Privatisation of Ghanaian state-owned enterprises has resulted in domination ofWestern multinational companies (MNCs) in the gold mining industry. Consequently, expatriate managers dominate industry. The Government of Ghana, realising the problem of national managerial gap in industry has made development of national managers pre-condition for granting of mining lease to MNCs entering the industry. This is an attempt to 'empower' national managers for eventual takeover from expatriates.The paper reports on a research project that sought to investigate the operation of MNCs in the gold mining industry of Ghana with respect to considering how their HR policies and practices are enhancing the development of local managerial talent.Twenty-six national managers were interviewed to collate views on their talent development (by MNCs) in industry. Resultant data discussed using critical discourse analysis, a problem identification of problem solving method based on text and language. Discussion of qualitative data reveals domination of Western ideas and practices in developing national managers -approach which does not go well with local managerial talent development. The paper concludes by recommending further research into managerial development approach that suits the Ghanaian context.

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PurposeOne of the means to enhance the employability skills of tertiary graduates transiting into the job market has been the compulsory national service instituted by the Government of Ghana. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine the contribution of the mandatory national service to enhance the employability of tertiary graduates in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study used the longitudinal descriptive survey design to sample 375 national service personnel (2018 and 2019 batches) of 13,874 service personnel posted to the Central Region of Ghana, and 31 employers.FindingsThe study found human relation, communication and experience to enter the job market were perceived higher by tertiary graduates in Ghana. It was also found that the preferred employers amongst tertiary graduates were the government, multinational companies and public schools. Skills mismatch between the acquired skills of tertiary graduates and the skills required by employers was also found. Responsible factor identified was the posting of personnel for national service without considering their academic background and future job aspirations. Tertiary graduates transiting into the job market after the national service preferred to be employed by the government because of the lack of entrepreneurial skills.Practical implicationsTherefore, it was recommended that the national service secretariat post national service personnel to organisations that reflect personnel's career aspiration.Originality/valueThis is original research carried out by the researchers and was not sponsored by any organisation/institution.

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Following the widespread implementation of liberalization policies across the continent and resultant 'subsidiarity' of the industrial sectors by mostly Western multinational firms, management development in Africa has been dominated by Western approaches. The alternative is contextualization of research approaches that take into account the cultural and societal values of the people being researched. The article therefore proposes two methodologies believed to be contextual to management development research in multinational firms in Africa. These include indigenous methodology and postcolonial methodology. The two methodologies are complemented by appropriate data collection and analytical approaches, which have also been suggested. Data for this conceptual paper were mainly from review of extant popular and academic literature. The article concludes that applying the proposed methodologies could help tackle the neocolonial influence in African industries to decolonize indigenous people from Western hegemony and management development approaches that do not tackle the development problems of indigenous managers. Theoretically, the article contributes to literature on postcolonial management and organizational studies and, practically, contributes to alternative and appropriate approach to research into managerial skills development problems in Africa.

Purpose The paper aims to trace the challenges that multinational companies (MNCs) face as they grow out of their national borders into foreign countries and how they attempt to transfer human resource management (HRM) policies and practices across their subsidiaries for a best-fit HRM model. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses the dilemma theory (involving two opposing values which doing one without the other creates a disadvantage but both cannot be done together) as the main analytical tool and reviews scholarly literature on MNCs’ HRM transfers for the assessment of the transfer challenges. Findings It is found that MNCs face a dilemma as to how to find best-fit between home-country HRM requirements and host-country demands. In the face of this dilemma, MNCs attempt to build synergy between home-country requirements and host-country demands for a best-fit HRM that is beneficial to both the parent company and their foreign subsidiaries. Despite the best-fit HRM practices to diffuse the tension, parent company has greater influence in the final synergy product which is the trade-off between home-country HRM label and host-country contextual demands, thereby advancing the dominant HRM option of the dilemma. Practical implications MNCs should be aware of the possible challenges as they internationalise and should equally be aware that though they may build a synergy (a blend of workable headquarters and subsidiary HRM), the final product will continue to favour headquarters’ HRM policies and practices. Originality/value The paper generates theoretical implications into the issues and challenges that arise with HRM transfers within multinational firms by examining how the dilemma theory sheds light on the transfer process and challenges from the dominant-contextual tension till the fight for best-fit HRM. It also contributes to the development of cycle of cross-border HRM dilemma, cross-border HRM transfer framework and Synergy-Dominant theory.

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Identification of potential individuals for leadership roles is a critical aspect of a succession management programme, as other aspects of the programme depend on an effective identification. This study evaluates how the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana identifies potential non-academic senior members for directorship roles. We collected qualitative data through in-depth interviewing of nine directors at the university. We analysed the data using constant comparison analysis by developing three themes, under each of which we presented similar categories of data. We found that the criteria for identification of potential directors include seniority; both internal and external sources; and familiarity with the culture, the legal framework, and the higher educational system. We conclude that UCC does not operate a structured, formal succession management but fills leadership vacancies through the traditional recruitment and selection method, an all-inclusive approach which we argue is not suitable for identifying and developing potential individuals for leadership positions.