General

Have you ever wondered why, whilst in school, a particular student solved all the difficult maths questions effortlessly? Have you also wondered why on the tracking field, a particular athlete appears to have been born with two hearts? On the job market, have you also wondered why some salesmen almost always exceed their target while you struggle to sign just a single client? In the face of adversity, how come he gets to keep a cool head while you are almost losing it? The answers to these are in their genetics, personalities, and intelligence. It could seem pointless to describe a term so basic. After all, we have all heard this word countless times and are likely familiar with its overall meaning. However, the idea of intelligence has been a hotly contested subject among psychologists for many years. The study of human intelligence, by way of history date back to the late 1880s. Since then, many psychologists have attempted to capture in essence through theories due to their fluidity.  Thus, while some argue that, intelligence is a general ability, others believe it comprises specific skills and talents. See for instance; Spearman’s General Intelligence (g) theory. Spearman set out his theory in 1909, based on a technique called factor analysis.  The conclusion at the end of Spearman’s General intelligence theory was that; there is a single g-factor that describes a person’s overall intelligence across different abilities, and that a second component, s, describes a person’s specific competence in one particular field (Spearman, as cited in Thomson, 1947). After Spearman, several theorists have gone on to challenge the view of Spearman. For instance, Howard Gardner in his Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theory, Robert Sternberg in his proposed Triarchic Theory of Intelligence, and many others have all gone ahead to argue that there are different, independent multiple intelligences instead of a single intelligence, each of which represents special abilities and skills applicable to a certain category. This intelligence includes; spatial, musical, Practical, bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligence.  That said, presently, intelligence is commonly considered as the capacity to comprehend and adjust to one’s surroundings using innate skills and acquired information. Likewise, numerous new intelligence assessments have emerged, including the University of California Matrix Reasoning Task (Pahor et al., 2019), which can be completed quickly and online. Additionally, new approaches to rating these assessments have also been developed (Sansone et al., 2014). Specific aptitude and accomplishment exams, like the SAT, ACT, and LSAT, are required for admission to universities and graduate programs. These tests have ingrained themselves deeply into our life. Regrettably, and by convention, these above tests and our entire educational system have generally focused on just one type of intelligence [the Intelligent Quotient (IQ)], even when modern-day psychologists make us believe there are four types of intelligence. They are; Intelligence Quotient (IQ),          Emotional Quotient (EQ), Social Quotient (SQ) and Adversity Quotient (AQ). What do these different types of intelligence mean? How are they expressed and how many can a person have? To start with, the term “IQ” is derived from the German term Intelligent-Quotient, which was coined by psychologist William Stern. The intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score obtained from one of several standardized tests meant to determine relative intelligence. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale are two popular standardized examinations (WAIS) (Oommen, 2014). Thus, IQ is the measure of one’s cognitive ability to comprehend a problem, hereditary and non-genetic. Even though hereditary variables play the most important role in determining IQ, a variety of other changeable environmental effects can influence an individual’s IQ. Thus, Science has had difficulty identifying the precise genetic and environmental elements that influence IQ, but a number of environmental factors, such as socioeconomic level and educational attainment, are associated with IQ, and it has been demonstrated that starvation can lower IQ.  Regardless, the following studies suggest proof that IQ is influenced by genetics In another context, Budrina, (2017) set out to identify gender-specific characteristics of intelligence and academic achievement in early school age. The results demonstrated no such influence of gender on IQ. The differences in grade (girls tend to perform more than boys) are due to other factors such as interest and ability to obey the instruction, other than their IQ. Again, previous research has also shown that high IQs are reasonably reliable predictors of academic success, job performance, career potential, and creativity. That notwithstanding, a wealth of evidence demonstrates that IQ alone is not sufficient for success. Psychological research has shown that having crucial personality traits like confidence, openness to new experiences, and organization can help you succeed in life. That is to say if you seek to develop your best qualities and skills, having a lower IQ does not necessarily mean you will have a miserable or unsuccessful life. Moving on, let now turn our attention to another type of intelligence: Emotional Quotient (EQ). The ability to notice, utilise, and regulate your own feelings/emotions in order to lower stress, clearly communicate, convey sympathy, defeat obstacles and diffuse conflicting situations is known as emotional intelligence (EQ). It is possible to grow more robust relationships, achieve higher at school and at work, and to actualise your personal and professional aspirations when you use your emotional intelligence. Additionally, it can assist you in establishing a connection with your emotions, putting your intentions into practice, and choosing what is most important to you. According to Singh (2001), emotional intelligence (EI) enables managers and staff members in professional contexts to recognize and control their emotions. This demonstrates how crucial EI is to manage the job well. Goleman (1995) identified four aspects of emotional intelligence, including Thus far, Hanzaee, & Mirvaisi, (2013) in their study set out to determine the association between employee emotional intelligence and client satisfaction. The result revealed that, in especially, a hotel context, which is a work environment and frontline, employee EQ has a significant role in customer satisfaction and retention. Subsequently, a high level of emotional intelligence can help you lead and

