University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business
The Graduate School of Business (GSB) is the business school of the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa's oldest university.
The School’s programmes include the Masters in Business Administration (MBA), the Executive MBA, the Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PDBA) and the Associate in Management (AIM) – each targeting a different level of management. In addition, Customised Academic Learning, which develops nationally-accredited, customised programmes for corporate clients, is one of the fastest growing departments at the School.
Executive Education at the GSB offers open-enrolment short courses for anyone from the emerging leader to the experienced executive, focusing on a wide range of development requirements. The department also develops short courses for corporate clients. Clients include Woolworths and AngloGold Ashanti, among others.
History and Location
The UCT Graduate School of Business is one of the oldest business schools in the country, having been established in 1964 on the University of Cape Town's main campus in Rondebosch, Cape Town.
Today, the GSB has its home at the Breakwater Campus at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront and close to Cape Town's central business district. The campus, which was once a prison, derives its name from the fact that the site previously housed the convicts who built the Cape Town harbour breakwater in 1861. In the early 1990s, the derelict buildings were renovated to accommodate the business school but much of the original character still remains. The GSB has had its home here since 1991.
Accreditation/ Rankings
QS Global 200 Business Schools Report: The report, which rates schools from around the world based on MBA employers’ and recruiters’ views, rated UCT GSB for the region Africa and the Middle East in first place.
CHE: The GSB has received accreditation from the South African Council on Higher Education (CHE). The CHE is the Quality Council for Higher Education and is responsible for quality assurance and promotion through the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC).
EQUIS: The GSB has been awarded full accreditation by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). This means the GSB has a five-year European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) accreditation. EQUIS is an international system of quality assessment, improvement, and accreditation of higher education institutions in management and business administration. The GSB is one of two African business schools to have received an EQUIS accreditation.
AABS: The GSB is one of six South African business schools to belong to the Association of African Business Schools (AABS) – an organisation that aims to promote excellence in business and management education on the continent by supporting business schools through capacity building, collaboration, and quality improvement.
Financial Times: The GSB MBA programme is the only African MBA programme to be placed on the Financial Times Global Top 100 MBA Rankings. In 2012, the School was placed at 54, moving up six places from 2011. The school’s MBA is the best-value-for-money MBA in the world.
Financial Times Custom Ranking: In 2011 UCT GSB was named the top business school in Africa for customised executive education, achieving 53rd spot in the Financial Times (FT) Executive Education 2011 World Custom Ranking.
UNICON: The UCT GSB is a member of the International University Consortium for Executive Education (UNICON), a network of the business schools around the world. It is the only African business school to make it into this group. In 2008, it was also recognised by UNICON as one of six global innovators in teaching and learning.
Specialist Centres
Bertha Centre The Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship aims to instil contemporary business values and skills in managers and students, in the hope of influencing business towards solving some of society’s toughest challenges. In line with these values, the Bertha Scholarships are awarded to candidates who are dedicated to working in or starting entrepreneurial ventures that tackle social or environmental problems.
Allan Gray Centre for Values Based Leadership The UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB) in association with the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation established a Centre in Values-based Leadership at the GSB that is committed to exploring new ways of doing business based on purpose, sustainability and responsible practices. The centre is the first of its kind in South Africa and it seeks to raise issues of sustainability and values-based leadership to priority status in the country and beyond. It has been established through sponsorship from Allan WB Gray, founder of Allan Gray Limited and the co-founder of Allan Gray Orbis Foundation.
Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Launched in 2001, the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) aims to develop entrepreneurial talent, capacity, skills, and support throughout the country. The CIE compiles the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report for South Africa each year and is also home to the Raymond Ackerman Academy for Entrepreneurial Development.
Centre for Coaching The Centre for Coaching has initiated a partnership with New Ventures West and The Weathervane to develop courses with international accreditation and practices. Coaching to Excellence, Associate Coaching and Professional Coaching are the most prominent courses offered by the Centre.
Managing Infrastructure Reform and Regulation The Management Programme in Infrastructure Reform and Regulation (MIR) aims to build capacity to manage reform and regulation of infrastructure sectors throughout Africa and in other emerging economies. MIR works in support of sustainable development and is currently focusing on the electricity and water sectors. The centre conducts research, offers short courses, and provides professional support and policy advocacy.
Faculty
The GSB has 29 resident faculty members. Many are internationally acclaimed as researchers and teachers. Others are involved in national and regional issues as well as in policy formulation and implementation. The School’s core faculty is supplemented by international visiting academics and executives.
Research
The School has identified five inter-disciplinary themes around which it seeks to focus its research. These are:
- Governance in emerging economies and the impact on economic development
- Culture, diversity and dynamics
- Entrepreneurial development and sustainable business
- Development, innovation and technology
- Infrastructure and regulation.
