"Previous reality shows took contestants off the streets and focused mostly on entertainment value. What is unique about SA Management Challenge is that it features some of the sharpest young minds in the country cracking real problems for our top companies and public institutions," says executive producer Ben Cashdan.
Commissioned by SABC Education, the series aims to bring management ideas out of the classroom, with teams of students from South Africa's top business schools going head to head in attempting to crack a real business challenge each week.
Teams have just four days to work on each challenge before presentation to the CEO. Each week, the teams are rated by a panel of experts drawn from South African business, including Randall Abrahams. At the end of the series the best proposals are rewarded with over half a million rand in prizes, donated by Old Mutual, Cell C, the SA Post Office and the IQ Business Group.
Participating schools are Wits Business School, the Wits Graduate School of Public and Development Management, the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) at the University of Pretoria, the University of Stellenbosch Business School, the School of Public Management and Planning at the University of Stellenbosch, and the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business.
Companies setting the weekly challenges include Kulula.com, Old Mutual, Avis Rent-a-Car, SARS, Chris Hani Baragwaneth Hospital, SA Tourism, SARS, Moyo, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, the SA Post Office and Cell C.
