Businesses have been urged to engage professionals with requisite expertise in order to safeguard them against risks and ensure sustainable growth, the CEO of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) has said.

According to him, business owners without the requisite skills for specific facets of a business should, as a prudent measure, recruit qualified professionals to act for and on their behalf.

“It therefore goes without saying that professionals, who are engaged by virtue of their expertise, have a mandate and responsibility to protect the business against risks in their respective departments. Such risk mitigation measures, if so adopted by the various departments of a business, will ultimately accrue to the business’s benefit, and as a corollary build the right pillars for the sustainable growth of such businesses.”

The appointment of family relations to critical positions in business should be discouraged. “Where necessary, such persons should only be appointed to critical positions by virtue of their expertise,” he said at the 2019 Chartered Institute of Supply Chain Management’s (CISCM) CPD Training Programme in Accra.

Speaking on the topic ‘Sustainable Growth through Effective Supply Chain Practices’, he explained that sustainable growth, traditionally, meant the realistically achievable growth that a company or national economy could maintain without running into problems.

Touching on some of the factors which impede the sustainable growth of businesses in Ghana, he identified the difficulty/lack of separation of business from the ‘person’; lack of a well-thought through succession plan; failure to recruit professionals; lack of separation of functions within a business; and nationalisation and confiscation of private business.

However, there are some of the factors that have largely informed and shaped sustainable growth for businesses in the developed countries, and businesses in Ghana can position themselves to adopt such practices.

These practices he enumerated as including: clear mission and vision for the business; adoption of agency theory; collaboration and partnerships; a well-documented succession plan; building a strong brand, and retaining existing customers.

Additionally, he noted that key supply chain practices that can contribute to sustainable growth consist of the adoption of lean supply chain practices, adoption of strategies to increase profitability through cost-cutting, and focusing on core competences/outsourcing.

Others are the adoption of sustainable/green practices in the supply chains of businesses.

Sustainable development and the sustainability of business growth and entities are the greatest tasks for enterprise players of today. The issue of sustainability has gradually moved from a political rhetoric and has now transcended into many fields of study and business practices.

This CPD training workshop was aimed at offering participants the practical tools and proper leadership for effective Supply Chain practices and sustainability.