From shoe-shine to Soweto showers

Today's guest entry is written by Rasmus Figenschou.

Ruslana (Canadian), Cedric (France), Sylvain (France), Dave (Australia) and Rasmus (Norway) makes up the team advising a Shoe-shining operation here in Johannesburg.

Thinking we were going to become excellent shoe-shiners, we were surprised to learn that our entrepreneur already had move onto new hunting grounds. We plunged straight into the launch of a shower service to townships near Johannesburg.

Townships date back to Apartheid times when non-whites were designated to live in certain areas. Though some townships have been upgraded, most still do not have hot water, or even running water to their homes. Daily hygiene is therefore limited to collecting water from a nearby source, and possibly heating it up in your home, or washing straight from the tap in the street.

Many people from the townships commute to the city for work where transportation hubs allow for very efficient modes of transport. Arriving at 5am, people were already queuing up to get on their way into town for work. Small taxis (industry standard is the Hiace) go to different points of town, where only experience and asking for advice guides people of the right line to join. With the chilling minus two degrees and masses of people, we were amazed at the adherence to queue-etiquette and the evident orderly system of what in the beginning seemed like complete chaos.

Our location-scouting brought us various township areas (more toilet areas than we could count), downtown train stations etc, and even allowed us for some very local food experiences. The driver of our bus is a police officer and provides for our safety in a country that is known for its crime. It is a bit of a nuisance having to stay in a close group all the time. That said, I have had nothing but positive experiences with South Africans – and the early AM trip also gave a good counter-perspective to the safety concerns. Knowing when to hide your camera is obviously the case as in any other developing country. But in spite of being the only two white people/abelungu (Xhosa word deriving from the white break of the sea) walking around Soweto pre-sunrise we had no negative experiences, but rather were met by curious interest and smiling faces.

Lastly I have to express our groups love for our entrepreneur. As one of the first generation to graduate from higher education after Apartheid he did not find a space in normal business world. Instead he started numerous ventures, and numerous failures but a continuing drive to succeed is one of the key qualifications of Lere. Every problem is met with one hundred new solutions, and whenever we have a problem to be solved he is on the phone within minutes to find the appropriate person in government or otherwise and gets in the door whichever way is possible.

I am writing this as I am watching another cultural event here in South Africa - Rugby: The Springbucks are playing the New Zealand All Blacks. Currently the local team is up 14-3 so the mood in the bar is good!

To one and all; Hambani kahle

Rasmus

Queues for bus in morning

All sorts of services are offered in the township

If you dont have a mobile, numerous phone "kiosks" are available

Lere´s shoe shine meets IMD MBA - Two cold gentlemen out treading the streets of Soweto in the early morning

Getting to work in the morning can take several hours if you live in the townships

The Spirit of South Africa!

Who would have thought it would be so cold in South Africa! Not me, that is for sure. We have hit the coldest period of the year on the Southern hemisphere and with Johannesburg being far inland the temperatures get quite low, around zero degrees Celsius at night and around 15 degrees during the day. That does not sound particularly cold, but in South Africa the houses do not have any heating!! The argument appears to be that this cold period is so short – max. 2 months – that it is not worth to put in heating. Most people therefore wear their jackets indoor these days. We have learned to adopt that fashion.

We have continued our work with Peter – the owner and manager of the company we work with. We visited three of his customers yesterday and have also had two meetings with his bank. Eric – our financial wizard - have been digging into the numbers, while Stone – our engineer – have had a look at the machines and the manufacturing processes. Meanwhile Shibu and I have been trying to combine input from the customers and Peter’s vision of where he wants to take the company into a coherent strategy with a very concrete action plan. The trick is now to bring all three pieces together into a package (in the form of a business plan) that Peter can use both for his own reference and to raise capital for further expansion.

Today we had our second guest speaker, Ivon Johnston, who has been working in and with the South African government for many years. She told some moving stories about what South Africa has gone through, but most of all she told the story about what all of us already have felt – the spirit of South Africa! It is a spirit of optimism and joy that will not let itself be held down by the many very serious problem the country is facing. It is a spirit of reconciliation and compassion, not about revenge, hatred or blame. It is a spirit that recognizes what happen in the past while insisting on focusing on the future.

