Foreign MBA students look to Africa for the future in business

The future in business lies in developing nations. This was the sentiment in a recent Business Week feature, conveyed by Jonathan Doh, professor of Management and director of the Center for Global Leadership at the Villanova School of Business in Philadelphia, United States.

“Too many business schools are preparing students for the last century. To ready them for this one, they should focus on China, India and the rest of the developing world,” he said.

So it should be no wonder that foreign students such as American Sivan Maymon, Nigerian-born Folu Okunade and Kai Reuning of Germany would choose South Africa as a destination to study for their MBAs.

South Africa offers a vastly different experience than anywhere else in the world with its cultural diversity, economic and political complexities, emergent market opportunities and beautiful landscapes all coming into account for prospective international students, not to mention the nation’s respected tertiary education system and top-class business schools.

According to recent studies, foreign students comprise more than 7% of enrolments at South Africa’s public universities – a proportion in line with the world’s leading destination countries.

Among US students, South Africa has entered the top 20 most popular study-abroad countries.

The number of international students at South Africa’s universities quadrupled since the first democratic elections in 1994 – from 12 557 to 53 733 by 2006, about a quarter of whom are postgraduates.

With emergent market economies as the current and future engines of global economic growth, it is no surprise that business schools in South Africa are experiencing a boom in foreign students.

Commenting on the latest Financial Times survey of the top 100 MBA programmes, Ajit Rangnekar – dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad, India – confirmed this trend. He notes that global institutions from emergent markets, with an inherent cost advantage, will become more attractive destinations for management education, as well as a resource pool for management talent.

But what do business students really want in a business school and, ultimately, in a study destination?

Several thousand business school graduates from around the world, but mainly from the US, have named four factors that determined their choice of business school. A survey done by the Graduate Management Admission Council revealed that high on the deciding factors list are: quality and reputation of the school, locality, personal fit, and financial costs.

For an ever greater number of students, South Africa is ticking the right boxes. With its emergent economy context characterised by uncertainty, complexity and, unfortunately, inequalities, it is proving to be an ideal setting for learning to lead in this emergent market century. It is a place where the foundation for the future of business is being laid.

Dr Rolf Cremer, dean of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai, said recently that the structural and long-term problems now facing business and society are nowhere better understood than in the emergent economies: “Business schools in these economies will react quickly and creatively with curriculum changes and new content to address the post-crisis challenges,” he noted.

Both the CEIBS and ISB are among a select group of emergent market business schools that have achieved recognition in the Financial Times survey. There are only six business schools from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries that have consistently achieved rankings. The University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) is the only business school in Africa making the top 100 – which it has done for the sixth consecutive year.

It is intriguing that the emerging generation of students is more concerned with sustainable business, and business that is more connected with all stakeholders and society at large, rather than merely the shareholders.

IBM conducted a Global Student Study of 3 600 students in college and graduate schools in conjunction with a Global CEO Study: the themes of globalisation and sustainability differentiated the younger generation, termed Generation Y, from the chief executives. When asked to select the most important force likely to make an impact on organisations over the next five years, twice as many students saw globalisation and sustainability issues as relevant in sharp contrast to the CEOs. Generation Y, the study showed, wants to create new relationships between societies, business, economies and governments.

And it is here where emergent market business schools have the upper hand on their European and US counterparts, and are positioning themselves to take advantage of this fact. There is no substitute for actually operating in an emergent market such as South Africa where these concerns and complex issues are at the forefront.

This was the case for Nigerian-born Okunade who, after working in Johannesburg for two years, decided on the MBA at the UCT GSB in South Africa because he was “very interested in understanding the interdependencies between business and society”.

Having lived in the US for most of his life, the biggest difference between there and South Africa, he believed, lay in the intention of his peers: “The biggest difference – and something that was a pleasant surprise for me – was that from the start, students have all voiced their interest in finding ways to merge aspects of business and development,” he said.

“So it seemed the intention of most students was not only to make a lot of money, but also develop society and effect change at the same time – help others while you help yourself. And I thought that was very interesting for MBA students. It must be something to do with the South
African culture.”

Another foreign MBA student at the UCT GSB, Kai Reuning, originally from Frankfurt, said he likes that the modular design of the course allows him the opportunity to study while working, which is an added bonus because he has the chance to apply in the workplace what he learns in the course – immediately, and with results.

“The modular course suits my work and lifestyle. And while doing the course, I notice a change at work. I have grown tremendously as a leader and in my capacity to handle greater complexity and stress.

