January 29, 2021

Executive Dean’s New Year Message

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Happy New Year to everyone!

As we start the new year, I reflect upon what transpired last year and I am in awe of how we made it together last year. The courage and solidarity we showed for one another helped us succeed despite the challenges brought to us by COVID-19. This is a clear reminder that building a strong Strathmore community and connecting with others, helps us to form a community of practice; a group of people who share a common interest from students, colleagues, parents, and the wider society.

Let us take a moment to celebrate the resilience, agility, and spirit of solidarity that the Strathmore community exhibited during the previous year. Despite the challenges we have faced, SBS has proudly continued its legacy of developing great African leaders with transformational educational experiences to help them break through barriers and develop ground-breaking, sustainable innovations that will shape the future of our society.

Strathmore University Business School has continued to contribute cutting-edge research, has armed business leaders with new strategies and insights, and contributed to policy and discussions to shape the African continent. In 2020, SBS was able to graduate 385 undergraduate students; 117 Masters students; and 4 PHDs. We also had quite a number of Executive Education trainings. We expanded our partnership and networks in the public and private sectors and among the SMEs and informal sectors. We were also instrumental in bringing different groups together by hosting 50 webinar meetings.

On the SME front, we successfully hosted the 2020 Annual SME Conference virtually in partnership with NCBA Bank. The discussions arising from the conference gave rise to the SME Networks of Networks which was a conversation on how to create a network of SMEs in Kenya and Africa at large with the aim of creating strong and sustainable SMEs. We closed the year with our first-ever Africa SME Dialogue dubbed Built to Last: Building Sustainable Business in Africa.

Just to mention a few key achievements; on the research front, Dr. Frank Wafula, a Senior Faculty Member at SBS recently received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Grant titled; ‘Evaluation of the African Health Diagnostics Platform (AHDP) Public-Private Partnership in Kenya’ was awarded to Strathmore University in partnership with the Johns Hopkins University.  Dr. Wafula will serve as the Principal Investigator – Kenya for the Grant.

Furthermore, Strathmore University Business School will co-host the Business School Alliance for Health Management (BAHM) Annual Case Competition 2021 along with its partners, IESE Health Care Management Program, Spain, and the Wharton School, Department of Health Care Management, USA. This will be the first time that the Case Competition is held virtually, giving BAHM students the opportunity to collaborate across countries and continents. This year’s topic is “Telehealth Business Models in Underserved Communities.”

I am also delighted to announce that SBS and UNC, Kenan Flagler Business School in the United States partnered to offer the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Programme on Comparative Health Systems. This Programme was open to students from UNC Kenan Flagler Business School and those from SBS undertaking the MBA in Healthcare Management Programme. The Programme focused on developing a deeper understanding of health systems across the globe with a focus on the United States and Kenyan Health systems and the possible re-adaptation of taking into consideration the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we start the year 2021, I am excited to announce that Strathmore University’s theme for this year is, ‘Thriving through personalised attention and life-long learning.’ What does this mean to this space and this time? I must say that never has our work been more meaningful than it is now. We need to help our students to recognise their full potential. We need to leverage all our efforts in providing all-round quality education in an atmosphere of freedom and responsibility excellence in teaching, research and scholarship, ethical and social development, and service to society.

As educators, our roles are in the preparation of our next generation of leaders. Therefore, in the coming year, SBS will be launching a new webinar series entitled ‘Breaking Barriers, Building your Future,’ which aims to empower individuals to transcend boundaries and overcome obstacles to become successful leaders and productive members of society.

It is also imperative that we commit to embodying the social change we wish to see in our society. As leaders of our communities, we must exert our influence positively to serve society in our personal, economic, and social lives. SBS will continue its role to facilitate dialogue between the private sector, Government, and the general public with upcoming lectures in collaboration with the Presidential Delivery Unit.

This year we plan to continue offering our specialized Executive Education online and blended Programmes. We will continue to offer new Programmes that are tailored to arm Executives with new skills that can help them to adapt and thrive in these unconventional times.

Thank you for all that you do to make SBS and the larger Strathmore University a thriving community.

With my best wishes for a healthy and productive New Year.

Dr. George Njenga,

Executive Dean, Strathmore University Business School

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