MBS The SouRCe Term 4 2016 edition by MBS SRC

The

SOURCE 2016 / TERM 4

MOVEMBER:

MO BROS & MO SISTAS AT MBS!

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p0 9 CRE ATING A WORLD - CL ASS M BS B R AND

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TABLE OF CONTENTS From the Editors and From the SRC President

Message from the Acting Dean

SRC 2016 Roundup

Inside Clubs – Getting to know the Net Impact Club

Fairness and Blame

Alumni Spotlight: Libby Ward-Christie

Welcome to the World Class

Inspiring Journeys – FT and PT Student Profiles

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SEMBA and MBusA Student Profiles

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Exchange Student Profiles

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Brunch Club

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STREAT: Tastes good. Does good.

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Calendar of Events

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MBS Student Representative Council 200 Leicester Street Carlton VIC 3053 Australia t f email website

+61 3 9349 8400 +61 3 9349 8404 src @ mbs.edu mbssrc.com.au

facebook.com/MBSSRC twitter.com/MBSSRC

FROM THE EDITORS Welcome to the final edition of The SouRCe for 2016. This is a special edition as we transition to a new editorial leadership team. The team of

editors that brought you the last four editions of The SouRCe is handing over the reins to Regina Saquin, Carly Versace and Grace Yong.

It has been a pleasure to work with all the MBS contributors throughout our time as editors and we look forward to seeing what the new editorial team has in store!

Emma Young MBA Part Time July 2015

Smit Dave MBA Full Time 2016

Chelsia Tanoto MBA Part Time January 2015

Hello from your new editorial team! In this edition of The SouRCe we celebrate the year that was, and look ahead to 2017.

Two clubs take the spotlight in this edition: the Net Impact Club discusses how they explore opportunities for business to act as a positive social force, while the Brunch Club gives their recommendations for the best local brunch spots.

A special thank you to everyone who has contributed to this term’s edition of The SouRCe. We’re always looking for stories to share, so drop us a line at src@mbs.edu. We are excited to share the next editions with you!

We highlight the triumphs of the outgoing SRC, and join Penny Smith through the MBS branding journey. Professor of Economics Bogaçhan Çelen talks about how our perceptions of fairness and blame affect our actions. We also feature social enterprise STREAT and how they are helping disadvantaged youth. Carly Versace MBA Part Time, January 2016

Read on to get to know some of our FTMBA, PTMBA, S/EMBA, MBusA and exchange students, and MBS alumni who are making waves after graduation.

Grace Yong MBA Part Time, April 2015

Regina Saquin MBA Full Time 2017

FROM THE SRC PRESIDENT My fellow students, we’ve made it through another year! Almost. I hope this edition of The SouRCe finds you all excited for a break over Christmas, and not too stressed about the final exam period for 2016. As always, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to the new groups of students who’ve joined our community: the Full Time Class of 2017, and the September 2016 Part Time Cohort. It’s been great seeing new faces in the hallways at MBS, and I’m grateful for the help of two of our recent part-timers, Negin Rahmani and Jude Newton, for diving right in and organising the Halloween Party!

I’d also like to extend a warm welcome to our new editorial leadership team for The SouRCe, Carly Versace, Grace Yong and Regina Saquin. This is the third team to take on the responsibility of managing this important piece of our student community at MBS, and it’s great to have fresh eyes and new ideas for our magazine. I look forward to seeing how The SouRCe evolves under their leadership. Finally, on a personal note, by the time this is published we will likely have a new leadership team in place for the SRC and I will not be back at MBS until the end of March. These hallways have been a home to me for two years now,

and the community has felt like one big family. It has been an absolute privilege to work with so many great individuals within our community. While I’m excited to take on new challenges, it certainly is bittersweet at the end. We, the SRC, have worked hard this year, and I cannot thank my teammates enough for their support. I hope I have always given them the credit they deserve, and I am pleased to be able to reflect on and share some of our achievements in 2016 on Page 5. Phil Neckers SRC President | MBS SRC MBA Part Time September 2014

MESSAGE FROM THE ACTING DEAN medical devices, with the potential to commercialise their devices. One of the syndicates won two prestigious awards: the IEEE Award for Technical Innovation & Engineering Achievement and the Endeavour Wade Institute Entrepreneurship award. Applications for next year will soon be open.

