Suchergebnisse

The Ghana National Single Window has become the focus of attention over its potential to move goods swiftly. However, since its inception in 2002, the controversies surrounding the implementation suggest issues beyond trade facilitation. The Information Systems literature primarily ascribes the controversies to resistance to technology. By adopting the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as a learning process for understanding port stakeholders' relations and attitudes, we explore the controversies to determine the meanings port stakeholders attribute to them. We combined SSM with interviews, media content analysis and focus groups made possible by snowballing. The responses were analyzed using rich pictures and validated through a conceptual model. The results reveal a fragmented government where ministries, agencies, and personalities assert power in single window implementation through I.T. vendor contracts. The situation results in a high cost of doing business at the port for shippers due to non-transparent and questionable contracts. The public's attitude towards the controversies reflects fears, hopes and expectations and legitimate concerns about important political and social goals. Using SSMs focus on relations and attitudes, we can document how controversies attributed to new technology is not a question of technology but of perceived political interference.

This book brings fresh perspectives into the debate on aid effectiveness and aid relationships. Asia provides a varied picture with its combination of rapidly developing countries where aid plays a less central role such as China, Vietnam, and Thailand as well as more aid dependent countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka and Mongolia.

This paper reports on an example of positive industry-university/school partnerships developed over several decades and seen through the lenses of resource dependency theory. It makes references to the specialised training needs of the maritime industry (seafarers, harbour pilots and tugboat crew, and lately professionals in the oil and gas sector), highly essential jobs for the further capacity development for a country like Ghana. In the paper, we address the general challenge of inadequate funding for education and training characterizing many (African) educational institutions. This inadequacy usually leads to frustration, difficulties, politicization and in the end, a fight for survival. However, this can also lead educational institutions to be innovative. Over the years, The Regional Maritime University (RMU) has survived on innovation to sustain its unique combination of academic and vocational training, which is quite usual for Maritime Education and Training (MET) institutions worldwide. The paper addresses the well-known arguments on capacity development through practice-oriented training but also research and development where the educational institutions rely on network- based synergies with external actors. This is illustrated in the newest example in the Oil and Gas industry in Ghana and the maritime industry.