Letter of Reference for Etsko Schuitema

Letter of Reference for Etsko Schuitema by Prof Karl Hofmeyr

I can strongly recommend Etsko Schuitema as an expert in his field. He has made a significant contribution to the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) through his teaching on our executive programmes. GIBS is a triple crown business school and ranked in the Financial Times Executive Development annual review of business schools. In August 2023, it was ranked by the Financial Mail as the top business school in South Africa.

Etsko is the founder of the Schuitema Group, a consultancy dedicated to the enhancement of human excellence – based on the Care and Growth model.

He was born to a mining family in South Africa and grew up in Johannesburg. After doing an Honours degree in Social Anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand, he worked as a researcher with The Chamber of Mines of South Africa’s Research Organisation. Employed specifically by the Human Resources Laboratory of the organisation, his work initially focused on the issue of conflict on gold mines in South Africa.

This work led to the development of a framework for understanding trust in management and employee commitment in conflict-ridden environments. Toward the end of the 1980’s he was asked to head the Human Resources Laboratory’s Industry Project to implement these insights, which is how the Care and Growth Leadership Model originated.

Encouraged by the success he had on mines Etsko left his role with the Chamber of Mines along with a group of colleagues, to establish a consultancy where this model could be more widely disseminated. Over the last four decades he has consulted to many organizations in Africa, Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

Etsko has worked across a broad range of organisations and industries and developed specific expertise in mining, telecommunications, financial services, retail and manufacturing enterprises.  He has also been part time faculty at a number of academic institutions including GIBS, UCT’s Graduate School of Business, UNISA Business School, Wits Business School, Rhodes Business School, Lahore University of Management Sciences and the University of Cambridge Institute of Manufacturing.

Etsko has also developed a number of frameworks relating to the issue of intent in both organisational and psychological contexts. In addition, he has published eight books and numerous articles relating to this content.

 

Prof Karl Hofmeyr
Emeritus Professor
Gordon Institute of Business Science
21 November, 2023