Culture and Change Management: A Case Study of GIMPA

Abstract

This paper looks at organisational change by examining the restructuring of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), which was formerly a publicly-funded institution. In 1999 GIMPA, the sole public administration training institution in Ghana, was diagnosed as being unsuccessful in carrying out its mandate to build and develop vital human resources for national development and, therefore, faced closure. This paper examines the extent to which the employment of Ghanaian cultural values contributed to the change process. It explores change and leadership issues and indicates that the African believes in change and uses various forms of indigenous knowledge that support the concept of change to bring about change. It argues that the necessity for consideration of traditions of local cultures in change management is crucial, particularly where foreign management approaches are practiced in those places.