SMCU – Developing Leaders, Creating Impact across the Globe

I am a proud student of SMCU struggling to complete my doctorate. I can testify the quality of the faculty and rigor in what is taught. If wishes were horses beggars will ride. Congrats to my seniors who have been able to graduate. One day our time will come by the grace of God. Read on what SMCU is all about critical thinking and finding solutions to Ghanaian challenges using the Ghanaian context whiles applying global knowledge. Don’t belief the lies SMCU is accredited by the NAB of Ghana.

What do empty boxes, blind folds, tape, and working executives have in common? Under normal circumstances, absolutely nothing. But within the SMCU doctorate class, these are common tools to critically evaluate theories, develop skills, and initiate the process of creating culturally applicable theories to Ghana. Figure 1 shows what learning looks like as doctorate students master logistics,communication, and strategic design/implementation.

Globalization challenges business education with an ever-changing pace. SMCU’s global world-renowned faculty, offers unique educational experiences enabling Ghanaians to excel in their professions through a combination of residency courses, online distance learning, and a rigorous mentored guided dissertation research process.

Residency

The first day of residency class, we were challenged to create a tardy policy that pushed us to think like leaders. The amount of critical thinking on values of traditional theories is filled with team-based activities that made learning fun while developing leadership skills, as shown in Figure 2. Western theories are never merely accepted and regurgitated. Instead, we learned to develop our own unique perspectives.

The diversity of cultures added another dimension for learning. Through constant engagement in team-based activities, friendships were formed. According to Dr. Akolaa, CEO with Agya Appiah Bitters/Executive Director of Khols and Hols Insurance Brokers, “Several physical Doctoral residency programmes organised by the school provided opportunity to meet and network with students from other countries to share ideas and network.” Dr. Mrs. Safo-Duodu, a Managing Partner and a Life/Career Coach with Leaders and Mentors International (LMI), found a similar experience, “One of the highlights …was the residency I attended in Vienna which brought together students from America, Kenya, and parts of Europe to do presentations and network together.”

Figure 2. Doctorate students in blind rope activity, focusing on innovation and knowledge management.

Coursework

Many public institutions use lectures as the primary education medium; SMCU’s online distance learning challenges beyond lectures. According to Dr. Gideon Amenyedor, Executive Vice-Chairman of Vanguard Assurance Company Limited, “The journey through the course was not easy….I had to work overnight for three months to complete the first subject…This required a lot of hard work and dedication on my part”. Staying up late for studies is commonly shared with many of our classmates who are working executives and managers. Dr. Mrs. Safo-Duodu also had many late evenings. “It was very challenging combining my then role as Head of Corporate Affairs in Barclays Bank with my academic work. I often stayed up late…..in the evenings in the office to keep up with my assignments and also used my weekends to complete my readings and research.” One of the most challenging aspects to this program is the amount of rigor it requires, starting with quantitative research. Learning how to write at the doctorate level is required and there is no formal training for scholarly writing here in Ghana. The ability to work at our own pace makes it possible to finish coursework around two years.

Dissertations

The most difficult part of the doctorate program – the dissertation. The standard of scholarly research and writing is demanding. We were expected to research current literature of hundreds of journal articles and textbooks; however, SMCU provided us with some of the most talented and caring faculty mentors. Our mentors provided detailed feedback that defied our thinking on many topics, and for some of us, it was a humbling experience. For Dr. Amenyedor, “The dissertation phase was the most difficult and demanding… It took me close to three months to just complete the proposal… because of high standards of work required by the University”. Similarly, Dr. Okoe Amartey started the dissertation and soon realized additional studies were needed, extending his completion by two years. “Feedback on my proposal from the supervisors indicated to me that I needed to update my knowledge and skills on research… The international faculty and supervisors paid attention to the minutest detail regarding my thesis.”

Outcomes

Through the SMCU program we developed into powerful leaders within our industry here in Ghana. Figure 3 portrays a practice developing unique skills for interviews as scholarly researchers. Such rigor and scrutiny triggered strong emotions in all of us. Eventually, we all found it helped us develop as scholars who can publish in some of the top rated journals in the world. For Dr. Amenyedor who spent four years and 3 month to complete the program, the journey enabled him to provide transformative consultancy services for clients as an Executive Vice-Chairman. For Dr. Akolaa, the doctorate journey took 5 years and 11 months to complete. He now finds himself as CEO of Agya Appiah Bitters while also finding himself as “one of the most sought after speakers in marketing today.” For Dr. Mrs. Safo-Duodu, the 4 years and 7 months journey led her to managing partner in a management consultancy, specializing in consulting, business transformational planning, training development, and mentoring. Dr. Okoe Amartey’s hard work over 5 years 3 months has enabled him to publish “sixteen (16) scholarly articles in reputable publishing houses and ranked journals including Emerald, Sage, Science direct and Taylor and Francis.” The list of accomplishments goes much further. For those of us who made it this far, we have one common opinion – the profound growth we’ve experienced within SMCU’s doctorate program propelled us to much of the success we enjoy today, teaching us unique skills and preparing us to develop needed Ghanaian business theories. SMCU’s program helped us transform into the leaders we are today.

Prof. Ted Sun

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