The Vice Chancellor of the Ho Technical University, Prof Ben Quarshie Honyenuga has asserted that the 24-hour Economy Policy would suffer setbacks if the private fails to embrace and own the concept.

According to him, similar flagship policies were stagnated at the planning stages due to the
failure of the private sector to embrace and own the policies at the implementation stages.

Prof Honyenuga said this during his inaugural lecture, making him the first full professor of the Ho Technical University.

He shared his early life experience after his father's demise, and the challenges he had to overcome to advance the academic ladder.

Speaking on the theme “Navigating a model of High-Performance Organisations in Ghana: Reflections on a Chameleon Business Environment,” he underscored the volatile nature of Ghana’s business environment.

He asserted that this had retrogressed the development of businesses into High Performance Organizations (HPO), coupled with their failure to adapt to fit in and remain relevant in the everchanging business environment.

"I heard the President say that the Private sector must take commanding heights in the 24-hour Economy. MCE is not the one who will make the 24-hour Economy work, the ambassador is not, it is the people.

“So, the reason why Ghanaian organizations fail to become HPOs are theses; cosmetic rebrand, finance culture and processing, Ghana Beyond Aid, it is nice, you push it forward. 24-hour economy is nice, you push it forward. When it come to performance, zero. That is why we are challenging that let something work for Ghana”, he said.

Prof Honyenuga appealed to Ghanaian businesses to take a cue from the characteristics of a chameleon, where it developed a high sense of adaptability, and proposed a chameleon-inspired framework to help businesses survive their ever-changing environment.

“Drawing inspiration from the chameleon, I put forward a model of HPOs and demonstrated that combining knowledge management and management innovation with continuous improvement and renewal, workforce quality and long-term orientation would generate the synergy for enhancing the capacity of Ghanaian organizations to become high-performance entities that would serve as a reference point to their peers and support sustainable”, he said.

Prof Honyenuga was vested as the first full Professor of the Ho Technical University. He received congratulations and admiration from family, friends among others on achieving the milestone.