University rankings look at a university’s teaching environment. Factors considered are knowledge transfer, international outlook, and the quality of research. When it comes to research, a variety of indicators are used to assess its quality. These include:
- Research output and collaboration
- Research cited by peer and industry articles and reports
- Papers published in major citation indices
- Inclusion of highly cited researchers
- Alumni and staff winning awards
GIBS’ academic head of the doctoral programme Professor Helena Barnard says “GIBS engages in world-leading research on Africa. We are becoming a voice about management in Africa. It is really important that we do scholarship that makes sense in the context in which we find ourselves.”
GIBS research comes in a number of forms: degree research in the form of master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, academic papers, case studies, books and book chapters, as well as research and teaching projects. Over the years, some notable and award-winning research has helped cement GIBS’ position as a globally significant business school.
A business case to understand Africa
Case studies form an important component of GIBS’ academic output. An academic case study is a body of work that looks at a real-life business, group, person, event, or issue and then uses it to analyse and apply academic theory.
This is an area where GIBS excels. Given its position as a top African business school, it has produced relevant and thought-provoking cases based on what is happening on the ground in Africa, and it has received some notable accolades.
The first case study that GIBS published was titled General De La Rey and the Blue Bulls by Michael Goldman in 2008. The case explores the cultural identities associated with South African rugby and Afrikaans music culture. It was written for a first-year MBA module and is designed to explore the following themes:
- Race, identity, and language as consumer behaviour variables
- Spectator, supporter, and consumer processes within sports marketing
- Sports brand development and sponsorship relationships
For the full study go to: https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/general-de-la-rey-and-the-blue-bulls/01t5c00000CwfGrAAJ
Over the years, GIBS has produced a number of stellar case studies. Three, all published by Ivey Publishing, have been listed on Harvard Business Publishing’s bestseller list.
1. Danimal in South Africa: Management Innovation at the Bottom of the Pyramid (2010) by professional associate Verity Hawarden and Helena Barnard focuses on innovation in the dairy industry where a new yoghurt, Danimal, was created for the low-income market.
For the full study go to: https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/danimal-in-south-africa-management-innovation-at-the-bottom-of-the-pyramid/01t5c00000CwgwdAAB
2. McKinsey & Company: Facilitating Bribery in South Africa (2020) by Morris Mthombeni, Albert Wöcke and Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, examined McKinsey’s relationship with its South African partner, Trillian, which had links to the Gupta family, who were connected to then-president Jacob Zuma. The case examines state capture and the reputational damage caused by McKinsey’s political connections.
For the full study go to: https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/mckinsey-company-facilitating-bribery-in-south-africa/01t5c00000CwpqNAAR
3. Old Mutual Limited: Leading Culture Change (2020) by Caren Scheepers and Michelle Govender. The case is designed for students studying leadership and organisational behaviour. It analyses how leadership can facilitate a changing business environment which mandates cultural evolution to maintain alignment between organisational culture and the business needs of the firm.
For the full study go to: https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/old-mutual-limited-leading-culture-change/01t5c00000CwpXTAAZ
GIBS’ academics have also been recognised internationally for their case study output. GIBS Extraordinary Professor Sandra van der Merwe became the first African case writer to make it onto The Case Centre’s 2021/22 list of the Top 50 Bestselling Case Authors. Some of her cases include Colgate-Palmolive: Cleopatra, Doing a Dyson: Case (A), and easyMobile: Disruption in the Mobile Market.
Professor Caren Scheepers, one of the most prolific case-study writers at GIBS, won the Outstanding Contribution to the Case Method Award at the Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2020. At the time of her award, Scheepers had written or collaborated on 38 case studies.
Other notable accolades for case studies that have come out of GIBS
Preserving the Delicate Balance to Manage a Thriving Business in South Africa: The Adventure of OneLogix
Authors: Adrian Saville, Caren Scheepers and Jensen Goh
This case study, which presents a rich contextual framework of how difficult it is for businesses to survive and become profitable in South Africa, was awarded third prize in the 2015 Ceeman (Central and East European Management Development Association) Case Writing competition.
For the full study go to: https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-06-2015-0124
SweepSouth South Africa: Contextually Intelligent Female Leadership of Entrepreneurial Domestic Services
Authors: Tracey Toefy and Caren Scheepers
The SweepSouth case study won the 2019 European Foundation of Management Development Case Writing Competition for African Business Cases. The case helps students understand the factors in the decision to expand a business, evaluate the contextual intelligence of business leaders, and make recommendations on the speed of expansion. The award was presented in 2020.
