Can South Africa stem its gaping shortage of business and management skills by following the well-worn current path of business education, or does it require a radical change in outlook?
There is no doubt that local business schools offer a world-class, traditional business education — whether through degree programmes or more general executive training. But economic growth demands a deeper spread of skills. As things stand, says Henley Africa dean Jon Foster-Pedley, “we are trying to build an economy by talking only to the elite”. He adds: “We must look beyond our current offerings and ask: ‘What is our purpose?’”
It’s a view that Zaheer Hamid, director of the Management College of Southern Africa’s (Mancosa) Graduate School of Business, has argued for years. He says: “The South African business school sector is not adequately meeting ... demand. Business education remains limited in access, limited in options and too expensive.”
The government, he says, should lower entry barriers to higher education and “ensure a more supportive and developmental posture”. Local higher education has not kept pace with changing demands. He adds: “Foreign institutions outside the regulatory landscape are making significant strides in the local education market because South African education is too limiting, too one-dimensional. Foreign study options for South African students are more enticing, easier to access, often more affordable and more promising for student mobility.”
Whatever the teaching method, South African business schools say they are trying to balance traditional and developing needs. For while they admit subject and technology change is needed, they say basic management principles remain the same. Market research for this cover story shows that long-time staple subjects such as leadership, general management and finance are still in demand. But it is notable that digital transformation, which drew limited interest until fairly recently, is now hot on their heels.
Johannesburg Business School (JBS) dean Randall Carolissen says: “It helps people deal with chaos and uncertainty. We should be looking for opportunity in chaos.”
AI is also making strides, both as a subject and as a teaching tool. Hamid says that Mancosa’s AI postgraduate diploma is the first of its kind in South Africa.
Becoming an AI leader is one thing, remaining one is quite another. As Skae observes, it’s hard to keep up with the pace of AI development. “It’s breathtaking,” he says.
Venter is equally awed, though he says: “We are feeling more comfortable with its potential.” Milpark Business School director Segran Nair adds: “We want all our students to understand the digital and AI space. We are empowering people to understand business and all its complexities.”
Employers must also create the capacity to absorb and apply this new knowledge in their organisation. “If the work environment is not conducive to using this knowledge, sending employees on AI and digital programmes is no more than a tick-box exercise,” says Wits Business School executive education director Leoni Grobler.
Our students are telling us they want to network with other students and meet their teachers. It’s possible to graduate or complete programmes without ever meeting anyone. They don’t want that
— Peet Venter
In pursuit of that goal, the school is prepared to bite the bullet and apply for international accreditation. Law and co-founder Marko Saravanja have previously labelled these accreditations “money-making scams”. It’s not a view shared by most local schools, which say the stringent, ever-increasing conditions for accreditation force them to continuously improve their performance and quality.
Nearly half of local schools are internationally accredited, either for their MBA programmes or for overall activities. For many potential students, such accreditation is highly desirable as an international mark of approval of their qualifications.
Law says: “The market wants [accreditations] and we have to deliver what the market wants.” Consequently, “we are pursuing all international accreditations”.
These include Equis, managed by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), the US-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and the UK-based Business Graduates Association (BGA). All three reflect general business school activities. The BGA is a division of the Association of MBAs, whose separate MBA accreditation is limited to 200 schools worldwide. Several other local schools, including Unisa, Tshwane and Johannesburg, say they are also pursuing BGA approval.
The market wants [accreditations] and we have to deliver what the market wants
— Penny Law
Many of these foreign options are online — at a time when, ironically, South African schools say there is growing demand for classroom-based, face-to-face teaching. Covid and its associated social distancing, which forced most students online, was supposed to be the death knell for the traditional classroom. Instead, say schools, the demand for direct human interface is making a comeback.
Hybrid teaching — a combination of classroom and “live” online sessions — seems to be the preferred option for many. Peet Venter, academic director at Unisa’s Graduate School of Business Leadership, says: “Our students are telling us they want to network with other students and meet their teachers. It’s possible to graduate or complete programmes without ever meeting anyone. They don’t want that. They have asked for a classroom option as part of the programme.”
Rhodes Business School director Owen Skae says: “We are still in a state of transition, in determining the best mode of delivery.” North-West University Business School director Joseph Sekhampu notes: “While there is a strong preference for in-person learning, the flexibility and accessibility of online education are undeniable.”
AI is not the only subject that is hard to control. Almost gone are the days when a business school could claim ownership of a particular area of expertise. Now, every school teaches every subject. “The commoditisation of specialities has happened,” says Chris van der Hoven, head of Stellenbosch Business School’s executive development arm.
