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SCULPTING GLOBAL LEADERS
WBS among world’s top schools
WBS is proud of being awarded a position
in the Financial Times annual Executive
Education 2012 rankings.
The business school was placed 55th
in the world’s top 65 business schools for
executive education. The school moved
up one position from 2011 in the open
programme provider section.
“We are honoured to be placed among
the top business schools in the world. We
will continue to work hard to be leaders
in the business education industry,”
says director and head of Wits Business
School, Professor Wendy Ngoma.
WBS is one of only four schools in
Africa, and three in South Africa, to make
the list.
Our school did particularly well in
terms of partner schools (33rd), women
participants (34th), international location
(35th), repeat business and growth (39th)
and faculty diversity (43rd).
The top schools are given rankings
according to questionnaires and statistical
data that go to businesses and schools.
Participating schools must meet strict
criteria to participate. They must be
internationally accredited and have earned
a specified minimum revenue in 2011 for
their open programmes. For schools to
be eligible, a 20% rate of response to the
FT questionnaire is required among the
WBS on a roll with research
WBS academic staff members have stepped up their research
productivity recently.
In 2011, they contributed to 45 peer-reviewed academic journal
articles, 10 books, 16 book chapters and 21 conference papers.
By May this year, staff had contributed to nearly 40 journal articles,
six book chapters, six conference papers and five books. This is
just a fraction of what is in store this year.
Head of school Professor Wendy Ngoma congratulates the
academics on “excellent research productivity”.
Ngoma is impressed with the wide range of themes addressed
in the research, which she says underlines the quality of WBS
academic staff.
“Research from educational institutions confirms that some of
the key factors in successful schools is the quality of lecturers,
quality of teaching, qualifications and the type and nature of
research conducted,” she says.
participants.
The open-enrolment ranking of 65
schools is compiled using data from
participating schools and individuals who
completed the programmes.
Schools submit one or two general
management programmes of at least
three days duration, and one or two
advanced management programmes of
at least five days.
Individuals who took part in these
nominated programmes in 2011 are
invited to answer the FT survey.
Some 6 300 participants responded,
rating selected elements of their
programme on a 10-point scale. ■
Professor Greg Lee says staff “research has recently been
central in elevating WBS in the eyes of both main campus and
external bodies, such as accreditation boards”. He says WBS’s
research office strives to keep research at centre stage.
WBS Professor Russell Abratt received a B rating from the
National Research Foundation and published in the California
Management Review, which is ranked in the Financial Times as
one of the top 40 journals in the world.
Twenty WBS PhD students have gone through the panel of
academics representing WBS and the faculty’s graduate studies
committee in the past year and are busy with research. Another
30 commenced their studies this year.
In the 2012 list of research accomplishments so far, Professor
Stuart Woolman has authored or co-authored three books. He
also worked on five book chapters. Professor Boris Urban holds
this year’s record – he has been published in 10 publications. ■
Let us know about any news relating to WBS, its staff and alumni, or if there is an event you want alumni or staff to attend. Contact Rutendo
Nxumalo at WBS Marketing on 011 717 3615 or e-mail Rutendo.Nxumalo@wits.ac.za.

PAGE 2
Business education for underprivileged
Wits Business Clinic delegates
WBS is committed to growing business
leaders in this country – and these leaders
should not just come from the ranks of
those who can afford to go to university.
This was the thinking behind the Wits
Business Clinic, which took place on 21
April.
At the clinic, WBS academic staff shared
their experience and expertise pro bono
with people who are unemployed or who
run small businesses. WBS lecturers Mark
Peters, Theo Sibiya, Antony Soicher, David
Zidel, Mike Mcethe, Charisse Drobis,
Conrad Viedge and Prudence Ndlovu gave
lectures on topics ranging from making a
business plan and presenting yourself to a
potential employer, to labour law.
“We don’t want students to leave business school thinking Africa
extends only as far as Zoo Lake.”
So said WBS Head of School Professor Wendy Ngoma when
she welcomed students and General Electric (GE) representatives
to the launch of the company’s partnership with WBS recently. She
said a global outlook for students and all the opportunities that
affiliation with such a multinational bring made this partnership
very exciting for WBS.
