Purpose: Intangible assets are widely considered as key success factors for the growth of businesses in various economies. While the relationship between intangible assets or resources and business growth or performance have been extensively researched in advanced economies, there is limited understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon in developing/emerging markets. In Ghana specifically, there is a dearth of research on the impact of intangible assets on the growth of women businesses. Consequently, this paper aims to investigate how intangible assets available to women entrepreneurs contribute to the performance of their businesses.Design/methodology/approach: Using an exploratory sequential research design (a type of mixed methods design), the data collection was organized into two main phases. The first phase was the qualitative phase where nine respondents were interviewed, and the responses were analysed using thematic analysis. The second phase was the quantitative phase where some 264 questionnaires were collected and analysed using multiple regression analysis.Findings: Specifically, the findings focused on three intangible resources: social capital, human capital and reputational capital. The study found that, social, human and reputational capital all significantly contributed to the growth of women businesses. The study also showed a positive and significant effect of social capital, reputational capital and human capital on business growth.Practical implications: These findings have implications for women entrepreneurs in Ghana. If they must grow their businesses, then using intangible assets alone may not be able to deliver growth in the required proportions. Serious consideration must be given to the significant impact of intra and extra industry networking and the social competency skills of the entrepreneur. The rationality of this assertion hinges on the findings made from this study that social competence can be effectively used to further enhance the effects of the value of one’s intangible assets.Originality/value: Policymakers in Sub-Saharan Africa and specifically Ghana have accorded high priority to private sector entrepreneurship towards reduction in the dependence of the citizenry on government for jobs. Perhaps, this paper adds to the growing body of knowledge on female entrepreneurship in Ghana to understand how intangible assets available to women entrepreneurs contribute to the performance of their businesses.

Purpose: This paper investigates the effects of service quality on customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions among customers of the KFC Fast Food Restaurant Chains.Design/methodology/approach: In total, 500 randomly sampled KFC restaurant customers were surveyed using a quantitative research design. The partial least square technique was used for data analysis.Findings: This paper shows that service quality and recovery directly impact customers' repurchase intention. The results further showed that a positive and significant connection exists between customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions.Practical implications: The study recommends that KFC utilizes service quality dimensions to meet their customers' expectations and elicit repurchase intentions necessary to remain competitive in the fast-food industry.Originality/value: This paper highlights the impact of service quality in developing loyal customers in the fast-food sector. It offers managers insight into understanding the factors positively impacting repurchase intentions and the nexus between service recovery performance and repurchase intentions from an emerging market perspective.

Discussions surrounding the global shortage of seafarers (especially ship officers) continue to evolve and have attracted the attention of a growing number of researchers and industry practitioners in recent times. There is a general consensus within the literature that ship-to-shore mobility among seafarers (including officers and unlicensed mariners) is increasing. Prolonging the number of years that seafarers spend at sea and their subsequent retention is therefore an important issue that requires further attention. This conceptual paper (which is the product of a systematic literature review on seafarers) argues that to effectively retain ship officers and cadets at sea, the range of factors negatively influencing their retention must be identified and sufficiently managed by shipping industry employers. The result from the synthesis of the reviewed literature shows that the range of retention issues that shipping industry employers need to focus on relates mostly to the following: satisfaction with job and employer, opportunities for career progression and good working conditions. The paper also examines the cluster of human resource practices and theories among industry employers and how they eventually predict the mobility of seafarers to landside jobs. Recommendations are given on how shipping industry employers may be able to alleviate the current labour crisis within the shipping industry through prudent retention strategies.

The shortage of seafarers (especially ship officers) has already been identified as a global issue that is more likely to worsen in the immediate future. Thus, increasing attention needs to be given to the problems that hinder the effective recruitment and retention of seafarers in order to stabilize the flow of skilled labor to the global shipping industry. The aim of this paper is to discuss the seafarer shortage issue from the perspective of Vietnam which is one of the key emerging sources of crew supply in Asia. Specifically, a case study research involving the Vietnam Ocean Shipping Joint Stock Company (VOSCO) is used to highlight the challenges confronting the current recruitment and retention of seafarers in Vietnam. With regards to recruitment, it was found that the low quality of graduates and trained seafarers, as well as the lack of competent onshore crew executives are pertinent issues that need to be addressed by shipping industry employers in Vietnam. In terms of retention, poor working and living conditions on-board ships is a key factor that must be given attention to improve retention among seafarers. This study recommends the development of effective human resource strategies for companies such as VOSCO and other shipping industry employers of Vietnamese seafarers in order to improve their recruitment and retention rates

The maritime industry is regarded as the fulcrum of the global economy. It contributes significantly in diverse ways to the movement of goods. To effectively deliver on its mandate, maritime transportation needs to be sustainable. In the absence of a resilient and highly adaptive workforce; however, it is impossible to address the tangible set of economic, environmental and social expectations for the sector. From a human capital perspective, this paper explores the emerging dynamics of producing a sustainable workforce for global maritime transportation. Results from a recent study involving 305 ship officers (web-based survey) are compared with new changes (from academic sources and industry reports) in the maritime transportation sector. The comparison (findings) highlights emerging changes within the global maritime workforce and the implications for skill development. It also emerged that the shortage of highly skilled talent (on both the landside and seaside) is a critical challenge and is being exacerbated by growing industry changes. Ultimately, these developments endanger sustainable maritime transportation. Consequently, the paper proposes a skill resilience framework with which industry stakeholders could identify skill gaps among the workforce and improve training content to produce an adaptive workforce capable of handling emerging challenges.

Globally, the hospitality industry ranks as one of the most competitive business sectors, with competing organizations relying on a cocktail of strategies such as relationship marketing to stay relevant, and attract and retain customers. This article examines how relationship marketing impacts trust, commitment, and repurchase intension of customers in the Ghanaian hospitality industry. The data collection questionnaire was administered to 167 randomly selected customers at a four-star hotel in the Accra metropolis. The data analysis used structural equation modeling to ascertain the significance of the relationship that exists between trust, commitment, and customer repurchase intension regarding the relationship marketing practices of hoteliers in Ghana. The findings show a positive and significant relationship between trust, commitment, and repurchase intension. The study also revealed that commitment partially mediates the association between trust and repurchase intension. This implies that both trust and commitment are necessary to attain repurchase and, eventually, loyalty.