JIM FREDERICKSON It is a pleasure to update you on what has been happening at Melbourne Business School. Zeger is on leave, and in his absence, I am the Acting Dean. Most of you probably know me from Financial Accounting; I wrote the text you use. I’ve been at the School for almost 11 years as a Professor of Accounting and have taught on all the MBA programs. Since 2013, I have been the Deputy Dean, giving me the privilege of sitting on the School’s executive committee, which decides the direction of MBS. I want to welcome the September intake of part-time MBA students. You have taken what promises to be a rewarding next step in your career and you have made the right choice in Melbourne Business School – as your fellow students further into their degrees will attest. I would also like to congratulate the part-time students that just completed our new BioDesign Innovation subject. This nine-month subject brings MBA students from MBS and Masters of Engineering students from the University of Melbourne together into syndicates that collaborate with hospital clinicians to create innovative

You have undoubtedly seen our new advertising campaign, ‘Welcome to the World Class’, which we rolled out in August as part of the School’s new brand strategy to ensure we deliver a world-class, career-enhancing and elite educational experience. We are running the campaign throughout Melbourne’s CBD and outer suburbs, in domestic flight terminals in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, and on Qantas in-flight entertainment and in the Qantas magazine. Our website also has a new look. This is a step in the right direction for the School, making it easier to understand what MBS does and how, as Australia’s home to the first MBA and executive education programs, we are a cut above the rest.

The School has also started the Carlton Hub revitalisation project, which aims to improve our campus to match the calibre of you, our students, and what we do as a School. We engaged several architects to pitch their ideas, similar to the case competitions in which students compete. You will hear more about this project in the next edition of The SouRCe and in the student bulletins. For those who have had the pleasure of having Professor Ian Williamson as an instructor, I regretfully inform you that he will be leaving MBS next July to become the Pro Vice-Chancellor of New Zealand’s Victoria University of Wellington, and Dean of Commerce at the Victoria Business School. While we wish Ian the best, he will be missed very much and his replacement will have very big shoes to fill. Finally, thank you to the new editors of the The SouRCe for the opportunity to appear in this edition and I look forward to seeing you around campus. Jim Frederickson Acting Dean

SRC 2016 ROUNDUP Phil Neckers reflects on a very busy and productive year for the MBS SRC, which included rolling out MyMBS, creating MBS Merch, launching the Part-Time Buddy Program and winning the MBA Cup. My friends and fellow students, 2016 has been quite a year for the SRC. As we enter election season and look forward to 2017, it would be remiss of me if I didn’t take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank the team. Much of what the SRC does occurs behind the scenes, and often the community does not see the efforts of individuals. While these individuals do not volunteer their time for recognition’s sake, it is important that their hard work is appreciated. Without it, our community would not be as strong as it is today. To those who take on the less visible roles – marketing coordinator Lisa Winkler, and treasurers Chelsia Tanoto and Jens Deruddere – I’d like to thank you first. Without your efforts, none of this would happen. 2016 was intended to be the year of MyMBS. This was and still is an SRCdriven platform intended to function as a community hub for clubs, events and alumni. Whilst the rollout hasn’t been perfect, MyMBS is showing its potential as we on-board alumni and increase general activity. Thank you Arif Ahmed and Mirza Shamid for your efforts in coordinating the SRC’s testing of the platform and providing extensive feedback on functionality improvements to the provider. Without improving the user experience it will never achieve what it is intended to. In time I believe MyMBS will serve to bring students and alumni closer together and create a stronger community.

2016 was the year of Slack, and we all know whom to thank for it. Tim Webster has been relentless in driving over 500 current students and recent alumni onto the platform. It has been fantastic for generating cross-cohort connections and sharing everything from job opportunities to old textbooks. Watch this space as we look at ways to upgrade to a premium platform to remove those annoying messages when you share files!

“Slack has been fantastic for generating crosscohort connections and sharing everything from job opportunities to old textbooks.” – MBS SRC President Phil Neckers Working with Emma Young, Tim Webster also played a key role in realising the dream of creating an SRC MBS merchandise store. In Term 2, MBS Merch took over campus. We are now working closely with the marketing department at MBS to bring more items to our entire school community. This collaborative effort with the school is also a key area that took significant steps in 2016. In the second half of the year, Emma Young and Belinda Griffiths worked closely with program services to launch the MBS Part-Time Buddy Program to welcome the newest cohort of MBS part-timers. This is something we feel allows current students to engage and share their experiences with new cohorts, but also allows new part-time students to feel welcome in their first term.

