A New World Needs New Ideas

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About Us

A distinctly African business school with a global reach

#1

University in Africa

50+

Years of academic excellence

23 000+

Alumni from 68 Countries

138+

Nationalities represented

47

Student exchange partners

70+

Corporate partnerships

Research Excellence

Case Writing: Claire Barnardo
Research designed for impact

Rigorous research and innovative teaching that informs the business world.

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Solution Space Philippi
Award-winning
cases

Excellent teaching case studies focused on African and emerging market challenges.

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Customised courses
A focus on sustainable development

Champion of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).

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WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAY

Centres & Initiatives

World-leading centres that reflect our core, capabilities and areas of expertise

Specialised Centres
Allan Gray Centre
The Bertha Centre
Development Finance Centre
Solution Space
Initiatives
Case Writing Centre
Raymond Ackerman Academy
Power Futures Lab
Affiliations & Partnerships
Lean Institute Africa
Centre for Coaching

DrCatherin

Dr Catherine Duggan

UCT GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS DIRECTOR

"The UCT GSB is uniquely placed to lead some of the most important critical conversations about the future of business that are going on in Africa and around the world. 

Our faculty have tremendous expertise on issues such as social innovation, diversity and inequality, environmental sustainability, the role of business and society, and values-based leadership—very much including leadership under conditions of crisis and uncertainty."

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Ideas Exchange

 
Qasim Abrahams
Learning & Development

Be intentional in your career choices

Qasim Abrahams credits the networks and experience gained as a result of completing his MBA at the UCT GSB, with his career journey to his current role. Here he shares advice for recent graduates, explaining that it all starts with a plan, consistency, and the knowledge that failure is an important part of success.

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Posted on 9 June 2022 by UCT GSB Press Office
Insights from Zimbabwe on how to link formal and
Emerging Market Business

Insights from Zimbabwe on how to link formal and informal economies

Government alone will not be able to bridge the gaping chasm between South Africa’s formal and informal economies. There are innovative intermediaries better suited to the task – but government must play a key enabling role to allow them to do what they do best.

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Posted on 12 May 2022 by John Luiz
subscribe-to-our-newsletters
Learning & Development

Subscribe to our newsletters

Get the latest UCT GSB news and practical ideas delivered to your inbox.

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Posted on 26 April 2022 by UCT GSB Press Office
John Luiz - The war in Ukraine and its broader imp
Emerging Market Business

The war in Ukraine and its broader implications for the international green energy transition

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the importance of energy politics in international relations and resulted in calls to accelerate the green transition to reduce fossil fuel dependencies. However, the strategic importance of Ukraine's natural resource wealth, particularly as it relates to Europe's energy- and resource-independence in coming decades, is being overlooked both as a potential contributory factor to the war in Ukraine and in terms of its long-term implications.

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Posted on 21 April 2022 by John Luiz
This concern manifests differently in different re
Emerging Market Business

Why inequality persists: How institutions and organizations reproduce inequality

The continued institutional reproduction of inequality is a matter of growing concern in vast parts of the world.

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Posted on 14 April 2022 by John Luiz
Three top tips for acing the GMAT test
Learning & Development

Three top tips for acing the GMAT test

There is no shortage of advice on how to prepare for the GMAT exam – the often daunting test that opens the door to the most prestigious MBA programmes around the world – but taking advice from someone who’s cracked it themselves is a good place to start.

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Posted on 11 April 2022 by Shivani Ghai
Trust and Governance: why trust is key to economic
Leadership & Ethics

Trust and Governance: why trust is key to economic performance

Trust greatly reduces transaction costs within an economy and society. Just as a functional health care system will produce healthy citizens, trustworthy governing officials help to create trustworthy citizens.

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Posted on 31 March 2022 by Thomas Koelble
Patra Sumari
Learning & Development

How the UCT GSB helped me start my own business

For Patra Sumari, one of the biggest advantages of doing the PGDip course at the UCT GSB, was that it gave her the confidence and the final push to set up her own HR company in Tanzania.

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Posted on 29 March 2022 by UCT GSB Press Office
BONGIWE BONGIWE
Learning & Development

Credible data is key for successful development in Africa

Southern African Region Community Champion of the Global Shapers Community – an initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF) – and one of the SADC Top 100 young leaders of 2018, Bongiwe Beja-Ntsiko wants to see economic and social prosperity in Africa. But to achieve better developmental outcomes, she believes the barriers to digital transformation on the continent must be overcome.

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Posted on 29 March 2022 by UCT GSB Press Office
Diane Moalem
Learning & Development

How to climb the ladder to the top – and fast

MBA alumna Diane Moalem holds a top job as Group Head of Operations at African tech organisation, ROAM Africa – which operates in six countries with 12 different brands– just eight years after entering the workforce.

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Posted on 29 March 2022 by UCT GSB Press Office
Sophia Campello
Entrepreneurship & Innovation

International alumnus remains hopeful for change in South Africa

Despite challenges, South Africa continues to be an innovation hub with the capacity to develop the next generation of change makers. The UCT GSB's MBA programme attracts students from all walks of life that want ‘in’ on this journey.

