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Please find an announcement for two positions that the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town is currently recruiting for. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of any possible candidate. We recruit a Chair (full professor level) and a senior lecturer.

Thanks

The Allan Gray Chair in Values-Based Leadership

1. BACKGROUND ON THE ALLAN GRAY CENTRE

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The appointment of a new Director at the GSB in 2009 has re-energised momentum for the GSB to establish a Chair as initially envisaged.  In addition, subsequent to the initial donation of these funds, the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation ("the Foundation") has been established with a very clear mandate to foster high growth leaders and entrepreneurs.  There thus exists an exciting opportunity to align the establishment of the Chair in such a way as to compliment and further the Foundation's overall objectives.

2. PURPOSE AND INTENTION BEHIND FUNDING

Initial thought was given to whether the funding of a Chair would be the best mechanism for achieving the above objective; however it became clear that the university is a complex environment in relation to funding processes making it very difficult to implement new approaches. A Chair is a well understood vehicle and it is thus the optimal mechanism for the Foundation purposes.  Further it is possible to extend the scope of a Chair to include elements such as PhDs and Visiting Fellows which can be attached to the Chair, thereby creating a unit focusing on the area of interest.

In order for this to be achieved successfully from the Foundation's perspective, two elements would be required:

·       Openness from the UCT GSB to allow their relevant resources, when appropriate, to be applied in support of Foundation activities (Lectures, seminars, input to Allan Gray Fellows etc.)

·       Input, influence and involvement from the Foundation in the direction of this research.

3. MANAGEMENT BY VALUES

In order to finalise the Foundation's position on this opportunity, it was felt that it was best to find the area of clear alignment between the Foundation, UCT GSB and the new Director.  The Foundation believes that this overlap is best found in the Director's concept of Management by Values.

For a practical understanding the following diagramme captures the summarized essence of the insight, illustrating that the key starting point must be in terms of values as the driver of all that follows .

Table

As further explained by Baets: "from this model it is clear that the dominant Anglo-Saxon approach (called management techniques in the diagram) sits neither in isolation nor in hierarchy, but rather as one part of a whole".

Working hand-in-hand with functional management techniques are three other areas of equal importance for creating a sustainable organisation – systemic management approaches, values and culture, and personal development.

Seeing the four elements or quadrants as part of a whole, it is immediately clear that this model would create a more people-focused, value-driven and value-creating organisation than what is currently the norm.

To examine the diagram more closely, diagonally opposite to the Anglo-Saxon or mechanistic approach to management is the values and culture dimension of the holistic model. Such a vision – in which values and culture are elevated in importance and not simply a side issue to the business of profit-making – can only be translated into action by people who have the qualities and the motivation to make a real difference in the world.

In addition, the model necessitates a strong focus on personal development (upper-left quadrant) as a backbone for all managerial approaches, and highlights the need for companies to be organised around life-long learning and career development for their employees. So, in other words, human resource management becomes a key element of the management function in the holistic approach."

In summary "the book (Baets and Oldenboom, Rethinking Growth, Palgrave, 2009) argues that the focus should be on corporate decision making, the vision, the shared dream of where to go, the real value added that the company creates in the economy.  If there is a real contribution, the company will generate sales, revenue and margins.  A first refocus should be on the business and its societal value added and not on finance and accounts."

Finally the book captures a new definition of Holistic management:

"The basis and drivers are values, purpose and meaning.  It is a management style that is value driven and that gives true meaning and space to each and everyone's need for personal development, improvement, development and ultimately learning.  It further considers that the personal development of each employee provides the driving force, and the energy, for the success of the company.  In other words, leadership becomes central in management"

4. THE ALLAN GRAY CENTRE FOR VALUES-BASED LEADERSHIP

Thanks to an endowment of Allan Gray, the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town has been able to establish the Allan Gray Centre for Values Based Leadership.  In line with the context described above, the centre will consist of a Chair (full professor), a senior lecturer, and at least 2 PhD bursaries.

5. THE UCT GRADUATE SCHOOL OF  BUSINESS, IN COOPERATION WITH ALLAN GRAY, IS RECRUITING A FULL PROFESSOR IN VALUES BASED LEADERSHIP

If you want to make a difference in the academic and business community and feel that this demands a more value-based, sustainable approach to management, then you will fit right in.

The University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) believes that society is in need of carefully crafted leaders who are able to manage based on the paradigm of the emerging economy. We understand that emerging economies are confronted with high degrees of uncertainty, high degrees of complexity, and often, excessive situations of inequality. Such a world needs innovative solutions not "business as usual".

If you feel that there is more to business than just "managing the place" join us in helping students and executives boost their careers as genuine leaders. The GSB is a leading academic business school in South Africa and recognised as a world leader and innovator in its contribution to the understanding of and learning in relevant and meaningful business management.