Skae says: “We have to understand that we are all going in so many different directions that no-one can claim to be the one expert on any one thing.” Not “the” expert, perhaps, but certainly “an” expert. “I’m not underestimating that there are very valuable things coming from a multitude of sources, but we still consider ourselves a leader in sustainability,” he says.
Other schools are still finding their niches. Unisa considers itself a specialist in project management but has found challenges in developing overall growth for its executive education offerings. Likewise, the Tshwane School for Business & Society has not had the growth it hoped for. In part, this is because Tshwane University of Technology, of which the school is part, believes executive education should not be the exclusive domain of the business school.
Director Kobus Jonker, who is due to leave at the end of August after 5½ years in charge, says this attitude is changing — “We will have first refusal for business and management learning in the future” — but is disappointed that he could not complete the shift before his tenure ended.
Carolissen says there has been no shortage of demand for executive education at JBS. Quite the opposite: “We actually grew too fast and our teaching capacity did not keep pace. But now we are hiring more staff, so that is no longer an issue.”
Sekhampu also reports good growth, particularly for customised programmes designed for individual clients. “Additionally, we have observed a rekindling of interest from previously dormant partners who are now seeking to reinvest in training programmes with us.” Venter suggests that pre-election uncertainty caused some companies to pause programmes and that they may now return to the market.
Joburg-based Regenesys is taking a different tack — growing its overall business by limiting its exposure to the South African market.
In the past year, the business school has built on its existing student base in South Africa, Nigeria and India by adding students in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Co-founder and director Penny Law makes the bold statement that “with 1,000 full-time staff, R1bn in revenue and 10,000 students, Regenesys has become the largest business school in Africa”.
She says: “We are growing exponentially and organically, [based on] self-funded growth from internal revenue, without external borrowings.” The digital arm “is the fastest-growing part of Regenesys, recording 100% annual growth”.
Executive education growth has been below par in South Africa, she admits. “It is hard for a young brand like Regenesys to compete in South Africa against 100-year-old brands whose alumni are decision-makers and opinion-makers in the corporate world.”
The school has decided to shift its executive education focus from South Africa’s “shark-infested waters” and concentrate on other markets where the opportunity for growth is greater.
Local schools already with Equis accreditation — Stellenbosch, Henley, the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs) and the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) — will have to adjust their thinking in future.
The EFMD recently announced changes to its accreditation formula. These include a clear differentiation between academic and practice-orientated research; a requirement for schools to align research strategy with their overall objectives; an emphasis on contemporary research topics addressing major socioeconomic issues such as sustainability, digitalisation and AI; a focus on research ethics, diversity and inclusivity; and the encouragement of international collaboration to tackle global challenges.
This adjusted emphasis is unlikely to deter existing Equis-accredited schools from continuing their efforts, or others such as Wits that have declared their intention to become accredited. International recognition is important to business schools with global ambitions — for themselves and their students.
That recognition includes international rankings. In the latest ranking of business school executive education by the Financial Times, Gibs and GSB both once again made their mark, as did Henley Africa in the international Henley stable. US-based Duke Corporate Education, including its Joburg campus, was ranked fourth in customised programmes.
Once again, it’s notable how many European and UK business schools (few US schools seek FT approval) have established campuses outside their home country. Business education is a truly global business.
Understanding the tables
Schools taking part in market research for this year’s Business Schools Edition were: Durban University of Technology Business School; Gordon Institute of Business Science at the University of Pretoria; Henley Business School Africa; Johannesburg Business School; Management College of Southern Africa Graduate School of Business; Milpark Business School; North-West University Business School; Regenesys Business School; Rhodes Business School; Tshwane School for Business & Society at the Tshwane University of Technology; Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership at the University of Limpopo; University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business; University of the Free State Business School; Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership; and Wits Business School.
Tables accompanying this article refer to various executive education offerings. To explain:
- Customised programmes are tailor-made for individual corporate clients, and restricted to their staff.
- Open programmes include more general content and are available to individuals from multiple companies.
- In-person programmes are classroom-based, with students and lecturers in the same venue.
- Virtual/synchronous programmes offer “live” classes, with lecturers and students interacting online from various venues. In some cases, students have the choice of being in the actual classroom or joining remotely.
- Digital/asynchronous programmes are wholly online. Lectures are pre-recorded, allowing students to study in their own time and at their own pace.
- Hybrid programmes are a mixture of the above.
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