About Us
The executives at PACTS and our associates offer many decades of
experience in large corporate, government and organisational information
and communications technology (ICT) project and solutions development,
assessment and deployment. We are known for stimulating originality and
facilitating new insights.
PACTS Centre for Strategic Business Design was founded in 2006 and has developed deep case
studies and best practices in the fields of strategy, innovation and
organizational development. We help turn strategies into agile execution
through combining our expertise with our methods, toolsets and web-based
technology solutions.
MaRi Eagar - Founder and President
MaRi
is a Chartered Accountant who holds a masters degree in Personal and
Professional Leadership Development (cum laude). She is a member
with the International Positive Psychology Association.
She is the technical designer of the openaxyz web-based toolset, and
learning architect for all training and accreditation programs offered
by openaxyz. For the past few years she has also been coaching leaders
in developing their strategy execution skills.
MaRi is a passionate promoter for implementing design thinking as a
business practice in fields such as strategy, leadership and
organizational development.
Her previous studies include systems thinking, complexity sciences, innovation, scenario planning, strategic thinking and knowledge management at masters degree level through Copenhagen Business School and the Leadership Centre of the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal.
She has over ten years of experience in business transformation, including
as management consultant with KPMG Consulting where she specialized in
efficiency gains programs, performance improvement and process
engineering and managed large projects including a change management
training program for a client. For the past few years she assisted a
variety of internal departments, such as Finance, Human Capital,
Strategy officers and Corporate Sustainability in enriching and
articulating their contributions as Strategic Business Partners.
Holding positions inside companies as senior manager, MaRi has been able
to bring about complete business transformation through redesigning
processes, changing the culture and behavior of employees and optimizing
their talents for the benefit of the business. Examples include the
settlements and reconciliations departments within a back office of a
treasury division in Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank, implementing
a middle office at HSBC and revamping the operations of the Gauteng
training campus for First National Bank.
Her training and experience as chartered accountant combined with a
strategy and future focus brings a novel yet practical and value driven
approach to business performance improvement and capability
implementation. She emphasizes design thinking and systems thinking in
her assignments to ensure solutions that are implemented are
user-centric, functional and financially viable.
MaRi has over fifteen years of experience in personal transformation and
talent development. She lectured at Technicon Namibia and recently
at Standard Bank Global Leadership Centre. MaRi designed and facilitated
personal transformation programs for groups, and continues to lecture
and facilitate in a part time capacity for business schools. MaRi
also coaches individuals privately towards optimising their strengths
and leading fulfilled and happy lives, assisting them in turning their
"ordinary" lives into the "extraordinary".
Manie Eagar - Founder and CEO
Manie
Eagar is a founder and Chief Executive Officer of the PACTS
Centre for Strategic Business Design, established in 2006. He
is a serial entrepreneur, business executive, futurist and strategist
who has advised and lead executive teams in government, public agencies
and large blue chip corporates over the last two decades. He has shaped
their strategic conversations to support executive decision making and
then execute sustainably.
He developed the NEXTventures business accelerator program for entrepreneurs and startups endorsed by the Ontario Government’s Research and Innovation Commercialization (RIC) Centre initiative.
Recent engagements include the development of the strategy map and execution plan of the RIC initiative an as well as the business strategy and fundraising proposal for an Ontario based cleantech startup venture.
He was a strategic advisor to the ICT Vision 2020 of the South African Department of Communications and drafted the strategy roadmap for the creation of the Development Bank of Southern Africa’s Centre of Excellence for Infrastructure Development. He designed the ‘Vector Organization’ model to implement the multibillion dollar expansion of the government’s infrastructure and job creation program. This was approved by the SA cabinet.
Previous strategic engagements include the crafting of the new Information Communication and Telecommunication business of the South African Post Office and strategy alignment consulting to support the implementation of the new Eskom Total Quality Management Centre of Excellence.
His proprietary STRATEX business planning methodology and openaxyz strategy execution toolset is currently being adopted inside Barclays-ABSA as the core methodology for strategy formulation and execution by their internal strategy community.
He is an associate partner of both Deloitte and PWC in South Africa.
Originally based in Johannesburg, South Africa he is a Canadian resident headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.
