New business ideas no. 27: a finishing school for South African managers. The changing face of business in South Africa sees the old guard and the new mixing in boardrooms and restaurants across the country. While a young black man who was the first in his family to go to college may struggle with which glass to use the first time he is in an expensive restaurant, the old white man will struggle with the new norms of business – those tricky handshakes and a different social interaction. I think what we need is a buddy system – pair up the old and the new, thus helping each to manage better. Of course there’s a limited timeframe – the dinosaurs will soon be extinct, and the old norms will be as odd as running round to open the car door for a lady.
