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Background and Brief History

Ghana is a West African country that gained its independence from British colonial rule in 1957 under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah who became the first president of Ghana. Ghana has presidential system of government. The country has gone through six successful transitions from one democratically elected government to another after multiparty politics was restored in 1992.

Ghana has shown commitment to the implementation of economic liberalization policies and this has received commendation in news media, as well as, in academic literature (Porter & Carlsson, 2006). Economic liberalization in Ghana led to the privatization of state-owned enterprises, and removal of barriers to foreign trade, and monetary and banking reforms (Debrah, 2002). According to Hoskisson, Eden, Lau, and Wright (2000), the success of these economic liberalization measures has led to the recognition of Ghana as one of only seven emerging economies in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ghana is blessed with lots of natural resources such as gold, diamond, silver, bauxite, cocoa, timber, huge water bodies and more recently, oil. Ghana is currently second only to Ivory Coast in terms of world cocoa production. It is also Africa’s second biggest miner of gold (behind South Africa) and the third largest producer of aluminum metal and manganese ore.

The people of Ghana are made up of six different ethnic groups: the Akan (Ashanti & Fanti), the Ewe, the Ga-Adangbe, the Mole-Dagbani, the Guan, and the Gurma. These ethnic groups are endowed with rich cultures that include mourning ceremonies and festive occasions (Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, 2007). In Ghana, several festivals are celebrated throughout the year. Many of these festivals include durbars of chiefs, when tribal leaders and Queen Mothers parade in decorated palanquins, shaded by traditional umbrellas, and supported by drummers, warriors, and dancers. Chieftaincy is one of the most enduring institutions in Ghana. Traditionally, a lot of reverence is given to traditional leaders who are expected to act as fathers of the communities they rule. The traditional chieftaincy rests in the hands of a few privileged people who belong to the royal family, hence the system is non-egalitarian. Once installed, chiefs make rules and regulations which are obeyed by the community members. Even under political governance and democracy, the chiefs are still involved in local governance and their authority is still respected and revered (Ofori-Panyin, 2010). The paternalistic and non-egalitarian nature of traditional rule has found expression in the leadership styles adopted by managers and is generally seen as effective by subordinates.

Culture

Culture has long been recognized as a factor that can be used to explain behaviors in society. The behavior and style of leadership can be attributed to several environmental factors including political, economic, and technological factors. Another factor that has been touted as influencing leadership styles is culture (Harzing & Pennington, 2011).

There are several definitions of culture. For instance, Hofstede (2001) defined it as the “collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another” (p. 25). Culture is dynamic and, hence, evolves organically over a long period. However, national cultures or culture that defines a people is relatively enduring. This definition is shared by Tayeb (2005) who also defined culture as “historically evolved values, attitudes and meanings which are learned and shared by the members of a given community, and which influence their material and non-material way of life” (p. 21).

On the individualism and long-term orientation dimensions, there is high collectivism and short-term orientation in Ghana (Hofstede, 2001). High collectivism in the Ghanaian society normally leads to nepotism and favoritism as individual members of families and associations bend over to keep their obligations and commitments with their “in-group”. Also, the short-term orientation indicates a preference for time-honored traditions rather than new ways of doing things. Though collectivism can foster teamwork, the short-term orientation requires leaders to adopt a transformational style of leadership that will inspire and motivate employees to desire and embrace new and better ways of doing things.

On the masculinity dimension, Ghana is considered a feminine culture where equality is valued and incentives such as free time and flexibility are favored (Hofstede, 2001). This dimension means leaders strive for consensus; people value equality and quality of life. An effective leader in a feminine society would be supportive and promote involvement in decision-making.

Aside Hofstede’s studies on cultural dimensions in other countries, the GLOBE project also investigated how effective leadership is conceptualized in different cultures. Their studies revealed that indeed the way leaders behave is shaped by the values and beliefs of different societies that influence the socialization process of individuals in that society to have specific expectations of their leaders and to deem certain leadership qualities as indicators of effective leadership. They also found that although certain leadership traits are desirable in all the countries studied, how these leadership traits were enacted was different in each society studied (Hoppe & Eckert, 2014; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004).

Current Events Related to Business, Investment, and Leadership

This section looks at business, investment, and leadership situations in Ghana. In business, this chapter focuses on decisions and policies that create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. In the area of investment, attention is on the attractiveness of the country’s economy to create opportunities for both domestic and foreign direct investment. The third and final part looks at leadership issues pertaining to business and the ability of leaders to instill confidence in the country’s economy.

