SIMON Mensah | University of Ulster (original) (raw)

Papers by SIMON Mensah

In this competitive business environment, innovation offers an opportunity for organizations to d... more In this competitive business environment, innovation offers an opportunity for organizations to differentiate themselves from competitors. In the past, the internal R&D (Research and Development) activities of companies could provide the magic required for world class innovation, but the fast changing demands of users of requires their input/involvement in the innovation process. However, contrary to the bias found in corporate environment, open innovation, co-creation and user innovation enable organizations to collaborate with the crowd and tap into their collective intelligence.
Conclusions from this report indicate that, indeed, firms today rely heavily on external source of knowledge in their product innovation especially from consumers. That, through social media, consumers and customers alike contribute to the innovation process by firms. Finally, firms now adopt social media for customers’ review with the sole purpose of improving on their product and/or service delivery.
One recommendation made was that, managers of firms should be building trust and partnership among firms and social media members (including clients/customers) in OI (Open Innovation).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Marketing is one of the most essential components in business. The prosperity ... more EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Marketing is one of the most essential components in business. The prosperity of the business is dependent on how well it survives in the selling of its products or service. It is this that makes marketing an imperative tool for company’s success more so when businesses nowadays are going global.
However, just as firms are finding ways and means to sharpen their marketing skills to beat down competition they are confronted with series of challenges, among which is culture.
Culture has now become issue in marketing especially international marketing due to different countries participating in global trade. Many authorities have researched into the extent of which culture impacts on trade. As a result, students of international marketing are required to delve into these matters of culture and how culture affects international marketing, hence this report.
This report thus tries to review related literature on the impacts of culture on international marketing. In reviewing the literature, it came to the fore that culture positively or negatively impacts on international marketing. Many examples of failed and successful firms due to cultural related issues have been cited. Other authorities thought differently to state that failure and success of firms are dependent on factors other than culture.
The literature, however, confirmed that really culture impacts on international marketing.
The drawn conclusions include cultural impacts on international marketing, leadership and technology impacts on the foreign market.
As part of recommendation, it is always important for foreign marketers to abreast themselves with the cultural issues in their area of operation in other to adjust to the changing needs of the people they market their product or service to.
Although technology enhance their operation and even serve as the driving force such technology should be suitable to the culture they find themselves.

ABSTRACT Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) has of late taken central stage in the policy impl... more ABSTRACT
Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) has of late taken central stage in the policy implementation of organisations. National governments and societies have also taken keen interest in the activities of organisations operating under their jurisdiction. They are all expectant of what companies give back to society after exploiting the wealth of its lands. It is on this note that a case study research was conducted to assess impact of corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives by mining companies in Ghana: A Case Study of Zion Gold Mines Limited (ZGML); a subsidiary of a multi-national firm, Kinrose Gold Corporation.
Findings from the data revealed Zion Gold Mines Limited adopts and incorporates CSR initiatives, projects and policies purely on the wheels of responsiveness approach and, defensive and offensive approach to CSR. It was also discovered that issues of CSR are not legally binding on companies. In the implementation of CSR the local people are consulted and involved in all CSR initiatives, projects and policies embarked upon in the communities by the company. Impact of such initiatives have been easy and affordable access to primary healthcare, reduction in malaria infection, improvement in academic performance of school pupils, increase and retention of enrolment of pupils, employment and skills training for the locals. But on the reverse side, due to the CSR of the company the district assemblies appear to have shifted their responsibilities towards these communities to the mining company.
Sustainability of such initiatives and projects was also seen to be highly guaranteed although the communities’ participation in this direction is seemed lacking.

ABSTRACT Leadership is the ability and will to lead men and women to a common purpose and charact... more ABSTRACT
Leadership is the ability and will to lead men and women to a common purpose and character that inspires confidence. Effective leadership and the ability to manage people are fundamental for the success of any firm especially international firm. A leader’s role is to inspire followers and to focus on the possibilities of what can be achieved especially in times of crisis.
It was evident however from the study that there is scarcity of global leaders to handle issues facing global firms. This according to some scholars accounted for the recent global financial crisis. The counter argument put forward also brought to the fore that despite the recession firms are hitching to go global with different and varied reasons as saturated markets, desire to increase market share and the benefit of economic of scales.
The report also witnessed how global leaders can be developed supported by industrial-base examples, theories of leadership and what leaders should do when going global.
Conclusions were drawn with recommendations backing the report.
As part of recommendation, leadership must be more facilitative, participative and empowering in how visions and goals are established and carried out especially in Multinational Co-operations (MNCs).

Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) has of late taken central stage in the policy implementatio... more Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) has of late taken central stage in the policy implementation of organisations. National governments and societies have also taken keen interest in the activities of organisations operating under their jurisdiction. They are all expectant of what companies give back to society after exploiting the wealth of its lands. It is on this note that a case study research was conducted to assess impact of corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives by mining companies in Ghana: A Case Study of Zion Gold Mines Limited (ZGML); a subsidiary of a multi-national firm, Kinrose Gold Corporation.
Findings from the data revealed Zion Gold Mines Limited adopts and incorporates CSR initiatives, projects and policies purely on the wheels of responsiveness approach and, defensive and offensive approach to CSR. It was also discovered that issues of CSR are not legally binding on companies. In the implementation of CSR the local people are consulted and involved in all CSR initiatives, projects and policies embarked upon in the communities by the company. Impact of such initiatives have been easy and affordable access to primary healthcare, reduction in malaria infection, improvement in academic performance of school pupils, increase and retention of enrolment of pupils, employment and skills training for the locals. But on the reverse side, due to the CSR of the company the district assemblies appear to have shifted their responsibilities towards these communities to the mining company.
Sustainability of such initiatives and projects was also seen to be highly guaranteed although the communities’ participation in this direction is seemed lacking.

