A Ph.D workshop on the theme: “How to Craft a Theoretical Contribution in Publications” was held on Friday, January 27, 2023 at the GIMPA Moot Court. The event, which targeted students and lecturers, was put together by the Department of Management Science at the GIMPA Business School, led by the Head of Department, Prof. Ebenezer Adaku. Chairing the programme, the Deputy Rector of GIMPA, Professor Martin Morgan Tuuli lauded the Department of Management Science for the initiative adding that such workshops often came with opportunities. He thus, urged participants to make good use of the occasion.
He again expressed his appreciation to Prof. Lavagnon Ika, the resource person and a Professor of Project Management and International Development in the Telfer School of Management at Ottawa, Canada for accepting to impart knowledge to GIMPA lecturers and students. On his part, Prof. Ika stated that many scholarly papers submitted to leading journals in the broader field of business and management often fail to provide little or no contribution to theory. ‘Regrettably, they are systematically rejected by editors who are in search of papers that are unique and bring theoretical contribution and novelty to their field’, he stated.
This, he said, was the basis for the workshop. He was optimistic that participants would be able to acquire the needed knowledge and skills that will enable them present unique papers.
Prof. Ika indicated that there was about 95% rejection rate of manuscripts. The reason for this, he stated, were as a result of some of these papers lacking novelty or originality, being sloppy theoretically, having logical inconsistencies in the argument and finally, the argument not being underpinned by literature. ‘To be able to avoid paper rejection, there is the need for a paper to make theoretical contribution, profound in literature and be able to add up to what is already known’ he stated.

DIRECTORATE OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS & INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT
By Joyce Boahemaa Fosu & Ivy Owusu Ampomaa