In 2012, South Africa was still one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world. Statistics SA estimated that in 2011, 10.6% of the total population and 16.6% of the adult population (people between 15 and 49 years of age) were HIV positive.

In October 2016, the management team of Women in Wine – South Africa’s first wine brand to be owned and controlled by black women – gathered to prepare for the annual meeting of company shareholders. Operating conditions locally and abroad over the preceding year had once again proved extremely challenging, and chief executive officer (CEO) Beverly Farmer felt the firm needed decisive action to improve its fortunes.

Vodacom Customer Care provided an extensive training programme for new call centre employees. It had also made an effort to ensure that the work environment at its various call centres was pleasant with modern amenities. Performance of call centre agents was measured against a detailed bonus calculator system. In October 2002 the number of calls handled by each call centre agent was added to the list of criteria against which performance of call centre agents was measured.

A plane flies overhead. As if on automatic pilot, Gidon Novick glances out his second floor office window. In reality, he doesn’t really notice the plane. His thoughts are elsewhere. He is planning: considering possibilities, ideas that could work for the either kulula.com or British Airways Comair. “We are always trying to improve our service and stay true to our brands,” he says.

Novick is a visionary, an ideas man. He and Eric Venter are joint Chief Executive Officers of Comair.

In 2012, South Africa was still one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world. Statistics SA estimated that in 2011, 10.6% of the total population and 16.6% of the adult population (people between 15 and 49 years of age) were HIV positive.

Ever since she had started Umsinsi Health Care (Pty) Ltd in South Africa in November 2008, Amanda Wilde’s vision had been to place the company, which distributed medical devices, in a trust for all of her employees. When this happened, they would become full partners in the company. However, by August 2013, Wilde was still the sole guardian of the Umsinsi Partnership Trust. She had postponed transferring the trust to her employees until the business was financially stable.

Matome Modipa, executive chairman and founder of the Sebata Group of technical engineering and management consultants, enjoyed coming to work. His offices in Midrand, near Johannesburg, had an open and friendly feel, and the pervading ethos reflected the African philosophies of ubuntu and letsema that he had worked hard to instil in the organisation. Sebata had enjoyed steady growth since its inception in 2006.

A few days before the JSE Limited (JSE) and the Bond Exchange of South Africa Limited (BESA) merged on 22 June 2009, Nicky Newton-King, deputy CEO of the JSE, –who had been tasked with leading the integration of the two organisations – reviewed what she had done so far and the plans she had put in place to ensure a smooth integration. A great deal of time and work had been invested in planning and organising the merger, and she did not want a misstep in the integration process to derail the entire merger. She wondered if she had done enough to ensure a smooth integration.

It was a Sunday evening in March 2004 and Sagie Pillay, chief executive officer of the Johannesburg Hospital, was reflecting on the progress he had made since his appointment in 2000. He had been instrumental in crafting the Hospital Strategy Project for the National Department of Health. He had been appointed to transform the Johannesburg Hospital in accordance with this strategy. Now, in 2004, he was as supportive of health and public sector policies as he had been when he took over as CEO, but had experienced the reality of implementation.

Thomas Bowler, MD of Pipeco, reflected on what had been an eventful, but unsatisfactory, 12 months. In October 1997, with the support of the Chemical Workers' Industrial Union (CWIU), which represented workers at Pipeco's plants, he had taken the company into the Workplace Challenge Project - a productivity improvement initiative devised by the National Economic, Labour and Development Council (NEDLAC).