Business schools provide specialised training to mould the best possible decisionmakers to provide leadership for the private sector, uncertainty, risk and fast-paced changes notwithstanding. They benefit state-owned entities (SOEs) too, for if they are to succeed in their mission, such schools must operate according to tried and tested business principles.
Admittedly, each country’s circumstances will inform its business leadership framework and therefore the type of business education it needs. The conditions that may influence a business school's trajectory are history, culture and geographic location. Another is that a country may not be internally homogeneous. South Africa is one such example — it’s effectively two nations within a country.
For historical reasons, South Africa’s differences are so stark that former president Thabo Mbeki, in 1998, said in a parliamentary debate on reconciliation and nation-building: “We therefore make bold to say that South Africa is a country of two nations. One of these is white, relatively prosperous, regardless of gender or geographic dispersal. The second and larger nation of South Africa is black and poor, with the worst affected being women in the rural areas, the black rural population in general and the disabled.”
In November 2015, renowned Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf reiterated this, describing South Africa as an amalgam of Belgium and India. He suggested the “Belgium” was the rich part of the country, with the “India” the large mass of poor and unemployed.
These analogies must not be taken too literally. The real Belgium and India are dynamic countries. Though the latter is part of the so-called global south and has problems with poverty and inequality, it has made great strides in science and technology, especially in space science and ICT. Countries such as Singapore, India and, more recently, Rwanda demonstrate how a nation can benefit from decisive leadership.
Business schools can play a big role in narrowing the gap between their internal “Belgium” and “India”.
A business school's first challenge is to provide skills that will enable the inhabitants of “Belgium” and “India” to find common ground that will transform the dominant leadership trajectory and in that way transform the country.
Work experience
Let us start with the day-to-day stuff. The quality of pupils coming out of the country’s public high schools is worsening. They take longer, on average, to complete junior degrees. That means employers will, if they are not already doing so, be less likely to hire young people who went to “Indian” schools, however great their university passes.
Work experience is crucial in gaining access to business school. Without it, very little of what these schools teach will make sense, putting students at a disadvantage. They will have no reference point (experience) against which to bounce off the theoretical foundations the school will try to build. Case studies won’t help either because they make sense when read against one’s experience.
There is a strong business case for business schools to bring together 'India' and 'Belgium'. Numerous businesses in this country — grocery chains and retailers of building materials, for example — make money in South Africa's 'India'. And what happens in India has huge implications for the country's 'Belgium'
The narrow door to good education and therefore the world of business (including business schools) deprives businesses and related schools an opportunity to tap into different experiences. As things stand, this is a situation that is likely to continue well into the future — the only contact point will be when a disadvantaged black person delivers tea and other refreshments to the boardroom.
This is a great pity. For South Africa to succeed in addressing its socioeconomic problems, the country needs to draw from all its people.
Decisionmakers
The late American economist Herbert Simon described the role of business schools as being to educate and train prospective or present practitioners in management and leadership. To do this, he argued in a 1967 essay, a professional school (business, engineering, law and architecture) must have the information and skills relevant to the accomplishment of its teaching and research goals.
Business schools, he added, would be at their best if they understood the problems faced by the business manager and leader (the decisionmakers), the skills and the techniques (for handling business problems) that can help the decisionmakers and professionals navigate the world of business with all its uncertainty, risk and fast-paced changes.
“Thus, the business school must understand the business environment, the nature of the manager’s tasks and problems, and the skills and techniques employed by successful business organisations,” Simon said.
But to speak of the “business school knowing” about business practice and relevant sciences “is, of course, a metaphor”. That’s because “schools do not know, people in them do”.
This raised the question: how do business schools connect themselves to the social system — that being the business world?
Simon identified four connection points. First, business schools seek faculty members who can bring business (management, professional and leadership) experience. Second, they encourage the existing faculty to consult to the business sector. Third, they engage business leaders as guest lecturers. Fourth, they tap into business experiences by running post-experience courses to attract experienced managers, leaders and professionals into the classroom.
“The idea behind all of these lines of action is to get as close to the actual practice and environment of business as possible.”
But as discussed, the people who shape and nurture South Africa’s actual business practice and environment are drawn from “Belgium”. Even in cases where people from “India” have risen to the top, they tend to be from the more advantaged parts of the “country”. In government too, it’s the best of “India” that bubbles to the top.
Labour and trade
This is the problem business schools face, one that is magnified by the business environment within which they operate. Business schools can continue as usual, in which case what they produce will mirror the business environment. But they could do things differently by finding ways of bringing “India” and “Belgium” together.
They aren’t as disconnected as the analogy might suggest. They intersect in many ways, including through labour (people from “India” work in “Belgium”) and trade (“Belgian” companies sell consumer goods to informal business in the “India”).
So there is a strong business case for business schools to bring together “India” and “Belgium”. Numerous businesses in this country — grocery chains and retailers of building materials, for example — make money in South Africa's “India”. And what happens in India has huge implications for the country's “Belgium”.
Take Transaction Capital. The JSE-listed firm does business in “India” and a big chunk of its business model — financing the purchase of new and reconditioned minibus taxis — depends thereon.
Transaction Capital was, for several years, the darling of “Belgium” (which understood very little about the minibus taxi industry). Now, the company's share price has taken a knock because of problems in the industry. This is just one example of why “Belgium” needs to keep in touch with “India”. Business schools can facilitate this, but will have to rethink how they work and structure themselves.
• Mathebula is a professor at the University of Limpopo’s Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership and the founder of Ignite Africa Advisory Services Group. He writes in his personal capacity
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