KWAKU APPIAH-ADU (PhD)

Director: Cathays Investments Limited

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CAREER SUMMARY

Kwaku Appiah-Adu (PhD) is a Management Consultant as well as the Blom Holdings Chair of Strategy & Marketing, and Professor of Business Management at Regent University Ghana. Previously, he worked at the Office of the President, Republic of Ghana, where he was Head of Policy Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation, Director of the CIDA-funded Central Governance Project, Head of the IT Department and Chairman of the Oil and Gas Technical Committee.

He has over twenty years of international professional experience including central governance and policy analysis and management at the highest level of government, commercial experience and university teaching/research experience in Ghana and the UK. Governance experience involves coordination of government policies, monitoring and evaluation of government programmes. Kwaku has studied the governance systems of Britain, Canada, Germany, USA, Israel, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore and Turkey among others and implemented hybrid solutions to enhance Ghana’s policy management and decision-making system.

His exposure in the area of commerce spans management consultancy and project management. Consultancy responsibilities cover e-business strategy development, public sector reform, corporate strategy development, as well as organisational and management development. Clients include the World Bank, DfID, Barclays Bank and Ghana Commercial Bank. He previously worked as a Consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG. Project management experience includes design, contract administration, tendering, negotiating, investment appraisal, budgetary control, and the co-ordination of inter-disciplinary team functions. As an Architect with Alex Gordon Partnership in Cardiff, Kwaku’s clients included the US Airforce, Institute of Grassland & Environmental Research and Welsh Development Agency.

Kwaku has lectured on postgraduate and executive level programmes, in Strategic Management, Marketing and Quantitative Business Analysis at the Cardiff, Southampton, Portsmouth and University of Ghana Business Schools. He has researched extensively into industry/competitor analyses, corporate/competitive strategies and product/service innovation. Industries researched include financial services, airline, hotel, tourism and hi-tech. Kwaku is author of four books on business management, has published widely in both academic and professional journals, and has facilitated workshops and presented numerous papers at international forums dedicated to business and management in Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe as well as North and South America, and is a reviewer for the International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets.

He is a recipient of the prestigious ANBAR Citation of Excellence Award with Highest Quality Rating for his article on Market Orientation in the Biotechnology Industry, and has been elected to the ANBAR Hall of Excellence for Outstanding Contribution to the Literature and Body of Knowledge. During the Kufuor administration, Kwaku was a member of the President’s Investors’ Advisory Council, the President’s representative on the Committee of Ministers for the UN Initiative on Continental Shelf Delineation,and also served on the Tender Boards of the Central Bank and Social Security & National Insurance Trust. He is a chartered architect, a chartered marketer, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Administration & Management Consultants.

Kwaku is happily married to Nana Kegya with three lovely children, Afua, Kwaku and Akua.

EDUCATION

  • 1995-1998: PhD, Business Administration, University of Middlesex Business School, London, UK
  • 1991-1992: MBA (Marketing & Finance), University of Cardiff Business School Cardiff, UK
  • 1991-1992: Post Graduate Diploma Chartered Institute of Marketing, London, UK,
  • 1990-1991: Chartered Architect, Royal Institute of British Architects, London, UK
  • 1987-1989: Post Graduate Diploma in Architecture, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
  • 1980-1985: BSc (Hons) Arch, 2nd Class Upper Division, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana       

 

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT

  • 2001 December: Appointed Associate Professor and Dean of GIMPA Graduate School of Management but released at the request of the President of Ghana to support Presidency.

 

EMPLOYMENT

  • 2008-Present: Director, Cathays Investments Limited
  • 2006-2008: Head of Policy Coordination, Monitoring & Evaluation Unit, Office of the President, Ghana
  • 2006-2008: Head of IT Department, Office of the President
  • 2006-2008: Director, Ghana Central Governance Project, Office of the President
  • 1999-2002: Manager, Policy, Strategy & Management, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ghana
  • 1997-2002: Senior Lecturer & Projects Coordinator,  Portsmouth Business School, UK
  • 1994-1997: Senior Lecturer & Head of Marketing Communications, Southampton Business School, UK
  • 1992-1994: Research Fellow,Cardiff Business School, Wales, UK
  • 1989-1992: Architect/Project Manager, Alex Gordon Partnership, Wales, UK
  • 1985-1987: Architect/Project Officer, Bank for Housing and Construction, Ghana

CORE AREAS OF CONCENTRATION
Professional expertise covers four core areas, namely; Policy Analysis and Management, Strategic Planning and Implementation, Research and Marketing as well as Training and Business Education. Specific achievements in these fields are summarised as follows:

Policy Analysis and Management/ICT Facilitation of Policy Process

  • Coordination of government policies, monitoring and evaluation of Ghana government’s programmes and performance of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
  • Head of Policy and Human Resource Work Teams on Central Government Project, a key component of Ghana’s Public Sector Reform Programme, aimed at strengthening government’s policy management and decision making system in Ghana.
  • Overseeing MIS component of the project involving document, records and knowledge management and IT training for policy analysts.
  • Products delivered included a Framework Document for Ghana Government’s Policy Management and Decision Management System, Cabinet Memoranda Procedures Manual, Ministers’ Handbook and Code of Conduct for Ministers, ICT Policy Document for the Office of the President. 
  • Undertook an analysis of poverty alleviation policies, plans, programmes and budgets for the Ministry of Economic Planning and Regional Cooperation and the Government of Ghana under the Government’s Poverty Alleviation Project  between 2001 and 2002. Reviewed Ghana’s Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy, 2006-2009.

