Entrepreneurial financial governance strategies used by the Technical Universities in Ghana

Abstract

The primary research objective of this study is to identify those factors considered critical that contribute to entrepreneurial financial strategies of governance in the TUs of Ghana and propose strategies for improvement that could enhance the generating of revenue by these institutions. Other sub-objectives examined the reliability of entrepreneurial financial governance strategies in technical universities in Ghana and the a n a l y s i s of the entrepreneurial financial leadership governance role in the dynamic capabilities of developing TUs in Ghana. The study adopted a mixed methodology, comprising quantitative and qualitative data gathering and analysis. The 10 technical universities in Ghana made up the study population, with the target population comprising senior staff of the Centre for Business Development and Entrepreneurship, Finance departments and Directorate of Internal Audit of these institutions. The study selected 160 respondents for the quantitative study and 12 participants for the qualitative study by means of census sampling for the quantitative study and purposive sampling for the qualitative study. Whereas the quantitative study instrument comprised a questionnaire, the qualitative data instrument consisted of an interview guide, with the latter developed to enable the researcher to question participants on issues the questionnaire could not provide. SPSS enabled quantitative data processing; where analysis used descriptive analysis. Frequencies, means, and standard deviations, as well as SEM. For the qualitative data, thematic network analysis was used to generate themes after transcriptions had been completed and the data coded using NVIVO 12 software. The study revealed Pearson’s Correlation coefficient = 0.693 (p = 0.03), which shows a strong and significant relationship between the financial governance and growth of the University. In addition, a significant value of 0.01 suggests the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and growth is significant. This further suggests that when the various leaders in the TUs have the relevant entrepreneurial skills, their work ethics will propel and foster growth within the TUs community. The findings further revealed that entrepreneurial financial governance strategies of the surveyed technical universities are affected by both internal and external environmental factors, including economic factors, limit of state regulation. Inadequate budgetary allocation, and lack of financial monitoring systems, as well as lack of entrepreneurship culture and management competence. The study concluded that benchmarking and continuous improvement, collaboration and strategic alliance, along with income diversification, the role of leadership and entrepreneurship, and efficient resource allocation can be effective strategies in financial governance in technical universities in Ghana to achieve financial sustainability. The study supports national efforts to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development by focusing on entrepreneurial financial governance. The study's insights may have broader applicability beyond Ghana, serving as a benchmark for other developing nations facing comparable challenges in funding higher education.