News

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, July 08, 2008 - IBM Corporation is sending a team of high-potential IBM leaders to Ghana this week to help develop local businesses while enriching their own leadership skills.

Ten IBM employees from countries such as Canada, Germany, India, Italy, US and UK will arrive in Ghana on 11 July 2008 as part of the corporation’s newly launched Corporate Service Corps programme (CSC). The programme deploys IBM’s leaders of today and tomorrow to developing countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa to address socio-economic challenges in emerging markets while deepening leadership skills including diversity management.

The team in Ghana will work with three non-governmental organisations: Association of Ghana Industries, National Bureau of Small Scale Industries and Aid to Artisans Ghana in Kumasi to help improve business processes as well as provide training for a network of small and medium enterprises in Kumasi trying to scale up their business models.

"It's a corporate version of the Peace Corps," said Stanley S. Litow, vice-president of corporate citizenship and corporate affairs. "What we as a company get is leaders with a broader range of skills that can function in a global context. What the individual participant gets is a unique set of leadership opportunities and development experiences. And what communities get are IBM's best problem solving skills. It's a triple benefit."

IBM recognises that in today's globally integrated economy the most successful leaders must be global citizens, able to understand and effectively collaborate with people from a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives.

An important design point for the programme is to provide high performance employees the chance to build networks with people they might otherwise never interact with. This will also enable employees to bring different perspectives and expertise to solving problems, as well as encourage interaction with people from different cultural backgrounds and traditions.

Mathula Mphande, IBM South and Central Africa Communications Executive said: “This programme enables IBM employees to bridge the skills gap in developing countries such as those in the African continent while getting exposure to diversity management. The skills gained from this programme will enable IBM employees to become truly global leaders.”

One hundred IBM employees from thirty-three countries have been selected to participate in the CSC programme, part of the Global Citizen's Portfolio initiative announced by IBM’s Global CEO and Chairman Sam Palmisano early this year. More than 5,000 high-potential employees applied to the programme and only 100 employees were selected, making this one of the most competitive employee programmes ever created by the company. IBM will select another 100 before the end of year and has committed to enabling 600 of its emerging leaders to participate over the next three years.

The Ghana team, representing six countries and with IBM experience ranging between four and 24 years, will be welcomed in Accra on 12 July by two members of Parliament. They will travel to the work site in Kumasi where they will be officially welcomed by Kumasi Mayor Ms. Patricia Appiagyei, including an audience with the King of the Ashanti, Otumfo Osei Tutu.

A separate team will go to Arusha, Tanzania later this year to assist a global microfinance organisation with market research and strategic plan development for expanding operations and services to entrepreneurs seeking microloans and business training services.