The SouRCe Term 3 2017 by MBS SRC

The

source 2017 / TERM 3

p06 Taking the le ad: MBAus Con ference 2017

p0 7 Vic torious! M BS wins the 21st MBA Cu p

p 1 3 World Business Foru m : Insider Insig hts

table of contents From the Editors

From the SRC President

Message from The Dean and Ask Zeger

Get Involved at MBS: Faculty-student Debate

MBAus Conference 2017

MBA Cup

Alumni Spotlight: David Lewis

Inside Clubs: Getting to Know the T&E Club

Inspiring Journeys: Student Profiles

p10

The World Business Forum

p13

Industry Insight: Not-for profit Internships

p14

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 Dear readers, Welcome to the term three edition of The SouRCe! We have many things to celebrate in between these pages, including our peers representing MBS at the World Business Forum, an exhilarating win at the MBA Cup, and the very first student-led MBAus conference. Zeger heard your questions – head over to page 4 to read his answers, as well as one of his farewell pieces as he steps down as Dean of MBS. In case you missed the faculty-student debate, two participants provide a recap and reflections on page 5. The Fulltime MBA students currently doing

their internships give us a glimpse into the non-profit world on page 14. You’ll also find new profiles on our fellow students, and get to know the T&E Club. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support – it’s been a great four terms working on The SouRCe. Regina and Grace will be graduating this year, while Carly will stay on as an adviser for the new team of editors. Watch out for the next edition with fresh ideas and faces!

Carly Versace MBA Part Time January 2016 Regina Saquin MBA Full Time 2017 Grace Yong MBA Part Time April 2015

As always, let us know if you have any articles or suggestions by dropping us a line at src@mbs.edu.

From the SRC President to contact us directly via the website, on Slack, or at src@mbs.edu.

Lisa Winkler Hi MBS, This is my first message as president of the new SRC following the recent election! We’ve had changes in 10 of our 14 roles and it’s been great to welcome everyone to the team, including MBusA students for the first time. You can find an overview of the new executive team at http://mbssrc.com.au; feel free

I’ve started in the role of president on a great high, seeing MBS win the 2017 MBA Cup! I’d like to say a huge congratulations and thank you to everyone who came to Sydney to compete or cheer our team on. It was very rewarding to see months of hard work pay off, and for MBS to go backto-back for only the third time in the cup’s 21-year history. I’d also like to say a big thank you to AGSM, especially copresidents Sam Gardner and Norman Seck for hosting us and putting on a great event. Inspired by our winning MBA Cup debate team, we are looking to set up a permanent Debate Club at MBS. The first opportunity to compete will be AGSM’s Great Debate in October.

Learning to debate helps you develop presentation and research skills, provides teamwork experience, and develops your ability to structure arguments in a compelling way. If you’d like to get a head start on becoming part of next year’s MBA Cup debate team, join the #club_debate channel on Slack to find out how you can get started. Lastly, I’d like to say a huge thank you to outgoing SRC President Emma Young and Vice President Tim Webster for all their work on the SRC and commitment to making MBS a better place for all students. Lisa Winkler SRC President | MBS SRC MBA Part Time January 2016

Message from the dean teams from around the world to take home the 2017 Nespresso Sustainability MBA Challenge is something we can all be proud of. I’m also delighted that Team MBS succeeded in winning the MBS–AGSM MBA Cup and ensuring that the trophy remains in Melbourne for another year – this is another great achievement for our School.

Zeger Degraeve First up, I want to offer my congratulations to our successful students, who have again done Melbourne Business School proud. The achievement of a team of our parttime MBA students, Toni Kovacevic, Yuanyuan Zhao, David Creak and Maree Swinden, in defeating 87 other

ask zeger Dean Zeger answers three questions posed by the MBS student body. Is there a way for MBS to better educate Australian businesses on the specific skills that students acquire through an MBA, and how these skills can help their firms? This is something we have been doing since the School was established. We were the first to offer an MBA program in Australia and, today, we continue to engage with the Australian business community about the positive impact MBA talent can have on organisations. We do this through our connections with the business community, our research and also through the work our Careers team does to engage with organisations to hire MBA graduates (and help our students to find rewarding careers).