For the full study go to: https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/sweepsouth-south-africa-contextually-intelligent-female-leadership-of-entrepreneurial-domestic-services/01t5c00000CwonDAAR
https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-06-2015-0124
All Women Recycling: Staffing Challenges in a Manufacturing Business
Author: Motshedisi Mathibe
Mathibe’s case debates whether a business should adopt a remote staffing model or a limited staffing model, as well as business profitability. It was awarded third prize in the 2020 John Molson Business Ownership Case Writing Competition sponsored by the Bob and Raye Briscoe Centre in Business Ownership Studies at the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Canada.
For the full study go to: https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/all-women-recycling-staffing-challenges-during-a-global-pandemic/01t5c00000Cwq4UAAR
https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-06-2015-0124
Love Books: Sustained Success Amidst Uncertainties
Authors: Amy Moore and Verity Hawarden
This case, which allows students to consider the key enablers for assessing entrepreneurial opportunities and drivers of small business growth, won the Best Newcomer Case Award at the North American Case Research Association Annual Conference in 2020.
For the full study go to: https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-04-2021-0115
Anglo American Leadership Academy: Aligning Global Leadership Development to Strategy
Authors: Amy Moore, Verity Hawarden and Hayley Pearson
This case, which examines the issue of leadership development solutions that help resource, identify, develop, and retain a diverse talent pool that is required to achieve business objectives, was featured in Forbes magazine (2021). The case teaches theories like strategic human resources, leadership development, organisational design, training and development, international business management, and organisational behaviour and leadership.
For the full study go to: https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/anglo-american-leadership-academy-aligning-global-leadership-development-to-strategy/01t5c00000CwqZMAAZ
Quali Health: Creating Access to Quality Healthcare For South Africa’s Excluded Majority
Authors: Adrian Saville, Morris Mthombeni, Tashmia Ismail-Saville and Philip Powell
This case study was placed second in the prestigious 2022 Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies’ special issue on social entrepreneurship in Africa case collection. The case presents interesting questions about entrepreneurial funding, scaling, and the interplay between social entrepreneurial activities and the informal sector.
For the full study go to: https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-10-2019-0253
Abelana Game Reserve: Community Partnership Driving Shared Value in Ecotourism
Authors: Amy Moore and Verity Hawarden
Moore and Hawarden came first in the Financial Times Responsible Business Education award for their teaching case in 2022. The case focuses on creating shared value, sustainability, social impact, stakeholder value, triple-bottom-line value creation, and strategy execution.
For the full study go to: https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/abelana-game-reserve-community-partnership-driving-shared-value-in-ecotourism/01t5c00000CwqanAAB
Cementing a Place in Africa: PPC’s Internationalisation Drive
Authors: Adrian Saville, Ian Macleod and Theresa Onaji-Benson
Saville, Macleod and Onaji-Benson were runners-up for this case in the prestigious 2023 Emerald/Ceeman Case Writing Competition. The case allows students to critique the internationalisation strategy of an African business. It includes elements of macroeconomic analysis, company fit with jurisdictions, non-market strategies and modes of entry.
For the full study go to: https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-04-2023-0113
Financial Times – Turning Off Carbon While Keeping the Lights On
Authors: Morris Mthombeni and Albert Wöcke
Mthombeni and Wöcke researched South African energy supplier Eskom’s attempts to decarbonise electricity generation and tackle costly blackouts. The work was published as a case study in the Financial Times of London in 2024. The discussion points of the case focused on making electricity generation profitable, achieving emission targets and whether it is feasible for Eskom to retain its current structure for the foreseeable future.
For the full study go to: https://www.ft.com/content/ef682377-dfc1-4568-a857-084023d1d853
Balancing intellectual trade
GIBS has also had great success in the quality of its academic papers and articles. Academic articles or papers are written by professionals and academics who specialise in their fields. They can be specifically researched or stem from research done in Master’s and doctoral degrees. What sets them apart is that the research subject is rigorously studied, and the research can take years to write up and publish.
Academic articles are critical in understanding the dynamics of a specific issue and are important for knowledge transfer from a region. Prof. Helena Barnard explains, “We ask questions that can help us to better understand the continent. We need to shift what I call the balance of intellectual trade. We should be exporting and not just importing insights. [It is about] knowledge and the things that go with knowledge, innovation and improved practices, and eventually profitability in the case of a business.”