Background
Manie has facilitated and directed change and knowledge management, organizational development, ICT, corporate communications strategies for many business, government, agencies and non-governmental organizations over the past three decades.
Manie was the South African Country Manager for Emergia, Spain’s leading contact centre and BPO services provider.
He managed the BPO portfolio of the J&J Group and headed strategic planning and market positioning Indian and USA investors into opportunities in South Africa; established a managed services relationship with Sykes International (a leading USA contact centre group; and the merger and acquisition of Onecall Solutions, an established call centre and BPO venture based in Midrand, Johannesburg.
Manie incubated, managed and developed new business ventures for the J&J Group, joined the BEE J&J Group from 1999 to 2009. This included One Card Systems (smartcard based solutions), Miraculum (eProcurement solutions), Consilience Technologies (a joint venture with Tata Infotech Limited of India) and ICOZA (South Africa’s first empowered tier 1 ISP).
He acted as a management consultant to Eskom, Sentech, Eskom Corporate, the Premier Group, M-NET, SABC, the Africa Growth Network (ABSA), Standard Bank (distance learning and change management initiatives), Dimension Data (e-commerce consulting), the LCC Rothschild Bank (Monaco) and Investec Merchant Bank in the context of e-business and e-commerce solutions, knowledge management implementation strategies; corporate communications and transformation programmes, IT and telecommunications services.
Manie is a specialist in the field of knowledge management and educational technology - the integration of interactive learning models and the selection of appropriate technologies in various education and training scenarios. He has been active in this field for more than a decade. He was a member of the executive team of South Africa’s largest corporate executive education initiative at Barclays-ABSA – the Africa Growth Network – launching its first distance education MBA program in partnership with California State University.
He replicated this success at Eskom to support a 200 person mentoring program and the largest ABET corporate program in South Africa reaching 200 000 staff and their families. He was a founder and CEO of Open Learning Systems Trust (OLSET), South Africa’s largest distance learning NGO funded by USAID, CIDA, EU and other major international donor for the benefit of the broad society and grass roots organizations during South Africa’s ‘apartheid era’.
OLSET’s initial funding was provided by USAID and other major donors and opened by the now Secretary of State, Ms Hilary Clinton in 1996. He participated in a number of studies worldwide in developed and developing countries to evaluate the utilization of new learning technologies and methodologies.
He has acted as marketing director on a number of major campaigns including the corporation transformation and re-branding of Eskom (twice), Barclays/ABSA Bank; Allied Bank; the Premier Group; Standard Bank; Sasani Studios; and Sentech (South Africa's national broadcasting telecommunications service provider).
He was editor of Volkshandel, South Africa’s largest business magazine, Contributing Editor to the Financial Mail and Business Manager of Vrye Weekblad, a leading anti-apartheid publication before South Africa’s turn to democracy.
Contact: manie@pacts.info +1(416) 986-8785
At an early stage in her career MaRi realized that the biggest challenge in the field of leadership is to create a practical development path that would produce leaders who not only had the desire but also the capabilities and resources to make a positive impact on the world.
Her passion for integrating diverse knowledge and practices to create new leadership approaches inspired MaRi to study with a variety of teachers and methods for over twenty years.
She consolidated some of the insights into a masters research which documented the foundational process and techniques that are applied within most traditions for personal mastery in particular to assist in bringing about internal and external transformation.
MaRi's past experiences and learning have been incorporated into the PACTS Centre for Strategic Business Design established in 2009.
The Centre's work is supported by the Leadership by Design program which makes accessible this new knowledge and theories using action learning methods. Concepts covered include Neuroleadership, Design Thinking, Leadership Agility and Technology Integration.
MaRi continues to share
her passion when she engages with leaders in strategic conversations
about how they can apply these emerging new concepts to accelerate achievement of their business
and personal goals.
Each one teach one
Manie Eagar was the founder and CEO of OLSET.
USAID supports South Africa’s Department of Education national strategy to improve math, science and technology education in schools dedicated to these subjects. The program is called “Dinaledi”, which means “stars” in the Northern Sotho language, lighting the way as centers of teaching and learning excellence.
REFERENCE: USAID - from the American People PARTNERSHIP TO TRANSFORM SOUTH AFRICAN EDUCATION: American Support 1986–2009
