Young Ghanaians who hope to sharpen their managerial skills now have the opportunity to participate in the Global Management Challenge (GMC). The challenge, organized by GMA-Ghana, seeks to expose participants to real-time, actual management decisions that individuals in the corporate world take daily. The programme is designed such that the consequences of every decision will be borne fully by members of a team. Developed in 1980 by professors in Scotland, the GMC entails software that mimics the way real companies operate and compete in the global business environment. It is an analytic tool that measures the impact of decisions made by company managers. To make participating see the progress they are making as they take decisions daily, and how those decisions either enhances or retards their business, the system had in-built stock exchange which rewards companies represented by teams based on how well or poorly they perform. Explaining the rationale for introducing the challenge to Myjoyonline, the Country Director of GMC, Mr Arnold Parker said the bane of Ghana’s economic problems has been the emphasis on theory in the country. The programme has therefore been introduced to give young people practical experience – experience they will not get in the regular educational system. According to him, government cannot provide adequate, sustainable jobs for all the people that are churned out yearly from the country’s tertiary institutions. That, he said makes the establishment of businesses imperative – businesses that must succeed. Such business will fail without the requisite managerial skills. Mr Parker said participants will be divided to groups of three to five members who will create virtual companies with global characteristics. The teams will be required to manage the businesses in a manner so as to make them under Ghanaian conditions. The groups will therefore be taking such critical decisions as market strategies, pricing, brand positioning and brand personality etc. The success of the company will depend on good the decisions taken are and how well the team members complement each other. Mr Parker emphasized that the challenge will also aim to change the mentality of Ghanaians most of whom like to manage their businesses as individuals. He said the success of every business depends on team play. To participate, recent graduates and current university and polytechnic students – who largely qualify for the challenge – must register with GMC Ghana. Ghana is second country after Angola to join the challenge in Africa and the only country in West Africa. The GMC is currently operational in 29 countries with over 400,000 participants world wide. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana