SEMESTER: Spring 2018

COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA298S-1

COURSE TITLE: Seminar in International Business: South Africa

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2 Units

INSTRUCTOR: Mark Rittenberg, Ingrid Gavshon

MEETING DAY/TIME:


Instructional Dates*
All sessions are mandatory in order to receive a passing grade (pre, post, and in-country sessions)

Sunday, February 25, 2018 5-9PM

Class Session at Haas dinner provided

Sunday, March 11, 2018 5-9PM

Class Session at Haas dinner provided

Sunday, March 25, 2018 (by 3pm for mandatory opening dinner)

Arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa

Monday, March 26, 2018 – Friday, March 30, 2018 (mandatory closing dinner Friday night)

Full Day In-Country Instruction

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Depart from Cape Town, South Africa

Sunday, April 22, 2018 5-9PM

Class Session at Haas dinner provided

Please visit the EWMBA website for more information on how to sign-up for the course.

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CAREER FIELD: International Business

CLASS FORMAT 3 lectures plus 1 week on the ground in South Africa

REQUIRED READINGS Books, articles and supplemental readings (on syllabi)

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE Your final grade will be determined by the following:

Please note that attendance at every class is mandatory.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
The course will introduce students to the current business environment in the new democratic South Africa, coupled with studies in politics, culture, history, geography, and entrepreneurship South Africa style.  It is impossible to separate these elements to gain a true perspective of what life is like and how business operates in one of the few industrialized African nations that provide a beacon of light for Africans everywhere.  Though not without its challenges, South Africa is one of the few countries in Africa that can provide a model for improvement in education, medical services, and economic growth.

Students will have the opportunity to explore professional and personal areas of interest such as:

Business Opportunities
South Africa is a country rich in natural resources including gold, diamonds, platinum, and uranium.  However there remain huge disparities between the rich and the poor.  After Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994, the world embraced South Africa and new international partnerships were forged.  If you were a venture capitalist or an investor, would you invest in this country?  What are risks in your investment?  How would you safeguard against the threat of corruption?  How could you protect your ideas?

Innovation
What is the meaning of innovation in South Africa?  Has South Africa produced new and innovative thinkers since the dawn of its democracy?

Race Relations – The Rainbow Nation
How has a country that emerged from decades of apartheid bridged the gap between different racial groups?  Who are the new emerging leaders of color running South African businesses?  What are their leadership styles and have they created something new and different from the previous white rulers?

Traditional South African Businesses
How have traditional institutions  Anglo American, De Beers, Transnet, SA Breweries, and Eskom Electricity Company changed since 1994?  How does the Black Economic Empowerment Act (BEE) affect these companies and their operations and strategy?

Non-profit organizations, NGOs, and grass-roots movements for social change
We will visit one of the post-apartheid human rights organizations, which have done exceptional work in the areas of HIV awareness, health, law, or education. Students will have the opportunity to explore these themes during the company visits, as well as during visits to the townships, cultural events, and meetings with some of the young South African entrepreneurs and innovators.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Dr. Mark Rittenberg
Dr. Rittenberg is CEO of Corporate Scenes, Inc. and is the designer of ACTIVE COMMUNICATING corporate education programs. He served for seven years as Associate Professor at Lesley College Graduate School. He currently serves on the core faculty of the Walter Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley where he heads the Leadership Communications program for the evening/weekend MBA students as well as for the MBA for Executives Program/
In 1985, Professor Rittenberg was visiting Artist and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University where he conducted seminars in the Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Business School. In 1993, he was awarded the J. William Fulbright Senior Scholar awarded by the United States Information Agency and traveled to Soweto, South Africa, where he served as Diversity Specialist in building black/white relationships in South African corporations and education institutions. He returned to South Africa in 1994, 1995, and 1996 in order to implement Active Communicating Educational Programs as a communication intervention to assist corporate and political leadership in the transition to a multicultural, democratic, non-racial South Africa. His doctorate in International and Multicultural Education is based on his work in South Africa.

Dr. Rittenberg evolved the ACTIVE COMMUNICATING methodology from his own background as an actor and director. The methodology draws upon acting skills and anthropological principles in skilling managers, aspiring leaders and the critical mass in becoming both powerful communicators and authentic leaders. He currently provides educational programs and executive coaching programs for corporations including, Lucent Technologies, AT&T, The Gap, Levi Strauss, Lockheed Martin and Sandia National Laboratories. In addition he heads an annual Executive Coaching Institute at UC Berkeley where he trains new executive coaches as well as executives who want to avail themselves of a coaching training in order to become more effective leaders.

Recently he served as chief designer and consultant for the National Principals Leadership academy conducted at Washington University in June 2009 dedicated to high school principals becoming coaches and mentors for teachers teaching in disadvantaged situations. The leadership academy was funded in part by President Obama’s White House initiative dedicated to building better schools through outstanding leadership.