Although Ghana registered some commendable economic growth from 2010 to 2014, the economy faced major challenges in the form of sharp currency depreciation, deepening energy crisis, deteriorating macroeconomic imbalance, and rising inflation and interest rates. Industry and other sectors of the economy continue to battle with spiraling operational costs, owing to a severe energy crisis, unsustainable domestic and external debt burdens, and deteriorated macroeconomic and financial imbalances. For instance, budget highlights for the 2014 sectoral performance shows that the industry sector recorded a growth of 4.6 % in 2014, down from 7.3 % in 2013. The service sector also recorded its lowest growth rate since 2007 by registering a 4.6 % growth rate, down from 9.6 % in 2013. Inflation rose to 16.9 % in October 2014, from 13.1 % and 13.5 % at end-October and end-December 2013 (Ministry of Finance, 2015).

As part of policy and strategy making, the central bank has reviewed the policy rate up to 22%. A move many business owners described as insensitive to current economic woes, since it has a plausible effect on interest charged on loans by commercial banks. Factors accounting for the slower than expected pace of growth according to the Finance Ministry include energy supply shortfalls; deteriorating commodity prices, particularly gold and cocoa; low productivity; inadequate access to credit and markets; and the effects of the depreciating cedi on the importation of intermediate commodities and its impact on manufacturing sector.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is considered one of the main channels for the acquisition of capital, technology, and knowledge by less developed countries (Cheng, Qui, & Tan, 2005). For many investors, economic indicators are good predictors of future performance. There is therefore no doubt a country with weak economic performance often times becomes unattractive to investors. A look at provisional trade balance for the period January to September 2014 recorded a deficit of US$681.3 million, compared with US$3848.3 million recorded at end-September 2013. Gross international reserves amounted to US$5679.1 million as at end-September 2014, sufficient to provide only 3.3 months of imports cover, compared with US$5632.2 million at end-December, 2013. External debt amounted to GH¢40,644.15 million (35.47 % of GDP) at end-September 2014. Domestic debt totaled GH¢29,041.75 million (25.33 % of GDP) at end-September 2014 (Ministry of Finance, 2015).

According to UNCTAD (2013), Ghana was the fifth largest recipient of FDIs in Africa at the end of 2012. Investors brought $3.295 billion into the country, representing about 6.6 % of total FDI inflows to African countries. In the first quarter of 2012, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre recorded a total of 95 new projects with a total estimated value of US$1.18 billion. The estimated value represents an increase of 67.98 % compared to the value recorded in the same quarter of 2011. The FDI component of the estimated value of the newly registered projects was US$979.85 million. This is a significant increase of about 178 % over the recorded FDI value in the corresponding quarter of 2011. The USA with an FDI value of US$407.21 million ranks first and China remains the top source of FDI to Ghana in terms of the number of projects The sectors that have been identified as priority areas for FDI include information and communication technology (ICT), textile/apparel manufacturing, seafood processing, jewelry/handicraft production, pharmaceuticals, light industry/assembling plant, and ceramic tiles manufacturing (KPMG, 2012).

Review of Leadership Literature

Businesses, government agencies, non-profits, and educational organizations need leaders who can effectively navigate complex, changing situations, and get the job done. The questions that need to be asked at the political and organizational level are who do we have, what do they need to do, and are they equipped to do it? For many, the slow pace of growth and development in Ghana and in Africa for that matter has been attributed to the seeming lack of quality leadership (Ashitey, 2015; Kiggundu, 1988). Others have also attributed it to the over Westernization of leadership in organizations. It is therefore no surprise that various development programs have experienced a number of setbacks since independence. A very important factor that contributed to this failure is the perpetuation of inherited colonial structures, which are often ineffective. This could be added to the problem of the continuing fragmentation, fragility, and external control of the development process; poor social and economic infrastructure; and the concentration of the benefits from development in the hands of just a few (Ashitey, 2015). According to Nwagbara (2011), inherited Western leadership practices in African organizations have contributed to the less effective leadership styles adopted by African managers.

