Dimension Data in Africa: Making BEE Work

Description

Dimension Data in Africa: Making BEE Work: Abstract

Dimension Data in Africa: Making BEE Work is a case study by Alison Gaylard.

In September 2012, IT firm Dimension Data paid out R1.26 billion to the various participants in a broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) deal that the company had signed eight years earlier. When Dimension Data had first embarked on its empowerment journey, legislated BEE in South Africa had been in its fledgling stages and, to a large extent, companies such as Dimension Data had to write their own rules. On the eve of the payout, Jeremy Ord, Dimension Data’s executive chairman, reflected on the outcomes of the deal, including the successful growth of the company’s Middle East and Africa (MEA) division. He wondered, too, what he would do differently, if he had to do it all over again.

Teaching objectives

The purpose of this case is to examine and enable learning about the critical success factors for Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa