MBA - Global Immersion Courses - South Africa

Community-Based Conservation: Stakeholder Management and Social Business Models in an Emerging Economy Context*

GTC South Africa will involve a weeklong exploration of novel business models aimed at addressing societal and social challenges, with engagement focused on businesses & community conservation efforts in and around Cape Town and a game reserve. Students will be exposed to the social, political and economic framework in South Africa to develop their understanding of operating a business in this context. Students will take a stakeholder view to considering efforts to solve a difficult issue — in this case, environmental preservation — visiting with businesses, conservation and community organizations to understand the role of engaging locally in this kind of effort. This will include on-site time at the organizations, including a game reserve that is leading efforts in species preservation and recovery, understanding their business models and operations in depth.

In this course, students will explore: 

• The emerging economy context and the different business models to preserve ecosystems through collaboration with multiple stakeholders.
• The field and business of ecological conservation.
• Innovative business models in community-based conservation that can be applied to solving societal issues in the face of economic, political and social uncertainty.
• Opportunities for similar business model innovation in addressing other challenges worldwide.

Faculty Lead: Scott Beardsley

Courses currently listed are a sample of previous global immersion courses. Future global programs will be announced at a later date.

*Please note that this is a Global Topics Course (GTC) and not a Darden Worldwide Course (DWC). This entails multiple program design elements that do not follow the typical DWC model. Specifically for this GTC, shared hotel rooms will be expected for all participants and therefore cannot accommodate any hotel guests (partners/spouses) joining separately from the program. Since the program is being offered at the same time as DWCs, it is mutually exclusive from them and is included in the DWC ranking process. This course will also likely entail travel into remote locations and close proximity to wildlife.