I find reading your piece refreshing since Organisation Theory and Administration was my Mphil course in the AdmOrg Dept. of the Univ. of Bergen where some of the pillars of the subject once plied their profession. ... read full comment
Komla,
I find reading your piece refreshing since Organisation Theory and Administration was my Mphil course in the AdmOrg Dept. of the Univ. of Bergen where some of the pillars of the subject once plied their profession.
I am afraid you stayed mostly at the basic theoretical level, a level which I believe loads of managers in Ghana are already aware of. A management course at GIMPA would have taught you all that, not to me tion an introduction to the option at the Schl. of Admin, Legon.
It is all fine and dandy with the theory but you have to remember that organisations do not operate in a vacuum. They operate in an external environment and there is where the major problem lies. And that's why understanding the Cultural Theory of Devt will shed light on inhibiting factors or unintended contingencies which do not allow organisations to operate in Ghana as they do elsewhere in the West and Asia. I am telling you from practical knowledge of how things work in Ghana.
The last post my father held before his passing away was the Accountant in charge of the Longroom, Tema, with additional supervisory responsibility for KIA too. Since he involved us in his work (until I "revolted" against spending my holidays holed up in the house calculating stuffs with a Figure Table, e.g.,some of which I didn't even understand and/or helping to write those releases for the Commissioner of Customs), I knew quite a lot about how things spanned out in that area too. When given a target, he'd said he could even collect ten times that if given the leeway by the powers-that-be. Why it didn't happened? That's all history.
Andy-K
komla 9 years ago
Andy, you should write a piece on the subject to further the debate.
Andy, you should write a piece on the subject to further the debate.
NANA ARABA 9 years ago
MOST CIVILIZATIONS WERE LED BY GREAT MEN. MEN BIOLOGICALLY ARE WIRED TO BE WARRIORS AND LEAD, SO YOU GHANAIAN MEN SHOULD STOP QUIBBLING ABOUT HOW AND THEORIES AND PUT ALL YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPETISE TO WORK!
EUROPEANS EN ... read full comment
MOST CIVILIZATIONS WERE LED BY GREAT MEN. MEN BIOLOGICALLY ARE WIRED TO BE WARRIORS AND LEAD, SO YOU GHANAIAN MEN SHOULD STOP QUIBBLING ABOUT HOW AND THEORIES AND PUT ALL YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPETISE TO WORK!
EUROPEANS ENDED UP IN VERY COLD, HARSH AND FREEZING TEMPERATURES SO THEY HAD TO BE VERY DYNAMIC, CREATIVE AND COME UP WITH INTERVATIONS THAT WOULD MAKE THEM SURVIVE THE WINTER OTHERWISE THEY WOULD DIE.
OUR AFRICAN FOREFATHERS DID NOT HAVE THOSE HARSH FREEZING COLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS THAT COULD MAKE THEIR RACE EXTINCT. THEY HAD SUNSHINE, FREE FLOWING WATERFALLS AND LAKES THAT DID NOT FREEZE, FERTILE SOILS THAT FOOD AND BEAUTIFUL TROPICAL PLANTS GREW ABUNDANTLY. THEY LIVED IN PARADISE.... YES OUR AFRICAN FOREFATHERS HUNTED AND WENT TO SEE AND FISHED AND PROVIDED FOR THEIR FAMILES.
OUR AFRICAN FOREFATHERS LIVED IN PARADISE SO THEY HAD IT TOO EASY... SO WHEN THE EUROPEANS ARRIVED ON OUR SHORES THEY WERE TECHNOLOGICALLY MORE ADVANCED THAN OUR ANCESTORS WERE. BECAUSE THEY HAD TO BE VERY ORGANIZED, SYSTEMATIC AND GOOD PLANNERS FOR THE NEXT WINTER. THEY HAD VERY HARSH WINDS SO THEY HAD TO BUILD STRONGER LIVING ABOADS.
OF COURSE EUROPEANS WERE PRIMITIVE HOMO SEPIANS TOO BUT THEY EVOLVED FASTER BECAUSE OF THEIR HARSH ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS.
SLAVERY WAS JUST A WAY OF MAKING MONEY.. COMMERCE.. WE WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME IF WE WERE IN THEIR POSITION.
SO GHANAIAN MEN YOU ARE BORN LEADERS BY DEFAULT. SO LEAD OUR COUNTRY GHANA AND STOP RUNNING AROUND LIKE HEADLESS CHICKENS.
