JERRY SCHUITEMA

Author, broadcaster, columnist, and designer of Contribution Accounting^©.

Jerry Schuitema was born in Benoni on the 22nd of January, 1944 as Jurjen Antonius Franciscus Schuitema.

He comes from gold mining stock with his father having spent most of his adult life underground in South African gold mines, and all of Jerry’s school years were lived in various mining camps, villages and towns. He worked for some months as an onsetter and two of his brothers worked in the industry. His elder brother, Berend Schuitema went into exile after a promising start to a gold mining career, to found the Anti-Apartheid movement in Holland.

Jerry matriculated at Milner High School, Klerksdorp in 1961. After his mining experience, he spent a year in Amsterdam to study, but limited funds forced him into a number of odd jobs before returning to South Africa in 1962. He completed his military call-up the following year.

He studied Economics, Political Science and History at the University of South Africa dropping out in the final year to concentrate on his journalist career. He completed the Senior Management Development programme at the Oxford Centre for Management Studies in 1983.

After a year of insurance underwriting, he joined the South African Broadcasting Corporation as a reporter in 1966. His reporting beats covered a wide field, but concentrated on Economic affairs. He went on to pioneer the establishment of the Economics Desk as a separate, specialist Reporting Unit within the SABC and became the SABC's first Economics Editor.

In March 1990, he established South Africa's first Specialist Developmental Communications consultancy.

Married to Kathleen Eveline in 1967. Widowed in 2004. Three children and seven grandchildren. Hobbies: Reading, and Do-it-yourself.

Website: http://www.jerryschuitema.co.za/

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Designed and introduced most of the popular Economic slots on Radio and Television over two decades. These included:

·        "Radio Today’s” Economics report.

·        The lunch-time Radio Market Trends.

·        "Indicator" reports on TV.

·        The investment programme "Diagonal-Street" on TV1.

·        The Employee Reporting Programmes: "Egoli\Gauteng" on TV 2 & 3.

·        The Business report on Breakfast TV.

·        The economic Educational Programme: "Econovision”.

He has written on Economic subjects for popular and layman magazines and periodicals including:

Reader's Digest; Rapport; Mining Sun; Retail World; Black Enterprise Magazine. Management Today; The Chartered Accountant; HR Management; Convergence; The Star (Workplace); People Dynamics; HRHighway.

He has authored 4 books.

"Econosense” first published in 1990 simplified economic concepts for the layman but is now out of print. (Foreword by the former minister of Finance, the Hon Barend du Plessis reads: "The author needs little introduction .... as a polished communicator with a particular knack for simplifying complex economic issues.") “Value through Values” Published in 2007 examines values and ethics in business and economics and is more fully described below. “Empathy” and “Common Purpose; Common Fate” were published as e-books in 2015.

EXPERIENCE
Mining (Onsetter); Insurance underwriter; Broadcasting and Economics journalism. Studied Management at Templeton College; Oxford University as part of the Rosholt Fellowship; and this included a fortnight sabbatical at Time Magazine, New York. Attended for coverage, many conferences including many annual conventions of leading Business and Labour representative organisations. Attended 10 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Broadcasting career has ensured intense exposure to a wide variety of Economic and associated affairs, including financial, company, macro-economic, and labour issues.

AWARDS:

·        1979. Sanlam Financial Reporting prize in the TV category.

·        1981. Sanlam Financial Reporting prize in the TV category;

·        1982. First winner of the Rosholt Fellowship in Executive Journalism;

·        1984. Sanlam Financial Reporting prize in the TV and Radio category;

·        1988. F A K Prestige Prize for his contribution to Afrikaans Economic reporting;

·        1988. SABC Management Artes Award for his contribution to enhancing Economic Awareness and promoting the concept of management accountability to employees in the public Media.

·        1990. Consumer Council Certificate for contribution to consumer awareness.

CITATIONS AND NOMINATIONS

·        1976. Artes nomination: Coverage of the Swaziland Mineral Resource conference.

·        1979. Artes nomination: South Africa and the IMF.

·        1981. Artes nomination: 12 Months after the Carlton conference.

·        1982. Artes nomination: Gold: its role as money.

·        1987. Development Bank: Contribution to the enhancement of understanding of development issues.

·        1988. Artes Nomination: The Labour Communication crisis.

·        1990. Vanderbijlpark Afrikaanse Sakekamer. Contribution to Economic coverage in Afrikaans and coverage of AHI affairs.

