among Ghanaian households in the Greater Accra Regi...

Purpose – Construction firms worldwide are increasingly taking pragmatic steps towards addressing environmental problems arising from their activities. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of studies focused on the nexus between green construction and environmental performance. Hence, this study aims to examine the linkages between green construction pr...

Purpose Even though emotional intelligence (EI) is reported to have many benefits, yet it remains mainly unexplored in the construction industry. This paper aims to present a critical review of EI research in the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach Search of literature was conducted by using Scopus engine. Relevant keywords were use...

Moral hazards and adverse selection (MHAS) lead to failure in public-private partnership (PPP) projects and delay in delivery outputs' requirements. This research developed a fuzzy synthetic evaluation model (FSEM) to measure cause and effect level of MHAS of PPP construction projects. Mean score ranking and principal component factor analysis (PCF...

Purpose Efficient decision-making must be reinvigorated to make a good decision towards retirement by construction workers. In developing countries such as Ghana, researchers conducted investigations into the effects of investing in retirement decision-making and planning, but none has considered to examine and identify the factors/determinants inf...

The Ghanaian construction industry predominated by family-owned construction firms has established its dominant impact on economic development, albeit unstructured. This literature review is to dissect extant literature bringing out the uniqueness of the sector and attempt a classification for family-owned construction firms in Ghana. Anchored in a...

Purpose The purpose of the study is to investigate the challenges in improving women's energy access, rights and equitable sustainable development from a Ghanaian perspective. Design/methodology/approach The research utilizes a mixed method. A qualitative in-depth exploratory design was chosen to understand how gender is mainstreamed within Ghana'...

Acquiring property for any business is capital intensive and for that matter, strategically managing such assets is considered equally important. This paper provides an analysis of the value-adding attributes of corporate real estate management (CREM) and bank performance in Ghana. The multiple regression method was applied to a cross-section of bo...

Emotional Intelligence (EI) in conjunction with other assessment tools could be used by construction organizations to significantly improve the performance of construction projects. However, studies assessing the relationship between EI and the performance of construction projects are scarce. The study presents a case study assessing the influence...

Purpose The construction industry is an enabler of economic growth in developing countries, but its performance is governed by the professional behaviour of construction professionals. Unethical behaviour (UB) breaches codes of practice and undermines economic performance hence, ubiquitous academic attention has been given to understanding this phe...

There is a lack of research on the drivers for green cities development in developing countries. This study aims to investigate the key drivers for green cities development in Ghana. To this end, 19 drivers were identified from a comprehensive literature review, and a questionnaire survey was performed with 154 professionals with green cities devel...

The race towards smart city status, influenced by the perceived benefits of innovation and sustainability in smart city concepts, has engendered the need to measure the smartness/smart development levels of developing countries' cities to improve upon urban infrastructures. However, various strategies for determining cities' smartness/smart develop...

Issuance of green bonds (GBs) is valuable for developing countries because it provides a market deepening mechanism, which enables greater liquidity for investments in renewable energy (RE) sector. This article is premised on the outlook for the first GB in Ghana. The study investigates the features of GBs, which investors prioritize as preferentia...

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to guide green cities development in developing countries. The study adapted and validated indicators that can be adopted, to predict, estimate, depict, and measure green city development in developing countries. In using a covariance-based structural equation model (CBSEM), the study dev...

Buildings inevitably deteriorate with time. Schools buildings are no exception and require refurbishment at times. Despite the UK Government announcing the £1 billion funding for rebuilding 50 schools over 10 years starting 2010–2021, it is common practice for builders and designers to, upon completion of a building project, move on to the next dev...

Kumasi Metropolis, the second largest city in Ghana is known to be bewildered with challenges relating to waste management. As means of solving the waste management challenge, several suggestions are often made for the establishment of Waste-to-Energy Plant to manage the disposal of waste and generation of income. There have been no studies conduct...

Whilst smart building technologies (SBTs) implementation ensures sustainability, their adoption is hampered by latent barriers, especially in project management processes. These latent barriers must be addressed in order to facilitate the successful and widespread adoption of SBTs. This study explores the significant latent barriers inhibiting the...

The decision-making towards the adoption of Smart Building Technologies (SBTs) is not sufficiently informed by pertinent expertise in developing countries such as Ghana, in terms of energy-efficient building design methods and associated technologies. This study aims to assess the decision level on adopting SBTs and identify the factors that influe...

Financing rail infrastructure development in developing countries has hitherto received scant academic attention, especially in empirical developments. This research study assesses the policy provisions and institutional behavioral factors influencing rail infrastructure financing in developing countries such as Ghana. An empirical and positivist e...

