Insights & Articles
Customer service is the manager’s responsibility
I heard of a rural hospital that closed its doors to visitors on Freedom Day. A public holiday affords workers a rare opportunity to visit their loved ones during the week. In this case a man travelled overnight to see his father, only to be turned away: “It’s a public holiday; we’re closed.”
Viva the little people who create jobs and serve their communities
Dunvegan, a suburb east of Johannesburg, is bisected by a road with two large traffic circles. The circles feature attractive, well-designed and lovingly maintained gardens. That is both welcome and surprising, as the local government is not particularly known for its public gardens.
Turning chronic problems into acute challenges we can solve
Two years ago I wrote in this column that the entrepreneurial priority then was to save as many livelihoods as we could. “Many small businesses and gig workers face ruin in the coming weeks, with economic damage rivalling health threats; so our response should be as urgent as for the health threat.”
When Adversity Becomes an Opportunity: The Story of Lesengkeng Foods
Mzi Nduna, Director of Lesengkeng, a food business was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, Mzi enrolled in AMI’s Survive To Thrive (S2T) programme, which was designed to empower MSMEs to overcome Covid-related challenges.
A model of government and business collaboration to create jobs
The collaboration of governments and private sector is essential for the creation of jobs. Youth@worK, tells a great story illustrating how government and private sector can collaborate to create small businesses and jobs for unemployed youth.
Government creates the conditions in which businesses grow jobs
It is the job of government to provide the good soil and regular watering and weeding that businesses need to flourish.
A life lived honourably can help change the world
A past colleague and good friend, Conrad Viedge, passed away on Saturday after battling cancer. I was considering writing this column about business ethics, and the two came together rather well. Conrad was a good man in every sense. Not only did he pay his taxes, which I am sure he did, but when it came to work, friends and family he went beyond compliance to consider what would be best for them.
3 Ways Networking Can Grow Your Business in 2022
Networking is an increasingly important skill not only for career professionals but also for entrepreneurs who are thinking of starting or growing their businesses. People are the most important asset of any business. They determine how you sell, where you sell, and who you sell to. For your business to grow and succeed, you need to be in contact with the right people. However, the people part of any business is more than the employees and customers. It also includes your supplies, distributors, social networks, and even your competitors.
Careful planning can reduce the dreadful uncertainty we face
The last two years have seen the least predictable business conditions most of us can remember. Covid threw 2020’s plans out of the window and has made the future entirely uncertain ever since. We hope, but still cannot be sure, that conditions will return to some degree of predictability in 2022
Cinq réflexions sur le soutien aux entrepreneurs, managers et leaders en Afrique
Alors que l’année démarre, nous partageons cinq réflexions sur ce que nous avons appris en soutenant plus de 5 000 entrepreneurs et dirigeants africains l’année dernière, et sur la manière dont cela guidera notre action pour 2022.
Choose the future of your company and country
Does your company maintain a thriving culture beyond your influence? What structures, procedures and habits maintain things as they should be? Do your people understand what makes for sustainable success and are they committed to this? Every organisation is unique
Skills development as a tool for sustainable progress towards SDG 2: Zero Hunger in Africa.
Sustainable agriculture practices are critical for the advancement of SDG2: Zero Hunger in Africa. At the African Management Institute, we believe that agri-MSMEs are the super seed for improving Africa’s food systems, helping to unlock smallholder production capacity in the fight to end zero hunger.