Tongaat Hulett Refinery Optimisation Engineer Mr Zyven Rambakus was awarded a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree summa cum laude for a study titled: Evaluating the Extent of Intrapreneurship in a Sugar Producing Company in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Rambakus believes that * intrapreneurship is key to the survival of organisations operating in turbulent environments. Hence, his study focused on the local sugar industry as it is facing challenges due to global competition, urbanisation, cheap imported sugar, sugar tax and increasingly negative consumer sentiment around the impact of sugar on wellbeing.
On why intrapreneurship is so close to his heart he said: ‘I am driven a lot by self-improvement and development, and the concept of innovation and continuous improvement – concepts that resonate with my character values. I believe all firms should be driving the innovation agenda hard otherwise they risk becoming obsolescent.’
He also views intrapreneurship as a mechanism in which to motivate and inspire employees to grow and develop. Thus he intends using this study for further innovation at Tongaat Hulett and to influence his peers to appreciate the value of driving innovation as employees within a complex environment.
For Rambukus, the MBA programme enabled him to sharpen his business acumen as he worked with his supervisors Dr Muhammad Hoque and Dr Cecile Proches.
* He is grateful to his wife and family for contributing towards his success. An intrapreneur is an inside entrepreneur, or an entrepreneur within a large firm, who uses entrepreneurial skills without incurring the risks associated with these activities. Intrapreneurs are usually employees within a company who are assigned to work on a special idea or project and instructed to develop the project like an entrepreneur would. Intrapreneurs usually have the resources and capabilities of the firm at their disposal. (Investopedia)
Words: Hazel Langa