·        1990. Minister of finance, Mr Barend du Plessis. "My association with him in more than a decade as Economics broadcaster, has convinced me of his indefatigable missionary zeal in enhancing economic awareness." (Foreword: "Econosense”.)

COMPANY MODELLING AND CONTRIBUTION ACCOUNTING©.
The conviction that the narrow profit driven company model is self-destructing and still covertly expresses labour as an exploitable commodity led to the development of the Market driven, Contribution Accounting© model, based on the powerful CARE AND GROWTH principles which have become the hall-mark of Schuitema Associates of which he was the principal founder after a business rescue of his brother Etsko's fledgling leadership consultancy. Etsko, and a partner were the co-founders. Together with the leadership work, and under Jerry Schuitema’s direction, Schuitema Associates was able to offer a comprehensive turnaround intervention based on growth as opposed to containment implied in conventional re-engineering. This work has been given much greater clarity and comprehensiveness under the new company Value through Values (Pty) Ltd and now in retirement as an independent counsellor.

EMPLOYEE REPORTING
Jerry Schuitema has done extensive research into the concept of employee communication and contextual economic communication as a natural extension of his commitment to the enhancement of Economic awareness. He first became interested in the subject with the realisation some years ago, that public broadcasting had a limited role to play in improving understanding of economic issues, and that far more could be achieved with a structured, educational approach on the work floor. His l2-week study period at the then Oxford Centre for Management Studies (now named "Templeton College"), gave him the opportunity to examine techniques of Employee Reporting and their achievement in Britain and Europe. He worked closely with the Unisa "Project Free Enterprise" team, and his concept of Employee Reporting has received special mention in their 1989 report on employee misconceptions.

He has also worked with the accounting profession, on content and presentation of relevant financial information for employee Accounting practices. He has also had four articles on the subject published in "Accountancy SA”.

He established the Employee Reporting programmes: Egoli\Gauteng on TV2\3 as a commitment to management’s public accountability to the employee, and these programmes were considered to be the first of their kind in a world where public accountability is assumed to be the sole domain of the shareholder. This pioneering effort has had highly favourable labour response and received a Special SABC Management Artes award.

The core of the employee communications work has crystallised into a single, powerful focus on Wealth Creation and value driven market principles. This theme has gained momentum and is rapidly being adopted by other actors in the field.

His public appearances in this regard include numerous writings; seminars and speeches, including those under the auspices of the Free Market Foundation, The National Productivity Institute and the Public Relations Institute of South Africa.

In 2003 he left Schuitema Associates to form the Value through Values group. In 2006 VtV (Pty) Ltd was taken over by Soul Circle (Pty) Ltd. His work has been applied at many South African companies such as South African Airways, Pick ‘n Pay, A.E.L., Tredcor, Sentrachem, Sasol, S.A.B., Momentum Life, Firstrand Group, Absa, NCP and small enterprises such as Empire Dairies and Midrand Panelbeaters.

THE PHILOSOPHY

The book, “Value through Values” examines the impact of value driven economic behaviour over a very broad front from individual success and contentment to country and company performance. The treatise shows the extent to which a change in behaviour could effect virtually all aspects of a collective, casting a new light on key issues such as ethics, governance, transparency, employee commitment, fortune sharing, accounting practices, investment, and sustainability.

In his foreword to the work, Pick ‘n Pay chairman Raymond Ackerman says:

“It really is a treatise on ‘Corporate Governance’, but Corporate Governance voluntarily implemented by Business Leaders to create a successful Company, a successful Economy and a vibrant country. It is a practical formula which just needs to have passion, clarity, and the heart to pursue it to the ultimate, thereby fulfilling the aims and objectives of the Company and its employees.

“I commend Jerry for putting this book together in such a meticulous and meaningful way. He has played a leading role in Business, and I think this pioneering work of his is not only timely, but deserves to be read and studied by Business Leaders and students in the years ahead”.

Other endorsements said:

"The one thing which stands out above all others during the couple decades I've known Jerry is the way he has inspired many of us to think deeply about ethics and values. And how we can use them to make a contribution in business and our daily lives. This manuscript will help his carefully considered ideas reach a wider audience. Jerry is usually ahead of the game. With this book, though, his timing is impeccable. Bravo."

Alec Hogg. Founder and Editor in Chief: Moneyweb Business News.

