WBSNews
Prof Urban joins international
entrepreneurship consortium
WBS Chair in Entrepreneurship Professor
Boris Urban recently became South
Africa’s representative on the Consortium
for Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets,
an international research group.
The consortium’s aim is to contribute
to the understanding of entrepreneurial
activity in multi-country settings and its
links to sustainable economic growth. It
represents two dozen researchers spread
over five emerging markets, namely Brazil,
China, India, Turkey and South Africa, in
addition to the UK and US.
Urban, who is also the programme
director of the Masters of Management
in Entrepreneurship and New Venture
Creation, is a welcome addition to the
group. He has had more than 20 articles
on entrepreneurship published in leading
academic journals. He is the series editor
of Perspectives in Entrepreneurship: A
Research Companion and co-authored
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice,
published by Oxford University Press. He
was also one of the first people in South
MBA Open Day
Saturday 26 May was MBA Open Day
at WBS, where potential MBA students
joined us on campus to hear what was
on offer. They got a sense of the warm
culture and high level of WBS education.
For those who had questions, there
were answers. For those who wanted to
discuss options for study, the right people
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SCULPTING GLOBAL LEADERS
Africa to complete a PhD in entrepreneurial
studies, and he was awarded the Sasol
prize for best PhD student in 2003 at the
University of Pretoria. Urban’s contribution
to the consortium, which fulfils the need for
a collaborative multinational and multilevel
research project, can only be beneficial.
In the wake of the global economic
crisis and increasingly scarce domestic
resources, entrepreneurship has been
identified as a way to enhance economic
performance. Due to globalisation and the
liberalisation of markets, entrepreneurial
activity is becoming more important
than ever in emerging markets such as
Brazil, China and India. Accounting for
more than half the world’s population and
for a large share of global output, these
emerging economies have the ability to
become major forces rapidly in the global
economy, and are considered to have
substantial market potential for Western
companies. Emerging markets are able to
attract foreign investors from developed
countries and are likely to be major
were there for them. There were even
MBA students around to find out about the
actual experience.
If you missed out and wish you had been
there, don’t stress – because there is a
general WBS Open Day scheduled for
1 September (See in Upcoming events).
political influencers and economic drivers
in their broader geographic regions.
The consortium addresses the following
specific needs:
▪ First, it aims to reveal the unique
features of entrepreneurship and its
broader institutional environment in the
emerging market context, and contrast
these to the UK and US.
▪ Second, by investigating the drivers,
processes and consequences of
entrepreneurial activity, the consortium
intends to contribute to a better
understanding of the relationships
of entrepreneurial activity, on one
hand, and economic performance and
sustainable growth on the other.
▪ Third, the consortium is an innovative
and timely response to the need to
investigate entrepreneurial activity in a
setting where collaborators from multiple
countries and multiple disciplines shed
light on the complex phenomena
underlying entrepreneurial activity and
its consequences. ■
PAGE 2 Issue 3 2012 • WITS Business School

Reputation and leadership

vital for
success
A good reputation can increase a
company’s profit in good times, and it
also cushions the blows of the bad times,
says Dr Dominik Heil. But South African
corporations are losing credibility due to a
lack of visible leadership, he said during a
recent WBS Distinguished Lecture.
Heil, a WBS senior lecturer in strategy
and entrepreneurship and managing
director of the South African office of
the Reputation Institution, a global
consultancy, explained how the reputation
economy could benefit brands. The
institution conducts an annual survey
on South Africans’ perceptions of the
top 20 familiar brands. Those covered in
the 2012 survey included Woolworths,
Absa and Anglo American. The survey
seeks to establish consumers’ emotional
connection with a brand and how they
interact with it.
In South Africa, said Heil, the private Dr Dominik Heil
sector used to play a role in society as a

