If universities are to remain relevant in an age of constant disruption, they will need to rethink not only what they teach, but what they research. The era of research conducted largely for
academic audiences is giving way to one that demands practical impact – particularly in fields such as marketing and supply chain management, where industries are being reshaped by technology, geopolitics and changing patterns of global trade.
For Africa, where many industries remain under-researched despite the continent’s growing economic significance, the challenge is even more pressing. Research must not only generate knowledge, but help organisations, industries and societies navigate profound economic and technological change.
It is against this backdrop that Dr Ernst van Biljon has been appointed Dean of Research at IMM Graduate School. He brings with him a vision of applied, industry-connected and Africa-focused scholarship that he believes can help shape both business and society.
“Research in a modern business school has to be more than an academic exercise. It must be relevant to industry, to society and particularly to Africa. We have to prove our value through the impact of our work,” says Van Biljon.
IMM Graduate School’s response to these changing demands has been to strengthen its research focus institutionally. The institution has separated the leadership of its postgraduate studies and research portfolios, the former covering supervised research undertaken toward a qualification, the latter the independent research of faculty, research associates and research fellows. Van Biljon’s mandate is the latter. The decision to establish research as a standalone portfolio with dedicated leadership signals the weight the institution now places on original scholarship as a core institutional activity rather than a by-product of teaching.
IMM Graduate School is a niche higher education institution with a long history in marketing and more recently supply chain management, underpinned by business management. Alongside these core disciplines, it has developed a healthy research focus in higher education – particularly around educational methodology, innovation, AI and assessment.
Now, under Van Biljon’s leadership, the institution is sharpening its research agenda to respond more directly to the profound shocks and disruptions reshaping Africa and the world. “We say we are leaders in marketing and supply chain management, so we have to show that through our research.”
For Van Biljon, meaningful and valuable research starts with a simple test: does it address real problems? He points to a context of constant, compounding disruptions – geopolitical shifts, supply chain shocks and technological upheaval – as fundamentally different from the relatively stable, globalised pre-2020 era. In such an environment, research that sits in an ‘ivory tower’ is no longer acceptable.
“We live in a world of constant shock waves. Researchers today have to understand the needs of society and industry in that context,” he says. A key part of this agenda is Africa-first thinking. He underlines that the continent, with its 1.4 billion consumers, remains under-researched relative to its importance.
“Many people say it’s hard to get good information out of Africa. That’s exactly why we need to strengthen our research presence on the continent.” To do this, IMM Graduate School is leveraging strong formal connections with bodies such as the African Marketing Confederation and the African Supply Chain Confederation (ASCON). Through these networks, the school will collaborate with leading researchers and professionals across Africa to identify pressing research needs and co-create solutions.
“At the same time, we are not discarding global collaboration. We already work with institutions in Europe and want to expand that into the US and other regions. It’s Africa first, with a strong global focus,” he adds.
Industry involvement, he argues, is not an add-on but an essential part of how serious research should be defined. “If you’re not involved with industry, you don’t fully understand its needs. Then you risk doing research that serves only the university, not the broader economy and society.”
As a private higher education institution that does not receive government research subsidies, IMM Graduate School must demonstrate the value of its research in particularly concrete ways – something Van Biljon believes provides an added incentive to focus on relevance and impact. He is emphatic that this does not mean trading away academic standards. “’Applied’ does not mean less rigorous. The work our faculty and fellows produce has to stand up to peer review and methodological scrutiny, and it has to be useful. Those two things are not in competition.”
Looking ahead, he believes the qualities needed in tomorrow’s researchers differ markedly from those of a previous generation. Three capabilities will become increasingly important:
- Deep contextual understanding of society, industry and the broader geopolitical shifts affecting Africa and its trading partners.
- Technology fluency, including AI and digital systems, not only as tools of research but as subjects whose social and organisational impact must be understood.
- People and change management skills to support workers and organisations as they adapt to new technologies and ways of working.
“Technology alone is not enough,” he argues. “People have to be retrained, supported and guided through change. So people management and change management are just as important as technical skills.”
He advocates a holistic approach to research – one that brings together technology, human behaviour and organisational realities rather than treating any of these dimensions in isolation. In that ecosystem, rigorous and applied research in marketing and supply chain management is produced consistently, with strong collaboration across Africa and internationally. External research fellows and independent scholars – both on the continent and globally – would be closely involved in advancing IMM Graduate School’s vision. “We want to be recognised as leaders in research that is both academically sound and genuinely useful in our fields. And we want the research done by faculty and research fellows to speak directly to the times we live in.”
For researchers, business leaders and the broader community, the stakes are high. With markets shifting towards non-traditional trading partners, the rise of blocs like BRICS, and the evolution of frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area, thoughtful, applied research in marketing and supply chain management has never been more critical.