Purpose Ghana has set an objective of achieving 10% of its energy requirements through renewable sources, by 2020. However, to date, the renewable energy (RE) sector has attracted only marginal investor interest. This paper aims to identify the challenges faced in financing RE in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive review of literat...

Urbanisation problems could be solved when cities adopt the smart city concept. However, the creation of smart cities without incorporating sustainable development principles from the onset could render the intended solutions nullified, because of the anticipated effect of an unsustainable smart city on the environment. The aim of this paper is to...

Urbanisation of cities are fraught with several challenges. Smart sustainable city concepts (SSCC) present means to solve these problems. Therefore, over the years, researchers have been studying frameworks to adopt in the formation of smart sustainable cities to solve urbanisation challenges. In this study, a conceptual framework for controlling u...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the awareness level of smart building technologies (SBTs) among construction professionals in developing countries such as Ghana, and identify the key factors that have the significant capability of influencing the awareness level. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through ques...

Purpose Using a discrete choice experiment (DCE), this study aims to better understand the job preference of postgraduate students studying at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology-Institute of Distance Learning, Ghana and also rank the attributes of a job they deem important. Design/methodology/approach The research adopted a pos...

The construction industry is experiencing a shortage of workforce and skill gap due to the significant reduction in the younger workers entering the construction industry compared to the exponential number of retiring workers. Providing ageing workforce with a satisfactory construction work environment (CWE) can be one of the ways to encourage them...

Purpose Supply chain (SC) disruption, whether demand sided or supply sided, is conversely perceived to affect organisational performance of construction firms. This paper, therefore, aims to examine the linkage of supply chain disruptions with organisational performance of construction firms through the moderating role of innovation. Design/method...

Purpose Despite the amount of considerable investigations on business models, much studies have not been undertaken in the construction industry emphasising the adoption of green business models to drive sustainable construction. Construction activities continue to increase the carbon footprint and eject contaminated materials into the ecological e...

Findings on the strategic benefits of adopting innovation in the construction services firms were: improvement of services and product quality, increase in technical capability, new processes, revenue growth, improvement of human resources, market penetration and growth, increase in organizational effectiveness, improvement of processes, improvemen...

Purpose-Leadership encapsulates a process of influencing others to understand what needs to be done and how it can be done. The related area of mindset behaviour which moderates leadership styles adopted in various industries has hitherto received scant academic attention in a construction context. This paper thus explores the linkages between proj...

Purpose Of late, cities across the globe are taking pragmatic steps towards addressing environmental, social and economic problems in the debate on sustainable development. Even so, little attention has been paid to studies focused on developing countries. The aim of this study is to examine the barriers to green cities development in developing co...

Purpose The advances in green city growth are widely discussed in extant literature. The benefits of green cities to urban development in recent discussions of sustainability and sustainable development are well documented and cannot be overemphasised. Although a growing study on green building development in developing countries has been advanced...

Purpose: The birth of an ageing population has been one of the most significant social transformers in the twenty-first century with the implication in all sectors, including the construction industry. Consequently, there have been advances in knowledge about elders living in built facilities; however, research about the older workforce that played...

Purpose This paper is anchored in a premise of a universal call to action by all UN member states in 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030 within the blueprint of the sustainable development goals (SDGS). The purpose of this study is to mainstream the SDGs in Ghana’s energy sector with...

Purpose This study investigates the underlying indicators for measuring the smartness of buildings in the construction industry; where the Smart Building Technology (SBT) concept (which incorporates elements of the Zero Energy Building (NZEB) concept) could ensure efficient energy consumption and high performance of buildings. Design/methodology/a...

Purpose This paper presents a conceptual model of effective subcontractor development practices to guide general contractors' development of a network of high-performing subcontractors (SCs) for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from supplier development theories and practices in the...

Globally, green bonds have experienced a fair share of handicaps within the countries of issuance. In lieu of Ghana announcing the possibility of its first green bonds, it is crucial that lessons are taken from the past developments to reinforce the prospects of a salutary rollout. This paper explores factors recommended as success dependent in the...

Purpose Conditions of inadequate and asymmetric information when an agent is hired by a principal have resulted in the problems of moral hazard and adverse selection (MHAS) in public–private partnership (PPP) construction projects. The purpose of this study is to explore strategies to reduce MHAS in PPP construction projects. Design/methodology/ap...

Purpose Globally, waste management has been a topical issue in the past few decades due to the continual increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) generation that is becoming difficult to handle with conventional waste management techniques. The situation is much more pronounced in economically developing countries where population growth rate and ur...