BWB April 07 - Graduate School of Business

A P R I L 2007
BREAKWATER
b u s i n e s s
BWB
6
23
13
26
sch o ol news
regu l a r s
features
alumni news
3
10
12
26
MBA rises in the global
Opinion: Business begins to
Sustainability: Beyond the
Ex-marketing chief
rankings
go with the gut
grey pinstripes of business
rides her way to the
4
11
13
top of cable way
Professor Frank Horwitz
Trends: Franklin Sonn
Entrepreneurship: SA
appointed for second
on breaking the grip of
women entrepreneurs
27
term
poverty
outperform their male
Around the world in
5
19
counterparts
three months
MBA students unite to
Opinion: Win-Win approach
14
28
raise funds
prevents a heel against the
Innovation: On top of the
Profile: Nontwenhle
6
head
world
Mchunu – working hard
Soko to help examine
20
16
global trading system
Opinion: Improvisational
Programmes: AIM for
7
theatre offers valuable
the top
lessons
17
to boost leadership and
21
Biotechnology: Lessons
management capacity
Opinion: Transforming
from a biotech activist
9
business through coaching
18
28-30
Heard at the GSB: Alec
23
MBA: Confidence in the
Erwin speaks out
Research: SA can take
MBA remains strong
Class notes
22
lessons from China’s
International grant set
Cover photo: Garth Stead
Volume 8 #
GSB in the media:
scooping the headlines
company
for the taste of sweet
success
29
Profile: Thembani
Mazibuko – Modular
MBA gives KZN student
the edge
reform
24
Executive Education:
Executive education scores
On top of the world
Cover: Frank Horwitz, Director of the GSB, with Dr Vash Mungal, Director Open
Academic Programmes, and Elaine Rumboll, Director of Executive Education.
APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
BWB
DIRECTOR’S
MESSAGE
A sense of pride and celebration
The UCT GSB has good reason to enter 2007 with its head
held high.
In December 2006 we received
news that our Executive
Education unit has once again
been ranked in the top ten business schools globally for our
short course programmes by
the Economist Intelligence Unit,
and – even more significantly
– in the top four for our customised programmes. This was
followed by news in January
that our MBA programme has
continued its rise up the prestigious Financial Times global
rankings reaching 52nd in the
world in 2007.
You can read more about these
two rankings on the opposite
page and in our lead feature, on
page 14, we bring you the story
of the hard work and strategic thinking that is behind this
impressive performance on the
world stage. You will also see
evidence of the calibre of intellectual thought, research and
innovation that contributed to
our excellent performance on
other pages in this issue.
For example, on page 24 you
can hear from Elaine Rumboll,
Director of Executive Education
at the GSB, on how the UCT
GSB is ahead of the curve when
it comes to gaining knowledge
from other disciplines to create
better business teaching. And
on page 12 we bring you news
of another initiative at the GSB –
our participation in the Beyond
Grey Pinstripes survey – another
ranking, but this one measuring
social and environmental stewardship in business schools. At
the GSB we believe that this
is an important dimension of
business education and part of
our commitment to producing
well-rounded graduates.
Our success in the rankings are the result not only of
improved delivery of course
material and innovative design,
but also a sign of our improved
marketing – so thanks to our
is the magazine for alumni and friends of the
Graduate School of Business at the University
of Cape Town
Editor Jane Notten
Art director Sonya Nel
Editorial assistants Michael Morgan, Becca
Cullis and Palesa Mokomela
Publisher Rothko International
Editorial board Cherry Burchell
Jenny Carter
Linda Fasham
Dr Evan Gilbert
Professor Frank Horwitz
Dr Ailsa Stewart Smith
website:www.gsb.uct.ac.za
Volume 8 #1
Mr Roger Crawford
Prof Cheryl de la Rey
Mr Ismail Dockrat
Mr Paul Edwards
Ms Nolitha Fakude
Professor Meyer Feldberg
Ms Lulu Gwagwa
Professor Jim Joseph
Mr Ian Kantor
Mr Mike Levett
Dr Namane Magau
Ms Kim McFarland
Mr Ralph Mupita
Mr Andrew Mundell
Professor Mike Page
Mr Trevor Peterson
Mr Crispin Sonn
Mr Roddy Sparks
Dr Iqbal Survé (chairman)
Mr Mike Thompson
Mr Japie van Niekerk
Mr Sandile Zungu
The Graduate School of Business
University of Cape Town
Private Bag, X3
Rondebosch 7701
Cape Town
Tel: +27 (0)21 406 1922
Fax: +27 (0)21 461 0996
Email: [email protected]
BWB
Professor Frank Horwitz, Director of
the GSB.
our steadily increasing research
output and the continued success of our graduates will help
to ensure that we once again
receive accreditation from this
body.
My thanks to everyone who
plays a role in making this business school the wonderful institution it is.
BOARD of ADVISORS
BREA K W A T E R
b u s i n e s s
2
marketing team who work tirelessly to promote the business
school. Our success is also
boosted by the “thumbs up” we
receive from our alumni, whose
co-operation in these surveys is
vital. My thanks to all those who
gave up their time to answer the
Financial Times and Economist
Intelligence Unit questions,
thereby ensuring us a spot in
these influential rankings.
In the months ahead, the GSB
will be facing another external measurement challenge
as the European Foundation
for Management Development
(efmd) assessment team arrives
to complete our second reappraisal for EQUIS accreditation. This is another key mechanism by which we are able to
show to our clients, corporates
and individuals, and employers
of our graduates that the business school is among the best
in the world. We are confident
that our improved performance
in the rankings together with
A P R I L 2007
HR Director, Johnson & Johnson
DVC, UCT
CEO, Denel
CEO, Merryn Capital
President, BMF (JHB); HR Director, Sasol
Dean Emeritus, Columbia Business School
CEO, Lereko Investments (Pty) Ltd
Director, The Southern Africa-United States Centre for Leadership and Public
Values at Duke University; Honorary Professor, UCT
Chief Executive, Bank Insinger de Beaufort, Amsterdam
Chairman, Old Mutual
MD, Business and Development Solutions; President, BWA South Africa
Chief Operating Officer, Investec Asset Management
Director of Corporate Strategy, Old Mutual
ABI & GSBA
Academic Dean, Rotterdam School of Management
PriceWaterhousecoopers
General Manager: Personal Finance Advice, Old Mutual
Director of Companies
CEO, Sekunjalo Investments
Director of Companies
CEO, Old Mutual Bank
Executive Chairman, Zungu Investments Company
NEWS
GSB MBA rises to 52 in global rankings
Financial Times MBA 2007: The top full-time global MBA programmes
RANK
2007
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
11
13
16
18
24
30
42
49
52
62
67
70
79
81
85
98
100
RANK
2006
1
4
2
3
5
6
8
7
8
11
21
12
14
13
22
27
24
34
75
66
92
85
69
92
89
-
RANK
2005
1
3
1
4
5
6
8
9
7
9
22
19
13
12
37
35
29
42
84
82
86
98
63
86
-
SCHOOL NAME
University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
Columbia Business School
Harvard Business School
Stanford Business School
London Business School
University of Chicago GSB
Insead
New York University: Stern
Dartmouth College: Tuck
Yale School of Management
Ceibs
Instituto de Empresa
IMD
Iese Business School
HEC Paris
Esade Business School
RSM Erasmus University
SDA Bocconi
Australian Graduate School of Management
University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business
Coppead
Nanyang Business School
Trinity College Dublin
Melbourne Business School
National University of Singapore
Nyenrode Business Universiteit
University College Dublin: Smurfit
Eada
COUNTRY
U.S.A.
U.S.A.
U.S.A.
U.S.A.
U.K.
U.S.A.
U.S.A.
U.S.A.
France / Singapore
U.S.A.
China
Spain
Switzerland
Spain
France
Spain
Netherlands
Italy
Australia
South Africa
Brazil
Singapore
Ireland
Australia
Singapore
Netherlands
Ireland
Spain
MOVING ON UP THE RANKINGS The GSB was ranked 52nd in the Financial Times survey, one of the highest
placings for a business school outside of Europe and North America.
The UCT GSB full-time MBA programme
has made a significant move up the prestigious Financial Times (FT) Global Top 100
MBA Rankings released this January, and
is ranked as the fifth best value for money
MBA in the world. The GSB was ranked at
52 in the 2007 survey, up 14 places from its
ranking of 66 in 2006.
This is the second year that the School
has made a double digit leap up the
international list – it became the first
business school from Africa to receive an
international MBA programme ranking in
2005 when it entered the rankings at 82,
and it remains the only African MBA to be
ranked in the prestigious Top 100.
According to Professor Frank Horwitz,
Director of the GSB, the outstanding
progress for a second year in succession
is a major endorsement of the high quality,
innovation and service delivery standards
at the heart of the School.
He added that alumni have done the GSB
proud in acknowledging the role the School
has played in their career development
and personal success, and acknowledged
that the achievement is a credit to the
outstanding work by the MBA team.
Dr Vash Mungal, Director Open
Academic Programmes, says this year’s
ranking is also notable as it was the
first time that the GSB was selected
to be audited independently for the
FT rankings.
GSB Executive Education makes global Top four
The UCT GSB has been rated
as a global leader in executive
education in an annual survey
conducted by the Economist
Intelligence Unit (EIU), the
business information arm of
The Economist Group and publisher of The Economist.
The business school was rated
in the top four providers globally and given an EIU Award
for Excellence for its Executive
Education programmes customised for organisations, with
a rating of 4.3 out of 5.
The latest EIU ratings were
released in December 2006.
This is the second year the
GSB has participated through
its Executive Education unit,
which designs and runs the
School’s short customised and
open programmes.
According to Elaine Rumboll,
Director of the GSB Executive
Education unit, the customised programme rating in the
global top four and a higher
open programme rating are an
unprecedented achievement for
an African business school and
demonstrate the high quality of
offerings in South Africa.
In the last two years, Rumboll
said the GSB has seen a steep
increase in organisations who
want programmes tailored to
their needs, and that significant
growth is also being experienced
in US and European markets.
She added that one of the
key factors behind the School’s
ratings success is its ability
to deliver relevant and innovative programmes that address
the complexity and rapid
change in emergent markets.
“Change is inherent to emergent markets and we are challenged to address constantly
evolving needs. Not only is the
market growing, but it is also
impatient for relevant learning
experiences that will have a lasting impact,” she said.
The GSB will be introducing
several new courses in 2007
including: the DNA of Brand
Leadership; Thinking with
your Gut and Creative Tools for
Optimising Team Performance.
In addition, this will be the
very first year that Executive
Education short courses will be
offered as electives on the MBA
programme at the School.
Rumboll said that the increased
global exposure thanks to the
high ratings have also given rise
to partnership opportunities for
the GSB with other top international business schools.
This year the Executive
Education unit will be partnering with University of Navarra’s
IESE Business School (Spain),
and further partnerships with
schools in Australia and the
US are in the works.
Professor Frank Horwitz,
Director of the GSB, extended his congratulations to the
Executive Education team
on their outstanding achievement.
“This
accomplishment
reflects the dedication of the
Executive Education team.
The ratings underline that the
GSB is capable of being, and is
amongst the leading business
schools in the world,” he said.
APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
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NEWS
GSB Director Frank Horwitz appointed for second term
Professor Frank Horwitz, Director of the UCT GSB, has been
appointed for a second term as head of the School.
Professor Horwitz has led the GSB over an eventful three years, a
time that has seen many new developments at the School, from the
launching of new academic programmes such as the Post Graduate
Diploma in Management Practice (PGDMP) and Modular MBA, to
international recognition thanks to exceptional rankings in top global surveys like the Financial Times (UCT’s MBA programme) and
Economist Intelligence Unit (Executive Education short courses).
Looking forward, Professor Horwitz said that strong attention would
be given to consolidating the GSB’s achievements to date, building
the business of the School further, and strengthening its position
nationally and internationally.
“It is of particular importance to build on the success we have had in
attracting international students, many from other African countries,
across all of our offerings, from our core programmes, to our Executive
Education short courses, to our in-company Corporate Learning programmes. International students make up an average of around 20%,”
he said.
Professor Horwitz added that the GSB would further consolidate its
international exchange programmes, through which the School has
ties with 24 leading business schools across the globe.
“Our exchange programmes with established and renowned schools
such as London Business School, Columbia, Chicago, and UCLA, is
well complemented by those with top schools in key emergent markets,
including India and China,” said Professor Horwitz, who will be visiting
India this year to discuss exciting new avenues of partnership.
Horwitz also said he was looking forward to building further on good
relations between the GSB and the UCT Faculties of Commerce and
Health Sciences in the coming three years, as well as developing the
School’s links with other UCT faculties.
The next three years will not be without challenges though, said
Professor Horwitz. One of the challenges presented by the School’s
growth is the need for more space – the GSB is situated on the famous
Victoria and Alfred Waterfront and is a national monument. Another
critical challenge is that of transformation.
“We must continue our drive to enhance the diversity of our faculty,
support staff and student body. I am pleased with the progress we
have made in the past three years, and we must build on this in the
coming years.”
Professor Horwitz stressed that qualitative change in the workplace
was as vital as ensuring numerical diversity targets.
“As is the case with UCT as a whole, transformation is not just about
TAKING CHARGE Professor Frank Horwitz will continue as GSB Director.
employment equity and targets – as important is the need to transform our institutional culture and workplace climate. I look forward to continuing a series of initiatives the GSB has implemented
over the last few years, to create a workplace where people want
to be, where they feel engaged and where they feel they can make
a difference,” he said.
Some of the innovative initiatives include workshops and courses offered to staff, such as one started this year that sees Xhosa
lessons made available during lunchtime and after hours. Another
initiative, started in 2005, is a facilitated process dealing with diversity and workplace relations.
“In 2006 this has been furthered by a series of workshops aimed
at identifying the core values which GSB people feel are critical to
guiding our vision and behaviour. This process will continue this
year, involving all our staff,” added Professor Horwitz.
In addition, he said the GSB will work to strengthen fundraising
initiatives. By the end of this year, the GSB will have raised nearly
R40 million over the past three years, including gifts from
Raymond Ackerman to found the Raymond Ackerman Academy
for Entrepreneurial Development and The Atlantic Philanthropies
towards its Health Sciences partnered Oliver Tambo Fellowship
Programme in the Corporate Learning Unit.
New learning support initiative grows the leadership backbone in Executive Education
The UCT GSB Executive
Education unit has taken the
lead in introducing a postcourse support element to
its top tier leadership programmes so that the learning
can continue long after delegates leave the School.
The innovation will see a
dedicated learning support
office that will give delegates
continuous support once they
have returned to their organisations. The new system was
put into practice for the first
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Volume 8 #1
time in February with the launch
of the Modular Programme for
Management Development (PMD).
It will also be rolled out to the New
Managers Programme, PMD (fulltime) and the Executive Leadership
Programme later in 2007.
Elaine Rumboll, Director of
Executive Education, said that
the decision to put resources
into a post-course learning support function was spurred by
recent feedback from its participation in the international
Economist Intelligence Unit rat-
A P R I L 2007
ing of Executive Education.
“We took part in the survey
for the first time in 2005 and
were extremely gratified when
we made it into the Top 10.
However, the one area where
we scored less well was in the
realm of learning support.”
Rumboll said that by creating
a facility that delegates can
tap into after they leave, the
business school hopes to keep
alive their link to the source
of learning, helping them to
plot their learning course
through their organisations.
The post-course learning
support will build on existing
support mechanisms in place
including the post-course
assignment and coaching,
which is offered to delegates
on the Executive Leadership
Programme only. Support
could range from counselling
and ad hoc coaching to practical advice. It will be 100%
confidential and entirely up to
graduates whether or not they
want to make use of it.
NEWS
MBA tops three
subject rankings
in Financial Mail
survey
The MBA programme offered
by the UCT GSB has topped
three of the seven subject
area rankings that make up
the new format Financial Mail
(FM) annual MBA rankings.
This year saw FM move away
from an overall MBA ranking
to a detailed consideration
of subject area strengths for
each business school in South
Africa.
