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The 21st century has brought about many social challenges that require innovative solutions. Some of the most pressing issues include poverty, inequality, climate change, and political polarization. These challenges are interconnected and require a multi-disciplinary approach to address them effectively. A business degree can make a positive impact by equipping individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to tackle these issues head-on.

One of the most significant social challenges of the 21st century is poverty. Despite global economic growth, the number of people living in extreme poverty remains stubbornly high. A business degree can help individuals understand the economic systems that contribute to poverty and develop strategies to address it. For example, a business degree can equip individuals with the skills to create sustainable and inclusive economic growth, which can lift people out of poverty.

Another significant social challenge is inequality. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen, and this has a detrimental impact on society. A business degree can help individuals understand the structural factors that contribute to inequality and develop strategies to address it. For example, a business degree can equip individuals with the skills to create fair and equitable economic systems that promote shared prosperity.

Climate change is another pressing issue that requires urgent action. The burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and other human activities have led to a warming planet, which poses a significant threat to humanity. A business degree can help individuals understand the economic systems that contribute to climate change and develop strategies to mitigate its effects. For example, a business degree can equip individuals with the skills to create sustainable and renewable energy systems, which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming.

Political polarization is another social challenge of the 21st century. In many countries, people are becoming increasingly divided along ideological lines, making it difficult to find common ground and work together to address social problems. A business degree can help individuals understand the economic and political systems that contribute to polarization and develop strategies to bridge the divide. For example, a business degree can equip individuals with the skills to create inclusive and participatory economic systems, which can promote social cohesion and reduce polarization.

In conclusion, the 21st century has brought about many social challenges that require innovative solutions. A business degree can make a positive impact by equipping individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to tackle these issues head-on. A business degree can help individuals understand the economic systems that contribute to poverty, inequality, climate change, and political polarization, and develop strategies to address them effectively. In short, a business degree can be a powerful tool to bring about positive change in the world and make a real difference to the lives of people.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the business landscape, and it is having a significant impact on business education. Business schools are adapting to this technological revolution by integrating AI into their curriculum and research. This is important because it equips future business leaders with the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate the rapidly changing business environment. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits and challenges of incorporating AI in business education and how it is shaping the future of the industry.

One of the main benefits of incorporating AI in business education is that it prepares students for the future of work. AI is already being used in a wide range of industries, from finance to healthcare, and it is expected to continue to grow in importance. By teaching students about AI, business schools are equipping them with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in the future job market. For example, students who understand how AI can be used to automate tasks and analyze data will be more valuable to employers than those who do not.

Another benefit of incorporating AI in business education is that it allows students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. AI is a complex and rapidly evolving technology, and understanding it requires a deep understanding of the underlying principles. By teaching students about AI, business schools are helping them develop the ability to think critically and solve problems, which are valuable skills in any industry.

AI is also providing new opportunities for research and innovation in business schools. By incorporating AI into their research, business schools can explore new areas of study and develop new insights into important business problems. For example, researchers can use AI to analyze large amounts of data and make predictions about consumer behavior, which can help businesses make better decisions.

However, incorporating AI in business education also poses some challenges. One of the main challenges is keeping the curriculum up-to-date. AI is a rapidly evolving technology, and new advancements are being made all the time. This means that business schools must be constantly updating their curriculum to ensure that students are learning the most current information.

Another challenge is ensuring that students have access to the necessary resources. Incorporating AI into the curriculum requires specialized equipment and software, which can be expensive. This can be a barrier for some students, particularly those from low-income backgrounds.

Finally, there is a need for business schools to address ethical considerations surrounding AI. As AI is being integrated in more and more aspects of our lives, it’s important that future business leaders are familiar with the ethical implications of AI and how to navigate them. This includes understanding the potential biases that can be built into AI systems and the potential negative impact on society and the workforce.

In conclusion, AI is having a significant impact on business education. Business schools are incorporating AI into their curriculum and research to prepare students for the future of work, develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and explore new areas of study. However, there are also challenges to incorporating AI in business education, including keeping the curriculum up-to-date, ensuring that students have access to the necessary resources, and addressing ethical considerations. Business schools have to navigate these challenges in order to ensure that their students are well-equipped to tackle the business challenges of the future.

With a new year comes new opportunities and for many, a new job search. The first step to a successful job search is a well-crafted CV. Your CV is the first impression an employer has of you, so it’s important to make it stand out. A good CV should highlight your skills, experience, and achievements in a concise manner, but how do you go about making your CV remarkable?

Here are some tips to help you craft a CV that will make you stand out from other applicants:

Keep it concise

A good CV should fit on one side of A4 paper, with margins, so keep your paragraphs short and use bullet points, headers, and tables to break up the text. Make sure to focus on the most relevant information.