Strategic Analysis, Planning and Implementation and E-business Strategy Development
Key clients that have benefited from this core area of expertise include:

  • Manufacturing and Service Sectors in Ghana - thought leadership in E-business Development (2002)
  • Metropolitan Insurance Company & Multimedia Broadcasting Company (2002)
  • Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Volta River Authority, Ghana Commercial Bank (2001)
  • University of Ghana - World Bank-Funded Project (2000)
  • Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration, Distance Learning Center - World Bank-Funded Project (1999)
  • Forestry Commission - DFID-Funded Project (1999)

Research and Marketing
Managed research projects for varied service-providing companies including:

  •      PricewaterhouseCoopers and AIESEC, The Pharmacy Council of Ghana (2002) Southampton Business School - Global Research on Developing Economies Barclays Bank, UK (1994)
  • UK Central Statistics Office (1993)

 
Training and Business Education
Selection of organisations Designed and executed training programmes for:

  • University of Ghana Business School (2002-2007),
  • Standard Chartered Bank (2007), Ghana Commercial Bank (2002)
  • Shell West Africa, Ghana Textiles Printing Company (2001)
  • Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (2000)
  • Zurich Financial Services – UK, IBM – UK (1997)

OTHER PROFESSIONALLY-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND COMMITMENTS
Activities
Participated in several career-oriented courses in marketing, e-business strategy development, social impact assessment and, corporate finance and strategy. Has also undertaken several public sector study tours including the governance systems of Canada, Britain, Germany, and USA, among others;  the national identification schemes in Mali, Benin, Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia, Italy, Britain and Malaysia and, Procurement Capacity in Developing Countries.
Commitments

  • Member, the President’s Ghana Investors’ Advisory Council (GIAC). Member of 3-person Oversight Committee of GIAC. 
  • Chairman, National Identification System Interim Executive Board.
  • Chairman, Steering Committee, President’s Special Initiative on Distance Learning.
  • Ghanaian Project Director, Central Governance Project (CIDA-Funded Project)
  • Member, Entity Tender Board, Central Bank (Bank of Ghana).
  • Member, Entity Tender Board, Social Security and National Insurance Trust.
  • Director, Ghana Hostels Limited, Ghana’s leading real estate and property management services for educational institutions.
  • Reviewer, International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets
  • Guest Lecturer, University of Ghana Business School, Legon.

PUBLICATIONS
Books & Chapters in Books

  • Appiah-Adu, K (2001) Market Oriented Strategy and Corporate Performance in an Emerging Economy, AlphaPrint Publishers (Foreword by Ishmael Yamson, Chairman, Unilever Ghana Limited).

 

  • Appiah-Adu, K (ed) (2004) Strategic Orientation and Business Performance, Graphic Packaging Limited (Foreword by Dr. Sam Jonah KBE, President, AngloGold Ashanti).
  • Appiah-Adu, K (2005) (ed) Services Management and Organisational Effectiveness, Sub-Saharan Publishers (Foreword by Dr. Jean Aka, Ex-Chief Executive, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated).

 

  • Appiah-Adu, K, Market Orientation and Competitive Performance: A Comparison of Firms in Industrialised and Developing Economies – Foreword by Nana Wereko Ampem II, Chancellor University of Ghana and Chairman Barclays Bank Ghana Limited (forthcoming).
  • Appiah-Adu, K. and Berchie-Antwi, K. (1980) GCE Advanced Level Physics: Questions and Answers, University of Science and Technology Press, Kumasi, Ghana.

 

  • Two chapters in book titled Business Practices in Emerging and Re-emerging Markets, Publisher: Palgrave Macmillian, New York, USA, Satyendra Singh (ed).

Refereed Publications

Written over forty (40) publications covering E-business development, corporate strategy, market orientation, organisational culture, competitive performance, as well as real and capital investment. Espoused these business principles at several international conferences, workshops and seminars.

  AWARDS

  • 1999: Recipient of the Prestigious ANBAR Citation of Excellence with Highest Quality Rating Award for Paper on Market Orientation and Performance in the Biotechnology Industry.

 

  • 1999: Elected to the Internationally Renowned ANBAR Hall of Excellence for Outstanding Contribution to the Literature and Body of Knowledge.
  • 1994: KPMG Team Prize for Innovation, for Pioneering Global MBA via Computer Internet.

 

  • 1991-1992: Prize winner, Cases and Problems in Marketing Management, University of Wales, Cardiff Business School, MBA Programme.
  • 1988: Prize winner, International Year of Shelter for the Homeless Housing Design Competition, Sponsored by the Bank for Housing and Construction, Accra, Ghana.