Understanding Practical Leadership and Corporate Governance in Ghanaian Rural Banks: Examining the Effect of Leadership and Governance on Ghanaian Rural Banks

Abstract

The research has investigated the effect of corporate governance on strategic change in rural banks in the Eastern Region of Ghana. It was also examined the importance of governance mechanism and strategic decisions on weaknesses and threats to the banks effective operation. It has examined the understanding of ownership, board, and the top management team in strategic change on banks values. It has also revealed the relationship between strategic/policy changes and the bank performance in the community.Over the years, the RBs, which are often viewed as the small man’s bank, have taken deep roots and have become a sort of inseparable part of the rural credit structure. Despite the role played by the rural banks in the rural financial climate and the effort by the government to energize their growth, their performance within the financial scene, over the last three and half decades has not been up to the expectation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance of the rural banks in Ghana by using financial ratios as a tool of measurement.In the light of the importance of banks to the economic growth process in Ghana, this study sought to identify the determinants of effective leadership style that is appreciated by employees in retail banking firms in Ghana, towards providing practitioners with crucial information that could enable them make informed decisions towards improving the workplace.