The new partnership makes a world-class collection of Africa-focused cases available to global learners.
The University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) has announced the release of an original collection of teaching case studies published in partnership with Harvard Business Impact, a division of Harvard Business Publishing. The new partnership brings together the UCT GSB’s award-winning Case-Writing Centre, the leading case writing centre in Africa, and Harvard Business Impact, the world’s leading publisher of business school case studies. This partnership marks the first time that an African business school has directly partnered with Harvard Business Impact to bring Africa-focused cases to learners at business schools and universities around the world.
The cases in this new collection span the African continent, showcasing a range of organisations—from startups to longstanding market leaders—across South Africa as well as in countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia. Designed for use by students in MBAs and other business school programmes, as well as by globally-focused executive education learners, these cases focus on core business areas such as strategy, finance, operations and entrepreneurship, as well as on issues such as fintech, impact investing, artificial intelligence, agribusiness and environmental, social and governance (ESG) questions—all set in dynamic, fast-moving African markets.
“The opportunities and challenges that executives, companies and other organisations face in Africa are not only immensely interesting for business leaders and students across the continent and around the world, but they are more important than ever” notes Dr Catherine Duggan, Director (Dean) of the UCT GSB. “At a time when global uncertainty, complexity, volatility and technological disruptions are increasing, cases about navigating these issues in African markets provide critical insights into new approaches and innovations, as well as opportunities for students around the world to hone their resilience, adaptability and ability to think critically in new and changing environments,” Duggan explains, noting that the cases also provide learners with new insights into the world’s youngest region. “By 2050, estimates are that 25% of the world’s population will be African, so it is critical that the business leaders of tomorrow gain familiarity with some of the markets that are likely to become increasingly important in the coming decades,” Duggan adds, “and case discussions written by experts on the continent are one of the best introductions to these often misunderstood markets.”
Each case in the new collection draws on the expertise of faculty at the UCT GSB, Africa’s leading business school. In addition to the case studies themselves, which are designed to be read by students as the basis of classroom discussions, each case has as an associated teaching note that is available only to registered educators. By providing additional context, research, readings and recommended approaches in the classroom, these teaching notes help to bring the UCT GSB’s expertise on these topics to instructors around the world.
The cases in this new collection are written to be engaging and relevant for students and instructors with little experience in Africa, while also bringing new perspectives and deeper insights to students and executives living and working across the African continent. “It’s vital for African students to have learning materials that reflect their local business environments,” explains Sarah Boyd, UCT Graduate School of Business Case Writing Centre Editor, “and we support this mission by producing excellent, innovative case studies drawn from as many African countries and industries as possible.” Distributing this new case collection with Harvard Business Impact, Boyd notes, “is a major step forward for getting the cases into the hands of more students who want to learn about the intricacies of doing business in Africa.”
“Cases are uniquely effective at engaging students and encouraging them to think in new ways about new issues, familiar challenges and real-life business dilemmas,” notes Claire Barnardo, UCT Graduate School of Business Case Writing Centre Manager. “We are immensely proud of our new collection, which is a testament to the incredible teamwork of our faculty experts, case researchers, case editors—and, in several cases, students who assisted our faculty in researching thought-provoking, relevant and innovative business challenges for these cases.”
The partnership between the UCT Graduate School of Business Case Writing Centre and Harvard Business Impact is another link in the longstanding relationship between the two institutions. The UCT Graduate School of Business was founded in 1966 by Dr Robert Boland, an alumnus of Harvard Business School, and the Harvard Africa Alumni Club provided initial grant funding to found the UCT GSB Case Writing Centre. “We are very pleased to partner with Harvard Business Impact on the distribution this new flagship case collection on Africa,” Barnardo notes. “Distributing this ground-breaking new collection with Harvard Business Impact feels like a full-circle moment.”
The new cases are available on the Harvard Business Impact website and can be accessed here. The UCT GSB Case Writing Centre also holds 100 published traditional teaching cases, as well as an open-source, multimedia case series called Doing Business in Africa (DBIA). For more information, visit the Case Writing Centre’s website https://uct.ac.za/casewritingcentre or contact Claire Barnardo claire.barnardo@uct.ac.za.
Harvard Business Impact is the brand identity for the Education and Corporate Learning market units of Harvard Business Publishing. The Education unit at Harvard Business Impact aims to help educators around the world bring transformative learning experiences to their students, preparing them to navigate the complex challenges of the future. With over 65,000 learning materials—including case studies, simulations, articles, and online courses—paired with expert teaching guidance, the group equips educators to shape the next generation of global business leaders and thinkers.
The University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business is a triple-crown accredited business school in Cape Town, South Africa. It provides programmes including an MBA, Executive MBA, Master’s of International Management and specialised Master’s degrees in Inclusive Innovation and Development Finance to students from across the African continent and around the world. Its MBA and EMBA programmes are currently ranked #1 in Africa by QS, its MBA is ranked #1 in Africa and #7, globally, by the Better World MBA rankings (Corporate Knights Magazine), and its EMBA is ranked #1 in Africa by both the UK’s Financial Times and CEO Magazine.