Annemarie van Noordwyk holds a Master of Business Management degree and is a lecturer in the Department of Business Management. She teaches undergraduate modules in the Department of Business Management and also teaches at the UFS Business School. In addition, she supervises postgraduate research students. Her academic interests include entrepreneurship, business management, leadership, and management education. She has contributed to curriculum development and academic programme support and has served as a panel member for external programme reviews at South African higher education institutions, contributing to programme quality assurance and the enhancement of academic standards.

Ian Maseko is a lecturer in the Department of Business Management at the University of the Free State, with research interests in company financial distress, entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial marketing. His current research leverages machine learning techniques and encompasses entrepreneurial intention and financial literacy. His teaching approach is based on active learning pedagogy that emphasises student engagement, practical application, and problem-solving. He is also actively involved in postgraduate supervision.

Winnie Sereeco holds a master's degree in business management and is an accredited assessor and moderator with the ETDP SETA. She is passionate about entrepreneurship, small business development, and mentoring emerging entrepreneurs to achieve sustainable growth and success. Her academic and professional work focuses on bridging theory and practice by supporting enterprise development through research, teaching, and community engagement.

Her research interests include informal businesses, entrepreneurship, and strategic alliances, with a particular focus on how collaboration and strategic partnerships can strengthen the resilience, competitiveness, and sustainability of small and informal enterprises. She is committed to advancing knowledge that informs policy, promotes innovation, and contributes to inclusive economic development through impactful research and capacity building.

Dr Takesure Zhowa holds a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and is a full-time academic and researcher in the Department of Business Management at the University of the Free State. He has lectured up to MBA level at TUT, IIE MSA, the University of Johannesburg, and the DaVinci Institute. In 2024, he was awarded the Platinum Professional Associate designation by the Institute of Marketing Management (IMM), and in 2022, he received the Outstanding Lecturer Award from IIE MSA. He previously served as an NRF-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow under the SARChI Chair in Innovation Studies at TUT. His research interests include business management, marketing, entrepreneurship, and supply chain management. He has published in accredited journals and is proficient in SPSS and Atlas.ti. He is also a certified assessor and has delivered training for organisations including the Ford Motor Company, Robert Bosch, CBI-electric, BEKA Schréder, ALPLA, and Nissan UD Trucks.

Nkopane Miya is a lecturer in the Department of Business Management at the University of the Free State. He teaches undergraduate modules in entrepreneurship and small business management and supervises postgraduate students. He also serves as an adviser to Enactus students engaged in social entrepreneurship initiatives. Miya holds an MCom in business management, and his research interests include entrepreneurship, leadership, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). He is passionate about entrepreneurship education; he enriches student learning by integrating practical industry perspectives through entrepreneurial guest speakers and real-world business cases, helping to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

Dr Takesure Zhowa holds a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and is a full-time academic and researcher in the Department of Business Management at the University of the Free State. He has lectured up to MBA level at TUT, IIE MSA, the University of Johannesburg, and the DaVinci Institute. In 2024, he was awarded the Platinum Professional Associate designation by the Institute of Marketing Management (IMM), and in 2022, he received the Outstanding Lecturer Award from IIE MSA. He previously served as an NRF-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow under the SARChI Chair in Innovation Studies at TUT. His research interests include business management, marketing, entrepreneurship, and supply chain management. He has published in accredited journals and is proficient in SPSS and Atlas.ti. He is also a certified assessor and has delivered training for organisations including the Ford Motor Company, Robert Bosch, CBI-electric, BEKA Schréder, ALPLA, and Nissan UD Trucks.

Maserame Mokoena is a motivated and ambitious individual with an honours degree in business management. With a strong interest in strategic management, leadership, and business development, Mokoena is committed to continuous professional and academic growth and is set to commence a Master of Business Management.

Dr Hilary Bama is a senior lecturer and scholar in the Department of Business Management at the University of the Free State. His scholarship focuses on SDG issues in tourism, particularly around protected areas, heritage interpretation, sport and event tourism, mega-event legacies, and tourism governance in the Global South, with a strong focus on sub-Saharan Africa. His research also explores related areas within the tourism nexus, such as crisis management, tourism entrepreneurship, and edutourism. His academic work reflects a commitment to producing context-sensitive scholarship that informs policy, practice, and sustainable development within African tourism and higher education contexts. Dr Bama is responsible for teaching Strategic Management (third-year) and Consumer Behaviour (honours) modules. He also supervises postgraduate students at honours, MBA, MCom, and PhD levels. 

Dr Bama is an accredited facilitator (Cert No: ATE74/2022) and holds a PhD in tourism management from the University of Johannesburg, and a postgraduate diploma in higher education studies (PGDip-HES) from the University of the Free State.

Dr Welby Loury Okoumba holds a doctoral degree in business and is a senior lecturer in the Department of Business Management, where he specialises in supply chain management. His research interests lie in supply chain management-related concepts, such as resilience and firm performance, and he publishes actively on these topics. His teaching focuses on business-related concepts and problem-solving skills and competencies in the Strategic and Project Management modules he presents at honours level.

Dr Takesure Zhowa holds a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and is a full-time academic and researcher in the Department of Business Management at the University of the Free State. He has lectured up to MBA level at TUT, IIE MSA, the University of Johannesburg, and the DaVinci Institute. In 2024, he was awarded the Platinum Professional Associate designation by the Institute of Marketing Management (IMM), and in 2022, he received the Outstanding Lecturer Award from IIE MSA. He previously served as an NRF-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow under the SARChI Chair in Innovation Studies at TUT. His research interests include business management, marketing, entrepreneurship, and supply chain management. He has published in accredited journals and is proficient in SPSS and Atlas.ti. He is also a certified assessor and has delivered training for organisations including the Ford Motor Company, Robert Bosch, CBI-electric, BEKA Schréder, ALPLA, and Nissan UD Trucks.

Dr Werner Otto is a senior lecturer in the Department of Business Management within the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of the Free State. He holds an MCom in business management and a PhD in finance. His academic practice is anchored in methodological rigour and a sustained commitment to excellence in teaching, learning, and research. He engages the university as a site for advancing disciplinary knowledge, fostering critical student engagement, and strengthening the institution’s scholarly standing.

His research focuses on the determinants of SME trade credit management within developing economy contexts. It critically examines SMEs’ reliance on trade credit alongside patterns of mismanagement that contribute to business failure. By analysing the influence of business environment variables on trade credit effectiveness, his work advances the field of entrepreneurial finance and develops evidence-based strategies to enhance SME sustainability and support South Africa’s broader economic development objectives. 

Dr Emile Saker Nkwei holds a PhD in marketing management and has more than 15 years of experience in the market research industry, data analysis, consulting, and postgraduate research support. He is highly skilled in quantitative research methods, SPSS, structural equation modelling, mediation and moderation analysis, experimental design, and predictive analytics. Dr Nkwei has supervised and supported numerous honours, master’s, and doctoral students. He is passionate about helping students and academics build a strong foundation in statistics by demystifying and clearly presenting complex statistical concepts. His research publications focus mainly on social marketing applied to health and religion, as well as consumer behaviour, particularly technology adoption and usage.

Dr Welby Loury Okoumba holds a doctoral degree in business and is a senior lecturer in the Department of Business Management, where he specialises in supply chain management. His research interests lie in supply chain management-related concepts, such as resilience and firm performance, and he publishes actively on these topics. His teaching focuses on business-related concepts and problem-solving skills and competencies in the Strategic and Project Management modules he presents at honours level.