IBM to help Ghana small enterprises grow their businesses

IBM Corporation is sending a team of high-potential IBM leaders to Ghana this week to help develop local businesses while enriching their own leadership skills, a statement from the company said in Accra on Thursday.

It said 10 IBM employees from countries such as Canada, Germany, India, Italy, US and UK would arrive in Ghana on July 11 as part of the corporation's newly launched Corporate Service Corps programme (CSC).
The programme deploys IBM's leaders of today and tomorrow to developing countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa to address socio-economic challenges in emerging markets while deepening leadership skills including diversity management.

The statement said the team in Ghana would work with three non-governmental organisations: Association of Ghana Industries, National Bureau of Small Scale Industries and Aid to Artisans Ghana in Kumasi to help improve business processes as well as provide training for a network of small and medium enterprises in Kumasi trying to scale up their business models.

"It's a corporate version of the Peace Corps," said Stanley S. Litow, vice-president of corporate citizenship and corporate affairs.

"What we as a company get is leaders with a broader range of skills that can function in a global context. What the individual participant gets is a unique set of leadership opportunities and development experiences. And what communities get are IBM's best problem solving skills. It's a triple benefit."

The statement said IBM recognised that in today's globally integrated economy the most successful leaders must be global citizens, able to understand and effectively collaborate with people from a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives.

An important design point for the programme is to provide high performance employees the chance to build networks with people they might otherwise never interact with. This will also enable employees to bring different perspectives and expertise to solving problems, as well as encourage interaction with people from different cultural backgrounds and traditions.
One hundred IBM employees from 33 countries have been selected to participate in the CSC programme, part of the Global Citizen's Portfolio initiative announced by IBM's Global CEO and Chairman Sam Palmisano early this year.
The Ghana team, representing six countries and with IBM experience ranging between four and 24 years, will travel to the work site in Kumasi where they will be officially welcomed by Kumasi Mayor Ms. Patricia Appiagyei, including an audience with Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu.