Ghana
John Burrington, Alex (Richard) Caudill, Ryan Loucas,
Samuel Philbrick, Drew Roley, Shannon
John Burrington
Dad's Family
● American
● British
● Protestant
Mom's Family
● Peruvian
● Roman Catholic
Alex Caudill
Dad's family
● Italian
● Roman Catholic
Mom's family
● French
● Episcopalian
Samuel Philbrick
Dad's family
● English
● Protestant
Mom's family
● Russian
● Jewish
Ryan Loucas
Dad's Family
● Greek
● Greek Orthodox
Mom's Family
● German
● Irish
● Roman Catholic
Drew Roley
● Lutheran background
● Both parents general European mix
○ Irish
○ English
○ German
● Parents from small town Illinois blue collar
and farm families
○ First in families to go to college
● I'm first born & raised in large city, St. Louis
What does being a Global Citizen mean?
"Someone who identifies with
being a part of an emerging
world community and whose
actions contribute to building
that community's values and
practices"
--Ronald C Israel
What does being a Corporate Global
Citizen mean?
● Engages with the world
● Conducts environmentally friendly business
● Provides best possible product
● Works with others to solve problems
● Unselfish - not just focus on own country,
own industry, own company, or own
customers
Economic Facts of Ghana
● GDP of $83 Billion in 2012 (79th)
○
○
○
○
Growth of 8.2%
Agriculture 25%
Industry 27%
Services 48%
● Unemployment rate 11%
○ Workforce available but uneducated
● 9% inflation rate could devalue a business
Communication and Transportation
● Unstable main line communication
○ 119th in world
● Cell Phone use unreliable but common
(46th)
● 1.2 million internet users (93rd)
● 62,000 km of roads yet 52,000 km of this is
unpaved
● Unreliable electricity in much of country
● Transportation and communication are
liabilities when starting a business in Ghana
Yet Ghana is improving
What are the rules?
● Women seen predominantly as bearers of
children, and good for small labor
● Although, increasing rates of girls are going
to school, many drop out or don't go at all.
● The role of women is beginning to change in
some sectors of the country as they gain
more professional experience and power.
● Marriages are usually arranged
● Men in traditional society engaged in
polygamy as for it was a status symbol,
however this is now frowned upon.
What are the rules?
●
●
Due to mass colonization for a profit in the
lucrative slave trade the Portuguese, Dutch,
Danes, and finally the British colonized
Ghana also known as The Gold Coast at the
time.
The colonizers helped to influence the
official language of Ghana to be English and
taught in all schools . However, many
traditional native languages are spoken
around the country.
International Rankings
Rankings from "Doing Business 2013"
Business Practices
● Time is flexible and punctuality is not
important
○ However it is important to make appointments
● Hierarchy is very important
○ Respect those with greater age, wealth,
experience, and rank
○ "Auntie" or "Uncle" can be used to refer to an elder
with respect
○ Always ask Ghanaian business partners how to refer
to people whenever possible
● Decisions are expected to be made by the
most senior person with group consensus
Business Practices
● Relationship building is important
○ Don't expect to directly get to business
● Silence is seen as an accepted way to
answer a question that would be
uncomfortable
○ Do not try to fill the silence
○ If you need an answer, you could try asking
privately
● Communication will be indirect
○ Bad news will not be directly given
○ No will not likely be directly said
● The left hand is viewed as unclean
Business Practices
● Greetings are important
○ The first time refer to them by their title followed
by their last name
○ Handshakes are commonly used for foreigners but
don't expect Muslims to shake hands with the
opposite sex
○ Greetings will be long and will include getting to
know each other personally
○ Return questions about family and health
○ Greet elders first and do not sit before them
● Don't refuse dinner invitations
● Try to learn about people's individual
religion/culture prior to meetings
Why are they indirect?
Saving Face
● Family is seen as more important than self
○ Family defines social status
○ Historically family has been one of the only things
many Africans have and that has remained constant
● If you dishonor yourself you dishonor the
family
○ Because families are so close and social status is
commonly determined by family the honor and
dishonor of each member reflects on the others
● They are indirect in their communication
because they need to save face so they do
not embarrass their family
Why lack punctuality?
● Africans tend to do multiple things in one
time frame
○ That is compared to our task oriented mind set,
doing one thing at one time
○ They expect to socialize along with work at
business meetings
● They also tend to have more of an emotional
viewpoint of time rather than mechanical
● They plan on being somewhere around when
it feels like that time rather than at that
time
○ It is just a different mind set, they don't think of it
as late
Pros of Doing Business in Ghana from
Business People of Ghana
Corporate Global Citizen
● Respect Water & Sanitation
○ Roughly 14% of population has "unimproved" water
source
○ Roughly 86% of population has "unimproved"
sanitation source
○ Numerous water right lobbyist groups
● Infectious disease risk is extremely high
● Refusal to money launder
○ Major issue in Ghana
Corporate Global Citizen
● Compliance with cultural business
practices
● Abide by local and international
laws
● Give back to community as much as
possible
● Treat workers with respect
○ Holidays, rights, etc.
● Respect of bank and national
holidays
○ May Day, Founders Day, Independence
Day
Works Cited
●"Business in Ghana." Viddler. Viddler, Inc., 23 Sept. 2010.
Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.viddler.
com/v/4a233304>.
●"Doing Business in Ghana." Doing Business. World Bank
Group, 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.
doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/ghana/>.
●"Ghana." World Factbook. CIA, 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 24 Apr.
2013. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/geos/gh.html>.
Works Cited
●"Ghana Public Holidays 2013." Q++ Studio. Alter Ego
Services, 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.
qppstudio.net/publicholidays2013/ghana.htm>.
●Hamminga, Bert. "The Western versus the African Time
Concept." Web.archive.org. Internet Archive, 15 Apr.
2005. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://web.archive.
org/web/20050415222303/http://mindphile s.
com/floor/teaching/timeafr/timeafri.htm>.
●"Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana." YouTube.
YouTube, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=FawpcGwkN8E>.
Works Cited
●"Time Orientation." Center for Excellence in Learning and
Teaching. Iowa State University, 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.celt.iastate.
edu/international/CulturalDifferences3.html>.
●Viet, Marloes. "Ghanaian Social and Business Culture."
Communicaid. Communicaid, 2010. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.communicaid.
com/access/pdf/library/culture/doing-business-in/Doing%
20Business%20in%20Ghana.pdf>.