Strategies for improving Entrepreneurial Skills among project management Graduates in Ghana
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Date
2021-06-15
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Abstract
In Ghana, graduates often have limited entrepreneurial skills and rarely undertake
entrepreneur initiatives as they are persistently in search of non-existing jobs in the formal
sector. Based on this was this study conducted to identify strategies to improve
entrepreneurial skills among Project Management graduates in Ghana. To help in the
realization of this aim were three (3) objectives put forward as: to identify the
entrepreneurial skills needed by project management graduates, to outline the strategies in
place to improve the entrepreneurial skills needed by project management graduates and
to identify the obstacles to the development of the entrepreneurial skills of project
management graduates in Ghana. The institutional-based descriptive cross-sectional design
study employed a survey strategy in the collection of data from project management
professionals or graduates through structured questionnaire. The study approach was
largely quantitative as the study largely dwelled on realism of events and aimed at testing
existing theories on the entrepreneurial development of project management graduates. The
analysis of the data gathered was done using descriptive statistics, relative importance
index (RII) and Kendall Wallis Test of Concordance. Findings from the analysis depicted
that the entrepreneurial skills perceived as the most important were creative skills and
communication skills. Communication skills in the form of working in a team, ability to
use relevant language to negotiate, persuade and convince, and the ability in brainstorming
interaction networking are termed as critical to the entrepreneurial development of project
management graduates. Creative skills in the form of ability to visualize and identify new
problem areas in the society, ability to generate new ideas or concepts, ability to apply
knowledge acquired in real life events and the ability to apply knowledge acquired with
others are perceived as critical to the entrepreneurial development of project management
professionals or graduates. Revealed from the study was four Principal Obstacles identified
as limited funds for youth’s start-up and business expansion, theoretical based curriculum
against practical skill acquisition, system of education not producing talented workforce
and no loan facilities for graduates to establish their businesses. It was recommended that
entrepreneurship development fund for graduates, restructuring of higher level educational
curricula, loan facilities for graduates and organizing periodic workshops and seminars on
entrepreneurship development will help improve entrepreneurial development of project
management graduates in Ghana.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and
Management, College of Art and Built Environment, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award degree of Master of Science in Project Management
Keywords
Strategies, Entrepreneurial skills, Improve, Obstacles, Graduates