SECTION ONE INTRODUCTION

•     Background of the Study

Governments through the use of information and communication technologies are introducing innovations in state-owned institutions for better delivery of services to citizens, breaking bureaucratic barriers, reducing corruption and equipping staff with the right technological tools (Dolfsma, & Seo, 2013; Montargil, 2010). One of such innovations is the paperless port system. The paperless port system constitutes the conversion of traditional, bureaucratic and paper- based processes onto digital platforms (Janssen & Estevez, 2013). Port operation has evolved from the use of push trucks in the carriage of goods to advanced mechanization and computerization (Gekara, & Thanh, 2018). Such innovations open up international trade, one of the gateways to economic development of a nation.

International trade remains the backbone of nations in the world (Lee, 2018). This trade is facilitated by ports. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has continuously reported an increase in world trade for the past decade and forecasts trade volumes expansion at a compound annual growth rate of 3.2% between 2017 to 2022 (UNCTAD, 2017). This increase in trade volumes is widely linked to industrialization, the elimination of trade barriers, and technological advances. In relation to the seaports, technological advances offer benefits such as minimizing document processing time, faster exchange of information, reduced number of errors due to single data entry, minimized cost of documents transfer and increased information accuracy (Carlan, Sys, & Vanelslander, 2016; Carlan, & Vanelslander, 2016).

Through the use of digital technologies, there is increased efficiency and seamlessly connection of the activities of people, companies, public agencies and non-governmental organizations (Stephens, 2004; Heilig, Schwarze, & Vob, 2017). However, in order to achieve these benefits, there must be a clear strategy and implementation plan for the adoption of the technology. Bwalya and Healy (2010) in their study of the factors affecting state institutions’ adoption of technology in Zambia, argued that, for a country to successfully implement an innovation, there must be carefully thought-out strategies and implementation plans as well as taking into the socio-cultural context of the country. Thus, for state institutions to introduce technology into their operations successfully, there must be a comprehensive understanding of the information technology capacity of the institution, prevailing intsitutional operations, managerial competencies and the readiness of the institution to either adopt the innovation or not to adopt it and how it is going to influence employee performance (Kamal, 2006). Hence, this study seeks to explore the impact of the paperless port system on employees’ performance at Tema Ports.

       Problem Statement

There have been great concerns about the delay in clearance of goods and cargoes which is mostly attributed to the paper-based means of clearing goods at the port. However, with the introduction of technologies such as the paperless system at the Tema ports, much of these delays have been eliminated. As asserted by Bainiah (2008), the introduction of the Ghana Community Network (GCNet) and the Ghana Customs Management System (GCMS) in 2002 under the customs holds a great prospect in improving management of customs, and also ensuring effective and efficient port operations.

Also, state-owned institutions in their attempt to ensure better service delivery, are oriented to technological development and changing from the handy traditional transactions into the electronic ones; which gives short execution time and more accuracy in addition to raising the employees’ performance, minimizing the administrative mistakes, and reducing the bureaucratic and administrative levels needed to complete the transaction. Although the electronic system of cargo clearance has improved the time taken to clear Cargo at the ports; (Bainiah, 2008), little is known about the impact of these technologies on the employees at the port. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the impact of the paperless port on the employees’ performance.