There is one name in particular that embodies this spirit. We keep hearing it again and again. It is mentioned by our guest speakers, by the entrepreneurs and workers in the companies, by our drivers and by other people we meet. It is used to name everything from streets to shopping malls. The name is Nelson Mandela. He is nothing short of a prophet here. His birthday is a national holiday. Had it not been for his vision South Africa would not have achieved the tremendous improvements that it has over the past 15 years and it would not be heading in the positive direction that it is. I cannot imagine what South Africa will look like in 15 years, but it will for sure be an amazing place!

Thorsten

Shibu James [India] having Chicken Licken (the South African equivalent of KFC) for lunch.

Stone Gao [China] and Peter discussing the manufacturing process of a particular component.

Stone and Peter discussing manufacturing while Eric is crunching the financial numbers.

The modern version of the classic problem of ‘how to fit a square stick in a round hole?’ This one is called ‘how to fit a Swiss electrical plug into a South African socket?’

Yesterday our team had Indian food for lunch. From left it is our driver Sharl, Stone Gao [China], Thorsten Boeck [Denmark], Eric Vergara [Thailand], Peter and Shibu James [India].

One of the teams is working with a company that has developed a special x-ray machine. They had pictures taken of them selves and asked the class to guess who is who. A very entertaining exercise!

Ivon Johnston telling the story about Justice Beki-beki, who was given the death sentence, but saved by the fall of the apartheid regime. He later became a lawyer, a leader of the election process in the Northern Cape province and a member of the international body that monitored the elections in the US.

Tonight’s sunset over Johannesburg as it looked from our hotel. The sunsets are very dramatic and beautiful in the way they paint the whole sky red. The picture does not do reality justice at all.

An Inspiring Conversation

Several months ago in our entrepreneurship class we studied a case study on WIPHOLD, a South African investment group dedicated to the economic empowerment of black women. Today my group met with two of the founders of WIPHOLD to support our current project in South Africa. We are working with a local entrepreneur that is building a company similarly dedicated to empowering black women; we wanted to better understand WIPHOLD’s vision and some of the challenges they faced when it was first starting out, fifteen years ago, at the end of apartheid.

The afternoon was inspiring; both for our project and on a personal level. Louisa Mojela and Gloria Serobe explained their strategy empowering women on multiple levels. The company invests in large companies and participates on the board, bringing female perspective to the boardroom. They also educate and enable underprivileged women to grow their money through investment. Their fund granted a trust in which thousands of rural women in South Africa had a small ownership stake; WIPHOLD manages a very sophisticated investment portfolio and the beneficiaries of the trust can choose whether they would like continue to invest or withdrawal a portion for personal need.

Louisa and Gloria told us about the challenges that they faced establishing their business; women that they wanted to empower were located in hard-to-reach rural areas, spoke many different languages, and were often skeptical about the investment model that WIPOLD was proposing. As WIPOLD grew in size and gained recognition, they had to manage the backlash from the male-dominated business community in South Africa. They continue to overcome these challenges; their passion and commitment to women empowerment was clearly demonstrated through the conversation. It was amazing to have the opportunity to learn from two women that had made such a great impact in the country.

Kristin

Goeie Nag!

Guest entry by Alejandro Salcedo

Our group was assigned to work with a medical devices company based in Pretoria. It is one of the many companies that have been formed thanks to the Black Economic Empowerment policy. The company was established in 2002 as a black female managed and controlled company, it has 11 employees and they help a European company to sell their products to government hospitals. The first day we spent getting to know the company, its people and the way they operate, it was a very interesting process where we learned a lot about their dreams and their challenges.

Our meetings with the company’s team was a mixture of questions asked by us about how they work and questions asked by the girls on how we suggest to do things, it was a very interesting day where our team tried to squeeze as much information as possible and at the same time gave some advice on particular issues. I believe our team is a very complete one for the challenges we are facing: Chia Chia Lim (Singaporean) who has a background in finance and operation improvement, Valeria Pavlyukovskaya (Russian) has a background in sales and marketing, Ilya Syshchikov (Russian) has a background in sales, marketing and business development and myself (Mexican) with a background in sales and project management.