Gender-based violence is
pillar of stability, but now South Africans
are rapidly losing faith in corporations.
This is mainly because there is a lack of

visible leadership – the days of the Anton
Ruperts and Harry Oppenheimers are
over, he said. The public no longer see
board members and CEOs as responsible
citizens but rather as self-interested and
out of touch with the realities of ordinary
South Africans.
However, a strong reputation can
be achieved and maintained in this
environment. What is key is a perception
of a brand as a ‘good citizen’. Woolworths
has managed to market itself as such and
now far outstrips any other organisation
in reputation, Heil said. The institute’s
research showed that almost 79% of
South Africans would say something good
about the retailer.
MTN, last year’s leader, slipped in
the rankings. Heil thought that this was
probably due to the fact that the emotional
connection South Africans forged with the
brand during the MTN-sponsored 2010
FIFA World CupTM had faded.
Heil said corporations should decide if
a good reputation was of strategic value –
some organisations, such as Unilever, do
better without one, preferring to keep a
low profile. They then needed to realise
a vision that made the company appear
to be a good citizen. This vision must be
demonstrated in every area of operation.
The brand’s products and services must
be innovative and visible. And, most
importantly, corporate leaders need to be
visible and responsible. ■
no child’s play
As many as 35% of Gauteng schoolboys
have been involved in gang rape, according
to the United Nations. And many young
South Africans don’t even know how to
define rape, let alone where to go for help
if they become victims.
It is this kind of attitude that the
UN wanted to combat when they
commissioned Anne Shongwe’s company
to create an educational and empowering
cellphone game that would teach teens
about gender-based violence (GBV).
Founder and CEO of Afroes Transform-
ational Multi-Media and Consulting,
which creates African educational mobile
applications, Shongwe spoke at a WBS
Entrepreneurial Heroes Lecture about
how her international award-winning
company aims to change the world with
its games.
Kenyan-born Shongwe explained that
400 million young Africans have access
to cellphones and 40% of them use
the phones mainly for playing games.
“Gaming is a powerful platform because
of its interactive nature,” said Shongwe.
She aimed to reach six million youngsters
with Afroes’ games.
For the UN’s GBV campaign, Afroes
designed MoRaba. This is a simple
game that can be downloaded for free
on most handsets. The game is a version
of the traditional African street game
morabaraba. As the child plays, multiple-
choice questions pertaining to GBV pop up
(“What do you do when a friend is raped?”)
and have to be answered correctly in order
to proceed to the next level.
Shongwe said that many teens they
spoke to had not realised until they were
exposed to MoRaba that they had been
the victims of rape and that there were
places they could go to get help. Several
teenage boys told Afroes they had not
known they were rapists until they played
the game.
Afroes also designed Champ Chase,
which encourages youngsters to speak
out about abuse. The player is given a
series of missions to rescue children
across South Africa from abusers. Child
protection resources, such as the Childline
number, are located on each level. The
Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund-funded
game has been downloaded more than
300 000 times.
Afroes believes its platform can bring
about change. MoRaba players’ results
can be tracked and measured, so it
is possible to see if they improve and if
the child is learning anything from the
game. ■

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PAGE 3 Issue 3 2012 • WITS Business School

Carnival to improve
economy
South Africans will experience their own Caribbean-style carnival
in Bela Bela, Limpopo in December. It is scheduled to be the
biggest carnival ever hosted in the province – and possibly in the
country and on the continent.
This was announced at a public lecture given by Trinidadian
development specialist, Dr Suzanne Burke, at a public lecture at
WBS recently.
Burke, who has 20 years of experience in the cultural industry
sector, explained that while the annual carnival in Trinidad and
Tobago is about enjoyment, spontaneity and excess before the
Lenten fast, it is also a major economic development vector in the
archipelago nation. It is partly because of this that the Trinidad
and Tobago government is collaborating with the Limpopo
government in creating a carnival.
Burke explains that after Trinidad and Tobago emerged from
structural adjustment in the 1970s, “the government framed the
carnival as a developmental tool.” This made strategic sense as a
large proportion of the population (over 35%) is directly involved
in producing the carnival, according to Burke.
The government assists with subsidies, investment in
infrastructure and the like. Yet the carnival remains a successful
Dr Suzanne Burke
and ever-evolving part of the economy because it remains in
the hands of stakeholders on many levels: environmental and
community groups, artists, schools and the like. Such “creative
clusters” drive innovation in the carnival, said Burke. The carnival
attracts tourists and has created year-round employment for
many performers, who now work the global carnival circuit.
Burke’s talk showed how innovation in the creative and cultural
sector can impact on an emerging country’s development.
Trinidad’s experience, therefore, holds lessons for South African
strategic innovation management studies. This is partly why a
carnival is being brought to Limpopo this year.
Burke’s talk was hosted by the Master of Management in
Innovation programme and the Strategic Management of
(L-R) Professor Gillian Marcelle, Dr Suzanne Burke and High Innovation Group, in association with the Wits Art and Literary
Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago, Harry Partap Experience 2012. ■