team at MBS. Julia ran focus groups to collect important feedback from students regarding their experiences using syndicate rooms, bathroom facilities, the cafeteria and lecture theatres, and I anticipate these insights will lead to improvements for us all! Furthermore, thanks to Julia’s efforts, we will be able to welcome a beer fridge to the student lounge. Tom Hoschke has picked this project up since he joined us at MBS, and aims to coordinate and deliver a mini-renovation to the student lounge to improve the usability of this space. In May the incredible SRC Ball at the National Gallery of Victoria hosted just under 400 MBS students, staff and partners. Pulling this event off so flawlessly was an enormous effort. Thank you Gilma Renteria, Svetlana Antonova and Jane Edgar for coming together as a team to make it happen! It is at events like these, where we can relax outside of the classroom, that many great friendships are formed during our time at MBS. On a similar note, the MBS community turned out in massive numbers to our quarterly drink events, a trend we hope continues in 2017. Many thanks again to Svetlana Antonova for organising these events, and the upcoming Christmas party, and for negotiating such great deals to get the most out of our budget. And, finally, in 2016 we brought home the MBA Cup. Thank you to everyone on the SRC who contributes weekly to our community. I look forward to seeing a new Executive Team take the reins in 2017. Phil Neckers SRC President | MBS SRC MBA Part Time September 2014

Thank you to Julia Sharwood for her efforts working closely with the facilities

INSIDE CLUBS: GET TING TO KNOW THE NET IMPACT CLUB The Net Impact Club helps students explore the potential for business to provide positive social impact, and to identify opportunities to contribute their business expertise to not-for-profit and community organisations.

WHAT IS THE NET IMPACT CLUB ALL ABOUT? The global business community has some big challenges to face in the coming years in terms of sustaining economic growth through the consequences of climate change, conflict and changing demographics. Business leaders will have to adjust their mindsets to focus on more sustainable business models that provide long-term benefits for both organisations and communities. The MBS chapter of the Net Impact Club is part of a global organisation that has over 300 branches in 28 countries around the world. The global Net Impact network provides a large volume of resources for students who are looking to pursue careers in social impact. They also run an annual conference in November featuring speakers with backgrounds in not-for-profit or impact investing, and corporate leaders who support business providing a positive social impact.

WHO IS THE NET IMPACT CLUB FOR? The Net Impact Club has something for every student at MBS. The leadership team consists of participants

from a wide range of industries and geographical backgrounds. We all have different ideas about what ‘net impact’ means, and the great thing is that every one of those ideas is valuable because the potential for business to provide positive social impact is so broad. There are opportunities in most industries to improve business practices so that they reduce the negative impact on communities and the environment. No matter what your background is, there is the opportunity for MBS students to contribute their business expertise to not-forprofit and community organisations. This can be on a volunteer basis, or by taking the leap into a career in social or community impact.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING? The Club’s most recent event was the screening of Surviving Progress, a documentary that presents the idea that the history of the world has been characterised by ‘progress traps’, where civilisations progress exponentially to the point of collapse due to economic or environmental disaster. In the past, parts of the world were largely shielded from the effects of civilisation collapse. But the connectivity of our current world puts us in a very different position. The ideas presented were thought provoking and resulted in some lively discussion after the screening.

WHAT’S NEXT? The Net Impact Club leadership team are planning a series of panel events promoting the concept that business can be a ‘force for good’, including events on sustainability

(in collaboration with the Energy Club), social enterprise, and generational diversity on not-for-profit boards. Keep an eye out for more information. Behind the scenes, the communications team are taking inspiration from global Net Impact chapters to find some innovative ways to communicate the Net Impact message more broadly. There is also a committed group exploring how we can work with notfor-profit organisations and NGOs to give them the opportunity to make the most of the skills MBS students have to offer. We have an extremely enthusiastic group and we are looking forward to engaging all cohorts and asking them to think a little bit differently about how they do business.

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED? Get in touch by emailing netimpact@ mbs.edu, join our Facebook group at facebook.com/netimpactmelb/ or join our LinkedIn group at linkedin.com/ groups/4081618/

FAIRNESS AND BLAME more than one cent, but if they offer too little then their offers are consistently rejected. Why are proposers so generous, and why do receivers set their sights so seemingly high? My co-authors and I explain the consistency of these behaviours with a concept we call ‘blame’.

BOGAÇHAN ÇELEN Professor of Economics Bogaçhan Çelen illustrates how judgements about our own behaviour impact our perceptions of fairness and blame in others.