Programmes
MBA
The GSB MBA is one of the oldest management programmes in South Africa and has been producing graduates for almost four decades.
The curriculum is international in scope and standard but with a distinctive orientation to the (South) African context. It has a strong practical emphasis and in addition to addressing the functional areas of business, new streams of learning around communication, leadership and entrepreneurship keep it at the [...] edge of professional development.
The UCT MBA is designed to develop students both personally and professionally. The programme aims to give students the tools they need to create their own opportunities and succeed in a fast-paced world, whether in a small, new business or an established corporation.
At 11 months, the full-time UCT MBA programme is one of the shortest around and it is known for its intensity. The programme is also available in a modular format to accommodate students who wish to continue working while they pursue their studies.
Executive MBA
The Executive MBA is not a modular version of the MBA programme. Although the academic qualification is the same, the process of learning and content are different.
The Executive MBA is the only programme in South Africa that is targeted at senior and executive managers and leaders. The course uses learning techniques that are designed to develop critical thinking, decision-making abilities and a capacity to function in complex organisational and social environments. Students acquire a deeper understanding of management from an international perspective.
Associate in Management(AIM)
AIM was launched in 1991 in order to fast-track working black South Africans who, because of the history of apartheid, lacked the formal qualifications they needed to climb the corporate ladder. Although taught at a postgraduate level, the programme does not require applicants to have an undergraduate degree or even a matric certificate, and recognises work experience and aptitude as prior learning.
Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PDBA)
The PDBA seeks to give individuals moving into or through middle management the tools they need for personal and management effectiveness. The PDBA is a management development programme at pre-masters level and can act as a bridging course for students who may not meet the entrance requirements of the MBA programme.
Masters in Development Finance
The UCT GSB, in partnership with Africagrowth Institute (AGI), is offering an MPhil (Development Finance) which aims to enable students to meet the development needs of the continent.
PHD Programme
The GSB runs a comprehensive PhD programme to encourage original research at the business school that fits the school’s research agenda.
Customised Academic Learning
The Customised Academic Learning (CAL) division at the UCT Graduate School of Business accelerates management and organisational development through in-company, accredited programmes.
Customised programmes are designed to address the unique challenges facing organisations and industries for maximum effectiveness. CAL’s clients include Woolworths, BoE (Board of Executors), AngloGold Ashanti and Santam, amongst others.
Executive Education
The UCT Graduate School of Business believes that "business as usual" is no longer the way to achieve sustainable success and that managers need an expanded set of skills that creates new models of business. The school therefore seeks to facilitate new ways of thinking and behaving. It challenges taken-for-granted assumptions and practices and cultivates in managers an ability to draw from a full spectrum of disciplines and cultures – to think in full colour about themselves and the world they live in.
The department offers a range of short courses that are open to public enrolment. These programmes are holistic, multi-disciplinary and research-based – they encourage participants to develop their ability to think critically and innovatively. Delegates also develop the ability to learn continuously from application and experience. The selection of specialist short courses cover a spectrum of interests, ranging from general management issues to those that are industry-specific, such as electricity regulation. The school draws on a considerable range of expertise in delivering these courses, using local and international resources.
Partnership Programmes
The UCT GSB is collaborating with clients in the form of partnership programmes. At the outset, a client’s organisational efficiencies and leadership requirements are assessed by the UCT GSB’s faculty and consultants, so that interventions are designed to align with the organization’s strategic objectives.
Customised learning interventions are tailor-made to make a significant and relevant impact and all learning materials and processes are created with considerable input from the client. The in-company programmes are purely developmental and are not constrained by the requirements of accreditation. Commitment is focused on creating learning programmes that create visible behavioral change in the organisation.
Corporations with which Executive Education continues to work vary in size, sector, focus and challenge. Examples include Metropolitan Holdings, BHP Billiton, Nestle SA, Johnson & Johnson, [http://www.sablimited.co.za/sablimited/content/en/sab-home? South African Breweries], and Standard Bank.
Campus
Once a 19th-century Prison, the Breakwater Lodge, operated by Protea Hotels, is positioned in the heart of Cape Town’s Waterfront Development and lies within reach of the main routes to beaches, mountain walks and places of interest as well as being situated 25 km from the Cape Town International Airport.
Accommodation ranges from rooms with share shower facilities to rooms with private en-suites. Smoking and non-smoking rooms are available and all rooms are equipped with TV/Radio, direct-dial telephone and a welcome tray with biscuits and tea and coffee making facilities. Wireless hotspots are available throughout the building.
The Protea Hotel Breakwater Lodge offers conference and function facilities.
See also
- Centre for Curating the Archive
- List of universities in South Africa
- Education in South Africa
- Chancellor of the University of Cape Town
References
- Statute of the University of Cape Town, Government Notice No. 1199, 20 September 2002.