In this competitive business environment, innovation offers an opportunity for organizations to d... more In this competitive business environment, innovation offers an opportunity for organizations to differentiate themselves from competitors. In the past, the internal R&D (Research and Development) activities of companies could provide the magic required for world class innovation, but the fast changing demands of users of requires their input/involvement in the innovation process. However, contrary to the bias found in corporate environment, open innovation, co-creation and user innovation enable organizations to collaborate with the crowd and tap into their collective intelligence.
Conclusions from this report indicate that, indeed, firms today rely heavily on external source of knowledge in their product innovation especially from consumers. That, through social media, consumers and customers alike contribute to the innovation process by firms. Finally, firms now adopt social media for customers’ review with the sole purpose of improving on their product and/or service delivery.
One recommendation made was that, managers of firms should be building trust and partnership among firms and social media members (including clients/customers) in OI (Open Innovation).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Marketing is one of the most essential components in business. The prosperity ... more EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Marketing is one of the most essential components in business. The prosperity of the business is dependent on how well it survives in the selling of its products or service. It is this that makes marketing an imperative tool for company’s success more so when businesses nowadays are going global.
However, just as firms are finding ways and means to sharpen their marketing skills to beat down competition they are confronted with series of challenges, among which is culture.
Culture has now become issue in marketing especially international marketing due to different countries participating in global trade. Many authorities have researched into the extent of which culture impacts on trade. As a result, students of international marketing are required to delve into these matters of culture and how culture affects international marketing, hence this report.
This report thus tries to review related literature on the impacts of culture on international marketing. In reviewing the literature, it came to the fore that culture positively or negatively impacts on international marketing. Many examples of failed and successful firms due to cultural related issues have been cited. Other authorities thought differently to state that failure and success of firms are dependent on factors other than culture.
The literature, however, confirmed that really culture impacts on international marketing.
The drawn conclusions include cultural impacts on international marketing, leadership and technology impacts on the foreign market.
As part of recommendation, it is always important for foreign marketers to abreast themselves with the cultural issues in their area of operation in other to adjust to the changing needs of the people they market their product or service to.
Although technology enhance their operation and even serve as the driving force such technology should be suitable to the culture they find themselves.

ABSTRACT Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) has of late taken central stage in the policy impl... more ABSTRACT
Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) has of late taken central stage in the policy implementation of organisations. National governments and societies have also taken keen interest in the activities of organisations operating under their jurisdiction. They are all expectant of what companies give back to society after exploiting the wealth of its lands. It is on this note that a case study research was conducted to assess impact of corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives by mining companies in Ghana: A Case Study of Zion Gold Mines Limited (ZGML); a subsidiary of a multi-national firm, Kinrose Gold Corporation.
Findings from the data revealed Zion Gold Mines Limited adopts and incorporates CSR initiatives, projects and policies purely on the wheels of responsiveness approach and, defensive and offensive approach to CSR. It was also discovered that issues of CSR are not legally binding on companies. In the implementation of CSR the local people are consulted and involved in all CSR initiatives, projects and policies embarked upon in the communities by the company. Impact of such initiatives have been easy and affordable access to primary healthcare, reduction in malaria infection, improvement in academic performance of school pupils, increase and retention of enrolment of pupils, employment and skills training for the locals. But on the reverse side, due to the CSR of the company the district assemblies appear to have shifted their responsibilities towards these communities to the mining company.
Sustainability of such initiatives and projects was also seen to be highly guaranteed although the communities’ participation in this direction is seemed lacking.

ABSTRACT Leadership is the ability and will to lead men and women to a common purpose and charact... more ABSTRACT
Leadership is the ability and will to lead men and women to a common purpose and character that inspires confidence. Effective leadership and the ability to manage people are fundamental for the success of any firm especially international firm. A leader’s role is to inspire followers and to focus on the possibilities of what can be achieved especially in times of crisis.
It was evident however from the study that there is scarcity of global leaders to handle issues facing global firms. This according to some scholars accounted for the recent global financial crisis. The counter argument put forward also brought to the fore that despite the recession firms are hitching to go global with different and varied reasons as saturated markets, desire to increase market share and the benefit of economic of scales.
The report also witnessed how global leaders can be developed supported by industrial-base examples, theories of leadership and what leaders should do when going global.
Conclusions were drawn with recommendations backing the report.
As part of recommendation, leadership must be more facilitative, participative and empowering in how visions and goals are established and carried out especially in Multinational Co-operations (MNCs).

Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) has of late taken central stage in the policy implementatio... more Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) has of late taken central stage in the policy implementation of organisations. National governments and societies have also taken keen interest in the activities of organisations operating under their jurisdiction. They are all expectant of what companies give back to society after exploiting the wealth of its lands. It is on this note that a case study research was conducted to assess impact of corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives by mining companies in Ghana: A Case Study of Zion Gold Mines Limited (ZGML); a subsidiary of a multi-national firm, Kinrose Gold Corporation.
Findings from the data revealed Zion Gold Mines Limited adopts and incorporates CSR initiatives, projects and policies purely on the wheels of responsiveness approach and, defensive and offensive approach to CSR. It was also discovered that issues of CSR are not legally binding on companies. In the implementation of CSR the local people are consulted and involved in all CSR initiatives, projects and policies embarked upon in the communities by the company. Impact of such initiatives have been easy and affordable access to primary healthcare, reduction in malaria infection, improvement in academic performance of school pupils, increase and retention of enrolment of pupils, employment and skills training for the locals. But on the reverse side, due to the CSR of the company the district assemblies appear to have shifted their responsibilities towards these communities to the mining company.
Sustainability of such initiatives and projects was also seen to be highly guaranteed although the communities’ participation in this direction is seemed lacking.