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09/06/2016

Three members of the Family Business Unit were recognised for their excellent contributions to Research, Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences.

Prof Shelley Farrington was named the Faculty Researcher of the Year Runner-Up. Mr Tony Matchaba-Hove was named the Faculty Emerging Researcher of the Year. Ms Shelley Saunders was named the Faculty Emerging Excellent Teacher of the Year.

Professor Farrington's research outputs during the 2015 year focussed on several contemporary leadership styles among SME's as well as perceptions of success among family businesses. In the context of family business her research specifically focussed on ethical leadership among family businesses and how this influences their business performance, and whether family and non-family businesses have different perceptions of success. Several Masters students and various colleagues were involved with these projects.

Mr Matchaba-Hove's research focused on the entrepreneurial orientation and business performance relationship in South African small businesses, as well as financial planning in the South African and greater African context. Furthermore, he supervised several Honours and Masters research projects on topics such as the factors affecting the usage of banking products and services by under-banked consumers, as well as the influence of selected demographic variables on entrepreneurial orientation and business performance and the factors influencing young professionals' perceptions of financial planning services. Mr Matchaba-Hove also engaged in a number of research collaborations with various colleagues in the Department of Business Management.

Ms Saunders teaching philosophy is to facilitate students' learning through creating a dynamic, blended learning and encouraging environment that enables learning and promotes excellence. She approaches teaching and learning from a strong scholarly perspective and is demonstrating academic leadership in the field of blended learning. She obtained the SoTLC certificate and transfer of learning to a blended learning environment is evident in her teaching portfolio.