Henley Africa launches Henley AIR, a leading research centre in SA

Henley Business School Africa (Henley Africa) has launched Henley Africa Insight & Research (Henley AIR), a new research centre headed up by Dr Adri Drotskie.
Drotskie, formerly Henley Africa’s MBA Director who is passionate about research, is excited to be taking on this new position as Head of Research & Faculty Development.
With extensive experience working in the corporate environment and with six degrees under her belt including a Masters in Business Management, a Masters in Future Studies and a PhD, Drotskie is well positioned to take on this new role. She is also a full-time faculty member of Henley UK.

Drotskie explains the need for the launch of this new centre. “Previously all Henley Africa’s research contributions were presented under the banner of Henley UK and we’ve always depended on research and faculty from the UK. But with the exponential growth of Henley Africa over the last few years, the growth of our local programmes and our own highly-qualified faculty, we felt it was time to build our own repository of research and grow our research faculty.”

The research centre will have two key focus areas. The first will be project-based research that Henley Africa does in partnership with Henley UK. “We’ve developed a business model where we identify relevant issues or challenges in South Africa and utilise the joint expertise of Henley UK and Henley Africa faculty to dive deeply into these,” says Drotskie.

Henley AIR is currently focusing on six research projects:

  • Land reform and agriculture: Henley UK has large agriculture, spatial planning and real estate departments. Two of Henley UK’s top researchers recently visited SA to explore the land reform question as a precursor to a round-table discussion that will be held at Henley Africa in March 2019, to discuss the issue further. Following the round-table, Henley will undertake comprehensive research on the subject.
  • Side Hustle: the practice of taking on additional jobs to supplement one’s income. Henley UK has done extensive research on Side Hustle, something that is very prevalent in the UK. Similar research will now be undertaken in South Africa to assess the local situation.
  • Communication Frameworks and Systems in Government: Research on the topic was conducted by Henley UK’s Professor Kevin Money, Director of the John Madejski Centre for Reputation. Henley Africa will carry out similar research in South Africa.
  • Coaching: Henley UK did a study on the state of coaching in organisations and Henley Africa will now look at this in South Africa.
  • The 4th Industrial Revolution: Henley Africa is working with the Thabo Mbeki Foundation to ascertain the impact the 4th Industrial Revolution is having in South Africa.
  • Apolitical Academy: Henley Africa is working with the new Apolitical Academy, an NGO that trains and mentors young people that are seeking to enter public service. Its co-founder is Lindiwe Mazibuko, former DA parliamentary leader. Henley Africa is researching content for the academy’s training programmes and undertaking case studies.

Secondly, Henley AIR will concentrate its research on five broad themes that are relevant in the South African context. These include:

  • Corporate activism – this theme covers topics such as government land aggregation, colonialism, democracy and other pertinent issues in SA today
  • Work-Life Balance – this theme focus on mindfulness and Henley Africa’s family-friendly focus
  • Future World of Work – this theme will see research on issues around innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship and the 4th Industrial Revolution.
  • Africa – this area of research will focus on issues affecting the continent.
  • Consumerism and the Customer Experience