Consider a round of the ultimatum game in which the proposer offers the receiver 10 cents. We theorise that the receiver actually considers what she would do in the position of proposer. If the receiver herself would have offered only five cents, she accepts the proposal because she does not blame the proposer’s behaviour, as she would have offered less in the same position. In other words, she views the offer as fair. If the offer is less than she herself would have offered, she is more likely to reject it, depending on how strongly her sense of fairness is offended by so low an offer.

Split a $100 note that you find on the street with a person passing by, and you may be called Pollyanna. But offer $50 when you find $1,000, and you may be viewed as a miser and treated accordingly. In theory, the receiver should happily accept any amount, since some is better than none. But often that’s not the case. The idea behind this argument is that people are fundamentally selfish and care only about their own material wellbeing. But ultimatum game experiments consistently show that people are not as selfish as has been assumed and, in fact, behave quite altruistically.

To test this notion of blame, we conducted an experiment in which two players faced off against each another in a tournament. Subjects began with equal amounts of cash, and each used some of their cash to purchase whatever amount of effort (in the abstract) she wanted to exert in the tournament. The cost of effort was central to the tournament, since greater effort increased the likelihood of winning. The winner received a cash award, and their earning in the experiment was determined by the sum of the total cash after deducting the cost of their chosen effort.

In the ultimatum game, one player, the proposer, divides a dollar between herself and another player. If the other player, the receiver, accepts the offer, the proposal is implemented. However, the receiver always has the option of rejecting the offer, in which case neither player receives anything.

But some subjects were granted an advantage in the ability to buy effort cheaply, leaving other subjects – for whom effort cost much more – disadvantaged. A subject for whom effort was cheap could choose to purchase lots of effort and still have plenty of cash left over. This allowed us to see whether the subjects took others’ circumstances into account in their assessment of fairness. For example, one subject might

When you run the experiment, not only do proposers consistently offer much

be willing to exert lower effort against a disadvantaged opponent when the cost of her effort was low, but higher effort when the cost of her effort was high.

“Ultimatum game experiments consistently show that people are not as selfish as has been assumed, and, in fact, behave quite altruistically.” Each subject faced off against two others simultaneously, so subjects could occupy both advantaged and disadvantaged roles in the same session of the tournament. Each subject also had an opportunity to punish his opponent by reducing his payoff (but which also reduced the punisher’s payoff). This gave us the ability to observe if subjects were consistent in punishing their opponents, confirming if subjects were using their own behavior as a reference for judging the fairness of other subjects. Subjects’ choices about whether or not to punish their opponents differed in rounds of the game in which they were able to observe other players. For example, most of the time a disadvantaged player would forgo punishing an advantaged opponent when given the chance – if she had observed their opponent choose lower effort levels playing in an advantaged position. Overall, at least half the time, most people punish acts they deem blame-worthy. Alternately, some people forgo meting out punishment because while they may view an opponent as blame-worthy, they don’t view the offence as one that would justify the cost of punishment. Our work lends support to the view that rather than think so much about being nice or mean, people actually assess what is fair based on their own behaviour.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: LIBBY WARD-CHRISTIE MBS Outstanding Recent Alumni award winner Libby WardChristie tells us about the broad applications of an MBA, and how MBS connections contribute to her work in assisting business to achieve sustainable social impact.

TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND WHY YOU CHOSE TO DO AN MBA. I decided to do an MBA because I needed to understand business. My interest was in working with organisations to help solve both social and environmental problems. I looked around at a number of other business schools and I felt that if I was going to commit to doing an MBA, I was giving a lot of my time and energy and I really wanted to be somewhere where I knew that there was going to be a quality result and I was going to get the best possible degree that I could – hence my choice of MBS! When I started I was nervous about the idea that I would be out of my depth; I had done Science/Arts as an undergraduate and was qualified as a landscape architect. I thought I’d be the only person in the room that didn’t have a Commerce degree. I was wrong. There was so much diversity in our cohort.

HOW ARE YOU UTILISING THE MBA KNOWLEDGE AND MBS CONNECTIONS? I work for an organisation called Social Traders, a social enterprise development organisation. The work we do assists a variety of organisations that use the principles of business and trading activity to achieve sustainable social impact.

At Social Traders we have a number of MBS alumni and we apply the knowledge and skills acquired in an MBA – including business analysis, strategy and financial knowledge – every day. In creating societal benefit, financial sustainability is important but social impact is key. In this case, our work often calls on an even deeper application of our MBA as we need to come up with really innovative solutions. When Social Traders was in start-up phase, we developed a partnership with MBS as part of our Crunch start-up accelerator. This partnership is now in its sixth year. It provides the opportunity for full-time MBA students to assist the social enterprises with their analysis and thinking. Also, Social Traders partners with many corporates and government departments, and often we are working with other MBS alumni. It’s great when this is the case.