Ghana and the rest of Africa’s development problems are as complex as they are multifaceted. Their resolution ultimately depends on the capacity of people to understand what is happening around them, both internally and externally. They must possess enhanced ability to take appropriate steps and cope with a variety of problems surrounding them. At the higher levels of leadership, government and chief executive officers of organizations must take a leaf out of the books of other developed nations and successful corporations and adapt it to suit their local context. Others like Tayeb (2005) have called for the development of indigenous management practices that is based on the sociocultural and economic context of developing nations. According to her, for imported foreign management practices to work, they must be modified and adapted based on the cultural and human resource context of the organization. Anything short of this will lead to failure in the implementation of foreign leadership practices and techniques. A typical example is the adoption of bureaucracy in Ghana. Bureaucracy, as developed by Max Weber (a German), was to improve on the efficiency and effectiveness of management but its adoption and implementation in Ghana has led to what is generally referred to “red-tapism” which is characterized by corruption, operational sluggishness, and a negative impact on productivity in both public and private sector institutions in Ghana.

As part of the drive to develop indigenous management practices, Nwagbara (2011) proposes the Ubuntu approach which is a collectivist leadership model premised on shared vision and experience. This indigenous management approach is premised on a web of reciprocal exchanges in which the Western philosophy “I think, therefore I am” is replaced with “I participate, therefore I am” (Nwagbara, 2011, p. 77). The attractiveness of the Ubuntu approach to management in the African context in general and Ghanaian context in particular is based on empirically acquired knowledge that Ghana, just like most other African countries are collectivistic societies and are more likely to do better with collectivist-oriented management approaches than individualistic-oriented management techniques. Therefore, leadership must equip itself with the intellectual and scientific capacity and the knowledge base to formulate long-term context-specific strategies. It must also upgrade considerably its ability to analyze economic and social issues correctly and to implement such policies with the necessary political and/or organizational vision (Mills, 2005).

Whether a leader is going to adopt a participative/consultative or a benevolent autocratic leadership style can be influenced by one or more cultural dimensions. For example, cultures like Ghana that rank high on uncertainty avoidance tend to have low tolerance for ambiguity and risk taking. Thus, employees in Ghana prefer major decisions affecting the organization to be taken by their leaders provided that their interests are not sacrificed. This calls for a benevolent autocratic style of leadership.

The benevolent autocratic leadership style is further emphasized by the high power distance present in the Ghanaian culture which means that subordinates expect and accept the unequal distribution of power and hence see an ideal leader as someone who will tell them what to do. In fact, some studies have concluded that in Ghana, a leader or manager who often seeks the opinion of his subordinates is likely to be seen as weak and incapable (Zoogah & Beugré, 2013). On the other hand, a great leader is someone who acts as a superior father figure who makes all the important decisions. This has led to low involvement of employees in decision making and poor communication in some Ghanaian organizations.

According to House et al. (2004), leadership is “... the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members” (p. 15). Successful leadership, it is argued, may first depend on being perceived as a leader (Lord, Brown, Harvey, & Hall, 2001). How followers perceive leaders has important consequences for both the individual leader and for the organization or group that the leader is attempting to influence. Evaluations about a leader are often used to make organizational decisions.

An increasing number of researchers are discussing the impact of culture on the effectiveness of leadership practices (e.g. Gessner, Arnold, & Mobley, 1999; Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010; House et al., 2004; Leslie & Van Vesler, 1998). Dorfman, Hanges and Brodbeck (2004) and Chemers (1995) reviewed the international literature and assessed the generalizability of leadership theories, behaviors, and processes across cultures. Both these authors report mixed results. While some behavior such as “transformational leadership” (Bass, 1995) appear to produce similar effects across cultures, other behaviors, such as “directive leadership,” seem to have culturally specific consequences (Dorfman, Hanges, & Brodbeck, 2004). For example, a directive leadership style in Ghana is likely to achieve better results because studies have shown that directive or authoritarian style of leadership commands respect and obedience from subordinates (Zoogah & Beugré, 2013). Thus, the universalization of leadership theories have received heavy criticism from researchers who argue that the application of Western management or leadership concepts often prove “less effective when transplanted elsewhere, hence, every nation, culture and setting is rooted in its contextual value system and culture” (Nwagbara, 2011, p. 77).

The GLOBE project has shown that the degree to which some leadership behaviors such as participative leadership are perceived as an effective leadership style is a joint function of both societal and organizational culture (House et al., 2004). More specifically, participative leadership is viewed as a more effective leadership style in societies and organizations that have a more egalitarian (thus low power distance) culture (Carl, Gupta, & Javidan, 2004; Dorfman, Hanges, & Brodbeck, 2004) compared to those that value hierarchy. This indicates that in cultures like Ghana which is non-egalitarian and characterized by high power distance, participative leadership may not be preferred or as effective. Ghana did not only score high on power distance in Hofstede’s (1979) study but also scored low on the masculinity dimension. Hence, Ghana can be said to be a relatively feminine culture where a “good” manager is one who is supportive. Again, the employees prefer free time and flexibility. These feminine characters, coupled with high power distance and high uncertainty avoidance have led to some Ghanaian managers adopting a paternalistic and/or autocratic leadership style where decisions tend to be taken by a few top-level managers and implemented by subordinates; organizations are highly centralized and have a rigid hierarchical chain of command and instructions flow from the top and it is expected that lower-level employees will obey (Tayeb, 2005).