Allan Gray subscribes to those values and wants to contribute to this development by sponsoring the Allan Gray Chair in Values Based Leadership. Allan Gray's business philosophy comes from a deep understanding of true capitalism. Successful entrepreneurs are those who add value to society and are rewarded for such value by the profits they earn. An entrepreneur will only be successful if they genuinely offer clients value for money. Such a venture contributes to an increase in societal benefit and in no way takes from society.

Based on this understanding, Allan Gray believes that philanthropy is not so much a paradigm shift as a natural progression and extension of one's purpose in life. An initial business success, which makes a positive contribution to society, also allows one to contribute and care for one's own immediate family.  If one's business goes on to achieve more success, then one is able to make a further contribution more broadly to society: it is a consistent continuum of trying to make a contribution. We know some luminaries that are great examples of this. A better understanding of the mechanisms of leadership in social development could hugely contribute to our managerial understanding and practice.

Some research issues that the Chair could take on are:

·       High growth/high impact entrepreneurship as opposed to replicative/necessity or lifestyle entrepreneurship

·       Entrepreneurship and innovation

·       Service to the client as a predominant goal, instead of exclusively shareholder maximisation

·       Entrepreneurs as leaders with a sense of purpose and a highly developed sense of excellence

·       Heightened awareness of ethics in contrast to the greed motivated stereotype of capitalism emerging out of the current/past recession.

Your profile

·       Hold a PhD

·       Corporate and/or civil society exposure is appreciated

·       An excellent learning facilitator and teacher

·       For the Chair, experience with the management of research centres

·       Have a proven publication record of good quality

·       Have shown interest in and published in the area of the Chair

·       Are a creative team player, involved in and committed to the School

·       Have international exposure and/or international experience

·       Working language is English, mastery of additional languages is appreciated

We offer

·       A faculty appointment in line with your experience and academic track record (full professor or senior lecturer)

·       A very correct teaching load (only post graduate and post experience), giving real space for research

·       A focus on research output

·       The possibility of additional teaching in executive courses

·       A fascinating School, that strives for academic excellence and societal relevance

·       Cooperation with an outstanding investment company

·       The potential for a meaningful academic career in a prime location in the world

The GSB's vision and mission

The GSB has a rich set of values that have emerged out of its community and are commonly shared and experienced. This gives the School a very strong grounding and its students and clients can be confident in what it stands for and how it conducts itself in the world.

Growing out of these foundational values, the GSB's vision is to be a new model of a business school – one that is based on the paradigm of the emerging economy. By defining emerging economies as economies (or companies) that experience conditions of high uncertainty, high complexity, and often excessive inequality, this new paradigm is relevant not only for so-called emerging countries or regions, but equally for companies encountering or operating in such conditions.  Such companies might not only be located in emerging economies, but could be anywhere in the world.

This vision allows the GSB to occupy a critical niche in driving a more value-based, sustainable approach to business and management. In this context its two core challenges are: remaining relevant for both society and the business community and paying attention to continued quality in content delivery and research output.

The GSB has developed three areas of excellence, in line with its vision. 

First is the central role of Academic Excellence .  While most business schools develop academic strength via a few strong disciplinary faculty groups (finance, marketing, strategy, etc), the GSB is developing its academic excellence in the transversal theme of Emerging Market Business. Our systemic research themes are:

·       Governance in emerging economies

·       Values based leadership

·       Social innovation and entrepreneurship (The Bertha Centre)

·       Diversity, dynamics and culture

·       Infrastructure, reform and regulation

Secondly, a business school cannot live outside of its economic environment and has to take up its own societal responsibility. Therefore the GSB has developed Societal Excellence in addressing transformation and inequality in all its aspects.  Initiatives like the Raymond Ackerman Academy of Entrepreneurial Development, the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the Centre for Managing Infrastructure, Reform and Regulation, all find an umbrella theme of societal relevance. 

Thirdly, the GSB has developed Pedagogical Excellence through its remarkable and interesting application of SYSTAL (Systems Thinking Action Learning).  Innovative activities take place in the areas of transformative learning and personal development on many of its programmes, notably the Executive MBA and Executive programmes as well as in the Centre for Coaching. These are recognised as being at the vanguard of management education globally. This rich experience makes a real contribution of the GSB to the academic community, both in theory (research) and practice.

The development of these three areas of excellence ensures that the GSB provides genuine thought leadership, not only in South Africa, but also in the wider African continent and in BRICSA countries. This thought leadership is demonstrated to business and society via a strong activity in executive education, corporate learning and a robust culture of debate.

For further information, please contact the director of the GSB, Prof Walter Baets

Walter.baets@gsb.uct.ac.za

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