WHAT PART OF THE MBS JOURNEY DO YOU MISS? I found the classes stimulating and enjoyable. I enjoyed hearing from the lecturers and my classmates. I undertook my MBA part time over three years, juggling it with full-time work. There were times when my job was stimulating in and of itself, however when it was less so, I found it energising to attend class at MBS

and be provided a different lens to look through. It’s a privileged position to be presented with new ideas rather than having to hunt for them!

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS AND READERS ON HOW TO CAPITALISE ON OPPORTUNITIES AT MBS? A big piece of advice I would offer to current students is to engage with your fellow students. Before I started at MBS, I didn’t appreciate this was going to be as enjoyable as it was and that I would learn so much from my peers both inside and outside of class. Don’t underestimate these relationships. You can develop a great support network, learn from and enjoy the company of one another.

CONGRATULATIONS ON RECEIVING THE OUTSTANDING RECENT ALUMNI AWARD! WHAT DOES THIS AWARD MEAN TO YOU? Being recognised by MBS in this way is really very humbling. However, I hope that it reflects that business skills and all the things that you learn in an MBA are just as applicable to solving big, entrenched social problems. It’s a great recognition that we’re all in this together and that business is about shared values and society as a whole.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD CLASS

PENNY SMITH Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Penny Smith shares the inside story about the new MBS brand campaign, and outlines the next steps in the campaign’s evolution. The new Melbourne Business School brand campaign took almost seven months of intense work to reach the market, with extensive research taking place to ensure it was relevant and resonated with our audience. Development of the campaign was based on Professor Mark Ritson’s comprehensive research of 500 people in the market for business education, which enabled us to identify our core brand attributes – world class, career enhancing and elite (but not elitist). Our first effort, with another agency, failed to produce a creative execution that reflected our brand attributes or School values. This prompted us to select a new agency, Fenton Stephens, a South Melbourne-based firm established by alumnus Roger Stephens (MMktg 2006). Looking back, I believe that this decision was critical to the School developing a creative campaign that resonated with the market.

LISTENING TO THE MARKET

ROLLING OUT THE CAMPAIGN

In their first attempt Fenton Stephens developed a campaign creative and brand strapline that immediately resonated with the School’s leadership team, who felt that it was a bold and exciting interpretation of the MBS brand. Wow, how easy was that?

With new creative in place, we set about rolling out the campaign. This included a new partnership with Qantas for route-to-airport, in-airport, in-lounge and in-flight advertising; outdoor advertising across the Melbourne CBD; print advertising in the Australian Financial Review and Boss magazine; and targeted digital buys in Facebook and LinkedIn.

But then reality hit. Extensive focus group testing with our market (including current students, alumni and future students) delivered an overwhelmingly negative reaction to the creative and strapline, which was very disappointing. As much as it pained us to admit defeat, we knew we were doing the right thing. Excellent creative is not about making management happy, but creating something that resonates with the people that matter. So, it was back to the drawing board. The creative agency and the School’s management team struggled for several weeks until Roger broke the creative deadlock in an inventive way. He took the entire Fenton Stephens team – designers, copywriters and account managers – on a tour of the School to help them get a sense of what the institution is about, how the brand attributes are lived and felt, and to really get under the skin of MBS. The next day, it happened. Fenton Stephens proposed ‘Welcome to the World Class’. The use of the word ‘Welcome’ overcomes perceptions of an elitist, inaccessible institution. When paired with ‘World Class’, not only is a second School attribute delivered, but also elite is implied alongside career enhancing via a clever double meaning. A second round of focus group testing confirmed the strapline, as well as the creative execution. And yes, the ‘pink’ also passed the test. It was found to be refreshing, modern, unexpected and bound to stand out in a market characterised by copycat creative.

In parallel to this work, the School’s marketing team were hard at work revitalising the MBS website to deliver a new level of functionality (improved mobile responsiveness and integration with our social media accounts), as well as simplifying the navigation, and enhancing the look and feel. In August, the launch of the campaign and revamped website marked the completion of the first stage of the campaign. Work on the next phase is well underway: further refinement of the website; development of new value propositions for our programs; updating our brochure and website copy; and the launch of further promotional products, such as podcasts on the MBS channel on domestic Qantas flights. All these efforts are helping us to grow our brand awareness and identity in the market as a career-enhancing, world-class and elite provider of business education. To keep up to date with our latest campaign developments, follow us on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/ company/melbourne-businessschool), Facebook (facebook.com/ MelbourneBusinessSchool), Twitter (twitter.com/MelbBSchool) or Instagram (instagram.com/MelbourneBSchool). Penny Smith Executive Director of Marketing and Communications | MBS

INSPIRING JOURNEYS Our current students share the challenges and rewards of their MBS journey.

