Global Public Relations:a Study Of Chinese Companies Expanding To Ghana

News readings in the21st century have been dominated by discourse of the ever increasing presence of China on the African continent. Yet their increasing presence is raising alarms worldwide, due to beliefs that the presence of China is motivated solely for the selfish reason of exploiting the natural resources without much attention to the degradation of its environment and people (Frontani&McCracken,2012). These beliefs and other grievances of locals have led to boycotts and uprisings against Chinese ventures in Africa such as kidnapping and violent attacks in Ethiopia and Nigeria (Wang,2012; Lozada,2013). In Ghana, Sentiments of the local community have become less favourable as the citizens complain about degraded natural environments and pillaged resources (Zhang,2012). Despite the new negative image of China, some companies have still had the success of a smooth transitioning into their desired industry, enjoying acceptance while maintaining their profitability and others have had the reverse as their experience. According to statistics by consultant McKinsey, in the recent20years,67%of the Chinese enterprises abroad fail (Wang,2012).Purpose-The aim of this study is to acquire an understanding of this phenomenon by evaluating the public relations strategies employed by successful Chinese organizations in the Ghanaian culture. The paper posits that aversion of activism and enhancement of business success stems from Excellent Public Relation strategies and a true appreciation of the cultural differences looking at Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.Design/Methodology/Approach-The Excellence Theory Model and Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions the Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) and the Long-term verses Short-term (LTO) were chosen as a good approach. The research was conducted in two-stages; a pilot and main survey and both the qualitative and quantitative research was undertaken to draw more specific conclusions.Findings-Although the Chinese firm’s success were aided by Public Relations strategies; these were not excellent as they did not completely conform to the Excellence Theory Model. Additionally, though the companies had adjusted to the local culture, their adjustments were mostly found to be in the area of UAI, the LTO variable almost remained the same. Nonetheless, the Chinese companies did not have to be fully adjusted to the Ghanaian culture to achieve success.Originality/Value-The paper intends to demonstrate the relationship between Public Relations and culture as well as the validation of the generic principles of Excellent Theory Model and Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions.