On the 24th and 25th of September, 2012, GIBS hosted 35 Deans and Directors from CEEMAN, the international management development association in Eastern Europe, for a two day seminar on the role of business schools in nations in transition.

The group of senior academics spent most of the time ‘on the ground’ walking the streets, dining in Soweto and meeting with local community leaders in Alexandra Township in Johannesburg.

The first day focussed on Leading through Adversity and was led by the Executive Director of GIBS, Jonathan Cook. It drew on experiences in the struggle for freedom in South Africa and the political negotiation leading to a constitutional democracy in 1994. The question of how leaders in business and in social life deal with challenges of adversity was debated and parallels drawn with the experiences of participants in Eastern and Central Europe, leading to a discussion about the role of a business school in times of societal turmoil and change. The Dean of GIBS, Nick Binedell asked if the theory and practice of management is universal or if it is significantly influenced by context. And whether our curriculum in contexts of national change comes from the content of people’s lives or whether we borrow unthinkingly from the likes of Harvard.

The group met with the ex-chairman of the Johannesburg taxi (Minibus) public transport industry and discussed the dynamics of leading change in a local cultural context before spending the evening dining at the festive Sakhumzi Resturant in Soweto. 

The second day focused more on present day South Africa and the responsibility and opportunity in leading in changing socio-economic landscape. GIBS shared some of our experiential learning journey methodology through small group visits to nearby Alexandra, a crowded township where GIBS take executives to understand society from the bottom up.

We addressed themes such as: how the ideals of the new South Africa have been experienced, if at all, by South Africans on the margins? How should a business school respond to poverty and inequality?
In the latter part of the afternoon the methodology of experiential learning, supported by the Scharmer’s U-Process and Bohm’s Dialogue was interrogated and its contribution to the leader’s development was explored. Hard questions were asked about quantifying impact.

Anthony Prangley, GIBS lecturer in Social Change and the Context of Business said that “I thank Danica Purg and CEEMAN for the opportunity to work together and exchange ideas. GIBS learned significantly from the relevant discussions and we were made to think deeply about the role of an institution like GIBS in South Africa.” “The networks made and the seeds planted will hopefully lead to some new trees over the years ahead”.

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