A few of GIBS’ most notable academic articles include:
The Impact of Reported Corporate Governance Disclosure on the Financial Performance of Companies Listed on the JSE
Authors: Andrew Abdo & Greg Fisher
This article by two GIBS MBA alumni in 2007 has been cited in the Leadership Training Toolkit for State-owned Enterprises (SOEs): Boards and Owners, World Bank, 2021. The research suggested that the majority of respondents felt that the heightened focus on corporate governance did not necessarily have a positive impact on corporate performance. The general feeling that emerged from the survey was that sound financial performance excuses poor governance. The article was published in the Investment Analysts Journal, 36(66), 43–56 in 2007.
For the full study go to: https://doi.org/10.1080/10293523.2007.11082492
Corporate Identity, Corporate Branding and Corporate Reputations: Reconciliation and Integration
Author: Nicola Kleyn, in conjunction with Russell Abratt from Nova South-Eastern University
This paper, which explores, defines, reconciles and depicts corporate identity, corporate brands, and corporate reputations, does so in a framework that reflects the dimensions of these constructs, distinguishes between them and highlights their interrelatedness. It was published in the European Journal of Marketing (2012) and was selected as a winning paper in the prestigious Emerald Citations of Excellence for 2015.
For the full study go to: https://doi.org/10.1108/03090561211230197
The Global Platform Economy: A New Offshoring Institution Enabling Emerging-Economy Microproviders
Authors: Vili Lehdonvirta, Otto Kässi, Isis Hjorth, Helena Barnard and Mark Graham
This 2019 paper investigates the impact the global platform economy has on micro providers who are predominantly one-person operations located in emerging economies. The research was published in the Journal of Management, 45(2), 567-599, and has been cited in
- The Globalization of Remote Work, Rand Corporation, 2022
- Online Platforms with Significant/Strategic Market Status, The Publications Office of the European Union, 2021
- African Jobs in the Digital Era: Export Options With A Focus On Online Labour, The German Institute of Development and Sustainability, 2022
For the full study go to: https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318786781
Regional Integration, Regional Value Chains and the Automotive Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Justin Barnes, Anthony Black, Chelsea Markowitz and Lorenza Monaco
This article, which was published in 2021 by Development Southern Africa, 38(1), 57–72, explores the automotive industry in Africa and the growing demand for vehicles on the continent. It examines challenges facing the industry like the geography of Africa and the tendency of the industry to cluster in a few locations, which impacts investment opportunities for smaller African countries. The article has been cited in
- The Automotive Sector in Nigeria: Opportunities Under the AfCFTA, 2023
- Building Back Better: Fostering Commodity-Based Industrialization, Manufacturing and Regional Value Chains in South Africa, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, 2023
For the full study go to: https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2021.1900788
Exploring the Process of Transformative Learning in Executive Coaching
Authors: Gloria Mbokota, Kerrin Myres and Sunny Stout-Rostron
This article investigates the process of transformative learning in executive coaching from the coachee’s perspective. It takes three key transformative learning elements — disorienting dilemma, critical reflection, and rational dialogue — that occur in an executive coaching engagement and discusses the learning outcomes that emerge. It was selected as the best article published in Advances in Developing Human Resources for 2022.
For the full study go to: https://doi.org/10.1177/15234223221079026
‘It’s a Disaster, Nobody is Coming’: International Travel Bans’ Effect on Cape Town’s Informal Traders
Authors: Alicia Fourie, Derick Blaauw and Vickey De Villiers
This article published in Development Southern Africa, 41(1), 2024, 53-70, which studied the effects of the pandemic on South Africa’s informal traders, received the most online attention, according to Altmetric, an online platform which tracks all online engagement of published research, with an attention rating of 73. The article was picked up and used in news articles of 10 global and local news agencies.
For the full study go to: https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2023.2244530
Research and teaching – a perfect match
Research and training projects provide two outcomes. The research component allows academics to research a specific area of study, in this case, township entrepreneurship, while offering research subjects training and coaching to enhance their businesses. Typically, these types of projects can include case studies, case-control studies, cohort studies, randomised controlled trials, surveys, and secondary data analysis, to name a few. To be effective, however, they need to be clearly structured, and the institution, using its curriculum, must support the research subjects.
#GrowYourBiz: Township entrepreneurs
Authors: Kerrin Myres, Anastacia Mamabolo and Sean Smith
This research and teaching project, in partnership with the Walmart Foundation, won the UN PRME Faculty Award 2022 recognising excellence in SDG impact at the PRME Global Forum in June 2022. The purpose of the training programme was to offer development training and peer-to-peer coaching interventions to help South Africa’s most vulnerable entrepreneurs grow their businesses into viable entities. It comprised training of entrepreneurs, research studies and programme evaluations.
For the full study go to: https://www.unprme.org/sdg-integrations/growyourbiz-township-enrepreneurship-programme/
