February 10th
Today was a long day (meetings from 8:30 a.m. til 9:30 p.m.) with travel to other cities and full of pleasant surprises.
I started off the day meeting with group risk managers that were doing some extremely innovative pooling of disparate risks from different industries. The surprise was how they had made a profitable business doing things counter intuitive to what is done in the states. They had great ideas for internships for our students including developing case studies. I met with the CEO of a company who is perhaps the most visibly passionate person I have met about how his company contributes to the triple bottom line (people, planet, and Prosperity.). The surprise was the product they manufactured. I met with the director of risk for one of the largest public utilities in the world.Surprisingly her passion was around energy conservation and sustainability. Finally I drove past thousands of government subsidized housing neighborhoods that had been built as part of Mandela's initiative to provide homes to poor people. It was uplifting to see this transformation that replaced the types of houses seen in my previous blogs in other countries. They are simple homes but pleasant. They have used the taxes from businesses that have grown dramatically in SA. Most of the businesses I saw in Sandton City did not exist 20 years ago. Just very dramatic growth and huge opportunities here.
Started off the day driving through town (in a Los Angeles type traffic jam) to Group RIsk Management Services. They are doing some really innovative ways in helping their clients assess and manage risk. It is comprehensive and cutting edge. We discussed how they were able to pool risks from different industries to make them more appealing to the insurance underwriters that may not have wanted to insure them as a stand alone risk.
They had great ideas on how to make the learning experience interesting and relevant for students including developing case studies, taking students on field trips to their clients (including mining operations), and showing students how they model risk.
After that was lunch and then off to Pretoria (administrative Capitol of SA) where we met with the CEO of a multimillion dollar company that has at times employed as many as 6000 people. I noticed the recognitions on the wall for their meeting the most widely recognized international safety standards (OSHA 18001) and quality standards ISO 9001. The company has several government ministers on its board (which had impressive corporate governance structures in place). The CEO was passionate about safety, product quality and creating jobs. We met with him and the executive risk manager. The CEO personally took us on a tour the plant and went through the quality inspection of the products. He knew the employees in the plant by name and joked with them along the way. They obviously knew him and enjoyed working with him. The employees were visibility eager to share their passion for safety and quality too.
They were proud of how few injuries they had. In fact they had the lowest rate that any of us had ever heard of. Back in his office he enthusiastically discussed the need for emphasizing more than just profits. He gave examples of how they helped employees, their families and the surrounding community. He loved animals and enjoyed that they had spring bok and impala that grazed on their campus. (Which is just outside the suburbs as you can see in the pictures). The surprise- they manufacture munitions and the breadth of risks exposures they have are unparalleled. Students will actually see munitions made and detonated in a specially designed building. Hmmm. Perhaps my personal bias but my surprise was hard to conceal. I'm not sure what I expected but this is truly an amazing experience for students that I expect they will talk about for a long time.
On way home I passed several neighborhoods of traditionally poor black homes. The shacks that once existed have been replaced by the homes like the ones you see in the photo. Under the short time Mandela was president more than 700,000 homes were built for the poor and this has grown much more since. There are still shacks (referred to as infromal settlements and often made up of foreign Africans)just outside of Joburg . The development started by Mandela has really made transformed this country.
Finally came back to Joburg and met with executive director of risk for the major public utility and her husband for dinner. She was passionately about discussing sustainability in a truly authentic way (not just a PR stunt like I see too often). Providing energy to a fast growing company like SA in an environmentally friendly way has some spectacular challenges but she was very adamant about how it could be done.
She had perhaps the best ideas on how to select and structure teams for the internships and we spent a lot time brain-storming ideas to help make sure the students had an unforgettable learning experience. She will be a great asset to the program. Had a great meal in Italian restaurant and walked around afterwards still awed by the detail of replicating a Tuscan village (all the way to down to a clothes line with clothes hanging out the window).
It is a bit disney-esque. They refer to it is "funky/trendy"
It's late. Off to bed.
I miss my family terribly but am looking forward to tomorrows meetings.
JIm
