Abstract
The study explores and describes the FirstRand founders’ efforts and influence in how a
business success story unfolded. The research is driven by a desire to understand what
made this story. FirstRand is one of South Africa’s largest and foremost financial
services groups. The group is made up of world-class companies such as Rand
Merchant Bank, First National Bank and WesBank. Hallmarks of all its companies,
present and past, include a track record of innovation, strong values and an ownermanager
philosophy. The group’s entrepreneurial history can be traced back to 1977
and the founding partnership of GT Ferreira, Laurie Dippenaar and Paul Harris. Over
several decades the founders, together with a stable management team, built the group
through a series of strategic acquisitions and mergers.
The research question was formulated as: What did the three founders contribute
individually and collectively to FirstRand’s success? Accordingly, a qualitative mode
of enquiry was adopted and a case study design applied. The data were collected
through semi-structured interviews with the founders and key role players such as chief
executives, supplemented with other data sources. Data were analysed using narrative
analysis. The goal was to describe the research setting comprehensively so as to enable
readers to see the case study as the writing of history.
The researcher’s insights clustered into four main interpretation themes: firstly, the
founders’ partnership and complementarity as a success factor, secondly, how
leadership worked in the founders’ eyes, thirdly, the founder-leaders as architects of
culture formation and fourthly, how the founders created the conditions for emergence.
What these insights mean was explored in the section on sensemaking by drawing links
to theory that offer plausible perspectives on the FirstRand story.
The study’s findings are relevant in revealing theories-in-use from three of the most
highly regarded business leaders. There is no similar example to be found. The study’s
key contribution is of a theoretical nature. The researcher’s overall impressions point to
the founders having contributed a significant leadership and culture perspective that was
lived and time-tested over more than three decades. Herein lie the true value-add and
uniquely original contribution from this study. In addition several practical and life
lessons came to the fore with possible application to readers’ own situations. The...
D.Phil.