COPY THE GOOD PRACTICES OF DEVELOPED NATIONS.. FREE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN TO 18 YRS OLD.. ETC ETC LAND RIGHTS IS ALWAYS AN ISSUE. SOLUTION? COULD BE SHOULD BE BOUGHT BY BANKS. THAT WAY EVERYONE BUYS LAND FROM BANKS AND NOT FROM CHIEFS OR LAND SHARKS.
WE HAVE ALL THE NATURAL RESOURCES TO GENERATE ENOUGH REVENUE TO MAKE EVERY GHANAIAN A VERY WEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL INDIVIUAL YET WITH ALL THE TECHNOLOGY AND SOLAR ENERGY WE CHOOSING TO BE VIEWED AS THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES AND POOR? NO BRAINER!!
TRANSPARENCY, BEING ORGANIZED, EFFICIENT, HARDWORKING AND MAKING THE RULES ON OUR TERMS AND ON OUR TURF WILL SURELY SET GHANA FREE SO PUT YOUR THINKING CAPS ON. THIS STUPIDITY OF INCOMPETENCE HAS BEEN GOING ON TOO DAMN LONG FOR DECADES! MOST GHANAIANS ARE TIRED OF BEING TIRED!
GHANAIAN MEN REMEMBER: YOU ARE BORN TO BE LEADERS SO DO NOT LOOK ELSEWHRE FOR LEARDERSHIP. POINT THE FINGER AT YOUSELF. WE WOMEN ARE WATCHING YOU. THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING HOW YOU GHANAIAN MEN CAN STAND UP, BE MEN AND SOLVE THE CRISIS GHANA IS CURRENTLY IN AT THE MOMENT. WE ARE COUNTING ON YOU GHANIAN MEN TO BRING ABOUT THE CHANGE GHANA NEEDS ONCE AND FOR ALL.
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago
Komla,
Got too much on my slate to take your request on.
I could've written longer but was too tired to write, hence the typos in my post. I actually stopped writing abruptly.
Andy-K
Komla,
Got too much on my slate to take your request on.
I could've written longer but was too tired to write, hence the typos in my post. I actually stopped writing abruptly.
Andy-K
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago
I hope Francis Kwarteng will read this nice Article, sensibly written in A1 English.
I salute you Komla, a very good write up.
I hope Francis Kwarteng will read this nice Article, sensibly written in A1 English.
I salute you Komla, a very good write up.
Teacher 9 years ago
... or that was what you heard, Komla?
Anyway, welcome back to ghanaweb. Unfortunately, your old critics are still hanging on here ... but never let them frighten you away. You'll get many who like your piece today.
... or that was what you heard, Komla?
Anyway, welcome back to ghanaweb. Unfortunately, your old critics are still hanging on here ... but never let them frighten you away. You'll get many who like your piece today.
Kwesi Atta Sakyi 9 years ago
Yes culture is the way we do things around here. It is both tangible and intangible, and like a glue which cements members of an organisation to behave as one united happy family with common understandings and shared values. ... read full comment
Yes culture is the way we do things around here. It is both tangible and intangible, and like a glue which cements members of an organisation to behave as one united happy family with common understandings and shared values. Culture defines the boundaries of an organisation and determines what gets in and what gets out. It is a paradigm, a way of life engrained and embedded deep in the organisation. It gives an organisation a unique identity, and sets its apart from others. It is part of its core competences which gives it a competitive advantage. Culturs is dynamic and there is diffusion or interaction. Culture resolves conflicts and sets standards of behaviour, standards of quality etc. Culture is like an iceberg, like an onion. The Japanese culture of TQM or total quality management, zero defective rate, 5S, 6 Sigma, etc is what we should emulate in Ghana. We need discipline, obedience and total submission to authority before we can tick. We need a culture of truth, honour, honesty, zero tolerance for tribalism, corruption, nepotism, bribery etc. We need external and internal locus of control not to blame others for our mistakes and misdeeds, high sense of responsibility, urgency to increase productivity, etc. We need to change our attitudes to time management, need to build hardworking teams, and above all, develop high calibre leadership styles. Culture is the sum total of human experience and the collective programming of the mind to act in certain ways in certain circumstances(Hofstede,1980, Schein)
Teacher 9 years ago
You have enumerated all the things we need to do. We need to do this and that and so on. But you've failed to say the most important thing of all: how do we get to do(ing) all these important things you identify we must do?