Tech and media giant, GhanaWeb, has announced a strategic partnership with Maxwell Investments Group (MIG) on entrepreneurship-based content. This will come by way of the Entrepreneur In You video podcast series, and the MIG Business Forum. The Entrepreneur In You video podcast will be a series of short videos that follow the life of the Ghanaian serial entrepreneur and MIG’s founder, Dr. Maxwell Ampong. Within these short stories will be the lessons, trials and interactions as GhanaWeb seeks to furnish young and upcoming entrepreneurs with relatable pointers that add to growth and leadership, and generate conversation at home and with the diaspora about entrepreneurship in Ghana, and in general. The MIG Business Forum aims to engage the key players cutting across various sectors and the general populace in a solution-oriented, people-centred forum. The maiden volume shall narrow down on product and service providers, together with society decision-makers discussing viable escape routes during a current economic downturn within their respective sectors/markets. The Forum will include Twitter Spaces and other web platforms as conversations on optimising economic manoeuvrability becomes louder. “Our partnership with GhanaWeb is based on a mutual interest to positively influence their massive viewership on entrepreneurship as modern times have necessitated this,” said Dr Maxwell Ampong. “The aim is to have meaningful conversations on how entrepreneurship can drive economic growth, innovation, and social change, amongst others,” he continued. “This is a great partnership that will inform and educate the public on entrepreneurship. This project would improve economic literacy at a practical level, in a practical way, and help Ghanaians make the right decisions in personal and professional businesses,” said Mr. Ismail Akwei, Editor-in-Chief for GhanaWeb. MIG Media Contact: Communications Department: +233 (0) 20 039 4120

From the complexities of distribution hubs to a functioning nationwide logistics network, not to mention the minimum consistent business activity needed to make the whole model viable, a housing numbering system performs an essential role in the development of the next Amazon in Africa. If Amazon wanted set up in Ghana as in the US and the UK, and they haven’t, you can bet that one of the factors has been the lack of a fully functional addressing system.  Good news: Ghana has a shot at fixing that. Let’s look at the general need for a functioning address system and its role in national development. First, an optimised and functioning address system is the basic structure for quickly identifying physical properties. Second, by directing the creation and delivery of infrastructure projects and services in the urban setting, an address system is a tool used by city governments to monitor urban growth. Third, address systems assist companies in providing essential fire and police services and act as a guide for more effective and efficient mail delivery.  Also, a helpful street naming and numbering system is the foundation for intuitively identifying locations. Finally, street addresses are necessary for locals and guests to navigate (Ecklu 2011). Address numbering is a practice that allows one to “assign an address” to a plot of land or dwelling by using a system of maps and signs that list the numbers or names of streets and structures. This idea can be used in urban networks and services because, in addition to buildings, other urban fixtures like streetlights, taxi stands, and public standpipes also have addresses. The housing numbering system, as mentioned earlier, is one of the most basic techniques for service delivery utilised by institutions in the public and private sectors. It makes it possible to collect taxes efficiently, dispatch emergency services like ambulances, firefighters, and law enforcement officers, and manage utility companies’ networks and revenue collection more effectively (Mennecke and West Jr 2001; Yildirim et al. 2014).  Still, proper location identification systems positively influence the achievement of more general socio-economic development goals in most developing countries (Meso and Duncan 2002). Increasing digitalisation and the widespread usage of mobile devices today have created a space and a framework for innovation that increasingly combines physical and digital components (Nylén and Holmström 2015). According to Imieliski and Navas (1999), Roick and Heuser (2013), and Goodchild (2009), this phenomenon gave rise to the idea of digital location addresses, which makes use of significant technological advancements to transform descriptive locational information like postal addresses and named locations into an unambiguous geographic references. As a result, authorities in both wealthy and developing nations continue to look for ways to address issues with geographical addresses (Walsham and Sahay 1999). It took the world a while to discover this solution. Moreover, the fact that it is constantly being modified makes house numbering more challenging to tackle in mainly developing nations, such as Ghana. In the past years, countries worldwide struggled with their housing addressing system. Rarely have new neighbourhoods been added to the street identification systems initially utilised in city centres’ older communities. As a result, urban services were in a worrying situation due to inadequate identification methods. How can you navigate a rapidly growing country easily and effectively, nationwide? How can you swiftly send out ambulances, firefighters, or law enforcement officers? How are letters and messages delivered to private residences? In what ways are municipal services offered? How are malfunctions in the telephone, electricity, and water networks located? How do you put up a system for collecting taxes effectively? It was against these questions that the need to intensify and extend the street naming and addressing system to other parts of cities worldwide arose.  Establishing a home address is a significant issue.  Despite appearances, it is one of the most challenging in urban living. The issue is important since a person’s place of residence defines them just as much as their height, hair colour, or eye colour. Moreover, a person’s home address is now a crucial component of their personal identifying information; it can be found on their social security card and voter identification.  That said, the concept of street, housing identification or naming that dates back to as early as the 18th century in Mannheim, Germany, is considered the prototype of American cities in the 19th century. However, the first street-addressing initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa were in the early 1990s. Despite this backdrop, in Ghana, all initiatives to correctly identify and number houses from the 2000s to as late as 2015 all relatively failed. Till recently, largely even still in use, to identify buildings, people use landmarks regardless of formal street names: “Make a right at the mango tree next to the uncompleted building and look for the petty trader selling on the table top. He will tell you where to go”. There are some obvious problems with this system. The tree may have been cut down. The trader might no longer be at their regular spot.  Many communities in Ghana, including Accra, are so fast-growing that getting lost is becoming increasingly easy. Urban navigation is even harder for visitors and tourists. These are only the everyday issues. At the extreme end, taxing via real estate can be challenging for local governments in cities without addresses, and the implication on local micro and macroeconomics is huge (Osabutey, 2014). But, on the contrary, and in different countries where their street and housing address systems work effectively, the immersive benefit for individual business owners and local authorities has been unprecedented.  Take, for instance, the case of Amazon: a multinational technology business with headquarters in the United States that focuses on artificial intelligence, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and e-commerce. One of the most valuable brands in the world, it has been called “one of the most significant economic and cultural forces in the globe.”  How did Amazon get there: they took advantage of a working digital housing system that could identify and