Seventeen South African
institutions are licensed to
offer MBAs, and through market research undertaken by
Markinor, FM has this year
interrogated previous MBA
graduates, companies and the
schools themselves.
The publication also changed
the format to acknowledge that
“different schools have different strengths” and that prospective students make choices depending on what skills
they want to develop.
The GSB this year again
proved to be one of the very
best MBA offerings in South
Africa. The three subject areas
which were rated as the best
in the country were Operations
Management, Economics, and
Entrepreneurship. The GSB
was the only business school
rated at the top in three subject
areas.
Professor Frank Horwitz,
Director of the GSB, said that
though this year’s FM survey
has not done an overall ranking of MBA programmes, the
GSB and Wits emerge as the
two leading business schools
in South Africa.
“Our economics, operations
management and entrepreneurship courses were rated the
best in the country. What says
it all for us is captured on the
last page of the survey which
has a photo of one of our MBA
classes with the caption ‘UCT
GSB students – world class’.”
MBA students unite for fun and fundraising
Students on the Modular MBA
programme at the UCT GSB
have made innovative use of
one of the GSB’s annual traditions, the Jailyard Sprint, to
raise funds for an NGO called
Ikamva Labantu.
Ikamva Labantu (The Future
of our Nation) functions as a
development catalyst for many
community-based social service programmes in South
Africa. The organisation strives
to improve the quality of life
in underprivileged areas, and
provides a holistic approach to
capacity building, social development and other services.
A total of R5 860 was raised
and according to Angela
Rametsi, one of the Modular
MBA students who helped coordinate the event, it was truly
an effort that extended beyond
the Modular MBA class thanks
RACING AHEAD Modular MBA student
David Crewe-Brown gives it his best as
he heads down the GSB corridors.
to the support across all the
MBA classes at the Jailyard
Sprint as students raced around
the GSB campus.
Rametsi added that the fundraising initiative stemmed from
the understanding that busi-
ness is also about being cognisant of meeting the needs of a
wide spectrum of stakeholders,
including government and civil
society, and that it is leaders
who have a particularly critical
role to play in this.
Joining Rametsi on the
Jailyard Sprint organising committee were Lawrence Timpson,
David Crewe-Brown, and Jaco
Van Graan.
The official winner of the
Sprint on the day was Richard
Kennedy, while the Skateboard
Relay was won by Bernard
Sellmeyer, Jaco Voster, Richard
Kennedy, and Marius Hugo.
The funds raised are going
towards a year-end function
Ikamva Labantu is planning for
children at all the creches it
works with.
For more details on Ikamva
Labantu, visit www.ikamva.com.
CLPV hosts another Eisenhower Fellow
For the second year running,
a Fellow of the Eisenhower
Fellowship Programme – one of
the most prestigious leadership
development programmes in the
world – is currently visiting Cape
Town.
Loree Jones, Secretary of
External Affairs in the Office
of the Mayor, Philadelphia, is a
guest of the Centre for Leadership
and Public Values (CLPV) at the
UCT GSB.
Jones serves on several
boards and devotes much of
her time to charitable organisations that administer social
services throughout the City
of Philadelphia in the US. She
played a pivotal leadership role
in coordinating Project Brotherly
Love, Philadelphia’s Hurricane
Katrina relief effort.
While in South Africa, Jones
is keen to gain insight into the
South African experience of
delivering social services to
underserved populations. She
plans to explore service delivery from the viewpoint of providers, urban stakeholders and city
officials.
And thanks to the CLPV, her
time here will be well spent. Over
the next few weeks Jones will
meet high-profile leaders in business, government and society to
get the low down on how South
Africa is managing the tricky
process of rolling out social
services.
A great deal of work went into
shaping the programme in order
to make it a meaningful experience for Jones said Ceri OliverEvans, Director of the CLPV.
The Eisenhower Fellowship
Program is a non-profit, not-partisan organisation created to highlight the work of emerging leaders around the world through the
exchange of information, ideas
and perspectives.
Founded in 1953 as a tribute
to Dwight D Eisenhower as he
assumed the US presidency, the
Fellowship’s aim is to give participants professional insights,
broad international, cross-cultural perspectives and a lifelong network of colleagues and
friends. More than 1,600 men
and women from over 100 countries have joined the Eisenhower
ANOTHER FELLOW IN CAPE TOWN
Ceri Oliver-Evans, Melody October and
Eisenhower Fellow, Loree Jones (front).
Fellows. Alumni include heads of
governments, influential politicians and captains of industry
and society.
Oliver-Evans said that the
CLPV is pleased to be working in
partnership with the Eisenhower
Fellowship Programme.
APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
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5
NEWS
Dr Evan Gilbert appointed chairperson of the
Southern African Finance Association (SAFA)
Soko to help
examine global
trading system
Associate Professor Evan
Gilbert of the UCT GSB has
been elected chairperson of
the Southern African Finance
Association (SAFA), an academic driven organisation
geared to advancing finance,
teaching and learning as well
as improving research capabilities in the region.
He takes the reins from
Professor Colin Firer, also from
the GSB, who served on the
Association in this capacity for
some sixteen years.
Firer set up SAFA as a channel
to enable finance academics
to network and share research
perspectives and works in
progress. Since its inception,
the Association has hosted an
annual conference to this end
and has also engaged finance
practitioners in order to share
new knowledge.
The Association has a membership of nearly 150 finance
academics, many from neighbouring countries such as
Dr Mills Soko, senior lecturer at the GSB, was recently appointed to the Warwick
Commission, a high-level international initiative that over the
next year will be examining the
global trading system and making recommendations about its
future shape and direction.
FINANCIAL SAVVY Evan Gilbert is the
new chairperson of SAFA.
Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland
and Zimbabwe.
Dr Gilbert said that some of his
aims as the new Chairperson
are to improve the link between
finance academics and practitioners as well as promoting the
practice of research, with particular emphasis on assisting
emerging researchers.
“There is a vibrant research
community and each year new
papers are presented at the
annual conference on a variety
of facets of finance. Through a
greater participation from practitioners there is an opportunity
to raise interesting new questions for researchers to answer,”
he said.
In the last 24 months Dr Gilbert
has concluded studies that have
proved to be of great interest
to the Southern African finance
and investment community.
One of these was a study that
proved the existence of mean
reversion of share return on the
JSE from 1983 to 2005. He has
added to this body of research
and recently concluded a paper
investigating the impact of
liquidity on mean reversion.
Other recent work includes
a study revealing that relaxing
exchange controls could be
good for the SA economy in the
long term, and research conducted together with Professor
Firer on equity risk premiums.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
Mills Soko joins the Warwick
Commission.
Steve Burgess wins prestigious US marketing award
Professor Steve Burgess of the UCT GSB has won the US based
Marketing Science Institute’s (MSI) Visiting Scholar Award. He is
the first recipient of the award, which is open to scholars around
the world.
MSI is a unique, not-for-profit institute located in Boston, US and
was established in 1961 as a bridge between business and academia.
AMERICAN AWARD Professor Steve Burgess is rewarded for his work in
marketing.
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A P R I L 2007
Its mission is to initiate, support and disseminate leading-edge studies by academic scholars that address research issues specified by
member companies. MSI functions as a working sponsorship and
brings together executives with leading researchers from approximately 100 universities world-wide.
The award will help support Burgess’ sabbatical stay at the KenanFlagler Business School, University of North Carolina, where he
will conduct new research on customer segmentation in emerging
markets.
He will work closely with MSI Academic Trustee Jan-Benedict
Steenkamp, who is C. Knox Massey Distinguished Professor of
Marketing at the Kenan-Flagler Business School and one of the
world’s leading marketing academics.
Burgess is currently Director of Research and Professor of Business
Administration at the GSB and William Davidson Institute Faculty
Affiliate in the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. He
is also a longstanding member of the Southern African Marketing
Research Association (SAMRA).
His publications have appeared in leading international journals such as the International Journal of Research in Marketing,
the International Journal of Advertising and the Journal of CrossCultural Psychology among others and include a recent study on
market orientation in emerging markets that was published by MSI.
International Marketing (with Bothma, Oxford University Press), published in January this year, is his fifth book.
C O R P O R AT E L E A R N I N G
International grant will boost leadership and management capacity
The Oliver Tambo Fellowship Programme at UCT has received
a R16 million boost from international funding body The Atlantic
Philanthropies.
The funds will enable the Programme – well known for the work
it does in training senior managers in South Africa’s public health
sector – to be relaunched as a full partnership between the UCT
School of Public Health and Family Medicine (SPHFM) and the UCT
GSB’s Corporate Learning division, which custom designs and runs
programmes for companies and training bodies such as SETAs.
This will considerably strengthen the management and leadership
aspects of the Programme.
Launched in 1996 with funding from the Kaiser Family Foundation,
the Oliver Tambo Fellowship Programme is the only one of its kind in
South Africa. It is geared towards delivering much-needed management skills directly to senior public health sector officials. To date, a
total of 175 such officials have graduated from the Programme with
a Diploma in Health Management from UCT.
Funding for the Programme ended in 2004 and, after a comprehensive external evaluation in 2005, The Atlantic Philanthropies granted
the R16 million funding for a period of five years, from 2007 to 2011.
Professor Frank Horwitz, Director of the GSB, said that the School
was delighted to partner with the SPHFM in building leadership and
managerial capacity in the healthcare sector.
According to Professor Rodney Ehrlich, Director of the SPHFM,
the biggest curriculum change will take the form of the GSB’s more
substantial role in the Programme.
“The GSB has been involved in a number of ways in the past, but
from 2007, it will be a 50:50 joint initiative,” said Professor Ehrlich.
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The redesigned Diploma in Health Management will be taught as
an 18-month programme with four blocks, targeting primarily the
senior cadre of public sector managers. Fellows will continue to be
co-funded with the provinces carrying some of the financial costs of
attendance – a validation of the training, said Professor Ehrlich.
He added that two blocks will be taught by the SPHFM and this
would cover health policy development and implementation, health
systems development, health care financing including fiscal space
considerations and health insurance options, strategies for equitable resource allocation and efficient resource use, drug management, health sector public-private partnerships, and epidemiology
for health managers.
The two blocks taught by the GSB would draw from the School’s
substantial experience in developing managers on a range of other
programmes it runs, said Associate Professor Tom Ryan, Director of
Corporate Learning.
The areas of focus for the GSB blocks of the Diploma will include
leadership and strategic management, management of organisational change, and the systemic “soft skills” of leadership – problem
solving, conflict management and communication.
In addition to the Diploma, a Mentoring Network, Alumni Network,
and a Top Management Seminar will form part of the Programme
from 2007. One new post and an upgrade to an existing university
post have also been created to run the Programme.
Professor Ehrlich said that the challenges in South Africa’s health
system were many and that an intensive skills development initiative such as the Oliver Tambo Fellowship Programme is needed to
address some of these.
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APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
BWB
7
NEWS
Trade Law and Policy programme set for successful 2007
The second intake of students
on the UCT GSB’s Corporate
Learning,
Postgraduate
Diploma in Trade Law and
Policy Management, a programme tailor designed with
Tralac – the Trade Law Centre
for Southern Africa – completed their first two-week module
last month.
The graduation took place as
news broke of the resumption of
the Doha Development Round
of World Trade Organisation
(WTO) negotiations, which aim
to lower trade barriers globally
and permit free trade. The programme aims to build capacity
to support African countries to
participate more effectively in
international trade.
At a dinner to mark the end
of the first two-week module,
Trudi Hartzenberg, Executive
Director of Tralac, said sound
management is becoming
increasingly important to overcome weak institutional capacity, particularly in the African
context.
“The programme is an important part of developing creative and innovative leaders. We
ON COURSE Peter van den Bossche (left), Professor of International Trade Law at
the University of Maastricht, Trudi Hartzenberg, Executive Director of Tralac and Tom
Ryan, Director of Corporate Learning at the GSB.
have seen excellent results and
this year we will also be launching an alumni network.”
Peter van den Bossche,
Professor of International
Trade Law at the University of
Maastricht and an author of one
of the textbooks used by the
programme, was the dinner’s
keynote speaker.
Professor van den Bossche
said the decision by trade ministers of key WTO players in Davos
to resume the Doha Round came
as a surprise to many, after talks
were suspended in July last year.
He added that any agreement
is still some way off and much
work remains to be done.
“The devil is in the detail and
beyond the big averages talked
about, there are finer details
where consensus will have to
be reached. In addition, once
negotiators come to any agreement the deal will still have to
be sold at home.”
Tralac is a not-for-profit organisation that follows an inter-disciplinary approach to building
trade law and policy capacity in
Southern and Eastern Africa.
Centre for
Leadership and
Public Values
awarded grant
by WK Kellogg
Foundation
The
Southern
AfricaUnited States Centre for
Leadership and Public Values
(CLPV) has been awarded a
$200,000
(approximately
R1.4 million) grant by the WK
Kellogg Foundation.
The funds will be used to
further strengthen the CLPV’s
Emerging Leaders Programme
(ELP) – part of a bi-national
partnership between the UCT
GSB and the Terry Sanford
Institute of Public Policy at
Duke University in the US.
The ELP is structured as a
one-year, in-service leadership
programme which focuses on
public transformational values. It addresses the developmental needs of rising leaders, primarily from historically
disadvantaged communities
in Southern Africa and in
the US.
World’s top Lean experts headline GSB conference
In a major coup for the GSB,
the world’s two foremost leaders in Lean – Jim Womack and
Dan Jones – will headline the
School’s Lean Summit Africa in
September this year.
Conference Chair, Professor
Norman Faull of the GSB, says,
“Womack and Jones are the
fathers of Lean thinking and to
have both on board for the conference is invaluable.”
He added that the Lean
Summit aims to increase the
African business community’s
knowledge of Lean tools, and
promote the adoption of Lean
as a means of improving product and service delivery while
reducing costs.
“Lean tools can have a tremendously powerful impact not
only for businesses but also for
government. In addition, it is
hoped that the summit will be
8
BWB
Volume 8 #1
WORLD EXPERTS Jim Womack (left)
and Dan Jones will speak at the Lean
Summit Africa 2007.
the catalyst for the establishment of an active Lean Institute
in Africa, for the ongoing promotion of Lean management
and Lean tools.”
Womack and Jones are widely recognised as the founders of the Lean movement.
They began collaborating on
research that led to Lean thinking as directors of two global
research programmes headed
by the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT) in the US.
A P R I L 2007
They co-authored the resulting books, The Future of the
Automobile (1984) and The
Machine that Changed the World
(1990). The latter was chosen as
Best Business Book of 1990 by
the Financial Times.
Further research led to articles
in the Harvard Business Review
and to their book Lean Thinking:
Banish Waste and Create Value
in your Corporation (1996). Now
in its second edition, it has
sold over 300 000 copies in ten
languages. It prompted Lean
Summits in the US, the UK,
Germany, France, Brazil, India,
Turkey, and Poland.
US-based Womack is founder and Chairman of the Lean
Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit training, publishing, and
research organisation established in 1997 to advance Lean
Production and Lean Thinking
ideas – based on the Toyota
Production System and subsequently extended to an entire
Lean Business System.
Jones is Chairman of the Lean
Enterprise Academy in the UK.
The main thrust of his work has
also been to develop and help
implement the Lean Business
System, based on Lean Thinking
principles learned from Toyota.
“This starts by defining customer value, which then leads to
the reorganisation of every step
required to design, order, build,
deliver and maintain this value
across all the organisations
involved,” explains Professor
Faull.
Other international presenters that have been confirmed
for the September conference
include Dr Michael Ballé, David
Ben-Tovim, Ian Glenday and Dr
Jatinder Gupta.
Heard at the GSB
The GSB runs a popular lecture programme with lectures and open talks staged in Johannesburg, Durban and
Cape Town. Speakers range from Cabinet Ministers and CEOs to Heads of parastatals.
