SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS

THE 2nd SBL RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 21 JUNE 2019

SYMPOSIUM THEME: “Business and Economic Growth through Responsible Leadership and Innovation: Unpacking the African Context”

22–23 August 2019

WELCOME

We are proud to announce that the Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) will be hosting a symposium at its Midrand Campus from 22 to 23 August 2019. This symposium is intended to showcase research conducted by SBL students as part of the requirements for the MBA, MBL and DBL qualifications. This year we are pleased to extend the invitation to participate to postgraduates from all the colleges at UNISA wishing to showcase their research within the theme. The theme of the 2019 student symposium is “Business and Economic Growth through Responsible Leadership and Innovation: Unpacking the African Context”.
We invite you to participate in this symposium and would welcome your academic expertise. Please read this call for papers carefully and submit your paper on or before the due date.

VENUE
Graduate School of Business Leadership, corner of Janadel and Alexandra avenues, Midrand

AIM OF THE SYMPOSIUM
In recognition of the diversity among UNISA students, this symposium hopes to attract papers from across the South African business spectrum and beyond in a quest to develop knowledge on various sectors both in South Africa and in the African continent at large. The papers presented will cover various themes, including strategy and marketing, finance and economics, management systems, leadership and organisational behaviour, business ethics and corporate governance, entrepreneurship, sector-specific management (tourism, agribusiness, construction, environment, banking etc.), stakeholder management, human resources, and information and knowledge management. It is further envisaged that this symposium will provide networking opportunities for students, alumni, practitioners and faculty members.
It is our privilege to invite both current and former students (alumni), academics and industry players to contribute papers to this event. This communication includes the call for papers and the author guidelines. For those who have already indicated their willingness to participate in the 2019 symposium, we take this opportunity to thank you for agreeing to contribute your expertise. We are sure that your presence will enhance the experience for all who attend. We apologise for the extent of the information pack enclosed, but these administrative details are vital to ensure the smooth running of the symposium. We would like to bring the following important dates to your attention.

IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES
21 June 2019 Deadline for submission of full final papers
30 June 2019 Authors receive feedback
15 August 2019 Deadline for registration
15 August 2019 Deadline for submission of PowerPoint presentations
22–23 August 2019 Symposium – UNISA Graduate School of Business
Leadership, Midrand

Authors are required to submit full papers in line with the guidelines provided in this document. Authors may choose to deliver their research on the day either with a PowerPoint presentation or a Poster presentation.

AUTHORS’ GUIDELINES FOR THE SUBMISSION OF FULL PAPERS/MANUSCRIPTS
To expedite the double-blind peer-review process, each submission should be broken into two distinct files:
FILE 1: Title page
1. Title of paper must not exceed 18 words
2. Author’s name, title, institution, address, telephone number and e-mail address
FILE 2: Main document
1. Title of paper
2. Abstract
3. Keywords
4. Main text – start with an introduction.
5. Tables and figures must be inserted in situ as required by the author.
FONT: Arial 12 throughout – single spacing (except for title heading which should be in bold)
WORD COUNT: A minimum of 3000 words and a maximum of 5000 WITHOUT REFERENCES

ABSTRACT
The abstract is limited to 200 words and should summarise the key components of the manuscript thus offering the reader a preview.
KEYWORDS
Include five keywords that best suit the theme of the manuscript.

MAIN TEXT
Please do not add any headers/footers to the pages (other than the page number in the bottom right-hand corner).
Headings are text only (not numbered) and should be formatted as follows:
• PRIMARY HEADING: Centred, title-style capitalisation (first letter of each word) and in bold (Arial 18 bold)
• SECONDARY HEADING: Left justified with title-style capitalisation (first letter of each word) and in bold (Arial 12 bold)
• TERTIARY HEADING: Left justified and indented with sentence-style capitalisation (first word only) in italics (Arial 12 bold)

REFERENCES
• References start on a new page and are listed in alphabetical order according to the authors' last name. Only references cited in the text to be included. All references should be in Arial 12, single spacing. Use the Harvard Augmented referencing style.
TABLES
• Where required, tables must appear in the text and be numbered consecutively.
FIGURES
• Figures should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear. The term "figure" refers to a variety of material, including line drawings, charts, graphs and diagrams. Images must be grey scaled prior to submission.
POSTER PRESENTATION FORMAT
General information
Research posters should summarise information briefly and should be attractively presented to help expose the research and generate discussion. The poster should be a combination of text, tables, graphs, pictures (where applicable) and other presentation formats. At the symposium, you will be required to stand at the poster display to enable participants to view the presentation and interact with you.

ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING:
What are the most important/interesting/astounding findings of my research? This should be your focus!
What kind of information can I convey during my interaction with participants that will supplement my poster?
1. Important information should be readable from about 3 metres away (poster size is A0).
2. The title should be short and attract interest.
3. The word count should be between 300 and 600 words.
4. The text should be clear and to the point.
5. Use bullets, numbering and captions to make the text easy to read.
6. Use graphics, colour and fonts effectively.
7. The layout should be consistent and neat.
8. Include acknowledgments, your name and institutional affiliation.

PAPER SUBMISSION PROCESS
Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Authors are encouraged to e-mail their papers before 21 June 2019.
• The following e-mail addresses should be used:
muchab@unisa.ac.za (themes in finance, economics, management systems)
steynr@unisa.ac.za (themes in leadership, organisational behaviour)
hindc@unisa.ac.za (themes in marketing, strategy, governance and ethics, stakeholder management)

• One of the contributing authors must present the paper at the symposium.
• Papers submitted will be double-blind peer-reviewed by subject matter experts.
• Papers should not have been previously published or accepted for publication.
• Very important: All manuscripts should be edited and proofread before submission.
• Note that it is the authors' responsibility to ensure that the information on the title page, including the title of the paper, is correct and complete.

SBL management has decided that students applying for the MBA and MBL programmes must pass the NMAT (by GMAC™) entry exam as one of the  admission requirements for the two programmes. 

The NMAT is an exciting newly developed exam that focusses specifically on the African continent.  The test offers the potential student an opportunity to measure his or her preparedness for the SBL’s master’s programmes. The exam will provide SBL with an additional tool to select students for these two highly sought after programmes.  It also provides the student with a foundation to build on and eventually succeed in attaining these degrees.

The world is a very different place to the one that existed just a year ago. This time last year, no one could really have foreseen that Brexit, President Trump and most recently, a hung parliament in the UK would become a reality.  Closer to home, South Africa has been dealing with its own challenges, which have led to ratings downgrades and a technical recession.  The truth is that no one really knows what’s coming around the next corner, which makes doing business even more uncertain and riskier than usual.  The question that naturally arises is: how do SA companies operate and even succeed in such an unpredictable environment?