SIDDHANT SHRESTHA (FULL-TIME MBA, CLASS OF 2017)

Why did you choose MBS for your MBA? Coming from Nepal where I worked in a family business and initiated a not-for-profit, I realised that I needed to possess skills in strategy, finance, marketing and entrepreneurship. I also realised that I did not sufficiently possess the global exposure needed to take my business to the next level. I was enamoured by the MBS focus on leadership development and entrepreneurship management, as well as the opportunity to work on live cases for the Business in Asia practicum. What has been the greatest challenge you’ve faced during your program? Adjusting to a new country and culture, and at the same time keeping up with the program right from the start was

LIZ GRAHAM (PART-TIME MBA, APRIL 2016)

Tell us about yourself I’ve held a range of commercial roles in aviation, which started with a graduate position at Qantas. Through these roles I’ve worked on great projects and developed a broad range of skills and I am now consolidating and building on this experience with an MBA. Why did you choose MBS? It was the power of advocacy that brought me to MBS, following a recommendation from a mentor. The reputation and rankings were obvious draw cards but it was the oncampus format and course structure that really got me in. The interactions with fellow students provide new insights and points of view that add to the formal content of courses.

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fairly challenging. Also, when you are studying and interacting with some of the smartest people from around the globe, it’s easy to doubt yourself. However, if you keep faith in yourself and keep working hard, you will find a niche. How will you use your MBA? The strategic location of my country, Nepal – cusped between two of the world’s fastest growing economies – is an advantage I wish to leverage. I am also very passionate about my notfor-profit organisation, which focuses on raising awareness about cancer in Nepal. I would further like to expand into the educational sector benefitting underprivileged children.

What has been the greatest challenge you’ve faced during your program? The volume and pace of the course are intense and it often feels like a constant stream of deadlines and approaching exam dates. I am yet to meet anyone who doesn’t know the challenge of managing limited time and meeting expectations in other areas of their lives. How will you use your MBA? Six subjects in and I can already see how my broad skills are being brought together. I’m aiming to take these skills into the environmental, social and corporate governance field where I can combine them with my interest in social responsibility.

ELIZABETH WINARTO (MBUSA, 2016)

TODD FOSTER (SEMBA, 2016)

Why did you choose MBS for your MBusA?

What has been the greatest challenge youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve faced during your program?

I have dreamed of studying in Melbourne since I was young. In 2008 I had my application completed and ready to be submitted to Melbourne University. Unfortunately, due to unexpected circumstances, that plan came to a complete stop. Eight years later, I am now living my dream. My love for analytics grew during my time as a market researcher at Randstad. Realising that I still lacked certain skills, I decided to pursue a higher degree at MBS and embark on a life-changing journey.

The most challenging, yet rewarding, moments of the course were during my practicum placement at Seek. I experienced a very steep learning curve and was amazed at how the knowledge learned at MBS can truly be implemented to solve real-life problems. Was it easy? No. Was it worth it? Absolutely. With new skills I am ready to be at the front end of this growing data-dependent world.

Why an MBS SEMBA?

What will you do when you finish your program? How will the SEMBA benefit your career?

The program reputation and faculty quality, combined with the delivery methodology, were the primary factors in my decision to choose MBS. It was important to me that the MBA program was well regarded, and MBS has a fantastic international reputation. What has been the greatest challenge youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve faced during your program? Managing my time to ensure adequate preparation for each module is the biggest challenge for me. Additionally, whilst very rewarding, syndicate work dynamics are difficult for every member of the cohort at times. Everyone learns in a different manner and pace and this requires adjusting to.

The increased knowledge I have gained, combined with professional recognition of the program, will enable me to continue to progress my career. I expect that I will be in a different role and possibly even a different organisation within 12 months of completing the program. I have little doubt the program will pay back in a relatively short time, and it has already opened doors that were closed prior to commencing the program.