SPEAKER Alec Erwin, Minister of Public Enterprises DATE November 2006 VENUE Cape Town
Exciting times ahead for SA
economy, but skills development
remains major challenge
South Africa is about to embark on an unprecedented bout of
public spending on large scale infrastructure projects which could
usher in a new era of economic growth if the country – and the business community in particular – can rise to the challenge. This is
according to Alec Erwin, Minister of Public Enterprises.
Erwin outlined government plans for infrastructure spending over
the next three years but cautioned that there are key challenges
– including a lack of managerial know-how and skills – that the
country will have to overcome if it is to reap the benefits of increased
spending.
In the 2006 Budget, government announced it expected to spend
about R370 billion on infrastructure over a three-year period. And in
the mid-term budget, Trevor Manuel added that this was set to grow
by about 15% a year, to reach about R150 billion a year by 2010.
According to Erwin, the bulk of that expenditure will be in three
major areas: power capacity; transport; and telecommunications. It
will take place across all three tiers of government – local, provincial
and national. Investments will range from smaller projects at local
level such as building roads or clinics to major projects such as constructing the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) demonstration
plant and developing significant broadband capacity in the country.
Erwin urged business to familiarise themselves with the details of
government plans so that they could plan accordingly and play their
part in the anticipated growth.
“When looking at what government is going to spend and what the
private sector might do in its turn – you can’t just look at the headlines
– you have to look deeper,” said Erwin. “South Africa is very transparent. We now have detailed plans for up to three years ahead which
the private sector can access. We have to break the habit of thinking
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE From left: David Kaplan, Professor of BusinessGovernment Relations at the GSB; Cherry Burchell, Marketing Manager at the GSB;
and Alec Erwin, Minister of Public Enterprises.
government is something strange and only business does things right.”
In moving forward, Erwin said that both business and government
would need to bear in mind that capital equipment is rapidly becoming more expensive as resources are in short supply and that this, if
not managed correctly, could derail planned investments.
Lack of skills and capacity – particularly at managerial level – also
poses a challenge and remains one of the major stumbling blocks
to economic growth.
Erwin said that the South African business community in particular has a significant role to play in skills development.
“It is not government’s role to train people,” he said. “Government
needs to provide the conditions to enable that training, but ultimately the responsibility must rest with business,” he said.
“We need a mindshift. It is crucial that every CEO understands the
importance of training for the future.
“It’s time to do things! Yes we have problems, but this is the time for
movement and negative mindsets will come in second,” he said.
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APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
BWB
9
OPINION
s
es
Busin
he challenges facing leaders in the business environment globally are becoming increasingly complex and
demanding. While on the one
hand this creates a stimulating
sense of purpose, it also carries
uncertainty, stress and a feeling
of being overwhelmed.
In a context of transformation,
such as South Africa, the challenges and demands confronting business leadership bring
unique pressures. The 2006 Grant
Thornton International Business
Owners Survey revealed that
stress levels amongst business
leaders in South Africa increased
by 65% between 2004 and 2006.
So what can business leaders
turn to in this pressure cooker
environment? A growing body of
research is pointing to a powerful resource many leaders have
overlooked – their intuition.
In our modern culture, which
emphasises the power of conscious rational intellect, many
have little understanding of
the importance and capacity of
human intuition.
Antione Bechara, an associate
professor of neurology at the
University of Iowa, argues in
a 2006 New York Times article
entitled “Going with the Gut”
that although many people
treat intuition as a dirty word,
it is actually a powerful natural
resource we can draw on to
complement rational decisionmaking processes.
Echoing this opinion, Dr
Matthias
Rosenberger
of
the Chemnitz University of
Technology argued in an article ahead of the first interna-
10
BWB
Volume 8 #1
tional conference on Personal
Construct
Psychology
in
Business Contexts in November
2006 that “The best decisions
do not always derive from analytical reasoning. The fact that
emotional or subconscious
principles, that is, the gut feeling, significantly influence our
decisions is verified by the latest research findings in psychology. Intuitive decisions are
more reliable and make us feel
more comfortable. Until today
it seemed impossible to effectively use implicit knowledge,
attitudes and visions.”
Most people have some experience of this “gut feeling” – at
some point or another in everyone’s life intuition has played
a role in a decision. Perhaps it
was a feeling in the gut or chest
that said “Don’t trust this person” or “Hire this person”.
It is usually the body – the gut
in particular – that gives the
signal that our intuition is coming into play. The gut actually
contains as many nerve cells as
the spinal cord and constantly
exchanges streams of chemical
and electrical messages with
the brain – along what scientists
refer to as the brain-gut axis.
For executives, tapping into
and using a resource such as
intuition or “gut feeling” can be
a powerful ally in demanding
times, not just in the workplace
but also in their personal lives.
One process that has been
used to great effect is “Focusing”,
which has been developed as a
tool to access intuition so that it
can provide valuable input into
decision-making processes.
A P R I L 2007
t
Processes adapted from
psychology are having a
proven impact in helping
executives develop their
strategic
planning
and
decision-making capacities.
gu
T
th
e
g
e
b
to go wit
s
h
in
Catherine Johnson and Maryse Barak
Focusing offers a finely-tuned
conversation between intuition
and intellect which enriches a
person’s capacity to engage with
complex challenges in strategic
planning and decision-making.
The process has its roots in
psychotherapy studies conducted in the 1960s by psychologist
Eugene Gendlin who investigated why some clients benefited
from therapy and others did
not. He established that
the most important
element of positive
change had to do
with the way successful
clients
processed their
experiences, and
he went on to identify which internal
activities facilitated
successful problem
resolution.
Since then the research
has been expanded upon by
a series of international operational case studies. The process
is now used in a vast range of
disciplines from education to
coaching to community building, and has proven effective not
only in improving decision-making, but also in promoting more
authentic leadership, improving
interpersonal relationships and
lowering stress levels.
In business and executive decision making, Focusing is also
coming to the fore.
Flavia Cymbalista is a financial economist and researcher
who has used Focusing in her
work with traders, investors
and other business leaders. Her
experience shows that manag-
ers and executives can tap into
their intuition to illuminate vital
new information that they would
normally overlook because it
doesn’t seem clear and rational.
“More-than-logical decision
making”, as Cymbalista phrases
it, may seem like a new concept
but so was emotional intelligence ten years ago – and today
that is common currency.
The introduction of selected
powerful techniques from the
field of psychology is having
a real, positive impact on the
clarity and depth of strategic planning, leadership, and
decision-making. Focusing, or
“Thinking with the Gut” offers
an important new skill to leaders in today’s challenging business environment. BB
Catherine Johnson is a clinical psychologist and Focusing trainer. Maryse
Barak is a corporate trainer and facilitator. They direct the new programme
Thinking with your Gut at the UCT GSB in
April. E-mail catherinejohnson@mweb.
co.za.
OPINION
A balanced perspective needed to break
the grip of poverty
Franklin Sonn
Despite the economic challenges South Africa is presently facing, there can be no doubt that our country is in a better place at
the moment than it has ever been before. The matters of widespread
violent crime, corruption, HIV-Aids, and the prevalence of pre-natal
alcohol syndrome are some of the serious matters we all have to
grapple with. What we, however, must guard against is allowing
these challenges, which are often typical in a society in transition, to
define us. South Africa is not defined by these issues – severe as they
are. It is still the country of hope, of enormous opportunity, of sunshine, beautiful beaches, natural beauty and friendly and welcoming
people, keen to forgive and ready to move towards a better future.
In his State of the Province address this February, the Premier of
the Western Cape, Ebrahim Rasool gave an account of the socio-economic development in the province. He made the point that the Cape
is a winning province within a country operating from a platform of
growth and exploiting its opportunities, and thereby justifying the
recognition we enjoy in the outside world.
He states that the Western Cape economy is currently growing at
5.7% per annum resulting in the creation of over 100,000 new jobs.
The construction sector alone has shown an average growth rate of
8% per annum since 2004 and is poised for a further growth of 12%
per annum up to 2010 and beyond.
This good news story did not just come about by chance.
So much is being said of our transition and the way we are building
unity and diversity that we do not focus on the careful way government
has structured an economic basis for growth and prosperity.
The successful management of the economy, the consistent growth
in the GDP, vastly improved tax collection, and good Monetary and
Fiscal policies have all contributed to an aura of prosperity.
Not enough credit is given to the courage of a working class government that, while in alliance with the Communist Party and the
biggest trade union in South Africa, joins hands with business and,
based on the concept of a developmental state, is establishing global confidence that South Africa is a credible, responsible partner.
To me, a magnitude of achievement, as big as the establishment
of democracy, is that the Mbeki government is prepared to do right
even if it means disappointing some ANC allies.
This February, our Minister of Finance gave his 11th good news
budget speech. He presented a budget that in general terms is
favourable for all and which makes good on promises. Manuel has
been Minister of Finance for 11 years and not once has even the
slightest hint of impropriety tainted his performance record.
From the side of labour, just about every “People’s Budget
Campaign” demand or requirement by COSATU has been met.
Meanwhile business received the surprise of an unexpected abolishment of the secondary tax on companies (STC).
There are however still outstanding challenges that the budget did
not adequately address, but overall it represents real signs of the success of a 10 year budget plan which in the beginning was implemented with tough fiscal measures, marked by frugal social spending.
This has clearly now rendered results, making capital spending
on social services possible. We now have real money to address
poverty, to create jobs and to devote an unprecedented budget for
capital infrastructure development that is aimed at creating 500 000
new jobs in the next year.
Getting to where we are politically was a total effort by us all. The
socio-economic challenges are clearly defined and it once again calls
for a total national effort to make us win the next important revolution.
It now redounds to important institutions like the GSB to do our part
by taking full advantage of the opportunities provided.
In the last decade or two South Africa’s outstanding crop of business schools have become world renowned. Our own GSB has led the
way. With global rankings to be proud of, we should also make more of
our success so that we as South Africans can be fairly evaluated not
only for our problems but also for our noteworthy achievements.
I referred to the sound platform for economic growth that has been
developed by government in conjunction with all relevant sectors.
The most important programmes are the Growth Employment and
Redistribution Strategy (GEAR) and the Accelerated and Shares
Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA).
And yet, despite our numerous challenges, there is none so big
that they cannot be cured. The overwhelming challenge must continue to be for government, business, labour and the NGOs, to seek
innovative ways of tackling problems together and to desist from
pointing fingers. While it is our right to criticise, what we need is a
positive and constructive attitude and balance.
We can help to create confidence by presenting SA in a balanced
manner, showing the social challenges but also reflecting on the
strengths, the huge successes, and the undoubted opportunities.BB
Dr Franklin Sonn, Executive in Residence (EIR) at the UCT GSB, was South Africa’s
first post-Apartheid Ambassador to the US and is a prominent local business leader.
This is an edited transcript of the speech he gave at a Distinguished Speakers
Programme event at the UCT GSB in February.
APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
BWB
11
S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
Beyond the grey
pinstripes of business
I
f you thought going to
business school to pursue
an MBA meant learning only
about business, think again.
While the fundamentals of business remain central to any MBA
programme, there is mounting
pressure on business schools
globally to incorporate what is
loosely known as ‘sustainability
education’ into their courses.
The UCT GSB recently completed a comprehensive assessment of its MBA offerings in
this area for the Beyond Grey
Pinstripes survey. This biennial survey is coordinated by
the Aspen Institute in the US
and has been running since
1999. It ranks global business
schools according to how social
and environmental stewardship
issues are integrated into their
curricula and faculty research.
It spotlights the full-time MBA
programme as the benchmark of
schools’ teaching programmes.
While the voluntary, questionnaire-based, Beyond Grey
Pinstripes survey considers the
coursework and faculty research
in some depth, a third section
looks at institutional support
components on offer to MBA
students, including extra-curricular activities, such as internships, speaker programmes and
consulting opportunities. The
ranking is then based on four
scores, awarded for: student
opportunity; student exposure;
content; and faculty research.
Only the top 30 schools actually receive a ranking. So far,
this does not include any from
Africa. The GSB was one of
only two business schools in
South Africa to participate in
this year’s survey. It has completed the survey twice – in 2005
and 2007. But even as it climbs
places in other global rankings,
such as the Financial Times and
Economist Intelligence Unit surveys, it has yet to score highly
enough to be in the top 30 of the
Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey.
However, the process of com-
12
BWB
Volume 8 #1
pleting this survey is as important as getting a place among
the leading institutions. For
business schools in Africa and
around the world it is chance
to step back, and consider what
their MBA offers to students, as
well as where the gaps are – a
valuable exercise for informing
curricula development.
Just 12 of the top 30 schools
in 2007 are non-US based. For
the last two surveys Stanford’s
MBA programme has topped
the list. With a long history of
integrating social and environmental issues into almost all
areas of the curriculum and a
focus on incorporating relevant
case studies into core classes, it
is a clear leader in this field.
But as Ralph Hamann, former
Ceri Oliver-Evans
allows students to engage with
social, environmental and sustainability issues throughout
their studies. Significantly, the
issues are presented in a way
that builds the business case for
sustainability, mainstreaming
what have previously been marginalised concerns. This is logical. After all, students sign up to
study for a degree in Business
Administration, and if sustainability doesn’t make business
sense, why should they listen?
While the remaining core
courses address these issues
mainly through relevant case
studies, electives are used to
consolidate learning in this area.
There are a number of electives
that address local and global
sustainability issues, and cur-
There is plenty of scope for students to be exposed to
the realities of business - in particular small to medium
enterprises - that already practice social responsiveness.
Head of Research at UNISA’s
Centre for Corporate Citizenship
has pointed out, the South
African context presents added
complications to the definition
of sustainability education. Not
only are the broader, global
themes of business ethics and
sustainable development important, so too are the more specific topics of socio-economic
transformation and black economic empowerment.
Notably, one of the core courses underpinning the full-time
MBA at the GSB is Business,
Government and Society. The
course was the brainchild of
previous MBA Director, Elspeth
Donovan. Recognising the growing sense of urgency regarding
triple-bottom line considerations
in South Africa and globally, she
was determined to ensure that
the GSB was proactive about
instituting teaching that went
beyond traditional business
requirements.
Hence,
the
Business,
Government and Society course
A P R I L 2007
rent offerings include: Corporate
Social Responsibility; Social
Entrepreneurship; Emerging
Enterprises in Developing
Economies; and Before the
Whistle Blows.
In addition to academic offerings, there is plenty of scope
for students to be exposed
to the realities of businesses
– in particular small to medium enterprises – that already
practice social responsiveness.
For instance, there is an annual
Women in Business Seminar and
the ever-popular Distinguished
Speakers Programme. Students
can volunteer their consulting
skills at the Small Business
Week event in Cape Town and
they can participate in an elective that involves consulting to
micro-enterprises. Furthermore
each class has the option to
undertake a social responsibility project.
And Dr Vash Mungal, Director
Open Academic Programmes at
the GSB, says this is a big draw
card for students when they are
deciding whether to study at
the GSB. The consulting project
involving micro-entrepreneurs,
NGOs and NPOs is particularly
well received by exchange students drawn from international
business schools, who appreciate the transformative exposure
they receive through this exercise and other relevant courses.
“International students come
here specifically due to the content on emerging economy and
sustainability issues” she says.
Dr Mungal adds that companies are beginning to search
for graduates with a holistic
approach to business and an
understanding of the key drivers
that encompass knowledge of
sustainability, corporate governance and social responsibility.
However, she says employers
look for these skills in combination with everything else and
fundamental business knowledge is still indispensable.
Hamann believes this is part of
a trend in business education.
Businesses are responding to
the opportunities and challenges of sustainable development
and corporate citizenship.
And the challenge set by
rankings such as Beyond Grey
Pinstripes is to bring sustainability education nearer the top
of business schools’ agendas.
The growing numbers of participants in the survey suggest willingness on the part of business
schools to incorporate stewardship values into business. But
the real challenge is whether
business wants to change. For
now, it is a question of whether
global business schools can
provide the space to open up
debate among business leaders of the future, and encourage discussion that will prompt
change. Let’s hope so. BB
Ceri Oliver-Evans is Director of the
Southern Africa-United States Centre
for Leadership and Public Values, which
led the UCT GSB’s participation in the
Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
SA’s women entrepreneurs outperform their
male counterparts on the world stage
Mike Herrington
Y
ou pass them on the street everyday on your way to work,
women who proudly display their wares in stalls on the pavements, while loudly shouting out competitive prices. These are the
life-blood entrepreneurs of the country and, according to the latest
results from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), they are
doing better on average than male entrepreneurs in the country.
