Spotlight on Roger Denousse, Doctor of Business Administration   |20 August 2021

Roger Denousse, Doctor of Business Administration

Roger Denousse may be aged 62, but age has not been a limiting factor for the proud father, and now holder of a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from Walden University, United States of America (USA).

Dr Denousse, who is presently serving as a part-time lecturer at the University of Seychelles (UniSey), officially graduated with a DBA in Business Innovation Management and Leadership, in July 2020. Seychelles NATION brings you an interview with Dr Denousse on his study experience and what he intends to do with his newly acquired specialist knowledge.

Prior to opting for the DBA, Mr Denousse successfully completed a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) with the University of Mauritius in 2001, upon receiving a scholarship from the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC).

After his course, the Masters Degree holder decided to focus on his fatherhood duties, caring for his then nine-year-old son as a single father. As such, he sought for employment, where he served as a lecturer at the Seychelles Institute of Management (SIM), now The Guy Morel Institute (TGMI), for six years on a full-time basis, and a further two years on a part-time basis.

Moving on from TGMI, Denousse was appointed deputy chief executive of the Seychelles Investment Board (SIB), and from then moved on to the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, as a technical advisor.

“In April 2015, I embarked on a very challenging doctoral study journey, and I was still a single parent at the time. I had started the process in 2013, and I opted for the International Atlantic University based in the USA but it was not accredited in Seychelles by the Seychelles Qualification Authority. I was mostly interested in pursuing my studies in South Africa but it was very competitive, so at that point, I approached Walden University, who are accredited in Seychelles,” he said.

“My son was undergoing his IGCSE studies at the time, and would be moving on to his Advanced Level Studies. He then left to study overseas in 2017, and from then, I could focus solely on my studies. I had also already completed my major courses,” Denousse explained.

By 2017, Denousse had already completed the first phase of the course, in which he had excelled, scoring mainly B’s during the first year, and A’s throughout the second. The second phase of the five-year course comprised a literature review, as well as the submission of a thesis.

As part of the programme, he had the opportunity to in July 2016, attend a residency in Barcelona, Spain, for around five days. Residencies group students from the same course for a few days of training physically. The second residency was held in May 2017 in Paris, where the students spent five days.

“It was a very tough, intense and very demanding course, completely virtual. Classes are held virtually, with up to twenty students in each class at any given time. There was a requirement that we interact with the other students and log in to our individual student platforms daily,” he said.

“The major challenge I faced was internet of course, and then of course balancing my work life, making the time to meet assignment deadlines, on a weekly basis. And we didn’t have long holidays, but short semester breaks of up to one week, or two weeks at Christmas time,” Denousse added.

For his thesis entitled ‘Strategies for Business Management Innovation’, Dr Denousse conducted field research on five major companies in Seychelles, to explore how much these organisations think outside of the box, in terms of management, decisions and how they face challenges.  He excelled in all twelve courses of the programme.

“I thank my family, and close friends for all their support and encouragement, especially my son Yohan and Yvette Antat, and her family. I dedicate my achievement to our special country Seychelles,” Dr Denousse stated.

Just a month after his graduation, Denousse underwent a surgical procedure on his eyes, although his eyesight is slowly improving, he says. Presently, Mr Denousse is an Associate Lecturer at the University of Seychelles (UniSey), where he is passing on his vast knowledge on business management, leadership, strategy, public systems management, and business innovation.

Advice for business owners in Seychelles:

A little word of advice for business organisations from Mr Denousse is to think differently, and push organisation towards the new business world which is settling in. The aim should be to have a competitive advantage over competitors within the region, such as Kenya and Madagascar.

“Let us also look into the excellent models, like Dubai and Singapore and now Rwanda is coming up. What can we learn from them to continuously perfect our management practice? I feel that our managers are not necessarily thinking the same way.”

“However, the five leaders on whom I did my project are excelling. But just a few are pushing towards innovation. Some have also become disheartened by the pandemic and are thinking about closing, but they shouldn’t give up,” Dr Denousse explained.

He elaborated further to state that the economy and economic players should not be dependent solely on tourism, but there should be at least three independent markets. Referring to Mauritius, he noted that the economy is diverse, with different profitable sectors including tourism, sugar, textiles and financial services, noting that Seychelles can even go further than Mauritius.

Additionally, Dr Denousse proposes the businesses look further than the small market in Seychelles, and venture into exporting to countries within the region, where they can easily access larger markets.

For persons wishing to contact Dr Denousse, he can be reached on: rgdenousse@yahoo.com

Laura Pillay