Features
Accreditation and business growth
In everything we do in this world, we have our advantages and our disadvantages which make it difficult for people to choose options since they know that every option may have its advantages and disadvantages.
Even the choice of gender sometimes results in controversy since being a man or woman may have its own advantages and disadvantages. I have had some occasions to ask my students whether being a man or woman has its own advantages and whether given the opportunity, they would prefer to come into the world as men or women. This simple issue often resulted in heated debate between the male and female students to such an extent that they sometimes ended up shouting at each other to drum home their points to prove that being a man is preferrable to being a woman or vice-versa.
Male and female options
In such a situation, you find all the male students jumping in support of the male option, while all the ladies also make choices relating to coming into the world as female. Some advantages put up by some of the male for their choices are that first, they will never be found to be pregnant after having an affair with the opposite sex. Secondly, the male has the advantage of general dominance over female in this world. In the case of the female, some of them argue that they prefer to be women because women are always attractive and beautiful and that men will do all they can to pursue them and win their hearts to give them some favours. They argue also that most of the time, it is the men who struggle to cater for the women for which reason it is better to come into the world as a woman.
No matter how one looks at the issue, it is important to note that everything in this world has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, if a business organisation decides to go for accreditation, this will help the business entity concerned to expand business in both the local and international market and thereby make more money for itself and the workers who work there. The disadvantage, however, is that having made more money, they are likely to be put into a higher category for taxation purposes.
Importance of business accreditation
What this implies is that accreditation for business entities is important and must, therefore, be encouraged so that our business entities can perform creditably well and be able to offer fit-for-purpose goods and services to the satisfaction of customers. If this becomes the case, it is the customer who will ultimately come out as the final judge to influence purchases in the market and help the business company to grow from strength to strength.
Individuals and groups engage in business to be able to offer satisfactory services to consumers to make them happy with what they buy. For this reason, what is provided, be it goods and services, ought to be oriented towards satisfying the needs of the consumer, so as to help business growth even in situations where there are serious challenges.
Global village
Furthermore, the world has become a global village making it possible for products to be exported to other parts of the world as if such products are all produced from the same place or area in the world. Challenges in the world today, include stiff business competitions from various business actors of which each desires the best in terms of quality.
If each of these business entities and actors deserves what is best for themselves, then what this means is that business competition will continue to get stiffer and stiffer until those who are able to satisfy the consumer in the most desirable or best way, are able to distinguish themselves in the expected manner, resulting in a situation where they come on top of every business activity and for that reason capture the largest portion of the market for themselves.
Small business entities may begin their operations in a small and simple way but consistently expand and seek to improve their operations, capturing a chunk of the market for themselves. This is how business entities that began on a small scale were able to expand their activities to capture the local markets after which they also become successful and move into foreign markets. Any business entity that wants to expand beyond local and international borders, needs to sit up properly in an appropriate manner to meet the challenges ahead.
Confidence of consumers
One reliable way of overcoming business obstacles is to make it a point to ensure that the confidence of customers in your products keeps rising and rising beyond imaginable limits. When this happens, business expands and brings in the needed profits as required by any competent and efficient business entity.
This is why companies operating in small corners of the world are able to come out with quality products that are able to capture the taste and satisfaction of people in their locality as well as other people in the world today. Successful companies that are able to do this can expand their markets and make more money not only for themselves but also for their respective countries.
Confidence building
Accreditation ensures business growth in many ways. In the first place, as has been pointed out already, it helps to build confidence and trust on the part of both suppliers and consumers. Accredited companies are directed and guided to provide goods and services based on certain criterion that guarantees the output of quality products. This builds confidence on the part of customers who realise the need to deal with companies with accredited certifications, thereby leading to business expansion.
The second reason accreditation is good and helps to promote business growth is that accreditation makes the suppliers realise the need to cut down certain costs that otherwise would have been included in the process of production. With the cutting down of costs, companies with accredited certifications are able to increase their profit margins, thereby facilitating easy growth and expansion in business.
Technical competence
A third reason accreditation is good is that it helps to demonstrate technical competence and expertise of the accredited conformity assessment body concerned. This means that, accredited conformity bodies have clear-cut technical knowledge as well as the desired expertise regarding what they engage in and, therefore, focus on what they ought to do to ensure quality tests/inspections, goods and services. The end result of all this is that the company with accredited certification will have a marketing advantage over those companies with no accredited certifications. It is this marketing advantage that will push the company into higher heights in any parts of the world.
