Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
Prof Carolina Koornhof, Dean
Telephone number: 012 420 3330
Fax number: 012 362 5194
E-mail address: carolina.koornhof@up.ac.za
Message by the Dean
The vision of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences is to be an internationally recognised and locally relevant centre of excellence in education and research in the fields of the economic, management and financial sciences, while maintaining a particular focus on the needs that prevail in Africa.
During 2010, the Research Committee of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences updated the Faculty’s research strategy. The revised strategy sets ambitious targets for research outputs by 2016. The key priorities in the Faculty’s strategic plan for research include the following:
- Developing the supervision and research capacity of the academic staff members;
- Improving the quality of the writing skills of both staff and students
- Improving the knowledge that members of staff and students have of research methodology
- Strengthening the research culture in the Faculty
- Creating sufficient and effective administrative and research support for academic staff members
- Increasing the number and quality of postgraduate students in the Faculty
- Increasing the number of postdoctoral fellows
- Increasing the number of NRF-rated researchers
- Increasing the number of articles that researchers in the Faculty publish in academic journals of a high quality
Although some of the research outputs of the Faculty are of a theoretical or meta-research nature, the majority of the research outputs focus on the application of theory. This trend is visible in the number of contract and applied research reports and articles that are compiled to address critical research needs in both the public and the private sector in South Africa and in southern Africa.
During 2010, the Faculty of Economic and Management
Sciences was approached by Dr Erik Hofstee, who was
tasked by the South African Vrije Universiteit Strategic
Alliance (SAVUSA) to offer the Stimulating Knowledge
Innovation through Lifelong Learning (SKILL) pre-
PhD programme, to assist candidates in the process
of preparing a proposal for their doctoral studies.
The programme was sponsored by the Royal Dutch
Embassy and was internally branded as SKILL.UP. The
programme may be offered again in 2012. This very
successful project involved 30 participants, of whom 13
were staff members of the Faculty.
Research remains an integral part of the responsibility
of all academics in the Faculty. However, the greatest
challenge that the Faculty faces is that many members
of staff hold professional qualifications rather than
advanced academic qualifications. Consequently,
professionally qualified members of staff are being
actively encouraged to pursue master’s and doctoral
degree studies at the University of Pretoria or at
leading research universities abroad.
During the year, five doctoral students and 76 master’s
degree students graduated in the Faculty. Eight
members of staff obtained either a master’s degree or
a doctorate and numerous other members of staff are
currently studying towards similar qualifications.
Prof Madeleine Stiglingh of the Department of Taxation
received the Deneysreitz Tax Thesis Competition
Award for producing the best doctoral thesis in South
Africa in her field. Prof Stella Nkomo of the Department
of Human Resources Management was the joint
recipient of the Distinguished Woman Scholar in Social
Sciences Award from the Department of Science and
Technology for being the best female researcher in the
social sciences in South Africa. It was the first time that
the University of Pretoria received this award in the
social sciences.
The research output of the staff of the Faculty
comprised 87 accredited journal articles and 13
conference proceedings. The number of NRF-rated
researchers in the Faculty increased to 15 in 2010. Two
of these researchers have a B rating and share their
expertise and experience with other members of the
Faculty in their capacities of Chair and Deputy Chair of
the Faculty Research Committee.
The Faculty Research Committee is currently finalising
a new publication list of academic journals, which
is based on the citation and impact of the journals
concerned. The list is modelled on a similar list that
has been adopted by the Australian Commerce Deans
Association and has been adapted for use in South
Africa. The publication list will serve as a tool to
encourage members of staff to publish in international
academic journals with high impact.
I thank the academic and administrative staff,
postgraduate students and – in particular – the
members of the Faculty Research Committee,
Postgraduate Committee and Research Ethics
Committee for their contributions to the successes
achieved in 2010.
It is the resolve of the Faculty to continue to build its
research capacity and expertise, foster a research
culture, and improve both the research output and
the impact of the research of members of staff and
postgraduate students in order to attain the objectives
set in the Faculty’s strategic plan for research.
Prof Carolina Koornhof
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