Use action verbs

Choose words like “achieved” and “designed” instead of passive verbs like “developed” or “helped”. This helps to make your achievements sound more impactful.

Highlight personal achievements

If you have personal achievements, consider including them at the end of your CV as a list or on an extra page. This allows you to explain your skills and and achievements in more detail in your application form.

Use your cover letter to your advantage

If you don’t have any experience, it may be better not to include a CV at all. Use your cover letter as an opportunity to explain why you’re suited to the role and how your skills will benefit the employer. Consider doing some volunteer work to gain experience and show what you’ve been doing with your time.

Be honest and accurate

It’s important to be honest and accurate in your CV, especially if you have a gap in employment. If you’re changing careers, make sure to explain why this is relevant to the position you’re applying for.

With these tips, you’re on your way to crafting a remarkable CV. Remember, a good CV is the first step to a job interview, so take the time to make it stand out. Best of luck in your job hunt!

Dr. Rajaspree Pillay is a change agent whose mission is to create a humane and sustainable environment. A proud alum of The DaVinci Business School, Dr. Pillay has made significant contributions to her field of work and is now a highly regarded expert in Global HR Management, Transformation, Employee Relations, Social Inclusion, Change Management, and Business Strategy. With over 24 years of experience working in a range of industries, including the environmental sector, IT, FMCG, and finance, Dr. Pillay has proven to be a valuable asset to any organisation.

Dr. Pillay’s Doctoral thesis, “Towards achieving a green environment and economic empowerment through the inclusion of waste pickers in South Africa: A Case Study within the Ekurhuleni Municipality,” is a testament to her dedication to making a difference in the world. The study focuses on the Ekurhuleni municipality, which is facing a growing landfill crisis. By examining the current state of waste management in the area and exploring ways to engage waste reclaimers, Dr. Pillay’s research argues that social cohesion among all stakeholders, including informal reclaimers, is key to creating a green environment and promoting economic empowerment.

Completing her Doctoral qualification was a challenging journey for Dr. Pillay, but her patience, perseverance, and tenacity saw her through to the end. The experience has transformed her from a research accumulator to a research contributor, allowing her to turn her ideas and words into action.

With her Doctoral degree now complete, Dr. Pillay is focused on operationalising social cohesion and multiparty stakeholder engagement to mobilise informal reclaimers towards a greener environment and socio-economic upliftment. She is also committed to poverty alleviation through job creation, skills transfer to other academic enthusiasts, and publishing articles.

For students embarking on the same journey, Dr. Pillay offers the following advice: “When you embark on your PhD journey, you are not expected to know everything. However, as you progress through each day you will become more knowledgeable and familiar with the subject matter than the previous day. Never underestimate the time you spend to reflect; it is in these moments of reflection that new ideas are born. Allow the ideas to develop and constantly remind yourself of your objectives. Write consistently. The paragraphs later develop into chapters. Always remember the final product is very rewarding, keep the end in sight and reward yourself regularly.”

In conclusion, Dr. Rajaspree Pillay is a true inspiration to all who are committed to creating a better world. Her dedication to her field of work, and her unwavering commitment to making a difference, is an example to us all. The DaVinci Business School is proud to call her one of its own, and we are honoured to showcase her achievements as part of our alumni showcase.

“Graduation ceremonies are a highlight on The Da Vinci Institute’s calendar, and we are particularly proud of the sterling cohort of graduates who were awarded Doctorates in October this year. A Doctorate represents the pinnacle of academic learning, and receiving a Doctoral degree from the Institute not only testifies to academic prowess, but also to graduates’ capability and interest to bring about change and transformation in their respective socio-economic contexts.” With these words, Mr. Frik Landman, Chairperson of the Da Vinci board, expressed his confidence in the eight doctoral graduates to make meaningful contributions to society.

At The Da Vinci Institute, the focus is on learning and research that is relevant and seeks to provide solutions to business and community challenges. The Da Vinci Institute’s CEO, Prof HB Klopper, explains that the Graduates’ Doctoral theses were directly related to the contexts in which they took place, resulting in tangible outcomes.

Graduates came from different countries and worked in similar environments, which resulted in a variety of research topics related to important issues in their communities and workplaces. Each study, however, shared one goal, which was to make a positive impact on the lives and futures of communities around the globe.

Mayyada Abu Jaber

To counter the economic injustices women are facing as a result of a patriarchal system in Jordan, Mayyada Abu Jaber’s main interest was to create an eco-feminist economy for the benefit of women of Jordan and the Arab region at large. Impact as a result of her research includes education and vocational skill acquisition for women, the revival of cultural memory of the roles of women in building the community, the creation of the Feminist Integral Centre for Research and Innovation to drive policy reforms in future, and the protection of the historical and environmental wealth of women as sustainable economic providers.