“I feel like I can take on a lot more, which shows in my work,” he noted. “It has been a life-changing experience in every regard. From the people I’ve met to the lecturers, which has opened up new doors of opportunity and shifted paradigms.”

South Africa has gained much attention over the years through international acknowledgement of its ability to shrug off the apartheid legacy through reconciliatory efforts – a major 20th century political achievement. World sports events and a boom in tourism have grown its reputation.

Statistics South Africa’s latest research shows a marked increase in foreigners travelling to the country. In April this year, for example, 1 658 786 foreigners visited our shores.

It is a country that boasts eight World Heritage Sites, is home to more mammal species than Asia and Europe combined, and almost 80% of its plant life cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

And diversity is one cloak the country wears well. Post-apartheid South Africa is called the “Rainbow Nation” because of the myriad cultures and traditions, people and languages the country is home to. Its vibrant history, due to its geographical positioning on a key shipping and trade route on the southern tip of Africa, and its rich natural environment has made it an interesting case study of contrasts between tradition and modernity, rich and poor.

“I think the sites – the mountains, oceans, beaches – and people are beautiful, and I have made some lasting friendships,” said Okunade of his time in Cape Town.

Added Reuning, “Cape Town is a beautiful city. I could not have asked to study in a more pleasant environment. The school is also centrally situated near the V&A Waterfront, and only a short walk from the hub of many great parties.”

“I chose to visit Africa because... the continent has always intrigued me,” said fellow UCT GSB student Maymon, who has organised a local chapter of Net Impact, a global community of more than 20 000 new-generation leaders who are committed to using business to improve the state of the world, which will officially be launched in early September.

“Studying here has been an amazing cultural experience, one that is constantly testing my world view: My peers are incredibly bright. Most of them have huge vocabularies and they challenge me. It is nice to get a different perspective from people who are from different cultures and have different backgrounds,” she added.

Economically, the country is still developing, but in Africa it is an economic powerhouse – generating a quarter of the entire continent’s gross domestic product.

According to African Business magazine, 15 out of the 16 top companies on the continent are South African.

An emergent market economy and key continental player, the country’s challenges and opportunities create an interesting landscape for entrepreneurs, particularly social entrepreneurs.

It battles with high levels of illiteracy, HIV/Aids and poverty. For prospective MBA students, the environment has endless possibilities for innovation and research.

“The dynamics are intriguing – to live and work in a country with first-world privileges and third-world problems,” said Maymon.

The UCT GSB classroom itself is representative of this melting pot of cultures and complexities, and the school has achieved international status thanks to its EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) accreditation and its rankings.

The UCT GSB performed well in several Financial Times MBA categories, featuring in the top third of the rankings in diversity, ninth in the international experience rank, and 28th in career progress rank.

It remains one of the very best value-for-money MBAs in the world (second in value for money rank).

Ranking in the international survey is an important accomplishment for emergent market business schools, as very few have the resources to compete with much larger schools in the US and Europe.

Equally important is getting international accreditation – which the UCT GSB has in the form of its full five-year EQUIS accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development.

The progress made by the UCT GSB in terms of international stature was rewarded in October 2009, when global business school deans voted it the Best Business School in Africa.

“A deciding factor for me, when it came to the time to decide where to study, was UCT’s international ranking. I often hear other foreign students saying the same thing,” said Okunade.

For Reuning, “the fantastic reputation of the school – that it is a great school of high academic standards and with top-class lecturers – was a factor.

“Also, I feel it is a necessary course to take to further my career because it facilitates personal growth and nurtures confidence while providing amazing course material.”

The school, under the directorship of Belgian-born Walter Baets, is becoming a hub for emergent market thinking and teaching, and for addressing the issues of leadership and ethics.

“The GSB believes that business schools exist to teach more than the fundamentals of business and management – the fundamentals are only a small part of the equation these days. The rest is about creating the conditions where students get to shake up their world view and see themselves and others in a whole new light,” said Baets.

“Business programmes need to develop transformative leaders – leaders capable of great things through the way they think about the world and the way that they influence positive change.”

With students concurring, South Africa – home of the greatest living transformative leader, Nelson Mandela – looks set to develop as an important laboratory for understanding emergent market complexities; and has welcomed the world, not only for soccer, but for study as well.

Gareth Coetzee and Michael Morgan Visit www.gsb.uct.ac.za for more information.