It was November 2006, just over a year since Shani Naidoo had taken up the position of HR director for the Foschini Group (FOS). Having worked in HR at FOS for 12 years previously (before taking up an HR position elsewhere for three years), Naidoo was no stranger to the organisation. She also knew that for HR to contribute strategically to the group, its model needed to change. Now she had developed an entirely new HR model which was ready for implementation in the new year.

In February 2009, Julian Novak, Woolworths divisional director of food, announced a new strategy for the company’s food division. The South African retail sector had been affected by the global economic downturn[1] and conditions were grim. By August 2008, Woolworths Food had already shown a drop in market share.

In March 2012, Mark Taylor, managing executive for Online and Vodacom m-pesa, reflected on the 19 months since the launch of m-pesa, Vodacom’s mobile payment platform. M-pesa was a partnership between the South African mobile telecommunications company, the Vodacom Group, and the Nedbank Group Limited.

At the beginning of August 2016, Bridget Harpur, marketing brand manager for Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA), and Mark Handley, national sales manager, were debating how to grow sales of the entry-level VW up! that VWSA had launched in February 2015. The entry-level passenger car category was relatively small and highly competitive. The VW up! was VWSA’s first car ever to target this market category. The car had maintained an average 8.5% market share since its launch. Handley and Harpur believed it had potential to build this share, especially among young, urban drivers.

Barbara Care, Human Resources Director of Stride Pharmaceuticals, invested considerable effort during the past few years, developing sound human resources practices and ensuring that the company complied with the labour legislation of South Africa.

The promulgation of the Employment Equity Act in 1998 presented the company with new challenges. Care still had major concerns about its ultimate success beyond the purely legislative requirements. She considered how employment equity could become integral to the strategy of the company.

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Ever since she had started Umsinsi Health Care (Pty) Ltd in South Africa in November 2008, Amanda Wilde’s vision had been to place the company, which distributed medical devices, in a trust for all of her employees. When this happened, they would become full partners in the company. However, by August 2013, Wilde was still the sole guardian of the Umsinsi Partnership Trust. She had postponed transferring the trust to her employees until the business was financially stable.

Matome Modipa, executive chairman and founder of the Sebata Group of technical engineering and management consultants, enjoyed coming to work. His offices in Midrand, near Johannesburg, had an open and friendly feel, and the pervading ethos reflected the African philosophies of ubuntu and letsemathat he had worked hard to instil in the organisation. Sebata had enjoyed steady growth since its inception in 2006.

In August 2002, Matthew Thompson, head of the structured finance division at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) faced an unusual dilemma. One of the top performers in his unit, Bruce Clarke, appeared to pose a significant threat to the team spirit of his division. While a remarkably talented individual, Clarke was difficult to get along with and eccentric in his ways. RMB’s dictum was “traditional values, innovative ideas”. Clarke subscribed to the “innovative ideas” part, but seemed to fall short when it came to “traditional values” – to a point where his behaviour was unacceptable.

On a Saturday morning in early October 2015, Choppies chief executive officer (CEO), Ramachandran Ottapathu, made his weekly visit to a Choppies store. While watching the familiar scenes in the Choppies superstore in Gaborone, he considered the company’s strategy to extend its African footprint. Choppies was the leading supermarket chain in Botswana, targeting the lower- to middle-income sectors. The company had 134 stores in three countries: 75 in Botswana, 38 in South Africa and 21 in Zimbabwe.

On a Saturday morning in early October 2015, Choppies chief executive officer (CEO), Ramachandran Ottapathu, made his weekly visit to a Choppies store. While watching the familiar scenes in the Choppies superstore in Gaborone, he considered the company’s strategy to extend its African footprint. Choppies was the leading supermarket chain in Botswana, targeting the lower- to middle-income sectors. The company had 134 stores in three countries: 75 in Botswana, 38 in South Africa and 21 in Zimbabwe.