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INCOMING STUDENT EXCHANGE Cara Witt-Landefeld joins MBS for Term 4 from New York University Stern School of Business in Manhattan. I left the ‘Big Apple’ for the ‘Land Down Under’ to explore a new perspective. I traded bagels for meat pies, and a snowy NYC winter for summer in December, to get the true taste of another country and fully immerse myself in its culture. New York University Stern School of

Business is in the heart of Manhattan, but Melbourne Business School is in the soul of Australia. I am very impressed by my fellow classmates and look forward to learning everything I can from this inspirational term. The perspective I will gain will be as a result of my learning both in and out of the classroom. From this I’ll be able to contribute a more globalised perspective not only in approaching business issues but also in my everyday life.

OUTGOING STUDENT EXCHANGE Why did you choose to do an MBA at MBS? I always wanted to do an MBA and attend an exchange program overseas. MBS provides this opportunity. Why did you choose to go on exchange to your school of choice? I was looking for a short-term program in Europe. The International Summer University WU in Vienna was the perfect option for me. It ran three intensive subjects over three weeks and I didn’t have to organise anything as all the subjects and activities were predetermined. Accommodation and meals were also included in the program fee. Tell us about your exchange experience.

Part-time MBA student Michael Tjendara tells us about his exchange experience at Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Vienna University of Economics and Business).

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Tell us about yourself. I am a part-time MBA student and currently work for Australia Post as a planning manager.

The best part of the whole experience was the participants. It was amazing to be among students from different countries and with different backgrounds in education and work experience. I also managed to explore the beautiful city of Vienna and travelled to Budapest and Geneva on the weekends.

BRUNCH CLUB: BEST PLACES TO EAT IN MELBOURNE By taking advantage of the proximity of MBS to some of Melbourne’s best cafes, Brunch Club encourages students to get to know their fellow students in a more social setting.

group or by yourself. The fritters are always a hit, with fresh goat’s cheese and delicious accompanying toast. For those who have the time to venture a little further, following are a few more Brunch Club favourites.

ARCHIE’S ALL DAY

WHAT IS BRUNCH CLUB ABOUT? MBS Brunch Club is all about bringing together the two best things in life: people and food! What better way to get to know your new syndicate groups than to sip on Melbourne’s renowned coffee and enjoy the trendiest brunch meals, while discussing global economic issues and politics? For part-time students we know how hectic MBA life can get, spending most weekends locked up in Mill Syndicate rooms for hours on end. Rather than assignment stress being the lasting memory of your syndicate teams, take some time out to enjoy each other’s company in a more social setting. We guarantee this will enhance your MBS experience and make the term much more enjoyable. After all, who doesn’t like a good brunch?

WHO IS BRUNCH CLUB FOR? MBS Brunch Club does not discriminate. We believe brunch is for anyone and everyone. What could be better than good food, good coffee and good company?

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED? To get involved follow us on Instagram <@mba.brunch.club> and tag us on your own brunch adventures. We love regramming pictures and sharing

(189 Gertrude St, Fitzroy)

recommendations. For all of our upcoming events be sure to sign up to MBA Brunch Club on the MyMBS page, or join our MBS Slack channel #brunch.

BRUNCH CLUB RECOMMENDATIONS

Serving great quality breakfast food and our favourite Proud Mary coffee, Archie’s is a winner. We say try the dirty eggs, served on a base of potato gems with beans, cheese, chorizo and fresh avocado. You won’t have any regrets.

SIR CHARLES

(121 Johnston St, Fitzroy)

Don’t have time to venture far from campus? Easy. We can recommend some favourite places that are only a short walk away!

Turning the classic Eggs Benedict on its head, you’ve got to try the Sir Charles Benedict. How can you go wrong with crumbed eggs, bacon and Sriracha hollandaise? Seriously!

SEVEN SEEDS

HAMMER AND TONG

(106–114 Berkeley St, Carlton)

(412 Brunswick St, Fitzroy)

Our favourite dish at Seven Seeds is the breakfast waffle that successfully combines sweet waffle batter with savoury ham hock and cheese, all served with poached eggs and a spicy hollandaise sauce. We have been trying to replicate this dish at home, with no success!

The duck egg and candied bacon waffle has us coming back for more. You know you’ve got a classic first-world problem when you genuinely cannot decide what to have on the menu – it’s that good.

STOVETOP

(100 Leicester St, Carlton) Stovetop offers a cosy place to retreat to and take a break from your studies. With excellent coffee and a wide menu (including great weekend specials), Stovetop is best experienced in a small

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STREAT: TASTES GOOD. DOES GOOD. Every night 10,000 disadvantaged young people from Greater Melbourne have no place to call home. It’s a problem that social enterprise STREAT is solving, one hospitality business at a time.

