NMMU Business School announces public lecture “Global Implications Towards 2050: A Futuristic Perspective”

30 August 2012 – NMMU Business School’s newly appointed Adjunct Professor Chris Adendorff will present a lecture and discussion to internal and external stakeholders of the school on 6 September 2012 in Port Elizabeth.

Commenting on the importance and topic of Prof Adendorff’s presentation, NMMU Business School Director Steve Burgess said:

“Most approaches to strategy and planning originated in the 1960s and 1970s. The relatively stable pace of change allowed policy makers to assess current developments, anticipate future changes and forecast events five to ten years in advance. Planning emphasized trend projection, time series, network analysis and mathematical modelling.”

“Radical change began to affect our understanding of planning in the 1980s. Sudden economic and social disruptions became more common. The assumed symmetry between today and tomorrow evaporated. Today we realise that marketplaces and market spaces are more complex, discontinuous and chaotic.” said Burgess.

In this regard Prof Adendorff will argue that “planning as usual” is no longer an appropriate response to the changing business environment. He will discuss a new approach that emphasizes the adaptation and assessment of many paths of the future and propose practical tools to weigh up different possible, probable and preferable futures.

The event forms part of NMMU Business School’s active engagement strategy with its stakeholders in public and private sectors to make a critical contribution to thought-leadership in Africa.