The collaboration aims to promote internship programmes for
students and experienced WBS alumni. It was conceived late last
year and is particularly important given that WBS, while it has
exchange programmes and sends students to study overseas,
has not developed strong links with global companies at the level
of recruitment, according to Ngoma.
GE general manager of industrial solutions, Ross Boyd,
Drobis, who gave a talk on personal
branding, says the experience was very
rewarding because the attendees were so
enthusiastic about learning. The attitude
they displayed at the talk showed they
have what it takes to market themselves
successfully, she says. “The session was
highly interactive, with the group sharing
some very interesting questions and
insights,” she adds.
Dorothy Rampete of the Mogale
Women’s Networking Forum attended the
clinic. She says the reaction from the other
attendees was very positive. She suggests
the clinic in future take place over two
days, so more time can be allocated to
each topic and there is more scope for
Issue 2 2012 • WITS Business School
interaction with the lecturers. Rampete
adds that the workshops should be held in
townships, “because that’s where you can
find emerging entrepreneurs or SMMES
[small, medium and micro enterprises].”
Cleopatra Simelane, who runs an
edutainment magazine called Recess
for high school students, says she found
the workshop very helpful. “Running
the magazine has been challenging for
me, especially when it comes to selling
advertising space,” she says. “The Wits
Business Clinic forced me to examine
my personal and business strengths and
weaknesses.” She says she gained practical
skills, including goal-setting, decisionmaking
and recognising opportunities. ■
New WBS partnership with General Electric
outlined the possibilities for graduates in the multinational. He
said GE was keen to form strategic partnerships with schools like
WBS to bring fresh talent into the organisation. These include a
12-month internship programme for graduates, as well as one
for those who already have experience in business. The latter is
called the Experienced Commercial Leader programme.
Boyd emphasised GE’s philosophy of ‘we all rise’, saying the
company believed good leaders empower those around them.
He added that a pillar of this philosophy was learning by doing,
so all employees are given the opportunity to move around within
the company, experiencing vastly different projects and roles. And
with almost 300 000 employees in over 100 countries, including
a deep footprint in Africa; a range of interests, from energy to
aviation to medical supplies; and training camps in five countries,
there is a lot of scope for movement. ■
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PAGE 3
WIZZIT’s Charles
Rowlinson ‘banking
the unbanked’ WBS recently hosted one of Europe’s most respected business
coaches, Professor David Clutterbuck. At his workshop, he
addressed an audience of 80 coaches – predominantly students
from the Master of Management in Business Executive Coaching
(MMBEC) programme and their coaching supervisors; Wits
University internal coaches and WBS MBA alumni who coach
MBA students.
Clutterbuck runs a mentoring and coaching business in the
United Kingdom, and is visiting lecturer on his subject at both
Oxford Brookes University and Sheffield Hallam University.
He is the European Mentoring and Coaching Council’s special
ambassador and, in 2011, was voted Coaching at Work
magazine’s Mentor of the Year.
He has written more than 50 books on advanced coaching
methods, mentoring and management, and his visit was a coup
for WBS. This was Clutterbuck’s first visit to the business school,
although he has worked with Wits mentors in the past.
“My role is to ask BDQs (‘Bloody Difficult Questions’) as a
mentor or coach; as a researcher; as a facilitator of good practice
in boardrooms; and as the practice leader in an international
Charles Rowlinson
Eight hundred million people in Africa have no access to bank
accounts, but 70% of them own cellphones. Accordingly, WBS
alumnus Charles Rowlinson saw the opportunity to “bank the
unbanked and the under-banked” and started WIZZIT in 2002.
Rowlinson, the latest speaker at the Entrepreneurial Heroes
Series hosted by the Centre for Entrepreneurship at WBS,
regaled a packed lecture hall with his success story.
WIZZIT offers a low-cost, transactional bank account that uses
cellphones for making person-to-person payments, transfers and
prepaid purchases. Customers also get a Maestro debit card for
making payments in the formal retail environment.