GEM is a global research project that measure and compares entrepreneurship activities in more than 42 countries around the world.
This years rankings show that South Africa’s female entrepreneurs
rank 23rd, and are outperforming South Africa’s overall (male and
female) entrepreneurial population which is only ranked 30th.
The latest results of GEM – now in its 6th year in South Africa
– show that South Africa’s position on the global ranking continues
to deteriorate relative to other countries participating. This is despite
improved macro-economic conditions in the country.
Currently, the global average for female entrepreneurship is 7.72%
of the population, South African women are, however, currently performing at just 4.83%, this is 2.89% lower than the global average.
Worldwide, women outnumber male entrepreneurs, which has led
to a renewed focus on gender entrepreneurship and the development
of appropriate interventions for gender-specific groups. But in SA
women make up just less than 50% of the entrepreneurial population. There is therefore considerable scope to improve the number
of women entrepreneurs in the economy and the level at which they
operate. The majority of South African women entrepreneurs are still
working in the “lower order” sector, which are low tech and without
significant potential to create much-needed jobs.
But in order to develop appropriate interventions to promote
women entrepreneurs in SA and therefore create a sustaining and
entrepreneurial environment in the country, it is necessary first to
understand more about them.
Research on women entrepreneurship remains limited in the South
African context and this has a direct influence on the formulation and
implementation of policies and support programmes.
The 2006 GEM report, which includes an exclusive focus on women,
is an important first step to overcoming this lack of information.
The GEM study shows that the typical South African woman entrepreneur is black with very little education (more than 60% of those
surveyed had only completed Grade 12) and earns less than R3 999
per month.
“Women entrepreneurs, like men, have to deal with poor access
to finance, sub-standard infrastructure and regulations that create
administrative burdens and costs, making survival and success in
the entrepreneurial business world even tougher,” explains Dr Gideon
Maas, Director of Global Entrepreneurial Business Consultants and
principal researcher for the GEM study.
But in addition to these challenges, women entrepreneurs also
have lower credibility when it comes to dealing with suppliers at
banking institutions and clients. They are also more likely than men
to lack belief in themselves – over 50% do not believe they have the
skills and mindset to become entrepreneurs – and have lower levels
of education.
Adding to the lack of confidence in their abilities, is the prevailing
attitude that women should take care of their family on a social level
and therefore don’t have enough time left for business development.
The same phenomenon could also be prescribed to the low educational levels of women which in turn could explain why so few women
are involved in higher level, job creating activities.
The GEM study found women entrepreneurs seek easy-to-start, sole
proprietorship businesses, which already have procedures in place,
thus giving them the freedom to look after their family while creating
an income. These types of lower order businesses are called “metoo” businesses as they do not focus on job creation or high levels
of creativity.
“To tap into women entrepreneurship as a source of economic
growth, South African entrepreneurship policies need to take these
findings into account,” says Dr Maas.
GEM suggests that when promoting and supporting women entrepreneurs in SA, an integrated approach needs to be taken. The report
also stresses that gender-specific interventions should be managed
as part of a coordinated response to entrepreneurship and not at the
expense of male entrepreneurs. The economic cake needs to be larger before male and female entrepreneurs can prosper. If coordinated,
focused ways of supporting our entrepreneurs can be developed and
maintained over time, the chances of creating and sustaining an
entrepreneurial South Africa is high. BB
Mike Herrington is Director of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the
UCT GSB The 2006 South African GEM report was sponsored by Liberty Life, South
African Breweries, Standard Bank and the National Research Foundation.
SA’s women could be the key to unlocking economic growth if better and more targeted support is made available.
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13
I N N O V AT I O N
ENJOYING
THE
MOMENT
Elaine Rumboll (left), Director of
Executive Education, Professor
Frank Horwitz (front), Director of
the UCT GSB, and Dr Vash Mungal
(right), Director Open Academic
Programmes.
On
top
of the
world
E
The story behind the GSB’s recent success in global rankings
ven if the staff and academics at the UCT GSB were, say,
the gloating kind, only the most miserly would have begrudged
them a puffed-out chest or two recently.
In January, for example, the London-based Financial Times released
its latest Global Top 100 MBA Rankings. The rankings list the who’s
who of the world’s leading business schools, and look at issues such
as curriculum design, student profiles, research and also take into
account the views of graduates.
The GSB was, at number 52, just short of the top half of the
rankings, headed by the high-flying likes of Wharton, Columbia,
Harvard (down a spot or two), Stanford and the London Business
School. That’s a 14-place jump from the GSB’s 2006 ranking of 66.
All the more remarkable is that it’s the GSB’s second consecutive
double-digit climb since it made its debut on the Financial Times
list in 2005, when it came in at number 82. So, in just two years, the
GSB has moved up 30 places, leapfrogging some of the world’s most
lauded business schools.
The School was also rated the fifth-best value-for-money MBA
in the world and it remains the only South African and African
business school in the top 100.
“We are thrilled,” says the GSB’s director, Professor Frank Horwitz.
“The UCT MBA programme gives our students an excellent return
on their investment, and the FT rating confirms this.”
The ranking followed hot on the heels of news, in December, that
the School has been rated as a global leader in executive education
in an annual survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU). The GSB was named among the top four providers
globally and given an EIU Award for Excellence for its programmes
customised for organisations, earning a rating of 4.3 out of 5.
For the second year running, it also achieved a top 10 rating for
its open executive programmes. This is excellent news to Elaine
Rumboll, Director of the Executive Education unit that designs and
runs the GSB’s short customised and open programmes.
14
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Volume 8 #1
A P R I L 2007
All the accolades make for good marketing. Increasingly, the School
is considered worthy to be short-listed for coveted international
contracts, often alongside – or toe-to-toe – with some of the industry
heavyweights like the London Business School and the University
of Navarra’s IESE Business School in Spain. These triumphs are
the fruit of lots of thought and labour that has gone into the GSB’s
programmes and curricula over the past few years.
Take the MBA programme, for instance. Not too long ago, MBAs
around the world, always the flagship for most business schools,
had lost some of their lustre in the international marketplace.
That could be blamed, perhaps, on the spate of programmes
that flooded the market a few years back when it seemed that
anybody who was anybody was churning out an MBA programme
and graduates. By 2004, there were some 160 MBA programmes
available in China and another 900 in India alone, reported the GSB’s
Kurt April and Kai Peters of the Ashridge Business School in UK in
one study.
“Yet, with all of this growth has come some doubt around the
MBA,” they wrote.
But now, the MBA is catching a new wave of enthusiasm as
business schools are rethinking how they design and deliver this,
still most well-known, of their programmes.
“The MBA, the world’s most popular business qualification, is
changing in profound ways,” says Dr Vash Mungal, Director Open
Academic Programmes (AIM, PGDMP and MBA).
No more would an off-the-rack MBA do for students and companies,
says Mungal. Instead, what they are asking for are programmes
tailor-made to their needs, with flexibility and customisation topping
their list of demands.
And schools are heeding the calls. The GSB was the first to
launch an Executive MBA programme (back in 1999) which was,
and continues to be, one of the most innovative forms of the MBA
available in South Africa. This year enrolment on this programme
I N N O V AT I O N
was higher than ever indicating that it is welcomed by the market.
Beyond the MBA, the response to calls for customisation is being
driven at the GSB by two units – Corporate Learning and Executive
Education. Executive Education is rapidly becoming a global leader
in this regard, as its recent EIU top four rating testifies. And
while Executive Education is building up a solid reputation in the
area of customising non-accredited programmes, the Corporate
Learning arm is doing equally sterling work using similar learning
methodologies with customising accredited programmes. In
essence Corporate Learning offers clients customised versions of
the PGDMP and the AIM programmes. Both academic programmes
are also offered for open enrolment.
When it comes to more flexible modes of delivery, the GSB has
also not let the grass grow under its feet. In 2003, it conducted some
research on what South African students would want from a local
MBA. The research highlighted the need for innovative ways to
deliver an MBA that would meet the needs of students in general,
and women and black candidates in particular.
Black candidates, said the research, were put off by the total
cost of the MBA, which included the tuition fees plus the cost of
foregoing a regular salary while still having to make ends meet. The
study showed black South Africans candidates were more likely
than their white counterparts to have existing financial obligations
towards their families.
For women, one of the main barriers was the practicality of doing
the degree when family responsibilities exist.
One response from the GSB was the modular MBA. The programme,
launched in 2005, allows candidates from anywhere in South Africa
to continue working and study at the same time.
By 2006, the GSB had seen a 33% rise in applications to this
programme. True to the research, it drew a higher percentage of
women (36%) and Black applicants (43%) when compared to the
full-time programme.
There were other positive spin-offs, like the immediate impact the
course had on the workplace. Student feedback showed that the
modular format allowed for ideas and concepts to be taken from the
class into the workplace straight away rather than, say, after the oneyear lag of the full-time model.
And while online distance learning has not taken off in South
Africa just yet, the programme also offers a popular balance
between distance learning, classroom contact time and networking
opportunities – the latter being a must-have of the MBA experience.
Keeping with this Zeitgeist, the GSB Executive Education unit has
also launched a modular version of its Programme for Management
Development (PMD), one of its three top leadership programmes.
The Executive Education unit also continues to innovate in other
spheres. In 2007 it will introduce several new open courses that are
geared towards the market’s ever-changing needs. These include: the
DNA of Brand Leadership; the Advanced Programme in Call Centre
Leadership; Thinking with your Gut; Creative Tools for Optimising
Team Performance; Organisational Change Leadership; and Global
Trends. In addition, this will be the very first year that Executive
Education short courses will be offered as electives on the MBA
programme at the School.
“The challenge is to develop new and innovative programmes
that appeal to an intelligent and time-stressed client base,” says
Rumboll. “Not only is the market growing, but it is also impatient
for punchy and relevant learning experiences that will have a lasting
impact on business practices.”
Opportunities abound in the highly contested short-course market,
particularly when it comes to customised programmes, believes
Rumboll. But some out-of-the-box thinking is needed when these
courses are designed, she urges.
Such out-of-the-box thinking is evident, for example, in the hybrid
New Managers Programme that Executive Education is running with
the University of Namibia in a new partnership. The programme will
be tailored to suit the needs of Namibian delegates through a fusion
of South African and Namibian expertise.
Similarly, Executive Education will this year launch a new intensive
learning support facility for delegates on its three top tier leadership
programmes. Those on the New Managers Programme, the PMD
or the Executive Leadership Programme can now avail themselves
of a telephone hotline to the School, and enjoy access to support
that will range from confidential counselling and ad hoc coaching
to practical advice.
So with all this innovation and hard work paying off can the GSB sit
back and relax for now? Not yet, says Director Frank Horwitz.
The School’s international mettle will be put to test again soon
with the EQUIS peer review, for re-accreditation by the prestigious
European Foundation for Management Development (efmd) in May.
Over three intense days, deans from some of Europe’s foremost
business school and a senior company executive will prod and poke
at just about every part of the GSB portfolio.
“It is important that we do not rest on our laurels,” says Horwitz.
However, he is confident that the GSB has the edge. “Our people,
are passionate about what they do and are always looking to push
the envelope. Success does not just happen. It happens because of
dedicated, highly innovative, self-driven and questioning staff.”
And going by the School’s recent track record, they’re asking the
right questions. BB
Anatomy of a business school
Executive
Leadership
Programme
Executive MBA
Customised
accredited
programmes
Other open
short courses
Customised
non-accredited
programmes
Programme for
Management
Development
New
Managers
Programme
Executive education
MBA
Full-time
MBA
Modular
AIM
PGDMP
PGDMP
AIM
Core academic programmes
Corporate learning
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15
PROGRAMMES
for the
AIM TOP
T
anille Goldberg, Leon
Witbooi and John Philander
are three South Africans from different parts of the country, each
with their own cultural identity
and priorities. But a common
journey binds them together –
the pursuit of higher education
and the UCT GSB. It is a journey
that began for all of them with
the Associate in Management
(AIM) programme.
For some, higher education
starts before climbing the career
ladder. For others like Goldberg,
Witbooi and Philander, higher
education only became a personal goal after they had established their careers and decided
to empower themselves. They
chose AIM because of its track
record in preparing emerging
managers to move up the management ladder and its recognition of prior learning.
According to Dr Vash Mungal,
Director
Open
Academic
Programmes, “AIM is designed
for highly competent and ambitious individuals with little
opportunity for career advancement without the ‘proper’ qualifications. They also need to have
at least five years work experience and a strong commitment
to personal advancement. The
curriculum is modelled on the
core MBA courses and therefore allows for the articulation
to PGDMP and the MBA, which
falls in line with our approach
about learning development.
Our school is here to provide
superior learning and support it
as a lifelong process.”
“I had no tertiary qualifications
and the big factor for deciding to
16
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Volume 8 #1
study was the feeling I had that
I’d reached a phase where there
was very little room for growth,”
says Goldberg, who was coowner of PE’s successful Up
the Khyber restaurant when she
started with AIM.
She was attracted to the AIM
programme “because of the
diversity of its students.” It recognised her workplace experience and allowed her to continue working in PE while studying
in Cape Town.
Philander, a Server Support
Engineer shares Goldberg’s
sentiments. “I chose the AIM
programme because it was my
personal ambition to have a formal qualification and because
I had reached the ceiling on
the technical side of my job at
Computer Sciences Corporation.
I wanted to move into the management sphere and felt that
a programme like AIM was the
right one to help initiate this
career path change.”
Similarly, Witbooi felt his
progress within the company he
was working for had stagnated.
“I was looking for a programme
that would support my career
objectives, while growing my
interest in general management.
AIM provided this and more,”
says Witbooi. “It not only gave
me some knowledge in the various business disciplines but also
boosted my confidence. I think
the most noticeable change during the year was the personal
growth that I gained. This, supported by my new found knowledge, boosted my ambitions.”
Personal growth is something
all these AIM graduates took
A P R I L 2007
away with them. Goldberg felt a
lot of this came from interacting
with other business people.
“I expected to learn a lot on
the business side of things, but
found that one of the areas that
also offered much reward was
the focus on personal growth,”
says Goldberg.
On an education high, Goldberg
constantly encourages others to
study. She sees herself as an
example of how education can
change your life. 10 years after
starting out in the restaurant
business as a waitress, she has
already prompted three waitrons
at her own restaurant to pursue
courses.
“My grandfather taught me
that you can make a difference
just by changing one person’s
life,” she says. “My education is
now helping me to do that.”
Philander joins her in recommending AIM and higher education in general.
“This programme will give
you the basic skills, knowledge,
experience and confidence any
entry level manager would need
in the field with the support of
a business school that has a
proven track record,” he says.
“I think AIM gives you a certain amount of freedom with
regard to how you manage your
career, being free to choose the
company you work for,” adds
Witbooi.
These diverse students have
earned their higher learning
stripes at AIM and gone on to
study further, as is encouraged
by the GSB.
“AIM as a management development programme, remains
successful as a stand-alone
qualification. However, those
aspiring to a PGDMP or MBA
qualification, can use AIM as a
preparatory step to these programmes,” says Dr Mungal.
Goldberg did exactly this. She
graduated from the AIM programme in 2005 and is currently
completing her MBA.
Witbooi has followed suit.
“Looking back I think I had
become this academic ‘junkie’
hooked on bigger challenges. I
needed a tool that would assist
rapid growth within the company I was working for or make
me more marketable outside of
it. I felt that the MBA was this
tool,” explains Witbooi.
He was recently appointed as
General Manager of SA Litho.
“I’ve been fortunate as I am able
to apply the knowledge that I
have gained,” he adds.
Philander enrolled in the
PGDMP and is also starting his
MBA. “With AIM behind me, I
have embarked on a journey to
make a change and contribute
to both work and society as well
as find my purpose in life,” he
says.
