http://www.sajim.co.za/training.main.3nr4.asp?print=1


   
  Training Vol.3(3/4) December 2001

Information Management Training 
Adeline du Toit 
asadt@lw.rau.ac.za 

South African enterprises today operate in a global market with an increasingly turbulent and 
volatile environment, and must withstand the competitive pressure from other producers as 
well as from new alternative technologies and products. In this environment of uncertainty, 
information and knowledge management offer opportunities for innovative managers to use 
information as a strategic tool for competitive advantage. The success of enterprises in the 
21st century, in an increasingly competitive market place, critically depends on the quality of 
information which those enterprises apply to their key business processes. One of the fastest 
growing business sectors in today's economy is the knowledge sector, that is enterprises 
whose primary product is the knowledge and competence of their employees. For these 
enterprises, profits are generated through the successful management of their information 
resources. 

To meet this growing need in the career market, the Departments of Business Management 
and Information Studies at RAU offer a BCom (Information Management) degree from 
2002. The degree comprises the equivalent of 27 semester courses that consist of Business 
Management and Information Science as compulsory major subjects. A further major subject 
must be chosen from Marketing Management, Economics or Logistics Management. 
Ancillary subjects include Accounting, Analytical Techniques, Auditing, Business 
Information Systems, Financial Management and Human Resources Management. The 
objective of the degree is to prepare students with the necessary skills and expertise to 
function in the global knowledge economy. 

The concepts of a knowledge economy and information capitalism underlies virtually all new 
information-driven economies and businesses and, in South Africa, enterprises are nowadays 
prepared to pay for information that will enable them to increase their profit margins and 
remain ahead of their competitors. As a result, many job opportunities are available for 
information and knowledge managers in this fast-changing environment. These managers are 
responsible for the strategic management of information and knowledge resources in 
enterprises. 

RAU also offers an honours degree in Information Management from 2002 – the BCom 
Honours (Information Management). The entrance requirement is a BCom degree with 
Business Management as a major subject or any other BCom degree with a major subject 
with comparable content in Business Management. The primary purpose of this qualification 
is to provide qualifying students with applied competencies and practical skills in the 
organization, analysis, interpretation and application of advanced Information Management. 

For further details contact Prof. Nic Lessing (nl@eb.rau.ac.za) or Prof. Adeline du Toit 
(asadt@lw.rau.ac.za). 

  



  

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ISSN 1560-683X

Published by InterWord Communications for the Centre for Research in Web-based Applications,
Rand Afrikaans University