Said Abu Jaber: “The pursuit of my Doctoral journey has yielded both a positive impact and a continuous improvement in feminist research as it unfolds the varied feminist and emancipatory dimensions of the Arab culture to provoke critical thinking and discourses in Ficr (thought) circles for the economic emancipation and participation of women and the creation of an eco-feminist economy.”

Lanre Kazeem-Abimbola

Lanre Kazeem-Abimbola gained first-hand knowledge of delving into a struggling business when she tried to support her mother’s efforts to sustain their family. However, as an employee in the Bank of Industry of Nigeria she came to realise that her case was not unique, but an experience shared by many other informal SMEs. This inspired her research journey aimed at supporting enterprises in the Ajegunie community in Lagos, Nigeria, through perspective-shifting, transformative value-based integral education, that balances western ideas of business management with indigenous cultural economic values, coined African Integral Communipreneurship Education (AICE).

As a result of the success achieved in her doctoral study, the AICE framework is currently applied to educate a new set of local entrepreneurs in Lagos. “Evidently, my research journey does not have an end in sight but has paved the way for unfolding realities in developing a truly African entrepreneurship enterprise education”, she said.

Johan Nel

The main aim of Johan Nel’s study was to gain insight into how performance-based renumeration systems could add economic value to profit-based companies and at the same time ensured fair and equitable distribution of free cash flow between employees (especially executive management) and shareholders or investors. The integrated performance-based renumeration system framework which was developed during the study has already been incorporated and implemented in the total rewards strategy of several client organisations.

Nel said his experience with The Da Vinci Institute had been superb as he was allowed the freedom to be innovative and to manage his research to arrive at a value-add conclusion. “Completing my PhD has exposed me to research much broader than the topic itself. The Mode 2 methodology allowed me to do my research in a trans-disciplinary manner.” He added that he had also recommended The Da Vinci Institute’s Bachelor of Commerce programme to various individuals because it was so strongly focused on workplace integration.

Rajas Pillay

Rajas Pillay’s research on green economic empowerment, through the inclusion of waste claimers, would certainly have an impact on municipalities, both locally and internationally. The research highlighted the looming landfill crises as municipalities were not implementing effective and efficient waste management practices. However, this ecological disaster could be averted if recycling occurs. The study defined and demonstrated waste reclaimers as key enablers to waste minimisation, and argued that social cohesion of stakeholders, inclusive of informal reclaimers, allowed for the development of a green environment and the economic empowerment of relevant stakeholders.

Pillay said attaining her PhD was a tough and lonely academic journey. “However, despite the numerous challenges, I constantly reminded myself of my purpose in making a difference. This assisted me in realising this degree. The sense of fulfilment has been tremendous.”

Esther Shebi

The plight of women in general, but specifically women facing fertility challenges and who were marginalised and oppressed in the community of Jos, Nigeria, has been the motivation for Esther Shebi’s study. The main purpose of the study was to deconstruct the narrow concept of biological fertility and construct it towards a more encompassing concept referred to as ‘integral fertility’, which also included the social, spiritual, intellectual, and economical dimensions of human existence.

Shebi said her study underscored that a narrow definition informed by traditional beliefs could be detrimental to development in a contemporary society. “What this implied for me and other professional fields, both at a personal and professional level, was to work at redefining various concepts such as fertility integrally, and to adopt innovative approaches for transforming their narratives.”

Smart Zongololo

In his research Smart Zongololo explores communiversity as an innovation ecosystem for economic development in Zimbabwe. To close the gaps that exist between the community, the academic world, and the corporate world, he attempted to focus on the advancement of the natural, cultural, technological, and economic aspects of society, as captured in a newly defined form of the African economy.

Zongololo said his Doctoral studies through The Da Vinci Institute has been a transformational journey for himself and others. It equipped him to grow from being a mere business executive to becoming a catalyst for change, and the organisations and communities he works with equally benefitted from his research.

Raghda Butros

Raghda Butros’s research was based on an integral journey she undertook over a period of four years across Halaqaat al-Wujoud (circle of being). The Halaqaat process was the action research methodology through which Qafilat al-Hikma wal Taharur (caravan of wisdom and liberation) emerged as the collective new offering to the field of decolonisation anchored by a newly coined feminism of the soil and soul.

Muvengwa Mutyanda

Through his study Muvengwa Mutyanda committed himself to the regeneration of the Chivhu community in Zimbabwe from which he originates. To encourage social innovation, the study drew on technology, innovation, people, and systems, indigenously and exogenously, whereby the Wungano circles created amongst the people, drew on the positive features of their Unhu/Ubuntu laden Shona culture, as an overarching system, via socio-technical development, with a view to social innovation, mediated by Weph commercial agencies and Chivhu.