I would also like to thank the many students who have passed on kind words following my recent announcement that I intend to retire as Dean and return to research and teaching. As many of you know, the past six years have been demanding and I am looking forward to returning to my roots as an academic. However, there are still a number of important things I wish to complete in the coming months before I depart from this role in early 2018. However, the best way we educate Australian businesses about the specific skills developed by an MBA is through their application by our students and alumni. Compared to other schools, the Dean’s office at MBS is disconnected from the student body, with more of a focus on alumni. How might you engage more directly? I’m sorry to hear that some members of the student body feel the Dean’s office is disconnected. Like any leader, there are times when you need to listen and learn – this is one of those times. I have honestly felt very connected with students, through regular catch-ups with the SRC, being available to network and interact with students at events, such as the Dean’s Leaders Forum, and also through my teaching. I’m more than happy to hear suggestions from the student body on how we can strengthen these ties in the future and will discuss it with the SRC as well.

We are now counting down to the scheduled completion of stage one of the transformation project in the middle of August. This will see the opening of new staff offices for Executive Education and Marketing in the Orthotics building, new learning spaces in the Mill Building and lead us into stage two of the project – the construction of new learning spaces on level one, and the redevelopment of the Gadsden Dining Room and courtyard to create a new social hub for the School. This is a very exciting development for MBS, which will ensure we continue to be a centre for business education excellence. Until next time! Zeger Degraeve Dean

What is your view on the lack of APAC companies being used for case studies at MBS? Is it a problem? Or is a US-centric focus the right approach? Our School’s mission is to enable individuals and organisations to be global leaders through the creation, application and growth of business and economics knowledge. We therefore use case studies from a range of different companies, with a global focus, to enable us to achieve this and best prepare our students to make an impact around the world. The US is the world’s leading economy and home to the world’s top companies. It also has the highest output of business school research, so it should be expected that it is from this market that we will draw many of our case studies. The academic staff at MBS ensures that our part of the world is well represented in research and make use of APAC case studies in teaching where most appropriate for student learning.

Get involved at MBS: Faculty-student Debate Before the MBS debate team won against our AGSM rivals at the MBA Cup, they faced a far more frightening challenge – the faculty. Third speakers Don O’Sullivan and Michael Malone give us an insider’s view on the studentfaculty debate.

Don O’Sullivan, Professor of Marketing I was quietly confident about our prospects in the faculty-student debate: Brandon Lee and Catherine DeFontenay have the intellectual firepower for most events and with John Gurskey as our ‘thinker’ I thought we would be tough to beat. With a motion about parenting, I thought that a team that included three parents would have an

unfair advantage. However when we entered the room I realised that, with a room full of enthusiastic supporters, the student team might just have an edge. In addition Ami [Price-Gagnon], Jane [Edgar], Michael [Malone] [and thinker Sourya Pal] didn’t lack in either skill as debaters or motivation as competitors. I am still unsure whether the thought of thrashing three faculty was their main motivation, or if they were attempting to peak in time for bigger events the following week in Sydney. Viewed as a warm-up event for Sydney, then we – the faculty – were fodder, and so it proved to be. I guess in retrospect, a lifetime delivering lectures in three-hour blocks is not the best preparation for a sixminute sprint of ideas. The judges took a polite 10 minutes to come to a decision, but I am sure there