But the path to becoming an social entrepreneur who makes
an impact, as Rowlinson would like to be seen, has been, in his
words, “long, frustrating, arduous and risky.”
The regulatory environment, high barriers to entry, lack of
financial support from banking institutions, poor education and
lack of innovation and entrepreneurial support structures are just
some of the issues that Rowlinson has contended with.
But his unyielding vision to “invent new approaches and create
solutions to change society for the better” has seen him soldier
on. These are some of the tips he offered:
• risk much for what you believe in;
• when you consider an entrepreneurial path, it should be
focused on creating employment for others;
• be self-motivated and accept failure;
• be willing to take personal financial risk;
• have a vision that is simple, stretching and relevant – although
when John F Kennedy said he would put a man on the moon,
many would beg to differ that this was a simple vision. But
it was achieved. The gist is you can make your dreams a
reality;
• create a product and service that fulfils an intrinsic need;
• undertake research; and
• devise your product’s unique selling point.
The final tip Rowlinson gave was to “be a salesperson”. An
entrepreneur has to sell their product to the bank, to employees
and to shareholders.
“Selling requires passion, confidence and commitment because
it can get extremely rough and uncertain in the marketplace,” he
said.
He left the audience with a powerful thought: “The best way to
predict the future is to create it.” ■
Coaching giant gives
workshop at WBS
consultancy. Clutterbuck Associates (the consultancy)
specialises in supporting organisations in developing mentoring
and coaching programmes, and in establishing sustainable
mentoring and coaching cultures,” he says. “Everything I do
revolves around helping people and organisations harness the
power of dialogue.”
In his interactive workshop, he gave an overview of business
coaching approaches and discussed emerging trends. MMBEC
programme director, Dr Hilary Geber, says what stood out for
her in the talk was Clutterbuck’s discussion of the evolution
of coaching competencies. She explains that Clutterbuck
maintained that experienced and effective business coaches
are more likely to listen to their clients and less likely to adhere
strictly to coaching models. He also said that process- and
philosophy-based coaching are emerging as trends and the most
outstanding coaches are eclectic, systemic and enable change
in their clients.
According to Clutterbuck, emerging themes in coaching include
an awareness of the organisational context of coaching and the
different kinds of dialogue in coaching conversations.
Many in the audience were intrigued by Clutterbuck’s model of
coaching, and by the difference between American and European
definitions of traditional and developmental coaching. ■
Professor David Clutterbuck
Issue 2 2012 • WITS Business School
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PAGE 4
Professor Kalu Ojah addresses international
Professor Kalu Ojah, director of Master of
Management in Finance and Investment at WBS
Applications for the 2013 MBA and all masters in management
programmes are now open. The deadline for MBA programme
applications is 31 August, and 28 September for the others. Get
your applications in fast to ensure your place.
Professor Stu Woolman, Chair of Ethics, Governance and
Sustainable Development, has published in and edited a number
of publications, including Is This Seat Taken?: Conversations
at the Bar, the Bench and the Academy about South Africa’s
Constitution and the much-cited and respected Constitutional
Law of South Africa. Woolman is offering copies of these
and other important recent publications on constitutional law.
Contact him on Stu.Woolman@wits.ac.za.
WBS congratulates NMP programme manager Jackie Mthembu,
who has become a grandmother! Baby Oarabile weighed 3.8
kg at birth, and mom and baby are both doing well.
The ’Discovery Ltd: Entrepreneurship in its DNA’ case study and
teaching notes, written by WBS staff members Professor Boris
Urban and Claire Beswick, was accepted for publication by the
Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies Journal. Beswick is
head of the WBS Case Centre and Urban is full professor of
Entrepreneurship and the incumbent Chair in Entrepreneurship
(Lamberti Foundation).
Professor Kalu Ojah, programme director
of Master of Management in Finance
and Investment at WBS, recently gave
the keynote address at the ninth African
Finance Journal Conference. The conference
was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on
19 and 20 April. Its aim was to begin to
develop platforms to support research in
African finance and investment, so that
Africa can overcome the effects of the
global financial crisis and emerge on a
level with the rest of the world.