Mutyanda said his doctoral study had multiple outcomes. “On an individual level there was dynamic mental development, to society there was societal and economic emancipation, and The Da Vinci Institute gained from new knowledge creation and concepts that were innovative and created through the amalgamation of both modern and indigenous practices.”

Mr. Landman concludes that the impact and social upliftment, because of the Doctoral research conducted, resonates with former President Nelson Mandela’s belief that education is the most powerful weapon which you could use to change the world.  “As the Board, we wish our Doctoral alum all the best with their future plans and journeys, as remarkable scholars, who are committed to co-create a prosperous future for their communities and society at large.”

At DaVinci Business School, we are proud to have a diverse group of alumni who are making a significant impact in their industries. One such alum is Edward William de Klerk, who graduated with a Master’s degree and wrote his dissertation on “Co-determination through an inclusive transformation process within the South African Typographical Union in collaboration with the printing sector: A case study.”

Edward’s career spans over 47 years, making him a seasoned professional in the field of work. He spent 4 years as an apprentice Coach Builder, 20 years as a constitutional elected leader within Transnet, and 23 years as a full-time employee of the Trade union movement. Today, he serves as the General Secretary of the South African Typographical Union, and has served on the South African Qualification Authority board and FEDUSA (Federation of Unions of South Africa).

The purpose of Edward’s Master’s dissertation was to establish an integral framework, through cooperative engagement, that would assist in redesigning the economic framework in which inequality and poverty can be eradicated, and where all stakeholders have a voice within a co-determination model.

Through his research, he realised that this inclusive transformation journey is a lifelong process and that cooperative engagement with stakeholders needs to be adjusted towards collectively achieving a preliminary framework for co-determination to become embedded within the culture of the organisation.

In his journey to completing his qualification, Edward came to the realization that all academic and knowledge socialisation is important to build professional mentorship and coaching where all information can be shared to create a learning organisation. He also realised that co-determination can promote collaborative consultation through a participatory process where decision-making can frequently occur.

Edward attributes his success to his resilience and capability to conscientise the evolving and adaptable co-determination framework. He also believes in the importance of servant leadership, joint policy making and creating equal job opportunities for all South Africans.

At DaVinci Business School, we are proud of our alumni like Edward, who are using their education to make a positive impact in their industries and communities. We are committed to supporting our students in achieving their goals and making a difference in the world. We believe that education is a powerful tool for creating positive change and we are honored to play a small role in our alums journey towards making a difference. We are committed to continuing to provide our students with the best education and resources to help them succeed in their careers and make a meaningful impact in the world.

Meet Dr. Gizelle Williams, a remarkable alum of the DaVinci Institute and a 2022 Doctoral graduate.

Her thesis, entitled: “A conceptual framework for developing leadership capability within organisations in the digital era,” highlights the importance of leadership development in the ever-changing digital world of work.

Dr. Williams understands that change is constant, and businesses are impacted by global and technological shifts that influence how they are structured and managed.

The digital world of work, marked by technological advancements, demands a different type of leader. Her research aims to shed light on the leadership capabilities required in this new world of work and the developmental implications for organisations.

Throughout her career, Dr. Williams has been an advocate for leadership development and talent management. She started her journey with a degree in Industrial Psychology from Wits University, and has been registered as an Organisational Psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa since 2002. After achieving her Master’s degree, she entered the workforce at South African Breweries in Human Resources. From there, she did some people management consulting with Hay Group and YSC and entered the marketing and communications field in 2007. She then headed up HR for three different networks: VWV Group, where she was the HR Director, TBWA, where she was the Group Talent Director, and Publicis Groupe Africa, where she was the Chief Talent Officer. In 2020, Dr. Williams and her business partner founded Kryptonite Digital, a company that partners with organisations to take their people on the journey of digital business transformation.

Dr. Williams’ research is intended to shed light on the leadership capabilities required in the digital world of work, and to explore the developmental implications thereof. The key contribution of the study is a conceptual framework for developing leadership capability within organisations in the digital era. Of which mindsets, perspectives and skills required in the digital world of work are critical contributions. The notion that these capabilities are to be developed in a vertical, organic way.

Her journey to completing her qualification was not without its challenges, but her grit and resilience, coupled with a deep curiosity for the unknown and her need to make a real difference, helped her persevere. The journey has also taught her about the importance of remaining humble and always open to new learning. She has also found her voice amongst the myriad of other expert voices.

As she sets her sights on expanding Kryptonite Digital to the world, Dr. Williams has moved to Spain and has set up Kryptonite Europe. Her advice to a student embarking on this journey is to keep your eye on the prize, never give up, and never doubt yourself. With hard work and determination, you too can make a real difference in the world and be a leader of change.