Today we visited a couple of public hospitals where this company sells and we interviewed a few people whom they deal with on a regular basis in order to get a feeling of what is the real situation on the battle front, it was of course a very enriching experience in all aspects, not only in relation with our project, it was very interesting to walk around the aisles of a public hospital in and talk to the people who work there, know about their day-to-day life and the challenges they face on their workplace, and the relationship that all that keeps with the company we are working with.

To close the day we had dinner at the IDC and we had the privilege to have Prof. Shirley Zinn as our guest speaker. Prof. Zinn is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Nedbank, a financial institution originated in The Netherlands. She has built up a very strong curriculum and has broad experience in several public and private institutions. She has been given a number of awards and she shared with us her passion for learning and education and for her land and the people who have made South Africa a more equal place. At the same time she also addressed the challenges that in her opinion, the country is facing. It was a learning and inspiring session.

Lala Kahle! Goeie Nag! Good Night!

Alejandro

Sawubona!

Two days ago I sat on my balcony in Lausanne. What a change of scenery there has been since then!

Sunday evening we met in Lausanne and via Geneva and Zurich we made it to Johannesburg by Monday morning. I asked for a seat by the emergency exit on the plane and was the lucky to get it! That is major deal breaker for me. It is the difference between sleep and no sleep. With enough space to stretch my legs I slept 7 of the 10 hours from Zurich to Johannesburg. I couldn’t have had a better start.

There was a lot of catching up to do on the way. The class has been spread around the world in the past three weeks. Combined we must have visited at least 50 countries. Around 25 people had gone to South Africa early, some individually and others in a trip organized by our native South African, Lisa Bridgett. Stories about cage diving with 4-meter sharks outside Cape Town were already spreading!


Chuks and Andres waiting to pass security in Zürich. Chuks had just become a dad less than 24 hours before the picture is taken!


Arrival in Johannesburg! Some more rested than others.


Our welcoming team. As the width of these two gentlemen indicates they are here for more than just driving us around. They are employed by a security company that takes care of all our transportation and security. All of them have a past in the army or the police.


Yesterday afternoon we met the companies that we will be working with. Here is the rest of my team Stone, Shibu and Eric with Peter [left] from Profast Hydraulics, the company we will be working with. Peter is a true entrepreneur and selfmade man who over the last 15 years has worked his company up from being just himself to employing 15 people and a number of advanced CNC machines. The company produces hydraulic fittings (primarily for the South African mining industry) and components for the construction industry.

Our stay in South Africa has come about as a result of the cooperation between IMD and the Internal Development Corporation (IDC). IDC is a government-owned but self-funded institution that provides financing for entrepreneurs in South Africa. Their aim is to stimulate the growth of the economy and to support the black economic empowerment.


IDC welcomed us with a great dinner with lots of traditional South African music and dance. That got everybody out of their chairs so we could dance along. Great fun!


Wendy Luhabe has been the person bringing IDC and IMD together. She is chairman of IDC and on the IMD board of directors. Here she bids us welcome at the dinner.


On the way out to the Profast factory today we drove by this billboard. Notice Wendu Luhabe on the far left. According to our driver, Sharl, Wendy is a well-known and very public character in South Africa. Please also note Sir Richard Branson (third from the left). Apparently they are having a leadership summit on South African entrepreneurship in Sandton – which is where our hotel is – tomorrow. I guess this just proves the relevance of what we are doing.


We spent all day today with Peter and Sharl. They took us around to the different sites where Profast operates.


We saw the machines and the products and we spent the whole days asking questions in order to understand Peter’s business and the concerns he has. Here it is Hendrik by one of the CNC machines.
We have tried to combine today’s learning with the skills we have amongst the four of us in order to find out where we can do our deep-dive over the next three days. With only a week to complete the whole project we need to take a very pragmatic and realistic approach to where we can add value. It means prioritizing, thinking on our feet and acting quickly. The great thing about this short time frame is that it gives you a bit of a kick. This is not a project that will drag on for months and where you have to collect vast amounts of information. Every hour counts and there is not a moment to waste if you want to do an impact by next Tuesday. Well, the impact may only happen over the coming months, but the frame for it must be set by Tuesday. The keyword is ‘impact’, doing something that really makes a difference. I am very excited and feel we are off to a good start, but there is still 6 days to go – and at the same time ONLY 6 days to go.

