USB's new head: Social Impact, Prof Arnold Smit, says the question can easily be asked why a business school should focus on social impact as opposed to simply doing business.
He presents a counter view which is that business schools are obliged to ask themselves how they can benefit society at large through their range of activities.
"This has really become an important question for business schools, especially since the recession [international financial crisis of 2008-2009]: How can they develop managers who can add value beyond just business, also benefitting society as a whole and all its institutions and communities?"
He says for USB it is important that the business in society aspect, or social impact, forms part of the mainstream of what students are taught, the research being done and also the skills development of future managers.
Secondly, social impact is all about the voice of the business school. "This includes what we get involved in, the conversations we are part of and the shaping of public opinion on societal matters, such as inequality, poverty and corruption," explains Smit.
According to him, the projects with which the business school involves itself are also a critically important contributing factor to its social impact approach – for example, the Small Business Academy, leadership development programmes for principals and entrepreneurial development.
"It also doesn't help us if we work on our own. We like to relate what we do with international organisations, such as the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI), and the business school accreditation bodies."
Smit elaborates: "Apart from these networks we also have an executive education company, USB Executive Development, which carries this agenda into businesses, the public sector and societal sectors, beyond the borders of our country into the rest of the African content and the world."
Watch a video recording of the interview on USB's YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-Ygj6uQiRc&feature=youtu.be
