Can you share some highlights of your career to date? “I’ve been with Milpark Business School (MBS) in my current role for more than 14 years. Some of the highlights over this period include leading MBS to achieve AMBA accreditation in 2018 for both its contact learning and online learning MBAs – the first private business school in South Africa to achieve this and the only AMBA-accredited online MBA in Africa. “I was also faculty advisor to a global finalist MBA team in the Global Social Venture Competition 2011 held at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. In addition, I was the lecturer of the MBA class that held the first, second and third positions in the 2013 IDC National Business Plan competition. “I also served on the MBA Standards Development working group convened by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) from 2013 to 2015 and on the accreditation of our doctoral programme (DBA) in 2018, as well as serving on the recently established Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Africa chapter steering committee.” How healthy is the current market for business education in South Africa and the surrounding region and what are the main challenges? “In spite of the setbacks of the pandemic and associated economic downturn, the region’s market is still healthy. “Against a backdrop of 22 business schools in a market of around 13 million people between the ages of 25 and 64 employed (total addressable market), three million tertiary-educated employed (serviceable available market) and two million managers and professionals (serviceable obtainable market), one might consider the local market relatively small. “Nonetheless, aligned with the global high demand for MBAs, the trend in South Africa indicates a compound annual growth rate of MBA applications of 2.7 per cent over the past decade. “On the local front, I regard the main challenge for business education as the inability of the power utility to keep the
Albert Einstein’s maxim that we cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking we used when we created them, students’ world views, assumptions and current management practices are subsequently challenged to enact new world view paradigms. “Why? Because the complex present and unfolding ambiguous future challenge our assumptions, thinking and reasoning as it pertains to leading and managing the organisations of the future. Linear leadership thinking simply doesn’t suffice any longer against exponential technological progress and the other societal, economic, political and environmental drivers of change.” What are the biggest challenges international business schools are facing right now? “Besides the challenge to remain relevant, business schools face numerous challenges spawned by several drivers of change. These include technology and its relentless reconfiguration of the way we work, socialise and travel, as well as the growing prominence of the changing energy mix, coupled with a shortage of resources and climate issues. “Influential, too, is the growth of knowledge expansion and the information society, along with noticeable economic shifts and globalisation, as are demographic shifts, urbanisation and the mobility of people, as well as changing health and wellness demands. “With specific reference to management education and training, people want more options at lower cost to support their education and training for jobs. They are seeking accessible and affordable learning opportunities to enhance résumés and support career shifts. They also want fast and flexible ways to upskill, or reskill, to meet immediate skills gaps. “Also noticeable is the evolution of technology, a shifting job market that is contributing to a rise in the popularity of micro-credentials and, in some areas of study, the demand for courses that are unbundled from complete programmes and degrees. In addition, Education as a
lights on, putting more pressure on the local economy and the country’s citizens to make ends meet. This is further compounded by political instability, crime and corruption. Business education as an integral part of the socioeconomic ecosystem is adversely affected by the knock-on effect.” What do you think differentiates the MBA at Milpark? “Our emphasis is on developing the intellectual character, or cognitive disposition, that leaders need to effectively navigate the complex, chaotic and unpredictable times we live in.
“I believe critical themes such as responsible leadership, ethics and
sustainability should be integrated into a business school’s curricula, teaching and research activities as a matter of course. Subsequently, we don’t make reference to a supposed differentiator that emphasises a particular theme, as one often finds in schools’ differentiating statements. “Our differentiator, as noted above, encompasses the pursuit to ‘reconfigure’ students’ mindsets to unlock their potential. The implication is that we draw significantly on domains such as neuroscience, flow state, cognition and psychology to inform our instructional design in teaching and learning.” Which single new course or initiative at MBA level are you most excited about and why? “The management philosophy course, which draws on classical philosophy and challenges the traditional leadership and management orthodoxies against the backdrop of humanity’s biggest challenges. “Based on wisdom’s main virtues of courage, moderation and justice, four critical questions are addressed, namely: Where are we going? Who gains, who loses and by which mechanisms of power? Is it desirable? And what should be done? “The intent is to take students to the threshold of their own minds by exposing them to alternative thinking and reasoning related to the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. To use
20 | Ambition | MARCH 2023
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