Like Witbooi, Goldberg and
Philander, all successful participants graduate with a Certificate
in Management from UCT’s
Faculty of Commerce and attend
a formal graduation ceremony.
The Certificate is delivered at a
graduate level, which mean that
graduates of AIM are eligible
to apply for the PGDMP or the
UCT’s prestigious MBA. They
become part of the GSB’s alumni network of more than 15 000
individuals worldwide. BB
B I O T E C H N O LO G Y
Lessons from a Biotech activist
Dr Jaleh Daie, a leading US biotechnology businesswoman and academic, says South Africa has the right
stuff for a biotech boom
T
he Western Cape, which
is the source of more than
half of South Africa’s biotechnology start-up companies, has
the potential to become another
Silicon Valley.
The model for biotechnology
success globally is one of building a cluster of innovation. It is
important to realise that, in this
model, size is not a major factor
– even Silicon Valley, for example, is but an 80 km corridor.
Around the world other success
stories, such as Singapore and
Israel, also demonstrate that
what works is building a hub.
Cape Town is a bud of a cluster
and could potentially join the
global list of successful innovation clusters in the next few
years. It seems to me that South
Africa is ripe to become a worldclass player – there are opportunities to exploit here.
South Africa has a number of
factors in its favour including a
strong economic base, a young
and expanding population, stable government, and strong
financial and legal frameworks.
But there are steps that need to
be taken and challenges to overcome if South Africa is to make
itself a stronger candidate.
The role of government is critical. Biotechnology is an industry that requires national vision
and commitment. Bear in mind
that the wrong policies can have
the effect of stifling business
and capital formation – red tape
and centralised government is
no good for business.
The best type of government
for biotechnology is limited government – create the incentives
and environment for investment
and business to succeed, and
then get out of the way.
A second critical area is
human capital development.
Getting kids interested in science at school level will be a key
part of a sustainable biotechnology industry. Education is also a
great equaliser and can make a
lasting impact on not only business, but South Africa’s social
transformation efforts as well.
Other factors that will help in
developing a biotechnology hub
are meaningful international
collaborations, and harnessing
expertise from South Africa’s
friends abroad. Attracting talented South Africans back to the
country will also assist in creating a wider pool of expertise.
A challenge to overcome is a
lack of venture capital money
in South Africa – this could put
a dampener on biotechnology
industry growth.
I see a lot of people in South
Africa put venture money into
traditional industries like real
estate and mining. You don’t see
them put the money in non-traditional areas and that is a clear
disadvantage.
Biotechnology growth depends
on attracting risk capital – it is
indispensable. It is the catalyst
and fuel for growth. Small companies in particular are the primary source of innovation and
have the greatest need for this
venture capitalist investment.
There is a big myth that you
can’t make money in biotech,
but what is needed to succeed
is a different model. A unique
aspect of biotechnology is that
value is in risk reduction.
This means that the value is
based on a reduction of risk
remaining to commercialise a
technology. Value creation varies in each sector but if one
looks at the drug development
industry, there are clear phases
along which all new drugs are
developed. The further a drug
progresses the lower the risk
remaining to commercialise it.
A company could pay hundreds of millions of dollars for
a Phase 2 drug for example and
even more for a later phase drug.
Value is therefore created in the
long term in such a model.
Some of the factors that will
affect a biotech product’s valuation will be whether the technology is defensible (strong IP),
whether it’s a platform technology or a “one trick pony”,
the market size for the product
once developed, and how big a
“pain” the technology solves (a
cancer drug for example will be
valued higher than a drug for
less serious medical illnesses).
For businesses entering the
fray, there are a few key sources
to look to for funding. These
include grants and contracts,
government finance, foundations and angels. These investors will be looking at not only
the factors of how much value
is in your technology, but also
whether it is in safe hands.
Biotech companies also need
to be cost conscious and keep
their expectations around valuations realistic – unless the technology they are developing is
premium technology. Also, as
mentioned, it is good to have
experienced leaders on board,
which will set potential investors at ease.
While there are challenges to
be overcome, I am hopeful that
when I return to the Western
Cape it will have grown as a hub
of biotechnology.
There is much research and
funding being mobilised as we
speak – the government backed
Cape Biotech Trust, for example, since 2001 has invested in
a number of biotech businesses
in focus areas such as vaccine
development and manufacturing, medical diagnostics, and
drug delivery technologies.
I think biotechnology can work
miracles for South Africans and I
hope to see the Cape Town region
as one of the world’s exciting
clusters of innovation soon. BB
Dr Jaleh Daie spoke at the UCT GSB
this February – this is an edited transcript of her talk. California-based Daie,
is renowned as a “biotech activist”. She
has a prestigious track record in science
and technology – she is a past Director
of Science and Senior Advisor to the
President at the Packard Foundation,
and served as science liaison to the
US President’s National Science and
Technology Council. She was the first
woman appointed to the board of directors of the US Space Foundation. In
South Africa, Daie was a guest of the
PlantBio Trust. Cape Biotech, LIFElab
and African Products.
APRIL 2007
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17
MBA
Confidence in the MBA remains strong
Kurt April and Kai Peters
There is no end in sight to the growth of the MBA market as
waves of new programmes are launched throughout the world.
However, the popular degree has come under fire in recent years,
with many asking – what is the real value of the MBA?
To illustrate the rapid growth of the MBA, Asia traditionally exported candidates for the MBA to English-speaking schools in the US
and Europe, but in recent years local MBA markets have exploded.
In 1990, the first MBA programme was introduced in China with an
enrolment of just 86 students. Fourteen years later, there are more
than 160 MBA programmes offered by over 80 institutions across
China, with enrolment estimated at roughly 10,000 in 2003. In India,
there are presently over 900 MBA programmes on offer.
And predictions are of further growth globally. Yet with all this
growth has come some doubt around the MBA.
Henry Mintzberg, a prolific critic of MBA programmes,
maintains that the degree is too analytical and that management is not something one can study, but a craft one must
practice. In his book Managers, Not MBAs, he expanded
this premise to argue that business schools transmit
second-hand experience or provide students with case studies
depicting business as problems with neat solutions, rather than
showing the complexity of day-to-day management challenges.
Furthermore, he criticised the functional subjects taught in business schools, saying that management is not functional, but integrative and complex.
ogy, 67% of MBA graduates globally reported that their overall rating
Other critics have suggested that there is no link between career
of the MBA was outstanding or excellent.
success measured in terms of salary and the MBA degree and that the
MBA graduates seem to feel that a one- or two-year course on
degree is too theoretical to be influential on management practice.
business provides an excellent opportunity to learn about private
The main trigger for this wave of criticism was the collapse of
sector, public sector and civil society organisations. Additionally,
Enron, as noted in the New York Times. “The Enron debacle is not
they make friends, develop important networks, think about career
just the story of a company that failed; it is the story of a system that
and lifestyle options, gain personal awareness and ultimately shape
failed. And the system didn’t fail through carelessness or laziness
their characters.
– it was corrupted.” Within days of the 2 December 2001 collapse of
New ways of evaluating the value of an MBA are also emerging and
Enron, the press had latched onto a connection between Enron and
some of these have shed new light on whether the needs of executhe MBA. Business Week on 17 December 2001 noted that not only did
tives today are being met.
Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow have MBAs, but also that Skilling
Kurt April with co-researchers Vermeulen and Blass, in 2005/06 con“recruited more than 250 newly-minted MBAs each year from the
ducted interviews and biographic research of senior leaders around the
nation’s top business schools”.
globe, investigating their learning acquisition techniques
In February 2005, the Economist still mentioned
for sourcing from, and impacting, organisational culture,
The MBA has thus
MBAs and Enron in one breath, while a search today
history and language.
become
emblemon Google generates 123,000 mentions of the MBA and
What the research shows is the importance to leaders
atic of the reflection
Enron together. The MBA has thus become emblemof cultivating sound and sensitive judgement amidst
under way in a postatic of the reflection under way in a post-communist,
volatile constellations of feeling and motivation, and
communist, capital
capital market society coming to terms with corporadeveloping the type of judgement change demands
market society comtions and their role in wider society.
(how to intervene in complex systems when faced with
ing to terms with corSo what then is the real value of an MBA today? And
urgent deadlines and ambiguous information).
porations and their
how have business schools responded to the MBA
While the MBA graduate response remains positive
role in wider society.
debate?
for business schools, most have not sat back in the
Recent research has revealed that age and gender
face of vigorous global debate on the value of the MBA
plays a large role in what is valued most about the degree. A 2005
and shifting market needs in recent years.
study by Brunel University found younger men (under 28) gained
Since 2001, there has been a significant shift and the MBA has
most in terms of extrinsic benefits (pay and status), while older men
come to favour systemic approaches, pushing students to find their
and women indicated increased intrinsic benefits (job satisfaction,
moral centre and encouraging them to consider the common good,
fulfilment, communication) at the expense of career advancement
as opposed to individual benefit. There are further improvements to
and salary increases.
be made and business schools are more vigorously than ever engagA 2003 Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) study
ing each other and society to define and address these. BB
and follow-on 2004 report, evaluated the MBA on the basis of three
Kurt April is a Professor at the UCT GSB and Research Fellow at Ashridge Business
fundamental pillars: MBA experience factors; programme factors;
School (UK). Kai Peters is CEO of Ashridge Business School. This article is an edited
and skill and ability improvement. Using this three-way methodolversion a feature in the December issue of the journal Convergence.
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A P R I L 2007
OPINION
Win-Win approach prevents
a heel against the head
Rugby fans this year have
been treated to a special ballet performance from rugby
teams with a new rule that takes
scrumming players through a
simple but effective four step
routine (crouch, touch, pause,
engage) that ensures an amicable locking of horns.
While some viewers may
argue it takes a bit of old fashioned “heel against the head”
action out of the game, the reality is that it allows for a safer,
more productive way for teams
to engage the ball in play – and
it prevents messy and painful
scrum collapses.
This changing of the rules
of engagement to address the
needs of a modern game is an
apt metaphor for the practice of
negotiation today. While negotiations rarely get as physical
as a rugby scrum, some of the
characteristics of the two are
quite similar.
And, just as in rugby, the
rules of engagement in negotiation are changing and parties involved need to be aware
that the old way of doing things
is just not delivering the most
appropriate results for today.
Negotiation, while perhaps not
as popular as rugby, is an allpervasive practice for individuals, businesses, and countries.
Negotiation happens every
day in personal lives, such as
between husbands and wives or
in buying a car or house.
In business it happens at all
levels – between employers and
employees, in business deals,
in sales, and at board level to
name a few. At a global level
there are trade talks, political
and economic alliances, and
other major international disputes, all of which require negotiation skills that are effective.
Just recently, for example, a
tough stand off involving North
Korea over nuclear fuel was
ended amicably after intensive
rounds of negotiation.
One thing that all these examples, and indeed the great
majority of negotiations, illustrate is that there are long-term
relationships involved that need
to be preserved.
Barney Jordaan
starts off on a strained note or is
destroyed altogether.
Very often, the losing party
feels hurt or humiliated and
may try to claw back in whatever way possible the gains that
the other side have made. Soon
disputes arise about what was
agreed and what not, leading to
a further cycle of acrimonious
Few people have the inherent ability to negotiate
deals that are good for both sides. Many still cling
to an outmoded view that they can only win if the
other side loses.
Yet, despite this fact, few people have the inherent ability to
negotiate deals that are good
for both sides. Many still cling to
an outmoded view that they can
only win if the other side loses.
While this may result in a deal,
the deal itself is often not the
best one that could have been
obtained and worse still, the
relationship that was supposed
to be maintained or established
engagement, hostile emotions
and shattered relationships.
So what are the right ingredients for a modern negotiation? Perhaps it’s time to take
a leaf from rugby and adopt
some more effective rules of
engagement.
The first of these would be to
prepare well. Successful negotiators make detailed plans. They
know what is most important
to each side, why they want
what they want and what each
brings to the table. By being
well prepared, each party will be
able to manage the negotiation
process much more effectively
and make whatever strategic
and tactical adjustments may
be required.
Secondly, be flexible. The best
outcome is not going to be your
outcome so it is important to
be prepared to allow for some
concessions. Taking a fixed
approach can result in a missed
opportunity to get what both
parties want.
Thirdly, ensure that all the relevant stakeholders are involved.
For example, in negotiating
change, such as a merger or
downsizing within an organisation, time and time again decisions are made without participation at any stage by those
affected by the decisions.
Finally, use power wisely. In
any negotiation, it is important
to be assertive in a way that preserves the dignity of the other
party. Basically be hard on the
issues on the table and soft on
the person across from you. On
the other hand, many people
cave in too easily because they
have a desire to be liked – they
are not assertive enough and
lose out.
Negotiation is a learnt skill
and no one is born with any
more ability than anyone else.
What people are born with is a
competitive spirit – and that is
sometimes what gets the better
of us. Unlike in rugby though, in
negotiation a draw is usually the
best result for all. BB
Barney Jordaan is the Director of the
short course Negotiating for Long-Term
Results run in association with the UCT
GSB in April. For more information
Email [email protected].
A P R I L 2007
Volume 8 #1
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19
OPINION
Improvisational theatre offers valuable lessons
Robert Poynton
Obvious though it may be,
the uncontrollable nature of life
is often forgotten (or ignored)
once we get to work. It is taboo
to admit we aren’t (or weren’t)
in control. But unless we are
prepared to acknowledge the
uncertainty inherent in the modern world, we won’t become
adept at dealing with it.
Trying to control what cannot
be controlled (like colleagues or
customers, for example) is dispiriting for everyone. It is a form
of combat you can only lose.
What if we start accepting that
control is not an option? Where
do you look for experience,
knowledge or inspiration?
Improvisational theatre offers
an alternative way to engage
with our irredeemably messy,
changing and complex reality.
Improvisers play out scenes in
real time based on suggestions
from the audience. In other
words, they create a product,
under severe time pressure, that
delights a customer. They do so
with no script or rehearsal, yet
still produce something coherent and satisfying. They communicate impeccably and innovate constantly. They manage
to prosper in extreme circumstances. How do they do this?
The first thing to understand
is that improvisers have a method, which underlies the instant
responses and uncanny connections and that can be studied
and applied to many situations
beyond the stage.
It comprises a small set of
rules or practices, and these
practices guide the attitude and
behaviour of improvisers.
The practices are simple, but
subtle. The two most fundamental of these are: 1. Be present,
and 2. Listen – and be changed
by what you hear.
In order to “be present”, the
quality of attention is very important. It won’t help you to dwell on
what you were expecting or what
you would like to happen.
Instead, you need to be highly
attentive, aware of and concen-
20
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Volume 8 #1
trating on exactly what is happening – watching, listening,
sensing, and feeling.
The challenge of concentrating all your mental focus on
what is being said and done at
every moment requires a specific sort of energy – it also
means abandoning a large part
of your defence mechanisms.
We are effectively removing “filters” and leaving ourselves wide
open to the moment itself.
Being present can help in
various ways. Worries impinge
less, so you feel calmer and less
stressed. By being less attached
to your prior ideas, you become
more flexible. This makes it
easier to appreciate the contribution of others and means
you are less likely to fall into
an adversarial relationship with
them. You also notice more,
which gives you more material
to work with.
Being present is an unusual
mixture of serenity and adrenaline. It is serene because you
are concentrated in the moment.
There is adrenaline because
you are in a state of heightened
awareness.
So what can we do to practise
being present? Learning to pause
helps, even if it is only for a few
Improvisational
theatre offers an
alternative way to
engage with the
irredeemably messy,
changing and
complex reality that
we all face.
seconds. Try this: before the start
of a meeting, take in the room as
if you had never been inside one
before. Don’t do anything else
(like rehearse your introduction)
– just let yourself notice what is
actually happening.
The second practice is to “listen – and be changed by what
you hear”. Improvisers have to
be great listeners because the
cost of not listening on stage
is very high. The disconnection
A P R I L 2007
LISTEN UP Robert Poynton shows us how we can learn from the art of
improvisation.
between two improvisers who
aren’t listening to each other
is very obvious and the audience will quickly withdraw their
attention.