"It is a well written testament to Jerry’s humanity. I was moved beyond words by the introduction. People constitute Society and interact with each other in many different ways. Some interactions are positive and add to the common good and some are negative and diminish society. But it is always within the gift of the individual as to how he will interact.

So much of life is dominated by commercial interaction. The concepts of the smart deal, profit and value are absorbed at an early age and then acted upon for the rest of our lives especially in our dealings with others. Business is constituted by these very people - us - and it is we who choose its character and determine its predilection to add to the common good. It is this value in a Business Endeavour that will secure its legacy in Society and contribute mightily to a sustainable and coherent proposition for value creation for shareholders, employees, communities - for society as a whole. This book makes the case for this in a simple but powerful way."

Mick Davis. Former CEO Xtrata Mining and Resource Group.

“I have read this book with great interest, as it confirms what I believe good managers have always instinctively practiced. This is the insistence that moral values, such as honesty and integrity, rank equally with technical excellence in staff and client relationships to secure long-term sustainability.

Jerry Schuitema gives us methods of evaluating these values. It should help senior executives to select potential leadership candidates on their ability to foster common purpose and common fate in their companies. It should be good reading for such candidates."

Frank Aab (the late). Former Chairman, Concor Civil Engineering.

"I have always been impressed by Jerry Schuitema's writings. He has exhibited a deep understanding of the need to strike a proper balance between man as homo economicus, and the person who draws his or her inspiration and motivation in social and economic dealings from appropriate ethical values.”

Ali Allawi. Economist, Investment Banker, former Minister of Finance and Defence in the Iraqi Transitional Government, Author: The Occupation of Iraq. Winning the War, losing the peace.

As part of his employee communications and awareness campaigns, Jerry Schuitema collaborated with some of South Africa's leading employee training departments to develop in house training on business and company figures. This led to the design of his two flagship programmes, People and Wealth, and Inspired Service. The former had great influence on South African Entrepreneur, Ian Fuhr in his founding of the beauty franchise chain, Sorbet. In his book “Get that Feeling” he writes: “Through Jerry Schuitema’s People and Wealth programme, I learnt that business was nothing more than people serving people. Everything else flowed from that.” 

Jerry mostly received more than 90% good to excellent ratings on his talks and workshops. Feedback from these workshops bear testimony to the power of the message, his passion and the lasting impact he has on his audiences.

"I definitely have been inspired and have learnt something new about me. THANK YOU JERRY!"

"It is fantastic to get information from someone who has had so many experiences and to share it with us."

"Learned a lot and it has opened my eyes."

"This course is highly recommended to anybody and I think if our country can be run in this way of thinking we’ll be a lot better off!"

"Very good for me. Thank you very much!"

"There are a lot of unhappy people who need this workshop to put things into perspective."

"Jerry made me realise that there is nothing wrong with giving."

"Jerry made me see things in a different light."

"Jerry is excellent!"

PUBLICATIONS:

·        Author of “Econosense” Southern Books. 1st Edition 1990. 2nd Edition 1998. Oxford University Press. (Econosense was prescribed reading at some Tertiary institutions, and recommended reading at others.)

·        Author of “Value through Values”. Thomas Griffel 2007.

·        Author of “Empathy; the power within” and

·        “Common Purpose; Common Fate: making business sense of Empathy” in 2015.

·        Writer for five years of the Reader’s Digest annual Personal Finance feature.

·        “Accounting Statements and Unemployment”. People Dynamics 1999.

·        “Going for Growth.” Productivity S.A. 1999. (Published under the name W. Lambourne.)

·        “The Care and Growth Business model”: Series of 4 articles for the Star: Workplace: 2001.

·        “Organisational Transformation Is Missing The Point!” Business Day 2000.

·        “The Value Added Statement: The case for its wider use and a sensible standard.” Series of 2 Articles. Accountancy S.A. 2001

·        “Tackling Unemployment through an African Economic Model”: Black Leadership 2000.

·        “The care and Growth Business Model”: Series of 10 Articles: Management Today 2001/2002.

·        “The Worker: Cost or Noble Contributor?” Labour Bulletin: 2001.

·        “Sustainability and Governance: To be Feared or Revered?” Convergence 2007.

·        “Ethics: Who is to Blame?” DE Kat 2007.

·        “Labour Unrest: A new Understanding of Business needed.” HRHighway 2007.

·        “Flexible Pay: Threat or Opportunity?” HRHighway 2007.

·        “The Fallacy of Figures”. HRHighway 2007.

·        Fortnightly Column for Moneyweb 2013-