KNUST SCHOOL OF BUSINESS CONTINUES WEEK-LONG CELEBRATIONS WITH WEBINAR

KNUST SCHOOL OF BUSINESS CONTINUES WEEK-LONG CELEBRATIONS WITH WEBINAR

The KNUST School of Business continues its week-long celebrations of the 20th Anniversary with a webinar held on Zoom yesterday, 1st June2025, from 10am to 12pm. TheZoom meeting moderated by Prof. Henry Mensah and hosted by the Dean of the KNUST School of Business, Prof. Ahmed Agyapong, who was represented by Prof. Felicity Asiedu, kicked off with the introduction speech by Prof Felicity. She was ecstatic about the webinar and shared how she wished students of the KSB would take notes and nuggets to implement in their already or early careers as Businessmen and Businesswomen.

“The lessons the students would get from joining this webinar would enhance their capabilities and will translate into the businesses they join later or even now. We are blessed to have speakers to take us through the discussion and by the end of this discussion, I hope students will understand the need for the skills we train them in, especially for the job market that they’ll soon join”

Prof. Peter Quartey, Mr. Joe Degraft Yeboah and Barrister Hilda Nimo-Teiku graced the webinar as the panelists for the day and Prof. Henry proceeded to introduce each appropriately before starting off with focusing on the topic of the 20th Anniversary Celebrations-20 Years of Business Education; Building capability and sustainable development-starting off with focusing on the adaptability of companies during and post-COVID and its surrounding crises.

“Some adapted and technology was key especially for those who adapted to enhance revenue. It taught businesses to be versatile and embrace technology. Inflation stemmed also from COVID as well as unemployment. Policy shifts also came in to join the instability in the business sector but over time, businesses that withstood are doing well after the turbulence.”  Prof. Quartey said. He also highlighted how moving forward, companies would have to prepare for a similar phase such as COVID and get ready to adapt once again.

 

It was a big shock especially for a Harbor worker like me. The harbor was affected in Ghana and even the global community itself. Companies like DHL who had their own air-crafts, were still operational because flights were an easy adaptation during the COVID time. We just have to be resilient despite the turbulence” Mr Joe Degraft stated, in contribution to Prof. Quartey’s submissions.

Barrister Hilda, from the perspective of a Human Resource staff, spoke of how non-tech savvy people had to adapt sharply in order to still keep their jobs and be relevant because COVID all of a sudden quickly changed the landscope of the Business sector.

‘People had to adapt really quickly during COVID and work collaboratively and all who weren’t tech-inclined had to adapt and use simple apps like Zoom and Google sheets, especially in the Human Resources area. And in post-COVID, it is still being used and it’s all thanks to tech. At a point, some felt jobs had to be scrapped off or people be replaced because tech could solve and efficiently resolve issues that the jobs could but those who adapted quickly played a very vital role in displaying how adaptive a person or firm needs to be” she said.

“Some diversified because physical location interactions were extremely limited. So for the small-scale businesses, they were forced to go online and be taught to use the internet to their benefits in order to reach out to a larger market. There a several ways firms have adapted and in Education for instance, in Universities and Senior High Schools, virtual lessons have become a common thing.” Prof. Quartey passionately said.

Once again speaking on other practical attempts by businesses to stay in the Business inductry during and post COVID, Prof. Quartey, told Prof. Henry how some companies diversified, especially in the tech space, in order to accommodate the shortcomings that COVID had heavily presented them.

“When it come to logistics, we don’t generate but support the system. Delivery companies were operational mostly due to the operational activities by the adapted companies and found ways to deliver and supply stock to companies like hospitals who were very much needed and operational during COVID. Delivery companies were now giving the free pass to be more aggressive in supplying goods instead of folding their arms and relaxing because of the shortcomings that COVID had presented the Business world. DHL for instance, benefited from such events because they had assets such as aircrafts that helped them still run their operations, all the while meeting COVID-19 Prevention standards” Mr. Joe Degraft said again, speaking on the adaptability of the companies that were surviving and survived during and post COVID-19 respectively.

Moving on to the topic of sustainability, Barrister Hilda spoke of how the Ghanaian mentality had become a culture stemming from something on a national scale and needed reforming in order to change employee approach to work and work ethics.

“The Ghanaian mentality which is passive about valuing work properties and work itself, should be changed with a better culture. Some come in doing just the job given to them and it’s fine just as some go the extra mile and get rewarded. This stems from something on a national scale and needs reforming.”

“It is rather unfortunate that in our part of the world, there’s some lack of trust which also hinders partnerships which help build and grow the business sector. The only thing we need to ensure is, having legal systems that guide and support partnerships. This helps build the Business Sector, especially in Africa.”

 Further talking on the topics, Prof. Quartey spoke of the realities of partnerships, both the positives and negatives, especially the negatives which negatively impact the growth of the Business sector.

Barrister Hilda doubled down by adding; “Partnerships are key and I understand the issue of partners cheating you out of business ownership and operations but collectively, we are able to achieve goals and aims. Thus, we need to employ more partnerships as transparency is key in partnerships.” 

Focusing on the negatives of pollution on the Ghanaian Business sector and the nation, Mr Degraft said, he believes if only there was a solution to implementing rules concerning pollution, the country could enjoy sustainability that could aslo help build the Business sector. Tackling bad work culture and ethics, Barrister Hilda once more spoke of the need to reform the mindsets of employees.

“It’s a tough one (reforming bad ethical culture imbibed in the hearts of Ghanaians naturally) especially because I first hand employ people. I believe that, every organization needs its own culture where people either have to adapt or leave. On a national front, we need to build a mindset that changes people introspectively. Some of us faced it unknowingly when entering the job market afresh and so orienting the youth on this mindset shift is very much needed.” she passionately said. 

 

To end it all, Barrister Hilda spoke of the need to rest and re-energize oneself in order to avoid burnout as a dedicated employee who seeks to go the extra mile for his or her company. She claimed such are very valuable to employers and are benefitted from the most, when fully fit in all areas.

 

Prof. Quartey in the ending stage of the webinar spoke of the need for partnerships and how beneficial it is the sustainability of the country and its Business sector. He reemphasized the need for legal frameworks that guide and protect partnerships in Ghana.