Beyond the culture of a society or country, organizational culture as shown in the GLOBE project, is a significant factor that affects leadership styles adopted by managers in certain organizations. According to Schein (1996), organizational culture is the pattern of basic assumptions that is created by a group of people as they learn to cope with its challenges of external adaptation and integral integration.

In an attempt to explicate the effect of organizational culture, Trompenaars (1994) developed a bipolar typology. The typology is based on four cultural types: family, Eiffel Tower, guided missile, and incubator. Though in practice organizational cultures do not fit neatly in any of the types, the groupings have been useful in helping to determine how the leadership of different organizations behaves due to the specific culture of the organization which may be influenced to some extent by the culture of the country or society in which it is situated. For example, a careful examination of leadership style adopted by managers in most Ghanaian organizations indicates that these organizations have developed the family culture which is a power-oriented culture and is characterized by strong emphasis on the hierarchy and an orientation toward person. Leaders in organizations with this type of organizational culture expect their subordinates to complete their task as directed. On the other hand, employees or subordinates expect their leaders to be caring and play the role of a father figure who they can seek for both work-related and non-work-related guidance and approval from in the work setting. This type of organizational culture fits neatly with the high power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, and low masculinity scores of Ghana as identified by Hofstede (1991) in his national culture studies. Thus, the predominant culture of organizations in a particular country cannot be extricated from the national culture of that country and that leadership styles adopted by managers cannot be extricated from the both the existing national and organizational culture.

Africa has been described as a “giant with unparalleled growth prospects”. It has the fastest growing population in the world and is predicted to outperform all other emerging economies, with a GDP predicted to rise by an average of 6 % per year. It is resource rich with 60 % of the world’s currently uncultivable land, and home to 95 % of the world’s platinum metals and 90 % of the world’s chromite ore (The Ashridge Journal, 2015).

It is also an extremely diverse continent. This diversity presents a real challenge for those looking to support the development of leadership expertise across the continent. There is no doubt that there is an overall need to raise leadership standards in organizations and move toward more ethical and entrepreneurial approaches.

However, a relatively small number of studies in Africa have included leadership in their compass, neither have any indigenous modules of leadership been developed to date in Africa. Such evidence seems to suggest that organizational leadership is urgently needed, but at present short in supply. There is also a general consensus among African leadership researchers regarding the predominantly used leadership style in formal organizations in the continent (Zoogah & Beugré, 2013). It is generally reckoned to be toward the authoritarian end of the leadership style continuum. Kiggundu (1988) affirmed this assertion when he observed that “there is an acute shortage of leadership and management in Africa” (p. 226); yet, this is a critical but neglected element in linking the hopes of the vast majority of Africans, and the harsh realities of scarcity, deprivation, despair, and powerlessness that have come to characterize the continent.

In the face of this desperate situation, Kiggundu (1988) asserts, prevailing leadership style in Africa is authoritarian, personalized, politicized, and conducive for management development and the emergence of new leadership, entrepreneurial, creativity, and developments of talents are suppressed in favor of bureaucratic risk aversive administration based on absolute obedience.

Similar opinion was expressed by Choudhry (1986), as he observed that the general tone of leadership in Africa is prescriptive, often authoritarian and very rigid. In the view of Abudu (1986), some of the causes of this style of management can be traced to African colonial past. Colonial administration had scant faith in the ability of their African subordinates and therefore tended to keep all managerial authority in their own hands. The managerial work which was assigned to subordinates was closely supervised. No real authority was delegated. This, in addition to the African cultural mentality that a leader must be in control and not show any weakness whatsoever have contributed to creating the typical African leadership style which tends to concentrate managerial authority and functions in a small number of positions at the apex of the organization.

One of the few empirical investigations which touches upon questions of leadership in African organizations is the large-scale study of managerial behavior in the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) countries of southern Africa, reported by Montgomery (1987). One of his findings was that leaders in the study appeared “conservative, preferring the unacceptable present to the unpredictable future”.

