PurposeThe purpose of this study was to enhance our understanding of the connection between religiosity, employee empowerment and employee engagement.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the social exchange theory, a framework of hypotheses is developed that focusses on religiosity, employee empowerment and their impact on employee engagement. This research employed a quantitative survey and data obtained from 232 adults working in companies in Accra Ghana.FindingsThe results suggest that religiosity dimensions (extrinsic and intrinsic) have a counterbalancing effect on employee engagement dimensions (intellectual and affective). Employee empowerment predicts both intellectual and affective engagement.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has some limitations which provide opportunities for more research. First, the study is cross-sectional and focusses on employees in selected companies in Accra Ghana. More so, the participants were a convenience, majorly men (only 28% were women). This limits the generalisability of the findings and our confidence in ascertaining the “cause” and “effect” in the relationship. The present paper used a quantitative research approach; mixed method may provide in-depth insight into the subject. The study examined the direct relationship between religiosity, employee empowerment and employee engagement. Future research should explore how the effect of religiosity and employee empowerment on a relevant outcome changes according to other organisational characteristics.Practical implicationsOrganisations must develop more interest in religion's relevance and its impact on their employees' engagement. This should be done by providing the necessary platforms for employees to practice their religion. There is the likelihood of lack of engagement when an organisation fails to consider employee religious orientation or attempts to unduly regulate employees' religiosity. Empowering work environment can promote a higher level of employee engagement. It is obvious that empowered employees are focussed, energetic, enthusiastic and have positive disposition to work. These positive attitudes lead to a higher level of engagement which fosters productivity and overall organisational performance.Originality/valueThis study could contribute to the literature on religiosity, employee empowerment and employee engagement in the Ghanaian context. Therefore, there is a need to keep employees engaged and enhance productivity. This study underpins the importance of religiosity and employee empowerment in fostering employee engagement and productivity in the Ghana work setting.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between psychological empowerment and employee engagement. There is also an investigation of the moderating effect of religiosity on psychological empowerment and job satisfaction as well as job satisfaction and employee engagement. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from 265 employees working in the service industry in Nigeria. The hypotheses were tested and analysed using structural equation modelling and bootstrapping procedure. Findings The results show that the direct relationship between psychological empowerment and employee engagement was partially mediated by job satisfaction. Intrinsic religiosity (IR) was found to have a moderating effect on job satisfaction and employee engagement. IR and extrinsic religiosity (ER) does not moderate the impact of psychological empowerment on job satisfaction and employee engagement. ER was found to have a negative insignificant moderating effect on job satisfaction and employee engagement. Research limitations/implications A cross-sectional study reveals the relationship between variables at one point in a time. As such this study may not precisely predict the dominant pattern of the association over time. Future research can use longitudinal study to establish a dominant pattern of relationships. Practical implications This study informs human resource practitioners and scholars by demonstrating that religiosity and job satisfaction are important factors that should be considered in managing and keeping employees engaged. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first atte`mpts to enrich the literature in the fields of psychological empowerment and employee engagement by highlighting organisational mechanisms that amplify the relationship.

The paper examines corporate governance and its impact on the financial performance of commercial banks in Ghana. The study employs a sample of twenty commercial banks with one hundred and thirty-eight observations. Data is sourced from the audited financial statements of commercial banks through the Orbis database for seven years, from 2011 to 2017. The study employs return on assets (ROA) as a proxy for bank profitability. Also, the study uses the cost to income ratio, bank size, net interest margin, board composition, bank age, and board size as independent variables. A random-effect and linear regression are applied. The empirical findings reveal that board composition, bank size, and net interest margin significantly impacted bank profitability. However, the cost to income ratio and bank age had a significant negative impact on bank profitability. On the other hand, board size had no significant impact on bank profitability. The study recommends that bank owners appoint experts and an adequate number of independent directors to help reduce conflict of interest and make effective decisions. Furthermore, banks should implement efficient cost-saving mechanisms to cut their overhead costs as enormous overhead costs reduce bank profitability. Banks should periodically organize campaigns on deposit mobilization to increase their assets as huge asset banks have the advantage of diversifying their assets, thus minimizing risk in the volatility period. Finally, banks should develop efficient loan recovery strategies to improve their asset quality, as this significantly impacts banks' net interest margin and profitability.

The paper examines the level of adherence to internal control measures and the relationship between internal controls and crisis management. Internal control, an essential tool for crisis management, has received less attention from scholars and practitioners in Ghana. The authors employed a survey and cumulative percentage research approach. Twenty enterprises from five sectors, namely: transport, service, energy, financial, and manufacturing, with 120 respondents from both state- and privately-owned enterprises in Ghana, were used in this study. The results indicate that less than a quarter of the respondents agree that both state- and privately-owned enterprises perform excellently in adhering to the 2013 COSO internal control model. However, the performance of privately-owned enterprises is better than that of state-owned ones. The study also finds a weak positive correlation between internal controls and crisis management in both state- and privately-owned enterprises in Ghana. The study recommends internal controls to be taken seriously with special attention on board members and management’s appointment, which should be based on their competence rather than political and other social ties. The authors conclude that an effective internal control system is crucial for overcoming a crisis in organizations.