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Posted on 29 March 2022 by UCT GSB Press Office
UCT GSB partners
Emerging Market Business

UCT GSB partners with 6 other institutions in energy to launch the African School of Regulation (ASR) initiative.

The initiative to create the African School of Regulation (ASR) has been launched via a scientific knowledge partnership agreement among the European University Institute (EUI), the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (GSB), the Pan African University Institute of Water and Energy Sciences (PAUWES), the Enel Foundation, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), and the Energy Nexus Network (TENN).

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Posted on 25 February 2022 by UCT GSB Press Office
ADDRESSING THE LACK OF JEDI IN THE WORKPLACE
Leadership & Ethics

Addressing the lack of JEDI in the workplace

The South African workplace remains a very complex space. To bring about a change in workplace culture and organisational orientations, we may need to consider new approaches. Recent research from the UCT GSB has highlighted several practices that organisations can implement to help address the lack of justice, equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

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Posted on 10 February 2022 by Kurt April
Azvir R
Management Fundamentals

More purpose, more flexibility, more empathy – what’s really driving ‘The Great Resignation’?

The record number of people leaving their jobs in 2021, mainly in the US, has given rise to the term ‘The Great Resignation’ or ‘The Big Quit’. We asked the UCT GSB's Azvir Rampursad and Rayner Canning for their insights into this trend.

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Posted on 10 February 2022 by Azvir Rampursad
Here’s why black Millennial women are leaving 2
Leadership & Ethics

Here’s why black millennial women are leaving your organisation

New research digs into the deep frustration causing many African millennial women to call it a day at the office.

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Posted on 8 February 2022 by Kurt April
Three essential provocations for leaders
Learning & Development

Three essential provocations for leaders in business and government today

Executive MBA transforms executives and equips them to focus on solving the complex problems of our times by putting them into a better relationship with their lived experience.

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Posted on 3 February 2022 by UCT GSB Press Office
Sean Gossel - Never mind a wealth tax 2
Emerging Market Business

Never mind a wealth tax, South Africa needs a corruption tax on companies that collude in State Capture

Without private sector collusion, South Africa’s numerous corruption scandals would have been near impossible. A corruption tax on private sector companies complicit in corrupt activities should be introduced.

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Posted on 31 January 2022 by Sean Gossel
EMPLOYEES CAN STILL LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER IN A HY
Learning & Development

Top tips to ensure employees can still learn from one another in a hybrid world

Two-thirds of professionals fear that a hybrid workplace will damage their ability to learn from colleagues – global survey

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Posted on 24 January 2022 by UCT GSB Press Office
Hamida Parker Poor quality food control
Management Fundamentals

Poor quality control leaves a bad taste in consumers’ mouths

The recent spate of food quality failures going back to the country’s deadly listeriosis outbreak in 2018 reveals the damaging health consequences and reputational damage that can flow from a single ‘bad batch’.

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Posted on 17 January 2022 by Hamieda Parker

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

MPHIL Information Session

 22 August 2022
 13:00 (GMT+2)

Join us for an information session webinar about the Master Of Philosophy Specialising in Inclusive Innovation (MPHIL) at the UCT Graduate School of Business

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EMBA Information Session

 23 August 2022
 17:30 (GMT+2)

Join us for an information session webinar about the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) at the UCT Graduate School of Business

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UCT GSB and Oxford SBS present MBA & GMAT Info Session | Sandton JHB

 23 August 2022
 18:00 (GMT+2)

Led by Dr Catherine Duggan, Director (Dean) of UCT GSB and Tammy Brophy, Africa Initiative Manager at Oxford Saïd.

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Master Class | Sandton, Johannesburg: “Equipping African Leaders for a Changing World”

 25 August 2022
 18:00 (GMT+2)

Join us for an engaging Masterclass hosted by Dr Catherine Duggan, the Dean of the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business

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23rd Annual Women in Business Conference

 26 August 2022
 08:30 (GMT+2)

The UCT GSB's Women in Business Society presents its 23rd Annual Women in Business Conference. This flagship event gathers phenomenal leaders and executives from the private, public, NGO and entrepreneurial sectors to celebrate women – the innovators and architects of change - redesigning our present and reimagining our future under this year's theme 'The Butterfly Effect'.

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MBA Virtual Information Session

 31 August 2022
 17:30 (GMT+2)

Join Dr Catherine Duggan, UCT GSB Director (Dean) for an information session webinar about the UCT GSB's Master of Business Administration (MBA). This webinar creates an opportunity for prospective applicants to learn more about the school, the programme and the admissions process

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ALLAN GRAY SPEAKER SERIES WEBINAR: DR. SHIRLEEN TITUS

 08 September 2022
 18:00 (GMT+2)

"Women in Executive Leadership: Defying the Gender Gap Barrier": This keynote aims to raise the spotlight on the role of women in executive leadership in disrupting the known gender gap by focusing on social capital and the value it contributes to raising socio-economic equality. The conversation speaks to significance and not to statistics.

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