According to Leonard (1987), the largest part of leaders’ effort is probably directed at factors that are external to their organizations, however, this not the case for African leadership as Montgomery (1987) recounted that African leaders are more concerned with matters of internal administration than policy issues, developmental goals, and public welfare. Associated with this inward-looking tendency, Montgomery found that the main task of managers in government was the management and allocation of resources. Data from study indicated that managers were heavily involved in “even trivial details of resource management”.

One consequence of this type of managerial style reported by Montgomery (1986) is that top managers in Africa rarely display leadership by undertaking administrative reforms. This is hardly surprising because in any system initiatives for organizational change involve some form of risk taking. This is the last type of managerial behavior to be encouraged by the autocratic culture that is very prevalent in many African organizations.

Yet, risk taking is identified by Leonard (1988) as one of the essential attributes for managerial success, in his fascinating study of four outstanding Kenyan managers. A consequence of this, according to Leonard (1987), is that the link assumed in Western organizations between organizational goals and managers’ careers rarely exist in Africa.

LEAD Research Project

There has been limited research on leadership in Ghana. The LEAD project included qualitative and quantitative research from Ghana. The research consisted of the Delphi technique, focus groups, and a quantitative survey. The qualitative studies are summarized here. In Ghana, there were six participants in the Delphi technique and seven (five female and two male) in the focus group. Six of the seven focus group participants were born and raised in Ghana, with one born in Germany and living in Ghana for the past 18 years; their educational qualification was at least a first university (bachelor’s) degree.

Question 1 asked about ethnic or cultural background. The most important response (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being most important) for Ghana was religious beliefs/love of God (M = 5.00); and tradition, beliefs, and cultural practices (M = 4.73). Kenyan participants stood out as the least similar in offering the descriptors of their ethnic and cultural background as being aggressive (M = 3.40), hardworking (M = 4.20), and cosmopolitan (M = 3.20). Kenyan participants did not use the word “Kenyan” to describe their ethnic/cultural background, instead describing themselves as members of specific ethnic groupings/tribes (M = 4.44). Uganda’s group had unique important descriptors of their ethnic and cultural background, which included foods, cultivated land (M = 4.25), and language (M = 4.75).

Participants were asked to identify people who they believed were effective leaders and to describe why each leader was considered effective. In Ghana, they named Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

Participants were asked to describe an effective leader’s characteristics. Responses from the focus groups and Delphi technique included achiever/achievement of results/results oriented (M = 5.00); focused (M = 5.00); committed (M = 5.00); courageous (M = 5.00); hardworking (M = 5.00); and integrity (M = 5.00).

In summary, unexpected aspects of leadership arose from the qualitative studies in Ghana including a leader being a man, religion and spirituality being important, and having a sense of humor. While there were many similarities to the other African countries, each country was unique in its responses (see Senaji et al., 2014, for more details on the qualitative results).

Insiders’ and Outsiders’ Perspectives

In this section, interviews of insiders (local managers and leaders in Ghana) as well as outsiders (foreign managers working in Ghana) are reported. The interview sought their views about the effect of culture on leadership and whether the leadership styles adopted by managers are effective. The managers were also asked to offer advice to other managers.

Insiders’ Perspectives

Richard Kuagbela, a 66-year-old Ghanaian general manager supervising 1200 employees at Logs and Lumber Ltd sees Ghanaian workers to be respectful and submissive but at the same time difficult to work with. The manager needs to be firm, must be authoritarian and directive even though he must also respect the views of his workers.

He thinks that local leaders must learn to be disciplined in order to manage their subordinates. He believes Ghanaian leaders are not straightforward to point out mistakes of their subordinates and are not bold to punish. This makes local leaders inconsistent in dealing with employees.

He believes that foreign leaders are quick to criticize and point out employees’ mistakes but equally praise when they do well. Foreign leaders are very serious and respect time. On the contrary, local leaders are not bold to point out the mistakes of their subordinates; they only criticize in the absence of their subordinates. The relationship between local leaders and their subordinates is largely influenced by their personal relationship with the subordinates which is in turn influenced by religious and ethnic ties. This makes the local leaders inconsistent in dealing with their subordinates.

He believes that a mixed leadership style is appropriate in Ghana. A leader must adopt a participatory style and engage subordinates but at the same time, leaders must give direction and closely monitor subordinates. He advises foreign leaders working in the country to take time to learn Ghanaian business environment, respect the culture, norms and taboos of the people in order to gain acceptance. He states that a local leader must learn to be bold, fair, and firm in dealing with subordinates. Local leaders must learn to respect time and also to a greater extent respect the views of their subordinates.