The great thing about listening is that it improves things for
others, as well as for you (which
is why it helps relationships).
To feel heard is to be acknowledged and valued. So listen well
and you will create a constructive climate. And listening well
isn’t just a noble idea – it can
have very practical applications
that save time and money.
We are taught very early that
it is polite to listen, but no-one
tells us how to do it. So here
are three suggestions, based on
improvisational practice.
Being changed by what you
hear is the opposite of the pokerface – it means that you react
or respond in some noticeable
way to what has been said. You
could reply, play back what you
understood (i.e. demonstrate
active listening), blush or blanch
– all of which show you being
changed by what you heard.
Drop the assumption that
you’re a good listener. Letting
go of this assumption will make
space for you to work actively
at listening better. If you are
serious about it, make it a goal
and get help, in the form of feedback, from people around you.
To feel heard is to feel acknowledged and valued. So listen well,
and you will create a constructive environment.
The third thing to do is cut out
the things that stop you listening. These include being too
quick to judge and too sweeping
in the conclusions we draw.
Another barrier to listening is
what improvisers call a “shadow
story”. This is an instant projection about the way a story, or
conversation is going to go. We
fill in the future before it happens. This ability helps us discern patterns quickly, but it can
get in the way of listening.
Unexpected things occur
all the time and success can
depend upon our ability to work
with whatever turns up. Whether
it’s a formal meeting, a business
discussion or a chat over coffee,
being present and really listening could start to transform our
interactions for the better. BB
Robert Poynton is a guest lecturer on
the Executive Leadership Programme.
Email [email protected] for details.
OPINION
Transforming
business
through
coaching
Craig O’Flaherty
and
Janine Everson
Evidence mounts that coaching
is a powerful modality that can
help turn strategy into results.
I
n order to manage the ongoing global and local changes that
challenge organisations today, strong leadership is required.
South African leaders, like their global counterparts, however, are
not always seeing their visions of change realised.
Emerging research is pointing to a unique source – coaching – as
an effective means for leaders to achieve the changes needed for
business survival and success.
Change is not easy within any organisation as it often requires
letting go of the familiar and embracing the unknown. Leaders are
challenged to find effective ways to not only create a strategic vision
for an organisation, but to find vehicles to communicate this vision
as well as to inspire, motivate and align others within the organisation to achieve it.
To highlight the difficulty organisations are having globally, a
recent Economist Intelligence Unit study on strategy performance
showed a large strategy-to-performance gap. Leaders, it said, were
simply not seeing their strategies delivering their potential results.
Despite the obvious importance of good planning and execution,
the study showed that relatively few management thinkers have
focused on what kinds of processes and leadership are best for turning a strategy into results. Moreover, a low priority is also given to
management development in this regard.
It has become clear that to alleviate this deficiency, a new paradigm is needed that will enable leaders to empower their organisations to manage change well.
Focused coaching is so effective because it develops in each individual their own personal leadership competencies, which are critical to becoming effective catalysts and drivers of change.
The late Peter Drucker, a leading thinker on business and management, once said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it”
– and it seems that many leading companies are beginning to take
this philosophy to heart through leadership coaching.
Vodafone, for example, has implemented and demonstrated
the effectiveness of a coaching initiative to facilitate a change process. The company used a coaching programme to enable management and employees to cope with a change in operating systems.
Unilever is another company that has used coaching to great effect
in recent years.
In the Vodafone case, a research study noted enhanced performance within individuals, teams and the organisation as a whole,
which was an indicator of the success of the model of cascading the
intervention from the top down to management at all levels in different divisions. The researchers also noted that culture change does
not happen instantaneously, but in stages.
So there is no quick fix to change management. With coaching,
leaders are able to carefully guide their organisations from a stage
of no commitment and even scepticism of change through to a stage
where practices are embedded so that people at all levels within the
organisation are involved in the change process, both formally and
informally.
These international studies are now being backed by local research
that looks at the effects of coaching within the South African
context.
A new research report concluded at the UCT GSB has revealed
how a South African fast moving consumer goods company was
able to use coaching to transform itself from a conservative, management-controlled company, into an innovative leadership-driven
organisation.
The study found significant behavioural and attitudinal changes
following exposure to a coaching programme. Managers reported
that they were able to enhance their capacity for self-understanding,
which has had a positive influence on them and those that report to
them. The research also revealed significant benefits at the teamwork level across functional units.
Moreover coaching created an environment that encouraged
new ways of thinking and learning, and generated enhanced leadership performance and a greater awareness of leadership within the
company.
This local research is contributing to a growing body of evidence
emerging globally in support of coaching as an invaluable tool to
manage change well. For South Africa, this should offer encouragement to local leaders, many of whom are grappling with meeting
the requirements of legislation and industry changes brought on by
increased global competition.
South Africans, perhaps more than any other people, understand
that great leaders can effect extraordinary change. Perhaps this will
inspire our business leaders to respond and adopt new ways to bring
their visions to life. BB
Janine Everson is the facilitator for the programme Strategic Leadership Coaching
at the UCT GSB. Craig O’Flaherty is Director of the Centre for Coaching at the UCT
GSB. E-mail [email protected].
APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
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21
GSB in the media
Financial Times ranking
The full-time MBA programme of the GSB moved even further
up the list in the recently released Financial Times’ Global Top
100 MBA rankings. The programme climbed 14 places to 52
in the survey this year. It remains the only business school in
Africa among these rankings. This was reported in the Sunday
Times and the Cape Times as well as on Thobela fm, Good Hope
fm and Phalaphala fm during February 2007.
Table Mountain National Park
An economic study by the GSB looked at the economic contribution of the Table Mountain National Park. Its findings,
which showed that the Park added R104 million to the South
African economy in 2005, were reported in the Cape Times and
also in the Cape Argus.
Horwitz’s
2nd term
Book review
Professor Frank Horwitz’s
appointment to a second
three-year term as Director
of the GSB was reported in
Achiever magazine.
Dr Mills Soko reviewed
International
Migration,
Remittances and the Brain Drain
for New Agenda magazine in
December last year.
Grants
The decision by the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation in the
US to award the Southern
Africa-United States Centre
for Leadership and Public
Values a further grant was
reported on in Cape Business
News and Business Day. The
R16 million pledged by The
Atlantic Philanthropies that
will help relaunch UCT’s
Oliver Tambo Fellowship
Programme was covered in
Business Day and the Cape
Times.
Top 10 rating
The GSB was rated among the
world’s best by the Economist
Intelligence Unit. The GSB’s customised programmes received a
score of 4.3 out of a possible 5.
This placed the GSB in the top 4
globally in this category. The news
was reported nationally in: Business
Day, as well as Talk Radio 702/Cape
Talk, SAfm and Kfm.
GEM 2006
The 2006 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report
published by the Centre for
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
at the GSB received much coverage nationally. It was reported on in: Sowetan, Finweek,
Business Report, Daily Dispatch,
Sake Beeld, Sake Burger,
Business Day, Star, Gauteng
Business and Cape Argus. It
also received comment on radio
and TV: Talk Radio 702, Cape
Talk, Radio Kingfisher, Classic
fm, SAfm and SABC Africa.
MBA
The MBA has adapted in many ways over the years. In recent
months, some of those adaptations have been covered by the
media. Firstly, the fact that local MBAs have altered their course
content to give greater emphasis to management in an African and
developing country context, was written about in Sunday Times
and Business Times Money section. Dr Vash Mungal’s comments
on flexible delivery of the MBA programme was covered in the
Mail and Guardian, Business Day and the Business section of the
Weekend Post as well as online on the Skills Portal (www.skillsportal.co.za). A comment piece by Kurt April and Kai Peters on the
global future of the MBA was published in Convergence magazine
Courses in the news include:
The short course on advice-based financial planners was featured in Blue Chip magazine and the
Business Acumen for Anaesthesiologists was covered in the Witness Jobwise and Cape Argus
Job Shop. The new Human Resources Practitioners Programme was published in the November
edition of People Dynamics. The Building Strategic Readiness through People course, that is run
by Professor Frank Horwitz and that covers innovative ways in which human resources can boost
a company’s competitiveness, was commented on in the Witness Jobwise and online on the Skills
Portal (www.skillsportal.co.za). A new course to address call centre management was written about
in Cape Argus, Cape Business News and also on the Skills Portal. The Cape Times and Business Day
covered the launch of a programme for middle to senior management, that addresses current skills
shortages. Recognising the need to address energy shortages in the country, a new course on
Energy Security and Sustainability was highlighted in Electricity and Control magazine.
22
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Volume 8 #1
A P R I L 2007
RESEARCH
SA can take lessons
from Chinese reform
S
outh Africa can draw useful lessons from China’s
experience of managing the
reform of its textile and clothing
industries. Amid the furore over
increasing Chinese imports into
SA’s market, it has been forgotten that China’s textile and garment sectors also underwent a
period of structural adjustment
in the 1990s.
Chinese textile production has
a very long history. It became
a relatively significant industry as early as mid-1300s and
the textile and clothing sectors
played a crucial role in China’s
industrialisation. By 1950, China
was a major textile and garment
exporter.
However, inward-looking economic policies and the neglect
of these sectors by a regime
fixated on heavy industry steadily eroded the country’s market
share and hamstrung its efforts
to specialise in labour-intensive
exports. In 1970, China accounted for less than 14% and 5%
of textile and clothing exports,
respectively, from developing
economies.
The advent of economic
reforms in the late 1970s, and
their intensification in the 1980s,
laid the foundations for a sustained expansion of exports.
Export growth was the consequence of exploiting China’s
comparative advantage in
labour-intensive manufactured
exports. This coincided with the
onset of important changes in
global textile and clothing markets, which saw Japan losing its
comparative advantage and east
Asia’s ascendant “economic
tigers” – Hong Kong, Singapore,
Taiwan and Korea – moving
away from textile and garment
products.
By 1988, China’s share of textile exports from developing
countries had risen to 22%.
Reform of the rural economy
transformed the structure of
textile and clothing production, with favourable outcomes.
The expanded role of township and village enterprises in
these industries – which had
been dominated by loss-making state-owned companies
– brought certain competitive
strengths, including cost advantages, better governance structures, relatively hospitable work
environments, and adaptability
to market conditions.
Faced with growing competition from township and village
enterprises, and beset with
financial difficulties and operational deficiencies, state-owned
companies were forced to undertake structural adjustment.
Restructuring was made even
more urgent by the anticipated
termination of the textile and
garment quota regime under
the rules of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO), and by
China’s imminent entry into that
organisation.
It had always been an explicit
foreign economic policy goal of
Beijing to use China’s WTO obligations to consolidate domestic
economic reform and transform
inefficient state firms.
China made wise use of the 10year grace period given by the
WTO to upgrade their industries
in anticipation of the liberalisation of world trade in textiles and
clothing. It recast its industrial
policy and carried out extensive
recapitalisation to make sure
that financial resources went to
the most productive enterprises.
Combined with China’s advantages in labour and material
resources, these reforms shored
up the international competitiveness of China’s industry. This
success could not have been
accomplished without close cooperation between the government and business.
But industrial restructuring
was not painless. It resulted in
the closure of many factories
Mills Soko
and a loss of about 1.16 million
jobs. This was an adjustment for
China, given the country’s problem of urban unemployment and
its desire to grow labour-intensive industries in order to soak
up an enormous labour surplus
in the countryside.
China’s extensive reforms
made it possible for the country
to become the world’s biggest
and most competitive textile and
clothing manufacturer.
It had always been an
explicit foreign economic policy goal of
Beijing to use China’s
WTO obligations to
consolidate domestic
economic reform and
transform inefficient
state firms.
There is no room for complacency, however. As the momentum of globalisation progresses
and, in particular, as China’s
market-opening commitments
under the WTO take effect,
China’s market predominance
will be challenged by other
competitive producers such as
Vietnam, India and Indonesia.
The imposition of safeguard
quotas on Chinese textiles
and garments by the US and
the European Union (EU),
under China’s WTO accession
protocol,
has
benefited
the country’s competitors.
Besides buoying the shares of
China’s rivals in the US and EU
markets, the safeguard measures have reduced the profits
of Chinese enterprises reliant
on these markets. Also, the
appreciation of the renminbi as
well as hikes in labour costs,
raw materials and energy have
exerted considerable pressure
on China’s industries.
Moreover, the Chinese textile
sector still has some weaknesses, including weak innovation, insufficient investment
in research and development,
a lack of internationally recognised Chinese brands (products
are frequently made and sold
under foreign brands), inadequate technical and financial
support, a shortage of raw materials such as cotton, not enough
labour regulations, and unfair
competition in the Chinese
domestic market.
There is also the problem of
industry overcapacity, induced
by excessive investment – the
rapid rise of textile and garment
exporters has led to a slump in
export prices. Also, the Chinese
government and private sector
have had to contend with the
social costs of industrial reform.
This has necessitated the adjustment of labour market policies to ensure that retrenched
workers are retrained and
helped to find new jobs in other
industries.
China’s experience of restructuring textile and clothing
sectors provides an example
worth emulating. However, if
the country is to sustain its
competitive edge in the face of
changing global economic circumstances, it must address the
lingering problems that threaten to erode the efficiency of its
industry. BB
Dr Soko is a Senior Lecturer at the
UCT GSB.
APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
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23
E X E C U T I V E E D U CAT I O N
T
Executive
Education
scores
UCT GSB is ahead of the world curve when
it comes to gaining knowledge from
other disciplines to create better business
learning
Elaine Rumboll
24
BWB
Volume 8 #1
A P R I L 2007
he economic climate for executive education globally has never been
more favourable. Demand is running high. In the US, both open enrolment and customised short courses registered double digit growth in 2005
and recently at a conference hosted by Europe’s premier business learning
body – the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd) – business schools reported that they were struggling to keep up with demand in
the short course arena.
Buoyant demand has naturally enough brought with it new challenges notably
tougher competition and as a result, business schools are having to find new
ways to revitalise programmes to appeal to an intelligent, discerning and timestressed client base. Not only is the market growing, but it is also impatient for
punchy and relevant learning experiences that will have a lasting impact on
business practices.
The European conference, which was focused on strategic choices facing
executive education globally, highlighted that to meet this new demand, business
schools are wrestling with three key questions all related to balance: balance
between content and process; balance between using faculty and using outside
experts to mediate the programmes; and balance between customisation and
off-the-shelf programmes.
The content versus process debate is not new. In the last few years there
has been a marked shift away from purely content based learning to a more
process driven experience. While what is being learned (academic theory) is
obviously still important, how it is being learned is increasingly being given
additional weight.
Hand in hand with this debate is the tension between the use of faculty or
outside experts to design and deliver programmes. While traditionally faculty
would both design the programme and then facilitate the delivery of that
material, business schools are finding this increasingly restrictive. And while
still largely using faculty to design programmes, many are turning to outside
experts to manage the process of delivery.
Ironically, South African schools may actually have an advantage in this
regard. With smaller faculty bases they have always had to rely on outsiders to
supplement learning with the result that current South African executive short
courses often outflank their global peers when it comes to innovative design.
Regarding the choice of which outside experts to use, South African business schools have also been at the head of the curve. The use of outside
experts by business schools around the world is increasingly extending
beyond industry specialists and business practitioners. In an effort to differentiate offerings, the front runners mine the arts, sports and popular culture
for good ideas to illuminate learning. This has led to an unprecedented spate
of cross fertilization with other disciplines.
By way of example, Duke University Corporate Education – which topped
the 2005 Business Week rankings of executive education – thinks nothing of
pulling in a basketball coach to facilitate a learning process for its classes on
the basketball court. Across the Atlantic, Cranfield Business School routinely
has psychologists and actors come in, while closer to home, all three of South
Africa’s top business schools have hosted novel programmes featuring poets,
psychology gurus and creative strategists, to name but a few.