Finally, accreditation ensures that the company is able to obtain more work from customers since they can prove that they are technically competent, and has the expertise and legitimacy to produce what is required. When a company gains accredited certification, it becomes ready for serious business in any part of the world. In other words, accreditation is not only good for business but also satisfies the requirements for tenders as well as demonstrates the criteria needed to join a list of suppliers which have been approved to be engaged in any envisaged serious business.
All these go to show the value of accreditation in the world of business today. In the light of all these, all companies, be they local or foreign, must endeavour to ensure that they obtain certification, testing or inspection services from only accredited conformity assessment bodies as a way of proving to the world that they have come of age and can deliver based on their technical competence and expertise.
By Dr Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
Features
The Prophet part 4
Antobam woke up with a terrible headache. He checked the time on his mobile phone, 2:30 am. “What! Where is the money?” He asked aloud. “Where are those girls? Why did I drink so much of that whisky? What were those two girls up to?” He sat up on the bed and noticed a bulge close to the pillow.
He lifted the mattress and picked up the newspaper wrappers with the neatly arranged notes. He saw the neatly written record of the value of the notes. No, those girls are not thieves.
“It was my mistake. If I hadn’t drank myself to sleep they would be here in bed with me, giving me the time of my life. Pretty girls, those two. And so loyal and honest. Tomorrow will be different.”
“I will not drink any whisky, and I will show them that I am a real man. Just then he heard the whispers. Very soon it will be time, they seemed to be saying. This is an important day.”
The gold dealer will bring lots of money. Give him some of the liquid to drink, and we will prepare him. He will do very big business, and he will give you anything you ask for. There will be more miracles and testimonies today.
Antobam smiled to himself. “I am going to be a very rich man in only a few days man. Money, power, and women. Wow! Antobam got to the grounds at 5, but there were quite a number of people waiting.
Mr Kwame Dofu was among them. He greeted them all, and they came around to shake his hand. “My brothers and sisters, I assure you that whatever your problem is, you will not go home without a solution.” Shouts of “Amen” “thank” you Osofo and “you are a true man of God” responded.
“Please take your seats, and start talking to the great one about whatever bothers you. Before the service is over, there will be a solution.” He waved Mr Dofu over, and went with him to the wooden structure that serves as a temporary office.
“My brother, I have done quite a lot of work on the issue you came to see me about. I have prepared a special, powerful package for you. Take this, drink it, and go back to your business. I want to see you in two weeks.”
Beaming with smiles, Mr Dofu drank the foul smelling liquid in two gulps, said a big thank you to Antobam and took his leave. “I believe you, Papa Osofo. And I assure you that I will reward you, big time.”
Just when Osofo Antubam finished with Mr Dofu, Mary and Suzzie went over to him. “Good Morning ladies. I am very sorry about yesterday. I drank too much of the stuff you gave me. Today will be different, I assure you.”
“Don’t worry, Osofo. Since you are now setting things up, our main concern now is to help you to put things in place, and to make you comfortable. We are always there to serve you. This morning, Osofo, we want to go and clean up your place, and prepare something nice for you when you close.
And before coming to church, we will pass by the bank and collect the forms. After you have signed them, the account will be open. You can check the payments anytime and, of course, issue cheques whenever you need money.”
“Suzzie and Mary, I am happy I picked the two of you from the very start. Listen, I will take good care of you, okay? Here is some money. Buy whatever you need for the errands you have mentioned.
And here is the key. Please come back as early as you can. You know I need you here.” The service was very lively. The lively singing of praise songs was followed by one and a half hours of testimonies.
Most of them related to money – big sales, new jobs and overdue debts paid. But there were also testimonies about healing. Barren women had taken seed, and, of course, several men who had lost their bedroom authority had regained them, to the delight of their partners.
As he had promised, Antobam preached for only 30 minutes, exhorting the congregation to attend church regularly, pay their tithes and offerings, and strictly follow his ‘directions’ for securing solutions to their problems.
After another round of praises during which the congregation danced to the floor to drop their offering, he closed the service, grabbed the big bowl which was full to the brim with money, and moved to his desk. A long queue was quickly formed at the desk.