Michael Malone, Full-time MBA 2017 The Great Rap Recap by DJ Chirper Malone If you wanna understand the night with me Read on down through this entire review-Z Faculty wanted to go debate with thee Ami, Jane, Sourya and me made up the entire team We were in Pelham on the night, feeling right Looking across to spot the opposition ready to pick a fight Looking to the crowd to know that we weren’t alone (We weren’t alone) MC Laura Bell brought the attitude Whipping the crowd into a crazy mood But as long as we kept our heads you know That we were on (You know that we were on) I peep someone coming towards me on the stage floor Convincing and in the know It was Brandon Lee the first speaker for the oppo “So this is our case” but we were ready to argue no His arguments came down as if they were law, tell it

was little doubt that our younger, more agile adversaries had the better of us throughout. Having seen the student team in action, I had no doubt about the result against AGSM. As for the staff, we were well beaten this year but we will be back …

The School is always at its best in these semi-formal settings where we mix laughter and intellectual pursuits. The annual student-faculty debate was, by any measure, a fun night even though we came out on the wrong side of the result. The School is always at its best in these semi-formal settings where we mix laughter and intellectual pursuits. The more occasions like this, the better.

“The current state is a tax on women, children and the poor Finland gives more and more The current situation is unfair and therefore we should change the law” And then Ami took it from way over there (Took it from way over there) Mind ready, she was there to act With her arguments, the opposition weren’t coming back “Society would be worse off and that’s a fact The opposition’s position to tax should go the way of the fax Growth, opportunity would stop, what’s your response to that?” You should have felt the impact, those to our right weren’t getting off the mat And then, Catherine De[Fontenay], economist to the fore We all sat there in awe C laid it on and on Until we spotted one flaw “Australia is one of the least indebted of all countries Therefore it can borrow more!” We thought to ourselves, how can we be so sure? continued on page 15

MBAus Conference 2017: Lead, Empower, Inspire It’s time to celebrate! MBAus is an MBA platform built by students for students , with the inaugural MBAus Conference running from 25–27 August 2017 at Melbourne Business School! Take the lead Bringing together the brightest MBA minds and established leaders in business and academia, MBAus provides the opportunity for MBA candidates to connect with Australian organisations to demonstrate the value of an MBA. We’ve invited several schools from across Australia and New Zealand to take part in the 2017 MBAus Conference, which will give you a chance to connect, network and grow while taking part.

Management clubs at Melbourne Business School. Over a dozen students came together to bring MBAus to life including project leaders, project coordinators and talented students who contributed design, website and legal skills and resources.

“Melbourne Business School is home to Australia’s first MBA program, so it is fitting that we are hosting the first MBAus conference to celebrate what our students developed at this School!” Melbourne Business

Join us! The 2017 MBAus Conference marks the first of many to come, and we are happy to say it all starts at MBS. We take pride in what MBAus achieves in Australian business, and we encourage all MBA candidates to join us in this initiative for the future of MBA in Australia. Thank you to all involved with MBAus for your perseverance and support. See you in August! For more information and registration details go to www.mbaus.com.au.

School Dean Zeger Degraeve.

Prepare to empower The MBAus Conference will include workshops and panel discussions on key issues affecting the future of Australian organisations. Topics and keynote speakers include: • Big data and the fourth industrial revolution – Robert Wickham, Salesforce • Diversity in the workplace – Rhonda Brighton-Hall, mwah • Globalising an Australian business – Michael O’Keeffe, Aésop • Innovation in start-ups and corporations – Phil Silverstone, Eventbrite We anticipate over 250 attendees from Australia and New Zealand and expect local and international media coverage of this momentous occasion. Collaborate and inspire

Sponsors

MBAus was founded by members of the SRC, Marketing, and Women and

Invited Schools • • • • • •

Australian Graduate School of Management Edith Cowan University Macquarie University Monash Business School Queensland University of Technology University of Auckland

Nous

AESOP

• • • • • •

University of New South Wales University of Queensland University of Technology Sydney Victoria University University of WA University of Wollongong, and many more

