Fostering enterprise development through supply chains
- Post by: Frank Biananna
- September 22, 2022
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Presenter: Pr. David Pooe, Full Professor in the Department of Business Management at the University of Johannesburg where he currently heads the Masters & Doctoral portfolio in the department.
Date: October 19, 2022 at 2:00pm – 3:00pm (GMT)
Abstract:
The weak connection of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the formal modern economies in remains a major stumbling block for economic growth and development in many developing countries. While backward and forward linkages between SMEs and large enterprises can be a source of capacity for small businesses especially insofar as technology and innovation are concerned, they are often quite limited in many developing countries. Despite policy-led efforts to create and improve the inter-linkages between SMEs and large firms, such efforts do not seem to bear much fruit, if any. This presentation will discuss the complexities related to such weak connections and propose the implementation framework for fostering enterprise development through supply chains.
The underperformance of African economies occurs in the b2b side of the market. Inadequate innovation, short-term business practices, lack of trust, uncompetitive manufacturing, unreliable supply chains, and weak public regulators are among the many problems of the b2b side of the African market. Surprisingly, many African universities do not teach a foundational b2b course; it is only an elective in others. A few universities teach supply chain and industrial management courses in MBA or non-regular programmes without the foundational b2b course. Universities that teach a foundational b2b course use North American and European textbooks far-fetched from the African reality.
A degree in marketing or business management without a course in b2b leaves graduates unequipped for the challenges awaiting them in the corporate world. This webinar will discuss the importance of b2b in the curriculum and research and how we should teach b2b in African higher institutions.
Bio: Professor David Pooe is a Full Professor in the Department of Business Management at the University of Johannesburg where he currently heads the Masters & Doctoral portfolio in the department. Before joining UJ, he served as the HOD of Logistics department, and Head of Centre for Enterprise Development & Public Management in the Faculty of Management Sciences at Vaal University of Technology where he also taught for many years. Prior to that, he was employed at Standard Bank for five years. His academic and research interests are in the areas of enterprise development and supply chains, in particular on how supply chains and value chains can be used to foster enterprise development. Prof Pooe is a member of the Global Manufacturing Research Group (GMRG) which focus on the manufacturing supply chains research. He also reviews for a number of journals. His work has been published through some 50 peer reviewed journal articles and conference papers and book chapters. He has also supervised to completion ten doctoral and seventeen Masters’ students and currently works with two postdoctoral research fellows, eight doctoral and two Masters’ students. With some 25 years of experience in the academic field, his professional history also includes teaching and curriculum development.