Meanwhile, Mary and Suzzie had gone to give Antobam’s place quite a decent look. A new bedsheet and pillows, a secondhand carpet and four plastic chairs placed in the verandah had done the trick.
They also prepared two fish and chicken stews. After all these, they rushed to the National Savings Bank and collected application forms for opening current and savings accounts.
They joined the service a few minutes before the main session closed. Antobam looked round and saw, to his relief, Mary and Suzzie moving towards him. “Hello ladies. What have you been up to?” “Quite a bit, Osofo. We’ve just collected your drink. Here you are. We’ve made a few changes at your place. I think you will like it. You will also have something nice to eat. Now, here are the forms for the savings and current accounts.
If you will sign them, the bank will open the account. From today, we can pay all monies direct into the account.” ‘How can I thank you, ladies?” “You don’t need to thank us,” Suzzie said. “It is our duty to help a man of God succeed.” “Okay, my ladies, please take the offerings and count them as you did yesterday.
You can add the payments made after the consultations. Will it be possible to pay them into the account today?” “Yes,” Mary said. “The bank closes at four. If we leave here at three, we would be there just in time.”
The two friends started counting, as Osofo Antobam gave his clients his directions for solving their problems. On quite a few occasions he closed his eyes as if he was receiving direction from above on what to do.
But as the fetish priest at the Nana Kofi Broni shrine and the dwarfs had assured him, the solutions would certainly be provided. Having heard the huge testimonies earlier in the day, the clients parted with substantial sums of money in expectation.
By Ekow de Heer
Features
The issue of spiritual father in our churches
A student was supposed to go to school as the natural cause of events should be when universities or schools in general opens but this was not the case in a certain young man’s life.
He decided to postpone his trip because apparently he could not get to meet his pastor, his spiritual father. The question is, should this spiritual father die, will the young man’s life come to an end?
Does it mean in such an instance, he is going to curtail his education? This is a worrying trend in a lot of churches where the pastors use this notion of spiritual father to manipulate members especially the youth.
Some unscrupulous pastors utilise this spiritual father concept to have affairs with gullible young ladies in their churches.
Now with homosexuality gradually making inroads into some of the churches, young men are becoming vulnerable to pastors who have hidden homosexual inclinations.
This spiritual father concept is a Biblical concept that runs through both the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. We see it in 2 Kings 4:12 where Gehazi is serving Elisha and also in the New Testament we see Paul relating to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:2 as a Spiritual Father.
In fact, the concept of spiritual father is a good thing if executed according to the word of God since it helps in guiding the younger ones. However, it becomes problematic when it is being executed by unscrupulous wolves in sheepskins as described by Jesus in Mathew 7:15.
I see it as a way that these unscrupulous so-called men of God maintain their hold on the congregants so they do not question their unchristian actions.
One of the things I have observed since I got born again many years ago is that, any pastor who often insists that members recognise that he is their spiritual father is a warning sign that he is doing some wrong things or is about to indulge in some wrong things.
A parent complained about how his daughter was being influenced by a pastor of the church she attends and how worried he was. I am sure there are many parents out there with stories to tell about how their wards are being made to see their pastors almost like their Jesus.
These pastors have managed to make their congregants so loyal to them and to believe in them so much that it is terrifying, as a parent.
The way things are going, an immediate intervention is required otherwise I am not a prophet of doom but I forsee unfortunate instances where parents burst into church auditoriums and star shooting some Pastors out of frustration and anger.
We cannot look on unconcerned as a society and allow unscrupulous fraudsters using the name of God to create problems for families. My recommendation is for a certain amount of regulation in order to bring some sanity in religious practices.
I agree that ordinarily regulating religious practices makes it a bit restrictive in terms of freedom of worship as enshrined in our constitution but given the way things are going, a bit of regulation will not be out of place.
Disgusting stuff are being attributed to some men of God. There are cases of manipulation of young ladies and sometimes married women by so called men of God and it is bringing Christianity and therefore the name of the Lord into disrepute.
Christianity is gradually losing its attractiveness as a result of the negative reportage resulting from disgusting stuff happening in Christian circles. The way some pastors have been manipulating congregants to take money from them leaves much to be desired to the point where they are convincing some of the youth to give out their phones. May God help us.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