Bill Buenar Puplampu, the 52-year-old Dean of Central University College, University of Ghana, thinks that the local leadership style is mixed. He believes that in some places the leadership style adopted is very participative but in other places it is very authoritarian.

He believes that foreign managers are also very mixed in their approach. Sometimes, some take Ghanaian workers for granted and adopt very disrespectful and dismissive approaches to subordinates.

He accepted that the question of which single leadership style is effective locally was difficult to answer. He, however, preferred to think in terms of approaches rather than styles. To him, the most effective approaches are where the leader:

  • Connects or engages with his or her constituents

  • Pursues the interests of the organization or community

  • Builds systems and procedures that reduce direct personal intervention in institutional processes

  • Prepares successors

He believes that the aforementioned factors point effectively to engaged leadership.

He advised foreign managers to show respect and avoid the condescending attitude that as a foreign manager they know more or better than the locals. He advised emerging leaders to engage the issues which truly enable them to build professional capacity and build the units or organizations they lead.

From the above interviews, it can be deduced that both Ghanaian managers believe that the predominant leadership styles adopted by managers in business organizations ranges from participatory to authoritarian. However, Ghanaian managers are more likely to adopt the authoritarian leadership style. This is in line with research by Hofstede (2001) and GLOBE (2004). Both managers also believe that the best leadership style/approach is for managers to engage their employees through employee involvement strategies.

Outsiders’ Perspectives

Ahmed Naaman, the 45-year-old CEO of the Dodi Group of Companies, hailing from Lebanon supervises 200 employees. He has worked in Ghana for 22 years and has interacted with several people and institutions both public and private.

He believes that both countries, Ghana and Lebanon, have strong family values, respect for the elderly, and the authority of the leader. These cultural values characterize the relationship between managers and employees in both countries. Thus, the subordinates must listen and respect the leader in both countries.

He thinks that there is not much difference between Ghana and Lebanon in terms of leadership style. He believes that employment in Ghana is largely based on nepotism. But managers must rather employ competent people based on qualification and skills. When competent people are employed, they can easily respond to training and can work independently with minimal supervision. That way, the power distance between the leader and the employees will be minimized.

He believes that the local leaders’ style that can work best in Ghana is that, the leader must be very interactive and socialize with the people but at the same time must be tough and serious in dealing with employees.

He sees Ghanaian workers as submissive and obedient but they easily take things for granted. Therefore they need to be directed, supervised, and controlled to get work done. When you closely monitor them, they can deliver but when you give them room to operate with little supervision they are not serious and productivity suffers. It becomes difficult to delegate too much to them without control.

He advised foreign leaders to be honest in dealing with their employees. They must also respect the culture, taboos, and norms of the people. He wears Ghanaian clothes, sits down and eats the local food with his Ghanaian subordinates and takes part in their celebrations. By so doing, the gap between him and his subordinates is bridged to pave way for a more cordial relationship.

From the foregoing, it can be deduced that foreign managers working in Ghana adopt a more directive approach to leadership due to the characteristics of employees and not because it is their preferred style of leadership. This is in-line with the views expressed by the local managers when they were asked about the leadership style adopted by foreign managers.

In conclusion, the responses from both local and foreign managers point to use of authoritarian leadership style adopted by both foreign and local managers in Ghana. This leadership style is adopted not because it is their preferred style but because of the context in which they are managing. This context is in turn characterized by the nature of employees who are being managed. The foreign manager in the interview report above describes Ghanaian employees as submissive and obedient but are likely to take things for granted. This factor together with other factors like the general Ghanaian culture of low tolerance for ambiguity and high power distance as well as the influence of the managers of the colonial administration (as discussed in the leadership in Africa section) have all contributed to shaping the authoritarian leadership style of Ghanaian managers which seems to be the best form of leadership style for managing and leading in Ghanaian organizations.

Summary

This chapter gave an overview of culture and leadership in Ghana. The chapter started with a brief history of Ghana covering its political and traditional history as well as its culture and features of these sociocultural dimensions have influenced the choice of leadership styles in Ghana. The study also dealt with current events related to business, investment, and leadership in Ghana as well as a literature review on leadership. The chapter continues with a report on the results of LEAD survey and implications of findings. The chapter ends with an interview report on the opinions of local and foreign managers on the effect of culture on leadership styles and the level of effectiveness of these leadership styles.