Ojah’s address centred on examining
the effects of institutional and nontraditional
sources of debt funding for
firms in African countries, and how the
architecture of financial markets can
make this source of funds efficient. Africa
needs an institutional environment that
allows countries to develop effective bond
markets and in which banks can lend.
NEWS ON CAMPUS
Issue 2 2012 • WITS Business School
The conference attracted about 150
delegates – mostly academics and
financial system authorities from all
over Africa, as well as a few graduate
students.
Ojah says the issues that emerged at the
talks were largely around the theme of the
conference: fostering efficient production
and growth in African countries. What
stood out for him in the discussions were
“issues around progress that has been
made in Africa’s national capital markets
and the many miles to travel before a
critical number of these national markets
become globally competitive”.
Ojah is a highly respected and
accomplished academic, having published
widely and taught at business schools all
over the world. His wide-ranging research
interests include emerging capital markets
and international business. ■
Congratulations are also due to MAP programme manager
Lehlohonolo ‘Hlonny’ Mphuthi, who has married Mantombi
Judith.
The full-time 2012 Postgraduate Diploma in Management
students showed they care by collecting food, cleaning supplies
and toiletries (in the boot of a car above). The goods went to
families supported by Rays of Hope, an organisation that
manages outreach projects to underprivileged communities,
mostly in Alexandra. The initiative was voluntary and was led
by Jenni Willows.
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PAGE 5
WBS 2012 short courses
SENIOR EXECUTIVE PROGRAMMES
WBS International Senior Executive Development
Programme (IEDP) (including a study tour)
1 August – 1 September 2012
Corporate Governance
5 – 8 November
GENERAL MANAGEMENT
Art and Science of Negotiation 2
28 – 31 August 2012
Thinking and Planning Strategically
29 October – 1 November
FINANCE
Finance for Non-financial Managers 3
30 July – 2 August 2012
Finance for Non-financial Managers 4
12 – 15 November 2012
Technical and Financial Evaluation Projects 2
17 – 21 September 2012
Certificate Programme in Finance and Accounting 28
16 July – 21 November 2012
Integrated Strategy, Budgeting and Reporting Programme
15 – 17 October 2012
Project Management 2
11 – 15 June 2012
Project Management 3
12 – 16 November 2012
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Certificate Programme in Business Project Management 2
13 August – 14 November 2012
MARKETING
Product Strategy and Brand Management
16 – 18 July 2012
Sales Management
20 – 24 August 2012
Strategic Marketing Management
2 – 6 July 2012
Certificate Programme in Marketing Management 18
21 June – 6 October
Social Media That Gets Results
23, 24, 26, 30 & 31 July and 02 August 2012
(2-3 hour evening sessions)
SPECIALISED TOPICS
BEE – Unpacking Strategy and Codes
22 – 23 August and 19 September 2012
CERTIFICATE PROGRAMMES
New Managers Programme 81
3 September – 7 December 2012
Management Advancement Programme (MAP)
MAP 106 21 June – 26 October 2012 (weekend block release)
MAP 107 6 September 2012 – 29 June 2013 (part time)
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Fast Track Leadership 2
28 September – 30 November 2012
Issue 2 2012 • WITS Business School
CONTACT DETAILS:
Rutendo Nxumalo
Tel 011 717 3515
E-mail Rutendo.Nxumalo@wits.ac.za
UPCOMING EVENTS
12 JUNE 2012 – 5.30pm for 6pm
First National Bank’s chief marketing officer, Bernice Samuels,
is to speak on ‘3D: doing different things differently’ as part of the
Distinguished Lecture Series. Samuels is a WBS alumnus and the
brains behind FNB’s successful ‘Hello Steve’ campaign.
20 JUNE 2012 – 5pm for 5:30pm
Dr Dominik Heil, MD and global partner of Reputation Institute’s South
African office and WBS senior lecturer in strategy, is to speak on
‘The results of the 2012 RepTrak Pulse Survey: What the reputation
economy means for South Africa’ as part of the Distinguished Lecture
Series. It will be at the Bert Wessels Lecture Theatre at a cost of
R150 a person. For enquiries, contact sue@vibrantmedia.co.za or
on (011) 880 5202.
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