Acciona

MBS

MBS are back-to-back winners of the MBA Cup MBS keeps the MBA Cup in Melbourne after a tough fight on AGSM’s home turf, as Parttime MBS student Cassandra Mitchell reports. It was a cold and calm winter’s day in Melbourne on Friday 21 July, but just an hour’s flight away a storm was brewing. Students and staff from Melbourne Business School and Australian Graduate School of Management were preparing to battle in the annual MBA Cup challenge, held this year in Sydney. This year’s challenge marked the 21st anniversary of the AGSM–MBS MBA Cup, and saw the biggest number of participants and supporters to date. Each school’s pride was on the line in a series of contests of brains and brawn. The range of activities – debating, basketball, soccer and water sports – tested each team’s nous, stamina and ability to have fun. The challenge kicked off on Friday night with the big debate. The topic up for debate was ‘Multinational companies should be liable for human rights abuses that occur anywhere in their supply chain’. As reigning champions, MBS had much to lose as they argued for the negative. Both sides debated with passion and extracted plenty of laughter, groans and respect from the crowd. It was an enjoyable tussle with some memorable moments, especially when jabs from the AGSM team captain about the size of the MBS team’s hands fell flat and left him a little red-faced. To build anticipation and tension, it was announced that the winner of the debate would not be declared until after the sporting events the following day.

Saturday started with basketball, with MBS leading AGSM 28–08 at half-time before crushing them 46–18.

AGSM also nabbed first place in the kayaking event, but our all-female crew picked up extra points.

Next up was indoor soccer with MBS fighting back hard after AGSM scored a three-goal lead. AGSM ultimately won the game five goals to three, helped by their enthusiastic cheer squad.

In the stand-up paddle boarding event, rivalry turned to comradery as several paddlers gave their all in an intense workout on the water. AGSM placed first, but the MBS women proved their mettle again by claiming the first female contestant to return to shore.

After lunch, both teams made their way to the Woollahra Sailing Club for some water sports. It was a classic Sydney winter’s day – 21 degrees, clear skies and glistening blue waters. As the wind calmed, the 16 competing teams in the sailing event were given the all clear to paddle, making for some great entertainment before AGSM took line honours.

With only the debate winner to be announced, lifejackets were swapped for beers. Our debaters proved victorious, allowing MBS to win the MBA Cup by only by two points. Congratulations MBS and nice try AGSM!

Alumni Spotlight: David Lewis (Part-time MBA, class of 2014) flagship channel to demonstrate what a world-class podcast can look like. We offer services in creating, launching and growing podcast channels for businesses looking to communicate their message to new and existing audiences.

Tell us why you chose to do an MBA at MBS. I received advice from an executive at a competing university who simply told me, “Make the decision final, do it at the best school you can afford and start yesterday”. What has been your career journey since graduating? The MBA program demands a high expectation of you. When you raise your standards it causes you to take action. For me this was leaving a role at Telstra in which I had five years tenure, moving into contract engagements, which then led to consulting opportunities. In the midst of this career progression I also started a podcast called The Mentor List, which has grown to become the leading business and personal development podcast in Australia. This passion project would eventually see me leave the corporate world to pursue podcasting full time. Since then we have set up Australia’s leading podcast as a service business, where The Mentor List acts as our

“If you can tie your mission to something bigger than yourself, that action in its very nature will expand your thinking and ability to make an impact.” Here at The Mentor List we have just celebrated our first year of running Australia’s leading business and personal development podcast, and we will continue to run this channel as our flagship channel. With the recent establishment of our A-list advisory board, the immediate strategy is to grow the podcast in excess of $1m turnover within the next 12 months. The long game for The Mentor List is as a world class mentoring service for the global professional community.

How are you continuing to utilise your MBA knowledge and connections? Running a start-up exposes you to every facet of a business. The breadth of an MBA gives you a foundation and confidence to go into bat in all areas. Also, running a podcast that interviews top business minds has seen me interview a lot of MBS alumni. Until I met many of these individuals I did not fully appreciate the high calibre of MBS alumni. What advice do you have for current students on how to capitalise on opportunities at MBS? Like most dynamics in life, the secret is giving. A better question might be ‘How can I contribute to opportunities of my fellow alumni?’ If you can tie your mission to something bigger than yourself, that action in its very nature will expand your thinking and ability to make an impact. As a business and personal development podcaster, what question haven’t we put to you that you would ask of yourself? If I had to summarise two key items that come up time and time again in the interviews I conduct with worldclass leaders: • wake up early • plan your time religiously.

