Effective Change Management in a Developing Economy

Theo Quarcoo (former Head of Change Management on the GeGov Project) as part of his MBA Thesis organized a forum on Effective Change Management in a Developing Economy in collaboration with the London South Bank University, the World Bank (Ghana) and Central University (Ghana). 

The forum, chaired and moderated by Dr. Lee Rose of the London South Bank University in February 2016 was a follow up on a previous one on ‘System Failure Issues’. The literature underpinning the forum included Making Sense of Change Management by Cameron, E. & Green, M. (2014) and Key Determinants of National Development: Historical Perspectives and Implications for Developing Economies edited by Appiah-Adu, K. & Bawumia, M. (2015). 

In attendance were representatives from all partners and sponsors who listened to change management presentations from Dr. Lee Rose, Mr. Theo Quarcoo, Dr. Beatrix Allah-Mensah (senior country operations officer, World Bank). Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu (Dean, Central University Business School) was the Guest Speaker. Good will messages were received from Mr. Ken Ashigbey, Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited. 

Dr. Lee Rose opened the forum with teasing pointers including the need for creativity, models of change, presumptive thinking, Porter and Kotter’s change frameworks, change as a norm and touched on spontaneity, the environment and the sources i.e. proactive and reactive change.

Having preceded the forum with critical questions on change management, Mr. Quarcoo shared his slogan ‘Change 4 Good’ by emphasising four key elements of effective change management; leadership, effective communication, training and development. He explained that we are all leaders in our own right listing ‘leadership attributes’ such as vision, coaching, team work and innovation to remind the participants of the need for good leadership.  

He discussed challenges encountered during his tenure on the eGov project regarding responsiveness to change. These included resistance, poor leadership, ineffective communication, and lack of training and development opportunities stretching to corruption and outdated infrastructure. 

As a solution, Mr. Quarcoo recommended building trust, involving key users in any initiative, good leadership, uninterrupted communication, and investment in training, development opportunities, the need for a selfless culture, digital technology Infrastructure such as wireless clouds and the need for constant upgrade.  

Dr. Allah-Mensah, representing the eGhana team tasked to broaden the tax base, increase compliance and transparency, reduce fraud and improve competitiveness of the business climate, discussed the need for a sustainable funding base to support any change project. She explained the public-private partnership (PPP) project aimed at reengineering business registration processes with state-of-the-art systems for its clients. The idea was the consolidation of the five revenue agencies into a single authority.

Dr. Allah-Mensah explained that the PPP was structured on a design, finance, build, operate, and transfer model. The government through an aid from the World Bank contributed about one-third of the $60 million project costs; the private sector contributed the remainder. The agreement was for the private sector to develop and operate the PPP until their investment costs were recovered within the contractual agreement. 

Furthermore, Dr. Allah-Mensah stated that the automation process faced significant challenges involving delays in validation consultation, private partnering overlapping with the financial crisis and procurement delays. Therefore, a greater contribution from the public sector was required, increasing the second bid to about 40% higher than government’s projections. This notwithstanding, she reiterated that this PPP is a flagship project for Ghana therefore, the achievements of the project cannot be underestimated. She highlighted that other countries can learn from Ghana’s experience knowing that the implementation of complex PPPs require commitment and risks throughout the implementation process.

Professor Appiah-Adu, the guest speaker, made a presentation based on his model titled ‘the double-barrelled principles of change management’ with two cases stressing change as a catalyst for national development. Drawing from his private (MG Ltd) and public (Ghana Central Governance Project) sector experiences, he discussed change management, deduced realistic conclusions and opened up to questions about effective change management.

Inferring from both successful cases, he succinctly explained the ‘double-barrelled’ principles as Leadership & Trust, Communication & Involvement, Training & Development, Rewards & Negotiation and Winning-over & Cooptation. These according to Prof. Appiah-Adu, are essential ingredients in any change related context. Sharing insights from the private sector, he demonstrated how the changing environment informed the development of a 5 year strategic plan. The plan carved a clear delineation of roles/responsibilities/rewards, an HRD plan, and performance evaluation meetings across levels.

From his public sector case, Professor Appiah-Adu highlighted how issues with bureaucracy and infrastructure within Ministries threatened work. Political transition and its accompanying appointment issues substituted existing systems for new Management Information Systems.

Dr. Elizabeth Shaw commended the speakers for their commitment, efforts in planning and organizing such an intellectual forum to broaden the scope of understanding on change management. 

Mrs. Nana Kegya Appiah-Adu (Lecturer, Ghana School of Law), Mr. Sourav Dalal (Business Analyst, London South Bank University), Mr. Sayyed Belyani (CEO, The Bridge Hotel Group), Mr. Melvyn Quartey (Business Analyst, Wolter Kluwer UK) and Mr. David Clemson (London South Bank University Business) all took turns to share their personal experiences on effective Change Management. 

The forum concluded with autographed presentations of the book Key Determinants of National Development: Historical Perspectives and Implications for Developing Economies, edited by Professor Appiah-Adu and Dr. Bawumia and copies of Who Moved my Cheese authored by Dr. Spencer Johnson as gifts to participants and a special presentation by Professor Appiah-Adu to Dr. Rose for his excellent moderation of the Forum.

Theo Quarcoo is currently working in collaboration with London South Bank University on a follow-up programme to host a bigger forum with UK change leaders and industry experts on effective change management.