DR. RUBY MELODY AGBOLA

Profile

A Senior Lecturer at the Department of Management and Public Administration, Central University. A professional teacher, an academic and a trained management professional, my specialisation is in Strategic Management and Public Administration. I obtained my undergraduate education at the University of Ghana Legon; MPhil in Public Policy & Administration at the University of Tromso, Norway; MBA in General Management from the City Business College, London U.K., and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the University of Lancaster, UK. As a lecturer in the Central Business School, I’m currently responsible for teaching Strategic Management and Risk Management. I have in the past, taught several courses including Public Administration, Corporate Governance, Foundations of Management, Career Development Studies and Human Resource Development at the undergraduate level as well as Negotiations and Conflict Resolution at the Graduate School.

Basic Information

Name: Dr. Ruby Melody Agbola
Designation:Senior Lecturer / HOD
Department: Department of Management & Public Administration]
Institutional Email: ragbola@central.edu.gh
Office Location: Room 301, Block G

Academic Qualifications/Education:

Ph.D.: Management Studies, GIMPA (2025, awaiting graduation ceremony)

MPhil: Public Policy & Administration, University of Tromso, Norway (1998)
MBA: General Management & Strategy, The International University, Missouri, USA (2002).

PGCE: Basic Education, University of Lancaster, UK. (2006)
B.A.: Religions & Classics, University of Ghana, Legon (1989)

Research Interests:

• Strategic Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Capabilities and Firm Growth
• Accountability in Governance
• Public Policy Analysis
• Public Procurement
• SME Research and Small Business Strategy
• Business Ethics
• Topics in General Management, e.g., TQM, Performance Appraisal, Health & Safety Management etc. 

Publications

Journal Articles:

1. Zoogah, D., Agbola, R.M., Matenge, T. & Wee, G.S. (2023). Employee unethical behaviour in organizations: A functionalist perspective. Africa Journal of Management. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. DOI: 10.1080/23322373.2274656.
2. Zoogah, D., Agbola, R.M., Matenge, T. & Wee, G.S. (2019). “Unethical behaviour in organizations: A test of Strain, Interest and Ethnos Oblige theories”. Conference Paper, Academy of Management Journal – AMJ-2020-1188. 79^th Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting. Boston Massachusetts, 9^th – 13^th Aug 2019.
3. Sokro, E. & Agbola, R.M. (2016). Impact of corporate social responsibility performance on customer loyalty: Evidence from Ghana. Global Journal of Business Research, Vol. 10 (4), pp. 67-82.
4. Agbola, RM. & Amoah, A. (2015). Coding Systems and Effective Inventory Management by SMEs in the Ghanaian Retail Sector. Central Inquiry, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 46 – 65.

Books/Chapters:

1. Sokro, E. & Agbola, R.M. (2021). Rising above the tide: Review of anti-corruption measures in the Ghanaian public procurement process. In Nirmala, D. & Omololu, F. (Eds.) (in press). Public procurement, corruption and the crisis of governance in Africa, chp. xxx. Springer Nature, Palgrave Macmillan. eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-63857-3. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-63857-3.
2. Agbola, R.M. & Sokro, E. (2016): Accountability in Governance: The Case of Judgement and Settlement Debt Payments in Ghana. In Governance, Accountability and Sustainable Development. Ed. David Crowther, Mourad Oubrich, Redouane Barzi & Sara Abdaless. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK.

The paper won the 2012 Best Conference Paper Award by Emerald Insight Online: http://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/61983.

Awards and Recognitions

• Best Conference Paper Award from Emerald Insight (Rabat, Morocco, 2012).

Fellowships, Grants, Academic Honors

• Research Fellowship Award, jointly sponsored by Africa Academy of Management & De Grootes School of Business, McMaster University, Canada (2019)

Editorial Roles, Committee Involvement:

1. Reviewer – Social Responsibility Journal – since 2013
2. Reviewer & Editorial Board Member – Central Inquirer – since 2015
3. Reviewer – Journal of Knowledge Economy (JKEC) – since February 2025.

Courses Taught

Undergraduate Courses:

• Strategic Management
• Risk Management
• Corporate Governance
• Leadership Studies

Postgraduate Courses:

• Strategic Management
• Project Management Framework
• Research Methods

Projects and Grants

Title of Project: “Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on Firm Creation: A Compensatory Approach”

Funding Agency: DeGrootes School of Business, McMaster University, Canada

Duration: Sept 2019 – Sept 2021

Role: Research Fellow
Brief Description: This study evaluated the effectiveness of Government sponsored Entrepreneurship Education and Training programmes implemented in Ghana between 2015 and 2019 to determine the extent to which the programmes met stated substantive policy objectives of job and venture creation by the youth. The study employed a two-stage sequential mixed methods research approach. A quantitative survey of 1840 participants revealed that although the EET programmes helped some participants to start and manage their own businesses, a significant number of them resorted to petty peddling of goods at the roadside thereby defeating the purpose of helping participants create and manage their own viable ventures or gain enterprise employment as only 35% of trainees went on to establish their own thriving businesses and only 4.3% of participants secured paid employment after the EET training leaving the question as to what the real intentions behind the implementation of these EET programmes are. A detailed qualitative study of 12 recipients of the EET programmes revealed that while EET may have some substantive policy goals, majority of the programmes were politically motivated without any real intention of helping the youth create viable sustainable ventures, as such programmes were rather symbolic gestures to appease the youth and avoid public discontentment. The study makes both theoretical and empirical contribution to the entrepreneurship education literature by introducing and empirically testing a new Compensatory Entrepreneurship theory within an African context laying the foundation for future testing in other contexts. Our study moreover contributes to understanding why certain public policies and social interventions like EET achieve little or no substantive policy goals.

Outreach and Engagement

• Collaboration with the Institute of Project Management Professionals (IPMP),
• Consultations with the Project management Institute (PMI, Ghana),

Additional Roles / Responsibilities

Personal Website / Profile Link

• https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LYTAx0AAAAJ&hl=en&citsig=AKr7NagKrLEbwWz57AVmt-3K2aOF

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruby-melody-agbola-721a4a38/

•  ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0226-7545