What these cross linkages have in common is a recognition that adults learn
better when learning is contextualised and when it is tied to emotion. Thus,
learning about team work and strategy while also mastering the art of shooting a hoop (it’s difficult to do right, and exhilarating when you crack it) has
infinitely more value than learning about it from a power point presentation.
It’s a leap of understanding that IMD – another business school that hovers
around the top of executive education rankings – has articulated in its book
Mastering Executive Education published last September. The book takes ten
years of IMD observations and research around the way adults learn and converts it into a practical guide for improving executive learning. In essence their
thesis recognises the balance between the emotional as well as the rational
dimensions of management and makes a case for how you can manage this
by good design.
Design of course is crucial. Business schools have to watch out that borrowing from other disciplines does not just turn their classrooms into a freak
show. Merely importing a juggler into the classroom will not, in and of itself,
E X E C U T I V E E D U CAT I O N
miraculously result in better learning for delegates. It is how the
whole package is put together that counts.
True competitive advantage will therefore lie with those business
schools who are able to take these insights and combine them intelligently to create interesting and impactful learning processes.
This is where the real fight for market share will be slugged out in
coming years,
Once again, South African business schools are well placed to lead
rather than follow this trend.
Not only are South African schools already far down the road of
getting the right balance between content and process and already
experimenting by borrowing from other disciplines, but they also
have some of the keenest design minds in the world.
The UCT GSB is amongst just a handful worldwide to be working with pioneering executive learning theories and launched its
Executive MBA, which is based on principles popularised in Henry
Mintzberg’s iconoclastic book Managers not MBAs, a full five years
before the book was even published.
The School continues to blend innovative thinking and design with
other new ideas and innovations specifically within the short course
environment. Increasingly these efforts are getting recognised on
the international market. The GSB features within prominent international rankings for its executive education, and more and more it
finds itself rubbing shoulders with some of the big names in business schools when vying for international contracts.
As we move more into the international arena – South African
schools are increasingly getting noticed in surveys of executive education and other academic programmes and getting short listed for
major international contracts.
This is largely due to the calibre of design coming out of UCT and
others. While South Africans are often too quick to downplay their
achievements, this is one area where we need to be prepared to step
forward and take our rightful place in the global arena. BB
Elaine Rumboll is Director of Executive Education at the UCT GSB. For a full list of
innovative courses at the GSB go to: www.gsb.uct.ac.za/execed.
What is Executive Education?
Executive education is a separate entity within the UCT
GSB, and offers a variety of executive short courses,
both open and customised. These focus primarily on
leadership development with programmes tailored
for three levels of influence and competency – new
managers, middle to senior managers and executives.
There are also opportunities for development in specialist
subjects, disciplines and industries.
For a full list of GSB short courses, visit: www.gsb.uct.
ac.za/execed.
New courses
www.gsb.uct.ac.za/execed
Working
together to
enhance results
Getting people talking effectively in the workplace
COURSE Creative tools for
optimising team performance
DATES 28 – 30 May 2007
CONTACT +27 21 406 1268
Many hands make light work
– or so they say. But getting a
team to work together effectively isn’t always as easy as
it looks.
Team leaders at any stage of
their career will understand
the frustrations that come
with not being able to unlock
the potential of their team. Yet
teams are increasingly relied
upon to deliver high-impact
results.
How to build a team culture
will be a key part of this new
course at the GSB. It will highlight the need to foster certain
characteristics, such as: shared
ownership; the ability to listen;
generosity; curiosity; and idea
sharing.
The three-day programme is
designed to equip team leaders with various tools that can
help them access the creativity of the teams they head up.
COURSE TITLE Mentor – the Art of Conversation
DATES 19 – 20 June and 22 – 26 October 2007
CONTACT +27 21 406 1268
Conversations can lead to many great ideas,
but how do we start those conversations in the
first place? And importantly how do we encourage those we work with to speak up and have
their voices heard?
Senior Executives and Human Resources professionals are faced with these questions every
day as they consider how best to approach mentoring within their organisation.
They know that being able to foster mutual
respect and trust with the people that they
mentor will lead to rewarding and fruitful
conversations.
A new short course will explore the key competencies of mentoring, which include the fundamental skills: listening; speaking; and questioning. It will also present a mentoring ‘toolkit’,
different styles and how to approach barriers. The
course will run twice during 2007 – in May and
again in October.
Time for a change of approach to HIV/Aids education in the
workplace to address poor attendance at programmes
COURSE TITLE HIV/Aids in the workplace in 2010
DATES 11 –14 June 2007
CONTACT +27 21 406 1370
Many companies have begun
to take the initiative when it
comes to HIV/Aids awareness
– recognising the impacts this
disease may have on their workforce.
However, even the best laid
plans can come unstuck.
Practitioners who head up
HIV/Aids programmes in the
workplace often struggle with
poor attendance and a lack of
uptake. Why is this?
There is no easy answer, but a
course due to start at the UCT
GSB in June this year hopes
to go some way to providing a
solution.
Participants will be shown
ways in which they can initiate
and manage an updated HIV/
Aids management programme
that incorporates effective monitoring and evaluation.
The course is aimed at all
managers involved in HIV/Aids
awareness programmes.
APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
BWB
25
A LU M N I N E W S
Ex-marketing chief rides to top of cableway company
The Table Mountain-Aerial Cableway Company has appointed
former marketing manager Sabine Lehmann (MBA 2001/2002) as its
new chief executive officer. Lehmann replaces John Harrison, who
resigned in October.
Lehmann started working at the cableway company as marketing
manager in 1998, and was later promoted to general manager. She
resigned last year to pursue other business interests, but was headhunted back to the company, which was being managed temporarily
by chairman Louis de Waal.
“During her time at the company, she travelled to Europe to visit
several cableway installations, bringing back the best practices
observed for Table Mountain,” he said. “She also obtained an MBA
[at the UCT GSB], which will stand her and the company in good
stead.”
Her new appointment came into effect last month. De Waal said
the board, managers and staff were “equally pleased” at her return.
This article was first published in the Cape Argus.
THE VIEW FROM THE TOP Sabine Lehmann has been appointed CEO of the Table
Mountain-Aerial Cableway Company.
GSB attends Building B-Schools Conference in Boston
GOING PLACES Paul Robinson (MBA
2006) and Mike Rosholt (MBA 2006).
Cherry Burchell, Marketing
Manager, and Linda Fasham,
Alumni Relations Manager,
26
BWB
Volume 8 #1
recently returned from attending
the 2007 AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business) Building
B-Schools: Development and
Communication Conference in
Boston, Massachusetts. The
focus of the conference was on
Alumni Relations, Fundraising
and Marketing. The conference
provided a valuable learning
and networking experience.
With the UCT GSB ranked
52nd in the Financial Times ranking Burchell and Fasham used
this opportunity to visit other
top schools in nearby states
and benchmark their portfolios.
They visited: Harvard, Chicago,
Wharton and Columbia.
A P R I L 2007
“It is comforting to know that
we all face the same challenges
and carry out the same work,
even though it is on a different
scale,” Fasham says.
While in the US they met GSB
Exchange Students at Chicago
Business School, Paul Robinson
and Mike Rosholt. They have
found the experience challenging but agree it has rounded
out their GSB learnings. They
also met alumni Karen Strydom
(MBA 1995), consultant for the
IFC in Washington, and Gordon
Herr (MBA 1979) in New York.
A LU M N I N E W S
Around the world in three months
GSB students on exchange
What is the Exchange Programme?
The UCT GSB currently has exchange partnerships with 24 business schools from three continents, including the London Business
School, Columbia Business School, Chicago, ESADE, Rotterdam and City University of Hong Kong. Exchange programmes consolidate
the international perspective of the GSB curriculum while creating the opportunity for global networking.
30 GSB students from the 2006 class participated in the exchange programme and 26 are registered for 2007. Students typically go on
exchange in mid-January for three months, after completing their MBA requirements. They are given a certificate listing the courses
attended. In 2006 43 exchange students came to the GSB, attending classes and obtaining credits towards their MBAs. Students stay
from three to six months. The GSB organises various activities to expose them to South Africa and the challenges facing South African
business. Most incoming students elect for courses providing insights into doing business in emergent markets or the “soft skills” in
business. All exchange students are self-funded, but they are exempt from educational fees. Student feedback has been favourable, in
terms of their experiences as well as how the GSB compares with other top-notch schools of business.
London
Chicago
Otto Dreyer
(MBA 2006)
IN HIGH PLACES Lynette Voigt (kneeling at front right) visits the home of the
European Union in Brussels with her London Business School classmates.
Lynette Voigt
(MBA PT 2004/2005)
I was selected to do three
months of studies at the London
Business School (LBS), which
borders on Regent Park.
The student contingent was far
larger than Cape Town and therefore the aggressiveness of the
students in striving to achieve
top marks in their subjects
and gain access to recruitment
events was extremely intense.
Students from Spain, Ecuador,
China,
Canada,
Germany,
France, Guernsey, etc, all wanted the few jobs on offer to MBA
graduates. I decided after a
month of serious studying that
I had already obtained my MBA
degree and was rather going to
network and enjoy LBS through
the various business clubs. So
I joined the French Cultural
Society, the Business Society,
the Net Impact Society, the Salsa
Dancing Society, the Investment
Society, the Running Club, the
Board Games Society and the
LBS Winter Ball Committee.
As a result, I went to a conference in Barcelona in Spain
and met some super folk from
Insead University as well as LBS
students, ate tapas and walked
Las Ramblas.
I danced the Salsa every week
at LBS, played board-games and
laughed into the early hours of
the morning once a week.
I then decided to visit the EU
in Brussels for the day, sourced
snow-making machines and
ice sculptured bars and came
back to run down the Thames to
London Bridge then back along
the other side.
It was a very memorable and
wonderful experience!
Greetings from Chicago,
Apparently we have been very
lucky with the weather. The
wind should be blowing a
snowy ice chill that reaches less
than –20˚C. I went for a run
in shorts next to the lake – ha
ha, Harrismith warm winter’s
afternoon weather but without
the sun.
Starting class was a little
scary. No-one knows that you’re
an exchange student. Walking
between classes you hear people talking many different languages from all over the world.
The business school has about
1,200 students compared to the
GSB’s MBA class of just over
100. The classes aren’t that big
though – all my classes have
about 60 students.
I am staying in McManus
Living-Learning Center, which
is a student residence at
Northwestern University. The
Business School is called
Kellogg (J. L. Kellogg School
of Management (1908)) and is a
10-minute walk away.
Northwestern University is a
private institution founded in
1851 to serve the Northwest
Territory, an area that now
includes the states of Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota.
It’s on the shore of Lake Michigan
20 km north of Chicago.
LOOKING UP Otto Dreyer in downtown
Chicago.
Everything here is purple for
the local team: the Wild Cats.
These people live by their team
– even our student cards are
called ‘wild cards’! The clock
tower above Rebecca Crown
Plaza glows purple after the
Wildcats win a football game.
We initially spent a few days
in Chicago itself. Walking down
Magnificent Mile past the John
Hancock Tower with beautiful
trees and manicured lawns dotted with Christmas decorations,
lights, reindeer, Santa, etc felt
awesome!
All in all, it is an amazing feeling to be here. I am running
around trying to do as much as
I possibly can.
APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
BWB
27
A LU M N I P R O F I L E
Working hard for
a taste of sweet
success
Lots of people love chocolate. In fact most people
love chocolate. But Nontwenhle Mchunu is
different – not only is she a chocolate connoisseur
– but the 24 year old is building a life around
chocolate-making as an entrepreneur and has an
unflinching dedication to making things happen
for her emerging business when she finishes an
internship at the Raymond Ackerman Academy
for Entrepreneurial Development.
M
aking chocolate is an art that requires a lot of research,
experimentation, tasting and appreciating, says 24-year-old
Nontwenhle Mchunu. While this may sound like the best job in the
world, the challenges facing entrepreneurs like Mchunu in South
Africa are many.
Mchunu, however, is committed to getting the training and skills to
make her business Ntwezinhle Creations – which means “we create
beautiful things” – a success.
It was this determination and ambition to succeed that secured
her a place at the Raymond Ackerman Academy of Entrepreneurial
Development at the UCT GSB in 2006.
From humble beginnings in the rural town of Nkandla in KwaZuluNatal, Nontwenhle started a home-based chocolate
making business when she was just 20 years old, taking small orders and focusing on corporate clients in
Durban. When she registered her business as she turned
21, she soon ran into a common challenge that many
entrepreneurs encounter – gaining access to finance.
“I tried a lot of places to access finance, but it was
not easy and I was more often than not passed from
pillar to post with no result,” says Mchunu.
Exasperated by the lack of support, she made the
bold decision to move to Cape Town in 2004, and set
about researching and sourcing opportunities with
renewed vigour. Her research took her to UCT and it was
there that she learnt about the Raymond Ackerman Academy, which
focuses on developing entrepreneurial ability in young people between
the ages of 18 and 23. Raymond Ackerman donated the funds in 2005
to start and keep the institution and its training programmes running
in perpetuity.
Mchunu now lists the Academy as one of the greatest experiences
of her life.
She adds she also met a great number of influential people and
organisations, which has expanded her network greatly. She showed
great flair during the Ackerman Academy programme in forging a
relationship with the Protea Breakwater Lodge based at the GSB.
She began supplying them with chocolates on a monthly basis
and took her biggest order for 300 boxes from the hotel during this
period.
Peggy Klement, General Manager of the Protea Breakwater Lodge,
become her industry mentor.
28
BWB
Volume 8 #1
A P R I L 2007
SUCCESS TASTES GOOD Nontwenhle Mchunu (right) with her “industry mentor”
Peggy Klement, General Manager of the Protea Breakwater Lodge.
Her Academy experience fostered a hunger to learn and grow further
through education and she dreamed of studying the art of her field
at one of the world’s best institutes, Leatherhead Food International
(LFI).
Last November her dream came true when she secured an opportunity to go to the UK to study for three weeks at LFI, one of Europe’s
highest rated food institutes.
Her break came from a quite unexpected source. Entering a Metro
FM initiative that gives people the opportunity to meet a person
who has inspired them, she got the surprise call that she had been
selected to meet her personal hero – Basetsane Khumalo. The two
hit it off and it has led to a blossoming relationship – she has forged
a close bond with Khumalo who also took her cause to heart and
used her network to secure tickets from SAA for Mchunu to travel
abroad to study.
The second angel in her life came in the form of Raymond
Ackerman, who she met during her studies at the Ackerman
Academy. Having told him of her ambitions he too was willing to
lend a hand. This led to the Pick ’n Pay Foundation providing the
funding for the training in London.
Along the way she also was supported by a number of other
people and organisations – all of who saw in her the same sparkle.
These included the DTI’s Black Business Suppliers Development
Programme and Protea Hotels. By the time everything was arranged
for her stay at Leatherhead Food International just outside London,
she only had a short time to pack but was raring to go.
She says a highlight was learning from professionals with many
years of experience and interacting with people from all over the
world. But she says the level of personal growth was the best reward.
“The training pushes you to a new level personally and professionally.”
The programme was three weeks long and involved a significant
amount of hands on work and learning from mistakes, with students
absorbing the ins and outs of manufacturing an exceptional product.
Back in SA for the time being, the journey for her is far from over.
Since returning she has been looking at her business with new eyes
and sees a lot of new opportunities in the South African industry.
She is leaving in March to spend a year at the LFI. She has also managed to secure an internship in the UK industry for the duration.
For now she is completing an internship at the Ackerman Academy.
She may be leaving the Academy but she is eternally grateful to the
people who have assisted her.
A LU M N I P R O F I L E
Modular MBA gives KZN student the edge
T
hembani Mazibuko knows
a thing or two about going
the extra mile. From a small
community near Escort in the
KwaZulu-Natal midlands, he
can recall as a youngster having
to fetch water and do his part
to grow vegetables to help feed
his family.
Today though, Mazibuko is
on the verge of achieving his
MBA from the UCT GSB, having undertaken the programme
while working in KwaZulu-Natal
– and it is a testament to a lifetime of going the extra mile to
make things happen for him and
his family.