Unit for Risk Analysis speaker reveals

surprising facts about South Africa
“I don’t know anything about entrepreneurship!”
This was how deputy CEO of the Unit for Risk Analysis (URA),
Frans Cronje, began his lecture at WBS recently – the third talk
in the Entrepreneurial Heroes Series.
He added, however, that as a researcher with the URA, he could
give would-be entrepreneurs unique insight into socio-economic
conditions in South Africa that have an impact on business.
The URA is the marketing arm and special research team of
the South African Institute of Race Relations. It supplies data to
about 300 government and corporate subscribers in such policy
areas as crime and security and health and welfare.
Cronje presented some of the surprising facts and figures the
URA has produced – information that often flies in the face of
what many South Africans accept as fact. For instance, he said:
“I think I can convince you that government service delivery is
working very well.” He then outlined how the service delivery
protests that have rocked poorer areas of the country over the
last couple of years are a sign that more people, not fewer, are
receiving services. If a family of 12 receives an RDP house, for
instance, family members are likely to split up, as families do
when they become more prosperous. Thus, more demand for
homes is created.
The URA also says that for every shack built in South Africa,
12 RDP houses are built; whites are getting wealthier and when
whites get wealthier, they make the other race groups wealthier
too; and there are far fewer South Africans in LSM 1-3 than there
used to be and many more in LSM 3-6. South Africans, in fact,
are increasingly upwardly socially mobile.
It is not all good news, though. Cronje said South Africa has
shifted from a primary (or mining-based) economy to a tertiary, hi-
tech, service-based economy. However, the country’s education
system can’t provide the necessary skills to enough potential
workers to keep up with demand for tertiary-skilled workers.
Cronje said this was a pity, because South Africa’s future lies
in taking advantage of the capital investment being poured into
Africa. South Africa could be perfectly poised to become a service
provider to the continent, and this is where we need to direct our
focus, instead of trying to become a manufacturing economy. ■

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PAGE 4 Issue 3 2012 • WITS Business School

