PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of locus of control (internal and external) on entrepreneurial intention of final year undergraduate students in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts descriptive and cross-sectional survey designs. It also employs quantitative approach to collect the data from 300 final year undergraduate students in selected universities in Ghana. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and hierarchical regression techniques.FindingsThe results reveal that there is a positive relationship between locus of control (both internal and external) and entrepreneurial intention. However, it is found that external locus of control has more influence on entrepreneurial intention compared to internal locus of control. In addition, gender has no controlling effect on the relationship between locus of control and entrepreneurial intention.Practical implicationsThe findings imply that entrepreneurial course contents should include topics on locus of control that will expose the students to the reality of their environments so as to learn how to take control and create opportunities out of their environments. Again, students should be encouraged and educated on how to build up personality traits such as the need for achievement, innovativeness and risk-taking, since these traits have direct impact on their locus of control which in turn impacts on their entrepreneurial intentions.Originality/valueThis study contributes to entrepreneurship literature by investigating determinants of entrepreneurial intention from a different perspective, and reveals that individuals (regardless of their gender) with external locus of control are more likely to become entrepreneurs in a developing economy.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the causal relationships between the dimensions of authentic leadership and patient care quality in the nursing profession of Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The study used explanatory and cross-sectional survey designs. The data were obtained from 400 respondents, consisting of 200 nurses and 200 patients in selected general hospitals. The analysis was done using descriptive statistics, correlation and multi-linear regression techniques. Findings The study found that all four dimensions of authentic leadership, namely, self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing and relational transparency positively correlated with patient care quality, however, only internalized moral perspective and self-awareness have positive significant association with patient care quality and internalized moral perspective being the highest predictor. Thus, the results suggest that authentic leadership can positively predict patient care quality. Practical implications The study contributes to the understanding of how dimensions of authentic leadership practices affect patient care quality. This understanding is relevant to academics in general and Ghanaian policymakers in particular. Originality/value The research makes a significant contribution to the existing authentic leadership literature by establishing that the dimensions of authentic leadership predict patient care quality with an internalized moral perspective being the highest predictor followed by self-awareness. Furthermore, the authors anticipate that the outcomes of this research, which so far is the first study in the Ghanaian context, can significantly shape nursing leadership discourse, practices and policies in Ghana and in other developing countries to improve patient care quality.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of contingent reward on the relationship between democratic leadership and organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach Explanatory and cross-sectional survey designs were used. A quantitative research approach was also adopted to collect the data from 476 employees in the telecommunication industry. Using statistics package for social science, the data was analyzed via descriptive statistics, correlation and hierarchical regression techniques. Findings The results reveal that both democratic leadership and contingent reward have a significant positive relationship with organizational performance. Furthermore, contingent reward significantly augments and moderates the relationship between democratic leadership and organizational performance. Thus, the combination of democratic leadership and contingent reward would more likely produce higher organizational performance. Originality/value This study has made a significant contribution to leadership and organizational literature by establishing the effectiveness of contingent reward as a moderator on the relationship between democratic leadership and organizational performance in a telecommunication industry.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of power distance culture (PDC) on whistleblowing intentions (WI) by examining the moderating effect of gender on the causal relationships. Design/methodology/approach The study used descriptive and cross-sectional survey design. Data were obtained from 300 employees of the selected organizations in Ghana and analyzed by using descriptive statistics, correlational and hierarchical regression techniques. Findings The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between PDC and WI, and such relationship is moderated by gender. The study also revealed that high PDC is the prevailing culture in the organizations surveyed, indicating low tendency of reporting corporate wrongdoing. However, the result of the moderation analysis indicates being a female worker in a PDC has a stronger influence on WI than being a male. Additionally, whistleblowers are likely to report their coworkers than leaders in high PDC organizations, but they are rather likely to report their leaders than coworkers in low PDC organizations. Originality/value This paper makes a significant contribution to the existing whistleblowing literature by establishing how gender moderates the influence of organizational culture on whistleblowing and recommends how to improve organizational ethos to facilitate whistleblowing in high-power distance societies.

Purpose Poor corporate governance was reported to significantly contribute to the 2017/2018 financial crisis in Ghana. As leadership is a vital concept in the corporate governance system, this study aims to examine the effect of transformational leadership on organizational performance and hypothesizes that job satisfaction mediates such a relationship. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a quantitative research approach where a cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data from 300 purposively sampled employees of five selected commercial banks. The data was analysed using PROCESS version 3.4.1. Findings The results show that individualized consideration is the dominant transformational leadership dimension being practiced by supervisors and managers in the selected commercial banks. Again, the four dimensions of transformational leadership have a positive effect on organizational performance, and such effect is significantly mediated by job satisfaction. Practical implications The findings suggest that the dimensions of transformational leadership should be continuously improved alongside strategically motivating employees to increase their satisfaction level to enhance organizational performance. Originality/value This study provides evidence that bank managers need to be cognizant that job satisfaction is vital in the industry and must be a focal point of corporate governance practices. The mere initiating of transformational leadership behaviours without a clear link to employee satisfaction may result in employee disengagement, consequently affecting the banks’ performance and survival.