Every evening we will be sharing the day’s learning with the class. Judging from today’s session it sounds like everybody are working with companies just as exciting as ours. The companies covers such diverse products as restaurants, construction, pharmaceuticals, diamonds, public toilets in Soweto and a lot more that I haven’t had the chance to hear about yet.


This week have we replaced the White Horse with the bar in our hotel, but it is just as cosy. From left it is Richard Dove [UK], Albert Schultz [Germany], Ope [Nigeria] and Rasmus Figenschou [Norway].

And in case you were wondering: ‘Sawubona’ is the South African version of ‘hello’. Directly translated it means ‘I see you’.

Thorsten

Back to School (Kind of)

I spent the morning in Johannesburg waiting for my classmates to arrive. I flew in last night from Cape Town; the end to a fantastic two weeks vacation in South Africa. About 25 IMD students chose to come to South Africa early, extending our plane ticket for some extra vacation in the bush or near the shore. I have now been in the country for almost two weeks- the first week I spent on safari near Kruger Park in the north east part of the country. During the second week a large group of classmates met to enjoy the great life in Cape Town.

The native South African in the class, Lisa Bridgett, orchestrated the itinerary for our time in Cape Town. She made sure that we saw everything that the Cape has to offer- we hiked Table Mountain, explored the vineyards, went shark diving, saw the penguins, and ate our fill at amazing local restaurants. We also had plenty of time to relax and enjoy the sun, catching up with classmates with some fantastic South African wines. Big thanks to Lisa for arranging such an amazing week for us!

The rest of the class started arriving about an hour ago. We officially kick off the program this afternoon with an orientation session and some introductions to the key people that will be guiding our activities in South Africa. During this session we will learn more about the companies that we will be spending the next two weeks with, and our own goals and focus. But right now it is a huge reunion in the hotel lobby; hugs and greetings and questions about holidays- everyone looks rested and tan. Although its tough to shift out of vacation mode, I'm excited to learn more about our plans for the next two weeks and catch up with all my classmates.

Kristin

In Transit

I am back on the balcony, back in Lausanne. Thinking, thinking, thinking. I feel much better than when I left Lausanne three weeks ago. The batteries are recharged and the connection to the outside world has been reestablished. At the same time it is also clear that mentally I never managed to leave Lausanne and IMD behind. Questions about what actually happened during the first half of the year kept swirling in my mind. The feedback from peers and professors - received the day before we went on vacation - kept popping up. Some of it was encouraging, some of it was not. And why was that? What situation was behind each message. Are there any regrets? Yes, definitely! It is clear that I have missed out on some obvious opportunities. That cannot be redone - that time will not come back - but I can make sure that I find a better path for the second half. I have boiled it all down to a few points that I want to improve on. A few goals that I want to reach.

I arrived in Lausanne yesterday after a week on Malta with my family. It was very hot and humid on this little island in the Mediterranean, so I have enjoyed the chill of Switzerland for a change. The last 24 hours have been spent unpacking, doing laundry and catching up on emails, so I am ready for the next trip. We are leaving for South Africa in a couple of hours.

In Johannesburg I will be working with Eric, Shibu and Stone in a small company (10 employees) that produces hydraulic hose fittings!!!! I wonder how a trader of financial derivatives (Eric), a sales guy from Procter & Gamble (Shibu) and a shipping guy (myself) will get our hands around that subject. We will probably be relying quite a bit on our only engineer (Stone).

This complete lack of knowledge of what awaits us is also what thrills me. We will just go and see what hits us and then take it as it comes. This is an experiment, a first ever for a business school as far as we know. I hope it becomes a huge success and one that can be developed further in the years to come. I can not wait to take the plunge!

I better start packing.

Thorsten