WHAT IS STREAT? STREAT is an organisation with a business brain and a social heart. With four cafes scattered across Melbourne, and a huge flagship site in Cromwell Street, Collingwood (housing a cafe, artisan bakery, roastery and catering business), STREAT is devoted to serving good food to its customers and doing good for Melbourne’s youth through hospitality training and accreditation, work experience and life skills support. A network of 180 social organisations identifies disadvantaged youth who would benefit the most from a course at STREAT. Candidates then enter several programs that provide a mix of counselling, classroom training, and on-the-job experience in any of STREAT’s businesses. STREAT provides a pathway to a sustainable livelihood, helping trainees become healthy and to thrive in all parts of their lives. It’s the chance to make a difference in someone’s life that attracts people to STREAT, including professional baristas, a core team with extensive

corporate experience, investors and donors, and everyday customers. Whether you’re training someone to serve coffee, or acting as a surrogate parent and life coach, you can see your actions having a tangible impact. Customers know that when they make the conscious effort to buy from STREAT, they’re also making the conscious effort to contribute to someone’s training. ‘We do everything for our young people’ is, as STREAT proclaims, what makes them unique.

AN INVESTABLE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE STREAT isn’t just a charity. It is a growing enterprise and the revenues generated from the various businesses support the youth programs. STREAT is already 70 per cent self-funding and, with the Cromwell Street site (open to the public since September) now operating, it is aiming for 100 per cent self-sufficiency in the next two years. STREAT has proven to be investable and has attracted several impact investors and deal advisors. STREAT’s growing popularity and viability as a business is creating ripples in the social enterprise industry. Many major international and local cities (London, Singapore, Auckland, Sydney and Brisbane, to name a few) have invited STREAT to launch their business there but STREAT has decided

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to focus on Melbourne for the present. This is because it will be able to help many more disadvantaged youth this way. Over the next 10 years, STREAT plans to open major sites in Dandenong and Brimbank. These two sites will increase the number of youth enrolled in any of the programs from 150 per annum (365 per annum with Cromwell Street), to 1095 trainees a year. STREAT helps youth achieve healthy selves, healthy jobs and healthy homes, and they will soon extend their reach.

GET INVOLVED For a more intensive engagement, have a chat with careers. STREAT is always happy to welcome professional and student interns, and they have a long-standing partnership with MBS. Just last year, two MBS students developed a business plan and strategy for growing various businesses at the Cromwell Street site. There are a variety of other ways to help out: spread the word, connect on social media, or grab lunch and coffee at any of STREAT’s cafes. Bring your family and friends to the flagship site and see how STREAT makes an impact. To find out more about STREAT, check out their website: streat.com.au.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT STREAT’S FLAGSHIP SITE

EVENTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Read up before you visit 66 Cromwell Street in Collingwood. Eat and drink history When turning a 150-year-old manor into its flagship site, STREAT kept many of the original features intact. Keep an eye out for where the fireplace used to be. Watch where you sit Check out the chairs. You might find yourself sitting on cushions upcycled from coffee bags and grounds. Keep warm and relaxed The flagship site is designed to make you feel at home. The ‘village square’ is a garden courtyard, perfect for hanging out in the sun. Hand-lettered signs point the way to the artisan bakery and roastery. Inside the cafe, the artisan’s makery is reserved for artists and artists-in-the-making.

OCTOBER

Mentorship Program Launch

Start of Movember

Net Impact Club Surviving Progress

SRC Emirates Stakes Day

Talking Data: What is the Future of Marketing

MBS Brunch Club All Things Coffee

Dean’s Leaders Forum Geoff Culbert, GE

Dean’s Leaders Forum Adam Garone, Movember

Asia Business Club Australia-Asia Partnership

MBS Marketing Association Using data to build customer loyalty

Asia Business Club Australia-Asia Partnership

Australia Corporate Games

SRC Christmas Party Australia Corporate Games

Australia Corporate Games

Women and Management Club Get the conversation started

UPCOMING EVENTS

Not your typical office If you get a chance to visit the main office, be sure to read over STREAT’s business plan that’s pinned to the wall. Cross to the opposite wall to be inspired by founder Rebecca Scott’s dreams for STREAT.

DECEMBER

MBS Finance Club Corporate Finance Panel

Movember Shave-off

Treat yourself, help someone out Every cup of coffee you buy at STREAT equates to 10 minutes of youth training, and every meal you eat translates to four hours.

NOVEMBER

JANUARY

MBS International Food Day

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Congratulations toMBusA the Congratulations to the GraduatingClass Class of Graduating of2016 2016 p16