About

I have over fourteen years of experience in academia, starting at the North-West University where I lectured on Marketing Communication and Advertising. In 2008 I moved to the Department of Communication Science at the University of South Africa (Unisa) to lecture in Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations. I ended my tenure there as an Associate Professor in February 2021, when I was employed to lecture in Marketing at the University of Derby’s Business School.

Throughout my academic career, I’ve held positions in marketing consultancies. First as a marketing and layout specialist for three years and thereafter as a marketing account manager and consultant, principally dealing with market- and consumer research for clients.

I have been granted prestigious awards in student success and retention, best research, and outstanding contributions to South African communication assessment from different industry bodies. I am excited to bring that energy to the University of Derby.

Teaching responsibilities

I teach on consumer insights, marketing metrics and research modules, all at different levels of academic study. I am particularly involved in the Business School’s DBA programme, where I teach the first foundational module and also act as Deputy Programme leader.

Research interests

My research interests hinge principally on employer and employee brands, and how internal communication can bolster these. I’ve also worked extensively on pedagogical research – both academically as well as for industry clients. I employ a range of epistemologies in my research – from the more interpretivisitic and critical to the more positivistic. Most of my work makes use of mixed methodological approaches.

Membership of professional bodies

• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Senior member of the Academy of World Business, Marketing and Management Development
• Vice President of the South African Communication Association (SACOMM) in 2017 and President in 2019
• Rated researcher by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF), in 2017, who subsequently awarded me with a Y-researcher grant, which is still currently active

Qualifications

• Baccalaureus Artium in Communication - North-West University, South Africa
• Baccalaureus Artium Honours with Double Major: Corporate Communication and Corporate Media - North-West University, South Africa
• Master of Arts in Communication - North-West University, South Africa
• Postgraduate Diploma (RQF5) in Outcomes-based assessment in Higher Education and Open Distance Learning - University of South Africa (Unisa)
• Doctorate in Communication (DLitt et Phil) - University of South Africa (Unisa)
• Certificate of Advanced Study (RQF7) in Technology Enhanced Learning - Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany

Recent publications

• Greeff, WJ. (2022). Engaging employees through employee and employer brand. In Strategic communication: South African perspectives. Oxford
• Greeff, WJ & Verwey, S. (2022). Image repair and Brand apology: South African brand reality. In Strategic communication: South African perspectives. Oxford
• Greeff, WJ. (2022). The tail wagging the dog: Tomaselli’s Contemporary Campus Life and why we are overdue for introspection as academics. S Afr J Sci. 2022;118(1/2) https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2022/12529
• Swart, C, Du Plessis, TC & Greeff, WJ. (2021). An integrated social media communication view on content marketing by South African non-profit sectors. SA Journal of Information Management, 23(1):1-9, DOI: 10.4102/sajim.v23i1.1366
• Greeff, WJ. (2021). Afrokology and organisational culture: Why employees are not behaving as predicted. In Routledge Handbook of African Media and Communication Studies (pp. 68-80). Routledge
• Greeff, WJ. (2020). Managing Contestation in Organizational Culture: Lessons Learned from the South African Mining Pidgin Fanagalo. International Journal of Knowledge, Culture & Change in Organizations: Annual Review, 20(1). DOI: 10.18848/1447-9524/CGP/v20i01/1-16
• Matlakala, M., Mgutshini, T., Greeff, WJ. & Chetty, D. (2019). Use of the semester system in undergraduate programmes for open distance education. Africa Journal of Nursing and Midwifery, 21(2):1-13. DOI: 10.25159/2520-5293/4802
• Greeff, WJ. (2017). The role of communication in managing the safety climate of construction site environments. Communicatio, 43(1):103-121, DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2017.1306575
• Greeff, WJ. (2016). National culture and organizational behavior: Why Fanakalo in the South African mining industry is a bone of contention, in Proceedings Academy of World Business, Marketing and Management Development, edited by G Ogunmokun & R Gabbay, Vol. 7, No. 1, July. (ISBN 978-0-9943178-4-1)
• Greeff, WJ, Mgutshini, T, Chetty, D, Matlakala, M & Moeketsi, RHM. (2016). Fostering institutional existentialism in the search for legitimacy, in Proceedings Academy of World Business, Marketing and Management Development, edited by G Ogunmokun & R Gabbay, Vol. 7, No. 1, July. (ISBN 978-0-9943178-4-1)