David Lewis launching The Mentor List at MBS in 2016.

You will note both items are focused on the ultimate equaliser – time. If you want to excel in your life you must be willing to leverage your time and focus to do so. It’s your life and your time so why not make it the time of your life!

inside clubs: Getting to Know the T&E Club The Technology and Entrepreneurship (T&E) Club provides a place for students with digital or start-up ambitions to share ideas and form networks.

What is the T&E Club? In 2016 the Technology Club and Digital Club leaders realised they had similar visions for their clubs, as well as an entrepreneurial spark for innovation inside and outside of existing businesses. As a result, the clubs joined forces and experimented with new club names – you may have heard of the TED (Technology Entrepreneurship Digital) Club or Future Founders. These days we simply refer to ourselves as T&E, focusing on idea generation, feedback and creating a community of enthusiasts to think out loud with. The T&E Club encourages three guiding values that we believe benefit students with digital and/or start-up ambitions: • practicing business acumen beyond what the MBA course offers, particularly in areas of entrepreneurship and agility • being digital savvy, as knowledge of resources opens new possibilities and smart efficiency • having a network so that you can gain exposure to different industries and specialties for inspiration, get help with your personal initiative, or access future potential customers. The club gets together every six to eight weeks for some form of event, from a casual ideation exercise to practice creative thinking, to inviting a panel of inspirational speakers to learn from and network with.

Who is the club for? The T&E Club is for enthusiasts who want to be exposed to ideation and support networks, and stay current and updated with relevant news. You don’t need to have a start-up idea or work in tech – you just need your curiosity.

exposure to nine ideas, and a network of experts to continue the conversation with if anyone is inspired or would like to learn more.

Did you know? • Immigrant entrepreneurs represented nearly 30 per cent of all new entrepreneurs in 2015. • There’s been an increase in female entrepreneurs, but the industry is still male-dominated. • The T&E Club is growing and has leadership roles available! We aim to have diversity of thought in our club and encourage anyone with a spark of curiosity to try out an event, regardless of background and experience. If you have a presentation or workshop that could benefit the club, let us know!

What’s been happening? Our August 2017 event was Ignite Tech Talks, a blast of nine five-minute presentations on a variety of tech topics. The Ignite format allows each speaker 20 slides that automatically change every 15 seconds, so presenters must be wellpracticed and concise. This gives the club

The great thing about the T&E club is that it’s shaped by its members – the themes of events and opportunities change based on who is in the club and their interests and knowledge. We would love to host a mini innovation bootcamp and we have a hands-on digital workshop in the pipeline. If you would like to hold a specific event, join the club and make it happen! We currently have an open position for Co-President, Full-time class, as Ami Price-Gagnon is graduating … but she’s a bit of a nerd and you’ll probably still see her lurking around. Co-President, Part-time class, Stuart Dalrymple likes to have a teammate to brainstorm over beers with, so reach out to him if you’re interested. Slack channel: #club_futurefounders

inspiring journeys Meet six current MBA students as they share the challenges and rewards of their MBS journey.

Joni Burns (Part-time MBA, class of 2017)

Tell us about yourself. I am a former lawyer who is now working as a marketing executive for a global luxury travel brand. Why did you decide to undertake an MBA program at MBS? Coming from a political science/law background, and having worked as a commercial litigation lawyer since graduation, I wanted to broaden my skill set and ultimately obtain employment within a corporate environment. I chose MBS as I believed it would offer me a prestigious qualification in a challenging learning environment. I was attracted to the team-based approach within the subject areas and the networking opportunities this would afford me.

