Management Today - Volume 29, Issue 9, December 2011

Kagan Dynamic Trainer

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Phase 1: March 20-21, 2012

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Phase 2: Date to be advised

Karmatchee Dhaver is the Innovation Circuit Manager at Eskom and leads the project team. This vibrant Polymer Scientist celebrates 14 years at the Parastatal in 2011 and her motto is, "turn innovation into business value."

Organisational Design & Development

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Dates: 17 & 18 April 2012

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Venue: CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria

GovLaw - the Annual Law Conference for Government & SOE

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Dates: 8 & 9 May 2012

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Venue: CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria

The September 2011 issue of Management Today treated us to a wonderful array of articles and insights into innovation such as building an innovation culture and instilling good practices, managing creativity, improving market share, return on investment and business sustainability. Good stuff.

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This current issue on technology in many ways complements the innovation theme.

Why is it that the word "strategy" is overused daily in company boardrooms yet few people can write a useable strategy, or facilitate the development of one for their organisation? Why is it that the concept of "strategy" is introduced in many daily social conversations yet few people can even develop a one-page written strategy about their own personal life plans?

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One possible answer is that many people have a vague understanding of the dictionary concept of strategy or tactics but daily practice shows that many people have no clue how strategy is developed or implemented. In the business sector all organisations talk strategy but many do not actually have a written strategy with a clear framework on how to implement, monitor, and report organisational performance. So for organisations, the question is no longer "What is strategy?" Rather, it is "How do we successfully develop and execute a strategy that does not gather dust on office shelves?"

IFRS for Financial Instruments

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20 - 22 Feb 2012, Johannesburg, South Africa

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"Practical examples on how to deal with change from accounting under IAS 39 to IFRS 9"

When I was asked to comment on this subject, my first reaction was a desire to obliterate the historic perception of South Africa being the poor cousin of the West that patiently waits for the Christmas "hand-me-downs" from Europe and the US. On reflection I came to two key realisations. Firstly, proof of us no longer being the "poor cousin" can be found via a quick trip to Dubai Duty Free - iPads there cost the same as back home - with a guarantee restricted to the UAE only! More importantly though, my second realisation was that there is significant activity around IT - in all sectors of our economy - but with very little tangible progress in areas that matter. So, like any good consultant - my thoughts have been framed in terms of key indicators and relative scores.