In October 2002 contract food-services group, Compass SA, was some way down the track in a process that aimed to transform the company into a learning organisation. Compass management had embarked on the process in the belief that it was only as a learning organisation that the group would be able to survive in the current, changing business environment and achieve the benchmark turnover and profit figures required by its UK parent, Compass plc, figures that the South African subsidiary had never before achieved.

In 2014, South Africa experienced its longest and costliest strike ever: a five-month stoppage in the platinum sector that cast doubt on the institutions and culture of the country’s labour relations framework.  After the strike came to an end in late June, the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac)  convened a meeting to discuss ways of preventing further violent and protracted industrial action. Among the questions confronting delegates at this gathering was whether labour unrest could be addressed by altering the laws and institutions regulating strikes.

Nedcor Bank management considered the strategic re-positioning of the HR function at Nedcor, along the lines of a proposed new HR model for the bank. The plan was to retain a central HR function for decentralised commercial units to have a high degree of autonomy with regard to HR management. The extent to which the HR function should be autonomous in the separate business units, and the exact role that would be played by the central HR function, had to be determined to ensure that the HR function created value and delivered tangible results.

In August 2016, Ana Bonanni, head of Zebra Cabs, a South African metered taxi service based in Gauteng[1], had just finished a radio interview with Cape Talk journalist, Barry Bateman. The interview had focused on the disruption caused by the entry of e-hailing ride service, Uber, into the fragmented South African metered taxi industry, and whether traditional metered taxi services could survive. Zebra Cabs had implemented massive technological and vehicle changes in order to compete.

In September 2007, Pindiwe Holomisa and Nomaciko Ngoasheng, started Yahluma Solutions Ltd with the intention of building a fully-owned contact centre in Buffalo City (Eastern Cape), and making use of a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) incentive to encourage the establishment of business process outsourcing and offshoring (BPO&O) businesses. The Buffalo City centre would take nearly a year to complete.

It was November 2006, just over a year since Shani Naidoo had taken up the position of HR director for the Foschini Group (FOS). Having worked in HR at FOS for 12 years previously (before taking up an HR position elsewhere for three years), Naidoo was no stranger to the organisation. She also knew that for HR to contribute strategically to the group, its model needed to change. Now she had developed an entirely new HR model which was ready for implementation in the new year.

In February 2009, Julian Novak, Woolworths divisional director of food, announced a new strategy for the company’s food division. The South African retail sector had been affected by the global economic downturn[1] and conditions were grim. By August 2008, Woolworths Food had already shown a drop in market share.

In March 2012, Mark Taylor, managing executive for Online and Vodacom m-pesa, reflected on the 19 months since the launch of m-pesa, Vodacom’s mobile payment platform. M-pesa was a partnership between the South African mobile telecommunications company, the Vodacom Group, and the Nedbank Group Limited.

At the beginning of August 2016, Bridget Harpur, marketing brand manager for Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA), and Mark Handley, national sales manager, were debating how to grow sales of the entry-level VW up! that VWSA had launched in February 2015. The entry-level passenger car category was relatively small and highly competitive. The VW up! was VWSA’s first car ever to target this market category. The car had maintained an average 8.5% market share since its launch. Handley and Harpur believed it had potential to build this share, especially among young, urban drivers.

Barbara Care, Human Resources Director of Stride Pharmaceuticals, invested considerable effort during the past few years, developing sound human resources practices and ensuring that the company complied with the labour legislation of South Africa.

The promulgation of the Employment Equity Act in 1998 presented the company with new challenges. Care still had major concerns about its ultimate success beyond the purely legislative requirements. She considered how employment equity could become integral to the strategy of the company.

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