Overview
The Centre for Business Analysis and Research (CBAR) is home to a variety of important programmes and initiatives at the Gordon Institute of Business Science.
CBAR has been created to nurture collaboration and identify critical synergies among the various programmes and initiatives undertaken at GIBS. The full weight of GIBS' renowned faculty and academic networks are brought to bear on delivering pertinent academic programmes and building a central core of knowledge and research to support business.
Over the past few years GIBS has initiated a number of programmes, the central purposes of which are to
- bring to the fore the most critical and pressing issues facing businesses in developing countries
- extend and deepen the content of GIBS' academic core
- facilitate and enrich GIBS' interactions with broader society and the business context
- contribute to the internationalisation of GIBS' perspectives and networks
- promote the GIBS' brand in the field of management education
- position GIBS as a leading expert on South African-focused management research.
These programmes take a variety of forms, ranging from both academic to practical, and are led by experts in their fields who wish to make a contribution to research, global best practice and sharing this knowledge with South African businesses to enhance competitiveness.
GIBS is fortunate to have attracted support and funding for many of these initiatives, and to work in close collaboration with these partners to develop general management.
Established programmes include:
African Business Network
The African Business Network (ABN) was established in 2006 as a forum for organisations with extensive involvements and long-term interests in Africa.
The principal purposes of the network are to
- provide an intellectually stimulating environment in which senior individuals from private and public sector organisations, who have strategic responsibilities in and for Africa, can meet, exchange views and learn from one another and from specialist outside inputs on developments on the continent
- contribute to building a body of knowledge about doing business in Africa, including understanding what constitutes good and bad practice in different circumstances, for the immediate benefit of its members and for dissemination in due course via academic and executive teaching, conferences and scholarly and press articles.
A key feature of the network is the interaction between the public and private sector participants, which in turn has led to recognition of the potential benefits of greater strategic alignment between South Africa’s political and economic posture and actions with respect to dealings on the continent.
There are currently 22 members of the network, including departments of government, and companies from the financial, mining, construction, information technology, capital equipment, industrial products and legal industries.
The network is chaired by Nick Segal, formerly director of the UCT Graduate School of Business and an extraordinary professor at GIBS.
The Asia Network
Considering the rising importance of Asia in the global economy and the increasing commercial interaction between Asia’s rising powers and the African continent, GIBS has established the Asia Network. Emerging Asia may simultaneously pose the greatest competitive challenge as well as the greatest commercial opportunity for African economies. We believe that it is imperative for African governments, companies and individuals to gain greater insight and understanding of the implications of the economic rise of Asia for the African continent.
In pursuit of our mission, the Asia Network provides teaching, research and business education services to our clients and stakeholders. Headed by Dr Martyn Davies, the Asia Network is the business academic hub of Asia-Africa work and is active in the following areas:
- Research into the Asia-Africa political economy
- Company Specific Programmes
- Bespoke executive education courses
- International road shows to Asia
- GIBS Forums and conferences
- Supervision of MBA research.
Base of the Pyramid Hub
The Base of Pyramid (BOP) context is a rapidly expanding area of research. Interest, however, is not only confined to academic communities but importantly also amongst global businesses competing to enter and expand operations into low income markets in emerging economies. The GIBS BOP hub aims to address some of the information shortages which increase risk and prevent companies from being able to serve low income consumers.
The purpose of a dedicated hub will be to foster, aggregate, codify and disseminate knowledge and innovation relevant to the BOP. This information will be drawn from diverse sources including BOP communities, NGO’s, government, academic sources, global best practice models and businesses operating in the BOP space in order to promote the concept of inclusive markets.
Workshops, forums, publications and conferences will be offered to share best practice, discover operational models and encourage innovation. This in order for firms to profitably engage low income communities across the value chain by employing and procuring from and partnering with members of the BOP.
The GIBS BOP hub aims to act as aggregators and disseminators of global BOP knowledge in order to
- Stimulate innovation in BOP
- Assist companies in their low income market strategies and thinking
- Develop entrepreneurs in low income communities
- Contribute toward poverty alleviation and the building of a competitive economy
- Assist in the development, implementation and monitoring of BOP pilot projects.
- Build a BOP ecosystem with diverse stakeholders
- Build GIBS’ reputation as a trusted source of BOP knowledge.
Transnet Programme in Sustainable Development
How business functions in the context of the interdependence of the economy, society and the environment forms the basis of sustainable business. Sustainability presents business with unique challenges that, until recently, were dismissed as relatively unimportant. However, the level of awareness and debate of key sustainability issues such as poverty, energy security, climate change, water and food security, has increased exponentially over the past couple of years. Notably, the King III Code of Governance for South Africa places sustainability, responsible leadership and corporate citizenship at the core of corporate governance.
In May 2008 GIBS established, with funding from Transnet, an academic programme in sustainable development. Directed by Donald Gibson the programme aims to mainstream sustainability into GIBS’ activities both externally through its teaching and research, and internally in its campus operations. The programme is made up of the following activities:
- Academic modules – both core and elective
- MBA and doctoral research
- Executive Education courses and Company Specific Programmes
- GIBS Forums and conferences
- Greening the GIBS campus.
Vodacom Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Programme
Cellular communication networks connect four billion of the world’s people. High-speed Internet access supplies increasingly sophisticated content and applications to people at home, in the office or on the move. Social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter allow people to maintain worldwide communities of friends and colleagues in real time. A shift towards on-demand services and user-generated content is shifting the power away from big corporations to individual consumers who are increasingly able to choose what they consume when they want and on whatever device they have access to. This poses challenges for companies who do not adapt to this rapid change, but broadens the market potential for other companies and entrepreneurs who seek to attract and interact with customers on an individual basis.
Even in developing nations ICT provides huge opportunities. The mobile phone is increasingly being used to access information, education, banking and trade, and the recent launch of high-bandwidth sea cables heralds the availability of high-speed international data connectivity to many African countries, including South Africa.
ICT is also making an impact within businesses: integrated back-office systems allow companies to record, track and measure all aspects of the organisation, from suppliers, customers and employees to real-time fleet and inventory management and financial performance. Governments and other public institutions are increasingly using ICT systems to improve service delivery and eliminate inefficiencies and corruption.
The GIBS Programme in ICT and Telecommunications is funded by the Vodacom Foundation and aims to introduce knowledge and understanding into GIBS’ activities of the accelerating impact that ICT has on consumers, companies and society, as well as the technical and regulatory complexities that can advance or hinder progress. The programme includes the following activities:
- Academic modules including an MBA elective
- Executive Education and Company Specific Programmes
- GIBS Forums, conferences and workshops
- Introduction of ICT themes into various GIBS initiatives.
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