The UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB), in partnership with Old Mutual, has put together a unique team of five young scholars who have been tasked with cracking the code of emerging markets. Using a multidisciplinary approach, and starting this year, the team will work to understand some of the social and economic development issues the developing world faces. The Old Mutual Research Fellowship in Emerging Markets has drawn researchers from the Netherlands, Germany, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Sierra Leone, with a diverse range of expertise within the housing, finance, sustainability, collaboration, and economics disciplines. Professor Walter Baets, director of... Continue Reading
Allan Kalau might look like a typical University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (GSB) student – young, ambitious and filled with vitality and good ideas about how to improve the world of business – but his journey in getting there has been radically different from most of his fellow students. Ten years ago he was a promising young medical student with a scholarship and bright future ahead of him: then the Second Congo War broke out, and set him on an entirely new course. “Everything that happened after war was declared felt like I was watching a movie,”... Continue Reading
Runaway housing prices and unsophisticated mortgage systems are hampering efforts across Africa to house its people: a situation that experts say is preventing many countries from reaping the social and economic benefits that housing security provides. Going beyond a roof overhead, housing creates employment during the development phases, and improves quality of life, social standing, health, financial position, security, social cohesion and access to education. The ABSA housing index, shows that in South Africa the average price of small houses have risen from R660 953 in the first quarter of 2011 to R777 343 in the fourth quarter of 2012.... Continue Reading
The 85% shareholder in the African Investment Portfolio telecommunications wing, LAP Green Net, which is registered in the country as Ambitel-Green Net Sierra Leone Limited, has been accused of breach of shares agreement between its partner, founder and Director of Ambitel Sierra Leone, Mr. Michael Kenneth Ondaan, for failure to fulfil its part of the deal. As per the said shares agreement, it was stated that Mr. Michael Kenneth Ondaan be recruited as a chairman of board of directors and a consultant with a monthly salary of $6, 000, 00, totalling to $216,000 including interest, from 2009 to date. Speaking... Continue Reading
A new study by the Centre for Coaching at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) has revealed that tailoring coaching techniques to a specific corporate environment can increase customer satisfaction, improve productivity and boost the bottom line. Automotive giant Toyota initiated a tailor-made coaching programme for its Toyota Tsusho Africa subsidiary in all eight African countries where they have a presence. Results showed a happier workforce and customer base translating into an overwhelming 92% increase in the economic value added to the company. “We started searching for innovative ways to improve productivity and staff satisfaction,” said... Continue Reading
