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29 August 2024
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Story Anthony Mthembu
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Photo Harmse Photography
Ross van Reenen, CEO of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs.
The Business School at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted the CEO of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, Ross van Reenen, for a guest lecture. Van Reenen presented the guest lecture in the Business School Auditorium on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus on 21 August 2024.
Reflecting on Van Reenen’s address
In a lecture addressed to an auditorium filled with UFS staff and students, Van Reenen’s talk was divided into several sections. Firstly, he spoke about the concept of the ‘black swan’ in reference to the book written by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, titled The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. Referring to Taleb’s book, Van Reenen defined a ‘black swan’ as a rare event that has a severe impact, and the occurrence of which people try to explain. He used some examples to explore this concept as well as its implications, including COVID-19 and its impact on the world, and the tragic death of the people in the Titanic disaster. However, he delved deeper into 9/11 and the extent of its impact, saying that “9/11 was a major wake-up call in the world economy”. Van Reenen highlighted how some companies such as Barclays, for which he previously consulted, had to work to be up and running after the collapse of the Twin Towers in 9/11.
In addition, Van Reenen’s lecture also touched on the importance of the first ninety days of a job after an individual has been employed. “Those first ninety days are crucial, as you have to establish yourself in a company where you are paid less than you are worth,” Van Reenen said. As such, he gave the audience insight into what they could focus on in that time frame. This includes focusing on the small wins, as well as ensuring that you are working at keeping the team together, as the team is an integral part of an organisation.
Van Reenen concluded his address by speaking about his time as the CEO of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, including some of the decisions he took to ensure the success of the organisation.
Professor suggests San place-name book
2011-09-28
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At the inaugural lecture of Prof. Raper were, from left to right: Dr Choice Makhetha, Vice-Rector: External Relations (actg); Prof. Theo du Plessis, head of our Department of Language Management and Language Practice; Prof. Raper; and Prof. Lucius Botes, Dean of our Faculty of Humanities.
Photo: Stephen Collett
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Prof. Peter Raper, Honorary Professor: Linguistics, in the Department of Language Management and Language Practice at our university, delivered his inaugural lecture on Tuesday, 27 September 2011. Prof. Raper focused on the topic of “Interpretations and translations of Bushman (San) place names” and he recommended the establishment of a chair for Khoikhoi and Bushman name studies at the UFS. Prof. Raper said that, until about 2 000 years ago, the Bushmen and their ancestors were the only inhabitants of southern Africa and that, presumably, all place names in the region were of Bushman origin. Prof. Raper also suggested the publication of a dictionary of Bushman place names which will contribute to restoring and preserving Bushman toponymic, linguistic and cultural heritage.
In his inaugural lecture, Prof. Raper distinguished between the terms Bushman and San. He said “the term Bushman was for a long time considered an insult and San was preferred. Recently, Bushman became preferable and San is considered an insult”.