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.