Sunday 26 June 2011

I do not believe in Monopoly




I admit the popularity of the theory that infant businesses cannot stand the monopolies of giant companies and the same may be said of today’s leading professionals in our many different sectors; from the arts to the sciences. However, I must disagree with the notion that the big guys are doing so good a job at satisfying their customers, that there is little or no opportunity for today’s guys, in a changing and highly competitive country like Ghana. Well, I just do not believe in the concept of monopoly. I think there are too many opportunities out there that people have not yet explored; if they had then the country’s most basic problems would have been solved by now. These opportunities that I’m referring to I believe are the key to our individual and national prosperity, underlying the concept of personal branding. Ghanaian women can be more enterprising , our fresh graduates should create their personal brands, to beat the competition, and the already employed should excel in their positions and work towards achieving indispensable status. 

 Take the case of Vodafone/Ghana telecom. Sixteen years ago, they not only enjoyed the favor of the Ghanaian government but had absolute monopoly in the telecommunications industry. Today they share the market with Zain, Tigo, Espresso, MTN, Africa –on-Line and maybe soon Glo.  Why? -Poor pricing policy coupled with poor service delivery. And also, rather unfortunately, telecom services in general received in the country, at present, are still characterized by inadequate coverage, very poor internet connectivity services and just ridiculous price gauging that gives no consideration for quality service. What’s more, many of our other industries suffer from this and other similar corporate ailments which are mostly a result of low standards set at different levels. 

These low standards range from inappropriate corporate structures, to primitive work behavior of employees along with inadequate customer service delivery systems- which are very rampant especially in our ministries, 3 and 4 star hospitality facilities, legal and security systems and indeed a good many of our other sectors.  So, all I’m trying to say is that, as long as there is room for improvement in any economic structure, it cannot be claimed that it is choked or has little or no opportunity. And the long story short of this scenario is that, in my opinion, the current companies running our Ghanaian economy have failed to achieve monopoly status, and there is need for more competition to improve their standards. The same however, goes for all our professionals as well – companies in their desire to provide high class services, should endeavor to work with highly experienced and useful employees only.


 Okay, I hope I managed to communicate the fact that monopoly in reality exists only in a mindset. But, fortunately, we are talking about personal branding and not our traditional products and service providers. Tyler Durden from Fight Club once made a remarkable statement that I want you to visualize as you read out. “You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else”. Okay, I know my entries on this blog are supposed to help people realize their potential to build their personal brands and this definitely cannot be done with a low self esteem. Exactly my point… In trying to be unique, we need to understand that we are not the only product …or so to speak, the only professionals on the market.  There are several others and we need to defend ourselves to people who patronize our skills, abilities and talents. And this is the whole concept. Because monopoly doesn't really exist, we can “also” make a difference where ever we may be, because there will always be opportunity to outshine others without involving them.

 Now, in the banking industry in Ghana, women far outnumber their male colleagues (which I don’t think was a deliberate attempt to just pad a national “minority” headcount but rather, I think that bosses just can’t trust their male executives) And here, I foresee a great opportunity for women, in the banking sector as well as in all other industries as well. This is why I get confused when I hear women talk about gender inequality issues. In two thousand and eleven, I really believe that women who face such hindrances are either not as qualified as they think they are or they are just too busy with other things at the expense of their careers. Yes, today, there so many opportunities for women in our country and across the globe. Thank goodness!Description: https://mail.google.com/mail/e/81F Description: https://mail.google.com/mail/e/81F 

Well do you also know that some folks describe our times as the millennium for women? Well yes! And instead of taking this for granted, women can be more appreciative of the opportunities given, for they've not always been there; and work hard and smarter to take their careers to the next level. To do this, women I think should be more enterprising.

 I must clarify that I am not referring to women starting their own businesses or anything like that, at least not in this post.

By being enterprising  I believe woman can create a whole lot of avenues to grow their careers. - to not only satisfy their creativity but also they can aim at solving organizational problems that come at different levels; by furthering their  education, using initiative, being goal oriented, accountable and  adaptable to the changing needs of organizations in light of their areas of specialization. Finally, Ghanaian women should be more ambitious than many are today. I believe that nothing we do without passion is worth doing in the first place.