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Prof Peter Rosseel delivers guest lecture during UFS visit

13 August 2024 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Sibahle Dayimani and Amandla Kulu

The Business School at the University of the Free State (UFS) hosted Prof Peter Rosseel, Managing Director of Management Consulting and Research – a spin-off of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium – for a guest lecture during his visit to the UFS Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS).

The guest lecture took place on 19 July 2024 in the Business School Auditorium and was attended by academics from the UFS.

Reflecting on the lecture

The lecture presented by Prof Rosseel focused on how combining strategy, strategy implementation, culture transformation, leadership, and learning successfully leads to sustainable growth, creates engagement, and delivers tangible results. Throughout the lecture, Prof Rosseel spoke about how experts tend to make bad leaders and therefore stop change from happening within an organisation. In fact, he highlighted that, “Experts stop change from happening within the workplace because experts, by definition, look through the eyes of their expertise, but you cannot reduce the world to different forms of expertise, as it is holistic.” As such, he argued that to change an organisation, one must see things from the point of view of others.

Furthermore, Prof Rosseel delved deeper into the hierarchical operating model within organisations. He indicated that the above model should be one community within organisations; however, unfortunately it is not. This is because organisations are made up of several departments such as finance and human resources. As such, he regards these departments to be silos that could prove to be detrimental to organisations, as each silo can create its own culture as opposed to an organisational culture. These are some of the points he discussed throughout the lecture.

After the lecture concluded, the audience had the opportunity to engage with Prof Rosseel on his viewpoints. In fact, Lyle Markham, Academic Head of Department and Lecturer in Industrial Psychology at the UFS, was one of the audience members and described the lecture as insightful.

News Archive

Joseph Pali - Serving with a heart for the ministry

2017-09-19

Dr Joseph Pali received his joint
doctoral degree at the Vrije University,
Amsterdam.
Photo: Anja Aucamp

Dr Khamadi Joseph Pali is the coordinator of the Higher Certificate in Theology at our university’s Faculty of Theology and Religion. This course focuses on Biblical hermeneutics, Christian leadership, African theology, and pastoral care for students who have a passion for the ministry. In addition to this responsibility, he participated in a collaborative doctoral programme with the Vrije University (VU) in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from 2011 till December 2016.

What is the theme of your doctoral thesis?
“The theme of my PhD thesis is Leadership and Transformation in the African Church: A Practical Theological Study of One Denomination. The Dutch Reformed Church in Africa in the Free State region was used as a case study. The study was an attempt to understand what kind of leadership transformation is needed.

Please describe your journey from the UFS to the Netherlands?
“My completion of this joint PhD programme is monumental, and a historical achievement for me and the Faculty of Theology and Religion. After completing my master’s degree in 2009, I was employed by the then Department of Practical Theology. Prof Kobus Schoeman, my head of department, proposed that I enrol for this programme. I agreed, viewing it as an opportunity to learn, empower myself, and be exposed to new study experiences.”

What did this learning experience mean to you?
“For me, it was an opportunity from God, enabling me to help my church and its members. It was also a reward for my hard work, and I grabbed the opportunity to learn from the best with both hands. My interaction with various scholars at the VU during my visits to Amsterdam was especially rewarding. The experience made me develop an open mind, interdisciplinary approach, and critical reflection.

In my teaching responsibilities, I focus on Africa as our context of study. Learning about our past and how to effectively engage that legacy, especially in South Africa, is a measure of success in our academic and ministerial training. I intend to delve into transformation from the Christian and African perspective to understand what is needed for the practice of Christian religion and to drive transformation in the African context.”

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