College of Economic & Management Sciences
Unisa RPL journey bears fruit
Dr Eric Cebisa (Regional Academic Coordinator: KZN) draping Rodney Naudé
Rodney Naudé graduated on 30 May 2019 in Durban with a Master of Commerce in Business Management. He shares his recognition of prior learning (RPL) journey at Unisa.
In 2016, after working 36 years in the automotive component industry, Naudé took early retirement to pursue personal interests. During the first 24 years of his working career, he was in the finance and management accounting side, where he ended up as a financial director. In the last 12 years, he was a director on the operational side where he managed various group manufacturing and warehousing facilities.
His initial tertiary qualifications were on the financial and accounting side, and, in fact, when he completed his tertiary studies in 1980, the field of supply chain did not exist. Upon retirement, Naudé decided to further his studies in the field of supply chain. He obtained RPL through Unisa at the end of 2016, commenced his master’s studies in 2017, and was awarded his MCom with distinction in February 2019.
The title of his dissertation is Supply chain risks experienced by Stellenbosch wine producers. He chose this topic as he has a keen interest in the wine industry and the wine supply chain. While he had obviously read and studied many business and academic books, as well as publications during his years within industry, he found the formal study of supply chain, and the study and practice of conducting academic research through this degree to be both rewarding and stimulating.
Naudé believes he was fortunate as he had worked in and for a company with exceptionally high quality supply chain processes and practices. He said his study would not have been possible without the excellent supervisory skills of Prof Hannie Badenhorst-Weiss, who took him on as a mature RPL student, and who guided him through the demanding requirements to ensure that his study met the exacting requirements for a master’s degree though Unisa. He extended his grateful thanks to his supervisor, the RPL Department and Unisa for this thoroughly rewarding learning experience.
* By Jo Cossavella, Communication Officer, KwaZulu-Natal Region
Publish date: 2019/06/11
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