Mazibuko’s first major journey began in 1994, when as a
matric student he was enrolled
in what was known as Star
Schools, a privately run initiative that taught maths and
science in Braamfontein near
Johannesburg.
Staying with his mother, who
was a domestic worker based in
Johannesburg, he travelled back
and forth to get
the education that would form
the foundation of his future.
In 1995 his top marks paid off
when Sappi sponsored him to
study Chemical Engineering.
“I have always valued education – from a poverty stricken
environment it became a way
to break the cycle, a way out,”
he says.
But it was certainly no easy
task to do this, particularly for
someone who grew up not knowing his father and hardly seeing
his mother as she worked tirelessly far from home. It was his
grandmother who raised him
and much of their income was
from her pension.
“We ploughed the soil and
grew our own vegetables and
had to walk to fetch water. It was
tough, even to the point of having to rely on food grants from
aid organisations like World
Vision, but we survived,” says
Mazibuko.
Choosing to go into chemical engineering was a practical
decision rather than a calling.
He learnt of the possibilities of
the field and saw it as a way
to end the cycle of poverty
he had experienced during
his entire life.
His studies started at the
University of Natal and he
had to adjust from a social
point of view, finding himself
in a multiracial community and battling along
despite not being very
proficient in English.
It was around this
time that his mother became ill
and he struggled to deal with
not being able to be there to
help the person who had sacrificed so much to give him a
fighting chance.
“Third year was a breaking
point and I said to Sappi that I
wanted to try and find a different path that would allow me
to help my family in some way.
They allowed me to switch to a
technikon diploma in 1999 and
gave me a post at the mill closest to my home,” he says.
Mazibuko began as a trainee
and learnt the ropes of being
a process technician and with
his family close by, he could get
on with the task of learning and
growing at the mill.
His dedication and work ethic
soon began to earn him plaudits at Sappi and in 2002 he
became an Assistant Process
Engineer. In 2003 he was again
promoted, this time to Shift
Superintendent.
It was at this point that he considered going back to school,
and through the company learnt
of the Associate in Management
(AIM) programme offered by
the GSB. The programme is for
entry level and junior managers and is offered on a modular
basis, which meant Mazibuko
could work and study at the
same time.
He says that his return to the
classroom in 2003 was a big
turning point for him. “The business school programme really
gave me the wings to fly in
my career and reinforced my
strengths,” he says.
He also says the experience
of being in a diverse classroom
with academics and students
from all walks of life and business was hugely beneficial
to his growth, as was their
support.
After his studies, Mazibuko
was promoted to Production
Manager at Sappi in 2005.
It was this experience that
compelled him to tackle the
MBA at UCT – and two years on
he has just wrapped up his final
module.
He says that the MBA was not
so much about “becoming a
CEO” as it was about developing his ability to have a positive
impact on the lives of those
around him. “I want to be able
to influence people’s lives in
a positive way – it’s not about
being the best in the world, but
about being the best for the
world.”
Mazibuko has been living out
this personal philosophy at
Sappi over the course of his
studies at the GSB.
“Each time I have gone for
a module I have returned with
something different and new
to contribute – it was like
recharging my batteries,” he
comments.
His leadership style is something quite different from the
traditional approach in the
heavy manufacturing environment – empowering people to
make decisions and contributions rather than take instructions and fostering a spirit of ‘we
can each make a difference’.
Mazibuko is also highly appreciative of the support he has
received for his studies, particularly from Sappi for believing in
him from the day he completed
matric, and Allan Gray for a
scholarship which made his
MBA possible.
Despite having excelled in his
career, Mazibuko says there is
still nothing more important to
him than his family. He is married to Pinkie and they have
two children – Asanda and
Siyethemba.
THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT Thembani Mazibuko has good reason to smile following his
experiences on the Modular MBA.
APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
BWB
29
CLASS NOTES
Please let us know your news. Contact
Linda Fasham on [email protected]
Reunions
The following reunions occurred in 2006: MBA 2001 (21 – 24 September); MBA 1996 (17 March); MBA 1986 (3 November);
MBA 1980/81 (8 December); MBA 1966 (23 – 26 February). We bring you reports of some of these below.
MBA 1980/81 class catch up at 25-year reunion
25 years on and you would have thought we were all assembling
after a week off lectures. There was much catching up, and the
excellent wine from Dave Hidden’s vineyards went down rapidly.
For those of you unfortunate enough not to have been able to
attend, take cheer from the fact that we raised a glass to you all.
Professor Frank Horwitz, Director of the GSB, impressed us all
with the niche that the school has carved out for itself as a centre of
excellence on the topic of emerging markets, and providing skills to
entrepreneurs as well as corporate business people.
We moved on to Hildebrands for a raucous meal that only ended in
the small hours of the morning.
Thanks to GSB Alumni Relations Manager Linda Fasham of the
GSB Alumni Office for organising everything. If any of the class from
overseas are passing by, let us know in advance and it will be an
excuse to get another reunion going. – Julian Purdue
MBA 2001 (21–24 September 2006)
This class meets regularly on the last Thursday of every month so
for their reunion they met at the Stardust restaurant on Thursday
evening. On Friday they met at Tim Wigham’s Cape Leadership
Centre in Tokai where their fitness levels were tested with touch
rugby, Frisbee, and obstacle courses. This was rounded off with a
sumptuous braai. Saturday evening they returned to their favourite
haunt at the GSB, The Brig, and the celebrations continued into the
early hours. They now look forward to their 10th reunion in 2011!
MBA 1986 (8 December 2006)
Their 20-year reunion commenced with cocktails at the GSB campus.
Professor Frank Horwitz welcomed them back to the School and
briefed the class on the latest developments. Those present
CATCHING UP ON OLD TIMES MBA friends meet up over wine at the GSB.
expressed their delight at the School’s recent achievements. After
cocktails they moved to the Hildebrand restaurant.
Reunions in 2007
Six MBA classes are already planning reunions for 2007:
MBA 1997
September
MBA 1982
30 August – 01 September
MBA 1977
16/17 November
MBA 1967
Early November
If you would like to organise a reunion, please visit: www.gsb.uct.
ac.za and click on Alumni or contact Linda Fasham, lindafas@gsb.
uct.ac.za.
UCT GSB Golf Day
The annual UCT GSB Pilsner
Urquell golf day was held at
Rondebosch Golf Club on 20
October. We managed to raise
R36 000 which went to the MBA
Bursary Fund.
First prize went to Dr Andrew
Good, Johan Kotze, Mane de
Klerk and Syd Mobbs. Gershwin
Fortune hit the longest drive.
The main sponsor, SA
Breweries under their Pilsner
Urquell brand, has sponsored
our golf day for three successive years, and we are extremely
grateful for their involvement
and support. TaylorMade Adidas
sponsored all the golfing equipment for the day – as well as some
amazing prizes. 128 players took
part, and this year we changed
the format from an American
Scramble to a Four Ball Alliance
with two scores to count. We
would like to thank our sponsors for their valuable support:
FUN AND GAMES Alumni in Cape Town meet on the golf course last October.
30
BWB
Volume 8 #1
A P R I L 2007
Ablaze Promotions, Basilico
Italian Restaurant, CapeStorm,
Cape Union Mart, Cravateur,
Deloitte, FNB, G4S Security,
Good Fellas, IQ Business
Group, Larry Gould, Motiv, Old
Mutual Bank, Plumstead Pick
‘n Pay Family Store, Protea
Breakwater Lodge, Standard
Bank, Thompson Tours, Thorp
Delta, UCT Communication and
Marketing Departments, UCT
GSB, Vital Health Foods, and
Zodiac Pool Care SA.
The 2007 Cape Town Golf
Day will be held on Friday 19
October at Rondebosch Golf
Club. Contact lindafas@gsb.
uct.ac.za for details.
The Gauteng Golf Day
is scheduled for 15 June at
Parkview Golf Club. Contact
[email protected] or 011
442 0135 to sign up to play or
support with prizes and hole
sponsorships. – Linda Fasham
CLASS NOTES
Appointments
Other news
Sebelo Gama (MBA 2005) has been appointed to the Board of
Directors of Swazi MTN.
Andre Harrison (MBA 1986) has been promoted to Chief Operating
Officer of the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC).
He is now responsible for managing all Metrorail commuter services
nationally.
Samuel Kabamba (AIM 2006) was promoted twice during the
course of his studies at the GSB – first to Recruitment Team Leader
and then to the Junior Council of his company. He has since moved
companies and started as a Team Leader with Shell in March this
year. Outside of the office Kabamba is a pastor, and he says the AIM
programme taught him valuable skills. He says, “AIM has changed
my approach towards life and as a pastor I have learnt how to
communicate properly with people.”
Tania Muradzikwa (MBA 2006) has moved to Johannesburg, where
she works with Ernst and Young as a Senior Manager in their Business
Advisory Services. Her role involves advising clients on finance
transformation and strategy, helping with business development,
pursuing Finance and Performance Management opportunities
within the public and private sector, and developing relationships
with clients.
Ziggy Owei (MBA2005/6) has started her own business called EHL
House B&B. It is situated in Pinelands and is designed to be suitable
for medical, business and pleasure travellers with African Ethnic
Dining. Guests can be fetched from the airport at no additional cost.
Ziggy also offers lunch (12-3 pm everyday) and dinner (6-9 pm, except
on Mondays).
Mandy Shave (MBA 2004) recently joined Dimension Data (DiData)
in Johannesburg. She is in the Global Marketing department, involved
in project based work as well as some admin.
It’s all change
Susanne
Schlingmann
(MBA 2004) Susanne was
recently appointed as Change
Management Consultant at
ChangeWright Consulting (Pty)
Ltd in Johannesburg.
Marilise Smit, also a graduate
of the GSB (MBA 2002/03), is a
director of ChangeWright and
its subsidiary, ChangeAbility
Training. The companies specialise in organisational change
management through the provision of consulting and training
services, and change management products.
C h a n g e Wr i g h t
and
ChangeAbility have a core team
of consultants and trainers with
Dream job at FIFA
It took two years, but Ryan Ravens (MBA 2004) eventually
landed his dream job at FIFA. He has just been appointed as
FIFA’s SA project manager for the 2010 World Cup. Football has
been a passion for Ryan most of his life and it doesn’t get much
better than the opportunity to project manage the World Cup in
South Africa.
He says, “I’ll have to make the dreaded move to Jo’burg from
Cape Town and even though I’ll really miss the mountain, I’m
looking forward to experiencing one of Africa’s fastest growing
cities (and hopefully catching up with some classmates).”
Email Ryan at: [email protected].
From Russia, with wine
After 14 “wonderful” years
in South Africa, Vladimir
Gorodkov (MBA 1998/99)
has accepted a 5-year contract appointment as a CEO:
Wine Division in his homeland
Russia.
His main responsibilities
under this contract will include:
developing 2 000 hectares
of land (which will include a
huge residential development,
golf course, yacht club, etc);
building a winery; producing a top Russian wine; and
developing a distribution
network for wines from all
over the world in Russia.
In the past few years
Gorodkov has started a successful business promoting
South African wines in Russia
and Eastern Europe, which will
continue its operations despite
his move.
Gorodkov will be relocating
to the Krasnadar region of
Russia (Black Sea) in early
2007. His eldest son will stay
on in South Africa, while his
wife and two other children
will join him in Russia. You can
contact Vladimir via email at:
[email protected].
Sad passing
TEAMWORK Susanne Schilingmann
(left) and Marilise Smit team up at
ChangeWright Consulting (Pty) Ltd.
extensive experience in delivering change management in support of large-scale organisational change. Visit www.changewright.com,
www.changeability.info, or email susanne.
schlingmann@changewright.
com.
MBA alumni feature at Raging Bull Awards
Several MBA graduates from the GSB have a reason to cheer after
featuring prominently in the 2007 Raging Bull Awards which recognises the stars of the collective investment or unit trust industry. The
graduates were:
Gary Quinn (MBA 1991)
Ian Scott (MBA 1987)
Marc Beckenstrater (MBA 1995)
Paul Hansen (MBA 1983)
Chris Wood (MBA 1999)
Paul Duncan (MBA 2003)
Robert Raucher (MBA 2003)
drowned tragically in the sea
off Bantry Bay on 11 December
2006.
Nigel Wigram (MBA 1973) was
born in England, and came to
South Africa in 1958. He joined
Old Mutual in 1961, where he
worked for 40 years.
During this time he was largely
responsible for developing the
Marketing discipline, focusing
on Research, Direct Marketing
and Client Relationships. He
also served on Minister Jay
Naidoo’s taskforce on the South
African Post Office and Postal
Affairs.
Along the way he collected
many degrees and diplomas
including a BCom, MBA (where
he won the prestigious GSB Old
Mutual Gold Medal) and a PhD
Degree for his work on evaluating the marginal effectiveness of advertising in the Life
Assurance Industry.
He was also a Certified
Financial Planner and set the
initial Examination for that
qualification. In 2002 Nigel was
honoured by the South African
Direct Marketing Association by
being elected to their Hall of
Fame and receiving the Assegai
Award.
He was a regular speaker at
South African Direct Marketing
Symposiums, as well as at
Marketing Research Congresses
both locally and internationally.
Wigram is survived by his wife,
Lyn, and son Andrew.
APRIL 2007
Volume 8 #1
BWB
31
Alumni Marketplace
CLASS NOTES
Media exposure
Advertise your business here
from as little as R750.
Muzi Kuzwayo (EMBA 2003/4)
has been made Managing
Director of TBWA Hunt Lascaris.
He has been brought in to return
the company to “its glory days”.
Kuzwayo, a marketer and adman,
has written two books, including
the
bestselling
Marketing
through Mud and Dust, and
the recently published There’s
a Tsotsi in the Boardroom. His
success was covered in an indepth interview in the Financial
Mail.
Contact Jane on 021 465 9642 or
[email protected]
As Director of her own
company,
Sustainable
Development Consulting, and
a single mother, of two kids,
Chalwyn Vorster (AIM PT
2003) knows how to multitask. In the March edition of
O Magazine she discussed the
need to find time for oneself
amidst a busy schedule.
The MBA Challenge
continues and we invite
all MBA classes to challenge each other in raising
money towards two major
projects: bursaries and the
building of a new conference centre at the GSB.
Those of you who attend
functions at the GSB will
appreciate the dire need for
a conference centre which
can comfortably house 350
plus attendees.
May I ask all alumni to
give us your full support so
that we can truly live up to
our name as being the only
business school in Africa to
be ranked in the Financial
Times MBA Top 100 survey.
Please contact Linda
Fasham, [email protected].
ac.za for further information or suggestions. Come
on let’s show the American
schools that we can do it!
32
BWB
Volume 8 #1
MBA happy
hour with
Columbia
The Columbia Business
School MBA alumni welcome the GSB MBA alumni to join them at their
International MBA Happy
Hour.
Columbia
Business
School alumni residing in Gauteng have an
International MBA Happy
Hour once a month. It is a
great networking opportunity for all GSB alumni.
For
details
contact
Linda Fasham. Email
[email protected].
New
beginnings
Congratulations
to
Fiona
Phillips (MBA 1993) who has
a new arrival in the family – a
baby girl, named Jemima.
A P R I L 2007
STRATEGY -
The Dynaminds Strat Pack
Dynaminds facilitates strategic conversations using the model
Games Foxes Play, fully endorsed by the authors Clem Sunter
and Chantall Ilbury. This sets the direction for your business.
6 to 8 hr facilitated conversation
Documented strategy - minutes
The three M’s: Mission, Mandate & Model
TACTICS -
The Dynaminds Tac Pack
Having set the direction for the business it is time to plan and
implement that direction. You may choose the full pack or parts
thereof:
Develop tactical plans and business structures
Develop necessary documentation
Support through consultations and mentoring
Implement through programme management
Call 082 939 1426 to enquire or email [email protected]
www.dynaminds.co.za
Sparking reactions
Getting results
Experiential training solutions in diversity, leadership,
project management, customer service and more...
Call 021 465 7986 for all your training needs!
LEARN TO LEAD
Learn to Lead 001/rothko
MBA Challenge