Barbara Reikie (Full-time MBA, class of 2017)

Why an MBA at MBS? Prior to beginning the MBA I was working as an engineering consultant in the oil and gas industry, which took me to places such as northern Canada and Santiago, Chile. Although I enjoyed the

p10

technical aspects of my day-to-day work, I was ultimately working towards a position in project management. With this goal in mind, the choice to pursue an MBA came naturally. The full-time program at MBS was attractive to me due to the fast-paced structure, exchange program opportunities, and diverse international cohort. As someone who is moving overseas after graduation, I wanted a program with a global reputation and alumni connections around the world. The past year has been quite a journey and the best parts are the connections I’ve made, both at MBS and while on exchange at the Kellogg School of Management. With graduation right around the corner, it’s a bittersweet realisation that the year has almost come to an end. How will you use your MBA? What’s next? During the MBA I kept an open mind about pursuing different career

What has been the biggest challenge so far? Coming from a purely qualitative background, the greatest challenge to date has been tackling quantitative units. Equipping myself with the mathematical skills necessary to meet the demands of these subjects has been a steep but enjoyable learning curve. How do you hope to use your MBA? I hope to use my MBA to develop a management career within the travel industry.

opportunities post-graduation, but ultimately settled on my original plan of returning to the engineering services sector. The major transitions I will face include switching industries from oil and gas to renewable energy, and moving from a technical to a managerial role. The MBA has equipped me with the knowledge, skills and confidence to make this transformation at a pivotal time in my career. I will be moving to Montreal, Canada with my fiancée at the end of August where there are lots of opportunities in wind, hydro and biomass power. My time at MBS has been exceptionally memorable and I am very excited to see what the future holds for all my talented classmates.

Dougal Hunt (MBusA, class of 2017)

Why did you choose to do an MBusA at MBS? My first exposure to the world of business analytics was studying Data Analysis during my part-time MBA at MBS. I really enjoyed the content so I not only pursued further learning in statistics but also looked into the exciting and evolving space of data analytics in business. As a current student at MBS I didn’t have to look too far to learn about the MBusA program, and the halo effect of the MBS MBA had me sold!

(EMBA, class of 2017)

How will you use your MBusA?

I believe the challenges of my new career have already arrived! The course

I am excited about applying what I have learnt in both the MBA and MBusA to the real world. I believe the two business skill sets will complement each other in the workplace, both in understanding business problems and gaining analytical insights. I am looking forward to using predictive analytics to make better business decisions and to deliver a strong competitive advantage wherever my new career direction takes me in 2018!

Why an MBS EMBA?

How will you use your EMBA?

That was easy. MBS is the best business school in Melbourne by reputation and according to the league tables. I talked to a lot of MBS alumni that all glowed about their time at MBS.

The global economy is becoming more and more exciting every five to 10 years. Disruption is rife, big challenges are everywhere and ‘going global’ can happen faster than ever. All options are open for me. But whether it’s consulting, sitting in a big corporate or running another tech start-up, I’m excited to face tomorrow’s challenges alongside the Young Turks that are my 2017 cohort.

What challenges are you anticipating? What experiences are you looking forward to?

Christopher Duffield

has proven to be quite rigorous, albeit highly rewarding. I am sure the challenges will continue long after we’ve graduated from MBS, but that is part of the allure of the world of business analytics.

What has been/is the greatest challenge you’ve faced during your program so far? For me it was identifying the right time to embark on an MBA. An MBA is something I always had my eye on, but the dilemma was ‘life’s so busy, is now really the right time?’ Now that it’s underway, the study, the people and the challenges have drawn me in and the work just gets done.

p11

Vanessa Bottero (Part-time MBA, July 2017, incoming exchange)

Emma Young (Part-time MBA, July 2015, outgoing exchange)

Tell us about yourself.

Why did you choose MBS?

I am a 23-year-old French student doing a part-time MBA exchange program at MBS. In my home school I have chosen to specialise in corporate strategy and international business.

I heard very good feedback from previous exchange students about MBS. Moreover, MBS offers one of the best-ranked Part-time MBAs in the Asia Pacific region.