... read full comment
You have enumerated all the things we need to do. We need to do this and that and so on. But you've failed to say the most important thing of all: how do we get to do(ing) all these important things you identify we must do?
The biggest problem in Ghana is NOT that we don't know what to do. The biggest problem is our inability to do what we know we need to do. Don't we all know we need honesty? Then how come we don't get to doing "honesty"? How come we are not able to develop that culture many of us know will do us good?
Secondly, Kwesi, culture is important, as you rightly point out. But you seem to invest it with too much. This everything is definition makes it almost meaningless.
Kwesi Atta Sakyi 9 years ago
Thanks Teacher. Either we have a seismic or tsunami-like revolution for the perceived change, or we accept the status quo ante and we plod along as business as usual through evolution.
Thanks Teacher. Either we have a seismic or tsunami-like revolution for the perceived change, or we accept the status quo ante and we plod along as business as usual through evolution.
Teacher 9 years ago
Still, how do we bring about that revolution? I know you don't mean the revolution should necessarily be a bloody military one!
The Asian tigers, more homogeneous cultures (again your word culture) than ours had, at vari ... read full comment
Still, how do we bring about that revolution? I know you don't mean the revolution should necessarily be a bloody military one!
The Asian tigers, more homogeneous cultures (again your word culture) than ours had, at various times, strong (mostly military) men overseeing rapid changes. We've had our "strongman", Rawlings, whether for good or for worse, yet we still haven't "broken out". Your second point suggests a desperation. Are we doomed to fail?
Kwesi Atta Sakyi 9 years ago
Korea had the Chaebol syndicate which sustained the LGs, Daewoos, Samsungs, Hyundais, and KIAs of this world. First we need self examination or introspection, have strong personal value clarification, then we shall know the w ... read full comment
Korea had the Chaebol syndicate which sustained the LGs, Daewoos, Samsungs, Hyundais, and KIAs of this world. First we need self examination or introspection, have strong personal value clarification, then we shall know the way forward whether by violent revolution or gradual, incremental change, or both.
komla 9 years ago
Thanks for the encouragement, I try.
Thanks for the encouragement, I try.
Anakwa 9 years ago
Komla I live in D.C. and would love to get in touch with you: how can I reach you?
Komla I live in D.C. and would love to get in touch with you: how can I reach you?
Komla,
I find reading your piece refreshing since Organisation Theory and Administration was my Mphil course in the AdmOrg Dept. of the Univ. of Bergen where some of the pillars of the subject once plied their profession. ...
read full comment
Andy, you should write a piece on the subject to further the debate.
MOST CIVILIZATIONS WERE LED BY GREAT MEN. MEN BIOLOGICALLY ARE WIRED TO BE WARRIORS AND LEAD, SO YOU GHANAIAN MEN SHOULD STOP QUIBBLING ABOUT HOW AND THEORIES AND PUT ALL YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPETISE TO WORK!
EUROPEANS EN ...
read full comment
Komla,
Got too much on my slate to take your request on.
I could've written longer but was too tired to write, hence the typos in my post. I actually stopped writing abruptly.
Andy-K
I hope Francis Kwarteng will read this nice Article, sensibly written in A1 English.
I salute you Komla, a very good write up.
... or that was what you heard, Komla?
Anyway, welcome back to ghanaweb. Unfortunately, your old critics are still hanging on here ... but never let them frighten you away. You'll get many who like your piece today.
Yes culture is the way we do things around here. It is both tangible and intangible, and like a glue which cements members of an organisation to behave as one united happy family with common understandings and shared values. ...
read full comment
You have enumerated all the things we need to do. We need to do this and that and so on. But you've failed to say the most important thing of all: how do we get to do(ing) all these important things you identify we must do?
...
read full comment
Thanks Teacher. Either we have a seismic or tsunami-like revolution for the perceived change, or we accept the status quo ante and we plod along as business as usual through evolution.
Still, how do we bring about that revolution? I know you don't mean the revolution should necessarily be a bloody military one!
The Asian tigers, more homogeneous cultures (again your word culture) than ours had, at vari ...
read full comment
Korea had the Chaebol syndicate which sustained the LGs, Daewoos, Samsungs, Hyundais, and KIAs of this world. First we need self examination or introspection, have strong personal value clarification, then we shall know the w ...
read full comment
Thanks for the encouragement, I try.
Komla I live in D.C. and would love to get in touch with you: how can I reach you?
you have theoretically dome well kudos to ypu