Exploring the challenges encountered in managing diversity and inclusion in the telecommunications industry by selected multinationals in Ghana.

Abstract

This study investigated the challenges encountered as well as examined the elements influencing the management of diversity and inclusion by multinationals in the telecommunications industry in Ghana. Diversity and inclusion are emerging aspects of management, which hinge on disciplines such as sociology and psychology and have been established by scholars to be a potent management tool in the globalised world. Africa and for that matter, Ghana, a West African state, has not been featured adequately in the emerging literature of diversity and inclusion. A sensitive aspect of the Ghanaian economy is the telecommunications sector. However, little is known about the challenges encountered by multinationals in the telecommunications industry regarding the management of diversity and inclusion in Ghana. Secondly, the elements influencing diversity and inclusion management is relatively unknown. Thus, the study was necessitated by the country's diversity, a vibrant economy in the last decades with telecommunications as one of its main drivers and enhanced democratic credentials. Further, the situation attracts individuals and organisations from other nations deepening the already diverse nature of the country. A qualitative (case study approach) approach was employed to answer the research questions and realise the objectives. In line with the tenets of the chosen methodology, which requires data absoluteness, the interviewees and focus group members were purposively selected through expert and maximum variation sampling respectively. There were three in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions conducted in the selected organisations, being the two market leaders in the telecommunication industry (MTN-Ghana and Vodafone–Ghana) in Ghana. Coding and thematic analysis were employed to identify the challenges and elements influencing the management of diversity and inclusion in the selected organisations. Challenges in managing diversity and inclusion regarding demographics, socio-cognitive and organisational diversities were identified. In addition, challenges associated with the economic condition, historical context, government, corporate and organisational policies as well as elements (ethnicity, corporate and government policies) influencing the management of diversity and inclusion in the organisations under study were identified, contributing to theory in this regard. In practice, the findings point to the fact that corporate policies or strategies are not adequately aligned to the societal context. The study further shows that an individual's social construct influences his or her sense of belonging. A proposed framework was created out of the findings of the study, aiming at mitigating the identified challenges, leading to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Arising from the findings of the study, it was recommended that further studies are needed to make the socio-cultural dynamics more explicit and align it to corporate strategies. In addition, the study needs to be broadened by employing mixed-method and include the entire number of organisations in the industry to obtain a conclusive result. More importantly, further studies are needed to highlight the impact of diversity and inclusion management on the bottom-line of organisations. The appreciation of the impact of diversity and inclusion on organisations will increase its significance as a management tool.