Jon Foster-Pedley, the Dean and Director of Henley Business School South Africa explains why the programme is so important. “The process of the Henley MBAid project is vital – it is about engagement, how business can be a power for good and make a contribution to society. Ultimately, our students aren’t learning about being clever, but about being good, intelligent managers; leaders with purpose who can build businesses while also having the humility of working with real needs.”
Foster-Pedley explains further, “We started the programme with the idea that it should be mutually beneficial to both parties. It is designed to benefit the NGO in as many ways as they wish to use it. They are able to call on a skilled consulting team to solve a specific business issue. This helps to deliver high quality service provision to their stakeholders, and introduces new ideas and thinking into their organisation.” At the same time, the business students are faced with a real-time, real- life challenge. They need to work as a team, in an environment that is outside their usual experience, and produce results that will have a positive impact.”
The idea behind the programme is to promote
Learning new skills at Zip Zap Circus School, (left) Christopher Davey and Nick Doggett.
When asked about how the organisation’s staff interacted with the Henley MBA students Bernice Roeland, Director at Aids Response, explained, “People had different experiences based on their line-function though the general impression was that the students were genuinely interested in the people and situations they were exposed to. They approached us and the communities we work with, with humility and respect. The friendly and respectful nature of the entire group was refreshing. Others found their questions and comments thought-provoking and stimulating and given the short duration of their stay there was not much time for them to be in anybody’s way!”
Roeland concluded, “The quality of our interaction had a lot to do with waiting for the right opportunity and partner, being clear about what process and outcomes we desired, and having a dedicated person to hold the process on both sides. There is definitely space for this kind of project to develop new ways of being more collaborative in creating knowledge, in growing civil society, corporates and institutions of learning to excellence by putting people before profits.”
58 Management Today | December 2011
learnerships that have a practical impact for good,” explains Foster-Pedley. “It is about doing real work for real people, moving away from an abstracted academic ivory tower approach to MBAs. Our students have the hardest of tasks – they are learning theory and principles, but also being principled in the real world. We challenge students to use their intelligence and creativity to build better outcomes. It is learning on a very profound level, one which involves both an ethical and spiritual edge.”
What is next for the programme? “The
programme is constantly being revisited and we are looking to extend it to start-up entrepreneurs and other SMMEs. In fact, we are in talks with a large sponsoring organisation to do just that. Moreover this is not just limited to our MBA programme. In our Eskom and SAB leadership programmes the participants, senior managers all, are actively involved in applying their skills to help schools, AIDS orphans and social enterprises.” said Foster-Pedley.
Any NGO interested in participating in the Henley MBA study programme should contact
shakilab@henleysa.ac.za or
viviens@henleysa.ac.za. More information about the featured NGOs on our websites,
www.henleymba.co.za and
www.henleysa.ac.za.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100