THE EFFECTS OF CULTURAL VALUES AND PRACTICES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES IN THE ASHANTI REGION OF GHANA

Ghanaian community is made up of multi ethnic groups with each group having their own unique culture and societal norms. These norms and cultural practices have significant influence on the business community, with the small businesses being mostly affected. The study aims at identifying the various cultural values and practices of the Ashanti's of Ghana, suggest ways reduce their negative impact on businesses and encourage those with positive impact on the development of small businesses for effective growth and development. The study involves one hundred and twenty small businesses in the Ashanti Region of Ghana with different backgrounds and set-ups to ascertain the impact of the various cultural and societal norms on the growth and development of their businesses. Evidence from this piece of research indicated that societal values such as respect, love, and togetherness, have positive impact on the growth and development of small businesses; whiles practices such as traditional system of inheritance, taboos and marriage have negative impact on small businesses. The paper recommend modernization of traditional cultural practices that have negative impact on businesses to meet the current trend in the international business communities, and also help document and improve those practices that have positive impact on small