Tell us about your home school.

How has your time at MBS been?

ESSEC Business School is in CergyPontoise, a town near Paris. I have been studying for the past four years in the Grande Ecole program to get a Master of Science in Management. ESSEC have campuses in France, Singapore, Morocco and soon Mauritius.

I am really grateful for the warm and friendly welcome I have received. Lectures are very insightful and classroom participation makes a great impact.

Tell us about yourself.

Why did you choose NHH?

Life outside MBS involves fostering animals, travelling and doing fun activities like aerobatics. I’m also part of the MBAus team planning the inaugural conference for MBAs in Australia (www.mbaus.com.au).

NHH appealed to me because of their two-week intensive Social Entrepreneurship course. I enjoyed the Thinking Like an Entrepreneur elective at MBS, however I wanted to spend more time learning about impact organisations.

Tell us about the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). NHH overlooks the North Sea and is within quick walking distance of Stoltzekleiven – a paved hiking trail that involves a 130-floor climb! With an acceptance rate of 8 per cent and free education, it is the top business school in Norway.

p12

How has your time at NHH been? What was amazing about NHH was working with a Norwegian social enterprise. My syndicate and I developed a financially sustainable business model with an organisation that helps refugee women integrate into Norwegian society.

World Business Forum Attending the World Business Forum as part of the MBS Ambassador Program gave seven students some incredible opportunities, as Part-time MBA student Sneha Diwakar reports. In May, Sydney hosted the World Business Forum in Australia for the fifth year in a row. Each year the forum attracts thousands of business professionals from around the country, who attend to learn from and be inspired by some of the most prominent global thought leaders. As an academic partner of the forum, MBS students are given an opportunity to be a part of this incredible event. This year seven students were selected for the Ambassador Program, which involves shadowing one of the speakers and accompanying them to all their commitments (keynote session, media interviews, private business events, etc). We were able to spend quality time with the speakers as well as attend the forum. I speak on behalf of all the ambassadors when I say that it was one of the most humbling and enriching experiences. It exceeded all our expectations and was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Carly Versace, who assisted Kellogg School of Management professor and globally recognised scholar Mohanbir Sawhney, said, “I was most impressed by how personable and humble he was when engaging with clear fans of his work. I’d highly recommend following him on LinkedIn for great content”. Mohan delivered an outstanding presentation on agile innovation and how organisations can learn faster and better to survive and thrive. EQ revolutionist, Daniel Goleman, gave another inspiring presentation. He spoke

MBS Ambassadors with WBF Speakers’ Coordinator Chris Nicholls (centre) about how today’s leaders need to tap into emotional connections to drive better business results. Helen Smith reflected, “Shadowing him taught me that there doesn’t need to be a payoff between humility and success, and that compassion and mindfulness can lead to greater success and fulfilment”. Matt Richmond, who assisted Rosabeth Moss Kanter of Harvard Business School said, “Managing a conference for thousands of people taught me improvisational skills and reinforced the importance of teamwork”. Rosabeth spoke about the strategic principles of mastering change. The forum stage also welcomed Ken Segall, former Apple creative director, who put the ‘i’ in Apple products. He gave us insights on how simplicity can be harnessed to solve complex business problems. In Daren Csehi’s words, “Ken taught me more about advertising and marketing in 48 hours than I could have ever learned in any classroom”. As for me, I could not have asked for more, having had the privilege of shadowing Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia. He spoke about the failures he has survived and also about the launch of his new project, WikiTribune. Responding to a technical glitch during his presentation, he later said to me, “no one can ever be prepared

for certain events. But when they do happen, we must see the fun side of it; learn to enjoy it all”. Emily Archer, shadowing Randi Zuckerberg, was blown away by her charming personality and fondly referred to her as ‘pocket rocket’. The former director of marketing at Facebook spoke about exciting developments in the tech world. I believe Rob Soros echoes all our thoughts when he said “I learned so much about what makes today’s business thought leaders tick and what their lives look like behind the books and YouTube clips”. Rob assisted Professor Ian Williamson, who spoke about how social issues can shape strategy and business performance. It was not all work for us. When we were not running around assisting the speakers we shared a laugh over Frankie’s pizza, and took a walk along the harbourside to see Sydney’s spectacular Vivid light display. Trying to condense our collective experiences into a single article is a challenging task. I definitely encourage students to explore this opportunity in 2018. More details on the forum can be found at http://www.wbfsydney.com/aboutworld-business-forum-sydney.html.