‘Hello Steve’ tops for innovation

Have you met Steve? If you listen to the
radio, chances are you know exactly
who Steve from ‘bleep’ bank is. ‘Hello
Steve’ is an aggressive marketing
campaign by First National Bank
(FNB) that has flooded the airwaves
since May 2011. Steve is a fictional
marketer from a bank who tries hard
to win customers from rival banks, only
to be rebuffed with reasons why they
chose FNB.
The radio campaign was backed
up by ads in other media, including
billboards and TV, and with innovative
deals for new FNB customers, such as
specials on iPads.
The woman behind ‘Hello Steve’,
FNB’s chief marketing officer Bernice
Samuels, spoke at WBS as part of the
Distinguished Lecture Series to explain
the strategy and philosophy behind the
campaign. Samuels has had a long
and impressive career in media and
marketing.
In her talk, ‘In 3D: doing different
things, differently’, Samuels described
how FNB’s marketing strategy focuses
on standing out as a brand. This,
she says, is important in a market
characterised by “standardisation,
conformity, convergence”. Marketers
Bernice Samuels, a WBS alumnus should be able to advertise unique
products to niche consumers, but this
NEWS ON CAMPUS differentiation often doesn’t happen,
according to Samuels. Marketers go
WBS held a very successful PhD colloquium at the beginning of June, where nine students with the tried-and-tested and end up
made presentations and led lively discussions on their theses. The next PhD colloquium looking alike to consumers, she said.
will be held on 14 September. It is a great opportunity to meet fellow students and learn In this situation, consumers will
from their experiences. settle for the product that’s available
rather than hold out for a brand to
WBS recently hosted a round-table discussion for a delegation of CARIRI (the national
which they are loyal. In the banking
research body of Trinidad and Tobago) to provide a briefing on the South African national
sector, consumers are rarely loyal, she
innovation system and discuss areas of technology, commercialisation and incubation as
said. This is why FNB embarked on its
mechanisms for improving innovation outcomes. This event went a long way in facilitating
knowledge exchange and future research, training and capacity building. unusual, aggressive campaign. “We
had unbelievable customer advocacy,
Head of school Professor Wendy Ngoma and the rest of the staff at WBS bid farewell especially on Twitter,” said Samuels.
to Professor Geoff Bick and Professor Courtenay Sprague, who have left the business She emphasised FNB’s innovation,
school. We thank them for all they have done for WBS and wish them luck in their future but added that innovations take time
endeavours. to be adopted. FNB’s strategy has not
WBS congratulates our Information Technology and Knowledge lecturer Rabelani Dagada been to aim at early adopters, as is the
on being elected president of the Computer Society of South Africa and chairperson of norm, but rather at the “laggards”. For
its board of directors. “I will use my new position to influence the development of the the marketer, the laggards’ value lies
information technology profession and policy trajectory in South Africa,” Dagada said on in learning why they are resistant to
receiving the honour. adopting trends, said Samuels. Also,
there are more of them, so even a
UPCOMING EVENTS slight change in behaviour can impact
greatly on the bottom line.
1 September – 9am to 2pm As Samuels intimated, innovation
can be frightening. But for FNB it
WBS is holding an Open Day to provide insight into the school. Come spend part of Saturday
seems to have paid off – initial reports
here and find out what makes one of Africa’s leading business schools tick, and what makes
show that the bank has seen a 40%
this school worth attending. For more information, contact Rutendo Nxumalo at WBS Marketing
increase in new business since the
Department on Rutendo.Nxumalo@wits.ac.za or 011 717 3627.
launch of its ‘Hello Steve’ campaign. ■

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PAGE 5 Issue 3 2012 • WITS Business School

WBS 2012 short courses

GENERAL MANAGEMENT
Art and Science of Negotiation 2
28 – 31 August 2012
Thinking and Planning Strategically
29 October – 1 November 2012

FINANCE
Finance for Non-financial Managers 4
12 – 15 November 2012
Technical and Financial Evaluation Projects 2
17 – 21 September 2012
Integrated Strategy, Budgeting and Reporting Programme
15 – 17 October 2012

SPECIALISED TOPICS
BEE – Unpacking Strategy and Codes
22 – 23 August and 19 September 2012

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Fast Track Leadership 2
28 September – 30 November 2012
CERTIFICATE PROGRAMMES
New Managers Programme 81
3 September – 7 December 2012
Management Advancement Programme (MAP)
6 September 2012 – 29 June 2013 (part time)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management 3
12 – 16 November 2012
MARKETING
Sales Management
20 – 24 August 2012

CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP (CfE)

Marketing for Entrepreneurs
23 – 27 August 2012
Opportunity Search and Evaluation for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
20 – 24 September 2012
Business Planning for Entrepreneurs
29 October – 14 November 2012
Create Your Venture
2 November 2012 – 5 February 2013

CONTACT DETAILS:
Rutendo Nxumalo
Tel 011 717 3627
E-mail Rutendo.Nxumalo@wits.ac.za

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 3627 or e-mail
Rutendo.Nxumalo@wits.ac.za.