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13 August 2024
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Story Anthony Mthembu
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Photo Sibahle Dayimani and Amandla Kulu
Prof Peter Roseel, Managing Director of Management Consulting and Research – a spin-off of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium; and Prof Nicolene Barkhuizen, Director of the UFS Business School.
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.
SmartDrive devices give UFS wheelchair users more independence
2017-12-01
From the left, are: David Mashape; Martie Miranda, Head of the
Center for Universal Access and Disability Support at the UFS;
and Lawrence Qamba, celebrating the recent acquisition
of two SmartDrive Power Assist devices.
Photo: Johan Roux
Students who make use of wheelchairs at the University of the Free State (UFS) will now be able to move around campus more independently than before. This is thanks to two SmartDrive Power Assist devices acquired by the university.
Accessibility is very important to the institution and with these devices clipping onto a manual wheelchair to make it motorised, students will not have to ask for help that often. It will assist them in overcoming obstacles they face every day.
Different surfaces pose different challenges
According to Martie Miranda, Head of the Center for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS), one of the most important advantages of the SmartDrive machines is that it enhances the independence of students. The devices were bought with funds received from the Department of Higher Education and Training specifically allocated for accessibility and infrastructure.
“While the UFS is addressing inaccessibility on its campuses, which will take time, this will help to motorise wheelchairs for wheelchair users to move around more easily. Students can now move around independently without necessarily asking for help, for example, to get up very steep ramps.” Miranda says some surfaces, such as grass and gravel, has its own unique challenges for wheelchair users.
A few years coming
The SmartDrive devices are operated by a Bluetooth watch. By tapping twice on the chair or clapping twice, the motor propels the wheelchair forward and stops when tapped twice, while also braking with one’s hands. The speed can also be controlled by the user. The machines use rechargeable batteries, with a fully charged battery lasting up to 15 hours.
Acquiring the devices was a process of a few years, and CUADS is happy to finally employ them to the benefit of their students. Miranda says the determination and support of Prof Nicky Morgan, Vice-Rector: Operations, and the assistance of Nico Janse van Rensburg, Senior Director: Top Management, were instrumental in buying the devices.