Professor Rabelani Dagada, Associate Professor: ICT and Area Head: Digital Transformation, Unisa SBL
It stays abreast of current developments and ensures an Africa-first education
The UNISA Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) aligns its three Post-Graduate Diplomas, two Master’s and various Short-Learning programmes to three key focus areas: (1) Intra-Africa Trade and Leadership (2) Sustainable Livelihoods and (3) Digital Transformation. These focus areas enhance and set apart SBL’s identity in the marketplace. The Area Heads explain below how these focus areas find expression in how students are prepared to address changes in these areas.
In some of the modules presented in SBL, lecturers use artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced chatbots for teaching and learning purposes. These chatbots refer our students to relevant accredited journals; use models to demonstrate how concepts and principles can be implemented in a particular context; and recommend case studies to students to grasp concepts and principles.
The study conducted by ICT professor Rabelani Dagada, and published by the Southern African Journal of Security found that some people were using generative applications (apps) such as ChatGPT, Bard, and Bing Chat unethically. These apps are highly driven by AI, big data and the internet of things. In academic context, some students, locally and globally, are using these apps to write up assignments and research projects that look convincing and genuine. This phenomenon has posed very serious challenges with regards to academic integrity. It is on this premise that UNISA has decided to craft AI policy guidelines.
For us as SBL, it is not just about protecting academic integrity, but also about instilling good ethical behaviour in our students and preparing them to navigate the ethical and social implications of digital transformation.
In the next 5-10 years, the portfolio will be focusing on several emerging trends and challenges which include the following:
Professor Makgopa Tshehla, Associate Professor: Strategic Financial Management and
Area Head: Sustainable Livelihoods
Unisa SBL
- Climate Change Resilience: Preparing students to develop strategies for communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change to ensure sustainability in operations and resource management.
- Social Equity: Preparing students to focus on inclusivity in economic development, addressing income inequality, and ensuring marginalised communities have access to sustainable livelihoods.
- Social Entrepreneurship: Encouraging students to create businesses that address social issues, integrating profit with purpose to improve community livelihoods.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Highlighting the importance of involving various stakeholders, including communities and consumers, in decision-making processes to ensure sustainable practices are inclusive and equitable.
- Policy Advocacy: Preparing students to engage in policy development and advocacy that supports sustainable practices and addresses systemic challenges in livelihoods.
- Community Engagement: Building partnerships with local communities to ensure that solutions are culturally appropriate and address specific local needs.
- Sustainable Finance: Preparing students to engage on the principles of sustainable investment and responsible financial practices that support long-term ecological and social sustainability.
These trends suggest a comprehensive approach to developing skills and knowledge that align with both current challenges and future opportunities in sustainable livelihoods.
Business education often assumes universality as a point of departure. ‘Universality’ assumes the global north assumptions and perspectives as the best approach to engage business education and leadership even in Africa.
Professor Motsamai Molefe, Associate Professor: Ethics and Governance and Area Head: Intra-Africa Trade and Leadership, Unisa SBL
As much as there is a lot that we do learn from a global- north oriented business education, this approach tends to produce managers and leaders that are oblivious of their immediate contexts of operation. This is the case because textbooks and lecturers often are beholden to the global north.
At the SBL, we emphasise an approach to management and leadership that takes Africa and local contexts as a point of departure, without losing sight of the global context.
Our emphasis, among others, involves developing managers and leaders that take seriously the ekasi economy (township economies) and Intra-Africa Trade. Our business education pivots on ensuring that we produce managers and leaders of distinction who have a robust understanding of local and continental cultures, problems, constraints and opportunities.