p13

Industry Insight: Not-for-profit Internships As part of the program, Full-time MBA students take on internships at different firms. Eight students share their experiences at four not-for-profit organisations.

John Pierce Centre (JPC) Annu Gopalakrishnan and Tao Lian Established in 1935, the John Pierce Centre seeks to empower deaf people and their families by promoting community through education, and spiritual and family support. Our job was to help JPC develop a strategic plan to grow sustainably. We conducted research and interviewed leaders from other notfor-profit organisations to get relevant sector experience and map insights to the strategic focus areas. We supported the strategy subcommittee to facilitate a strategic planning day and developed a plan based on the output from the day and insights from our research.

The internship with JPC was a phenomenal experience. We had been looking for an opportunity to give back to the community, but it also allowed us to apply the business knowledge we learned in class to solve problems in the real world.

Guide Dogs Victoria (GDV) Yan Liu, Henry Manning, Nathan Spence and Paul Qiu Guide Dogs Victoria is a charity that specialises in the training and breeding

p14

of guide dogs for visually impaired Australians. GDV are planning to expand into veterinary services and commissioned us to evaluate various business models for a new vet clinic. We interviewed veterinary experts, performed market analysis and evaluation, developed dynamic financial modelling, and proposed high-level marketing and brand strategies.

It was extremely rewarding to be able to translate our MBA into a tangible project and work with the lovely team at GDV. Visiting the beautiful puppies in the nursery was certainly a highlight (we all want to adopt a guide dog now!), but the best part of working with GDV was that we were actually able to make an impact – they’ve already started implementing some of our recommendations. It was a fantastic project and we hope the relationship between MBS and GDV continues. We can’t wait for the opening of the vet clinic in 2019.

WISE Employment Louie Tsang WISE Employment is a not-for-profit disability employment services provider, empowering job seekers through training, rehabilitation and job matching. I worked on a program called WISE Ways to Work (WWtW) that aims to create

long-term employment for people with psychosocial disability. Employment is a key component of social and economic inclusion for people with a psychosocial disability, yet over 80 per cent are unemployed despite most of them having work as a goal. My internship centred on identifying the most suitable occupations and industries for WISE to target as potential employers for program participants. A data-driven approach was used to identify these occupations and industries – firstly identifying growth occupations through employment projections and skills shortages, and secondly analysing job suitability through dimensions including flexibility, employee negotiation power and appropriate stress levels. This approach allows WWtW to efficiently target potential occupations with limited resources, as well as providing insights into the future world of work for program participants.

Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) Siddhant Shrestha ASRC is an independent not-for-profit organisation supporting people seeking asylum to maximise their physical, mental and social wellbeing. I worked for one of ASRC’s social enterprises, the Food Justice Truck, a mobile market that provides healthy and ethical options for all shoppers and a lifelong 75 per cent discount to people seeking asylum. Even though they have had a huge social impact, ASRC are running unsustainable financial losses. My project involved looking at their business model and processes to try to continued on page 15

continued from page 14 formulate a strategy where ASRC can become self-sustainable. It was a great experience for me as all my MBA learning was highly applicable to the project. It was nice to see how our business acumen can be used in a social enterprise to improve both the financial

and social impact. It made me aware that we can do well while doing good at the same time.

continued from page 5 I can’t explain it plain now If you wanna hear about the reign of Jane now There’s no way I’ll refrain from sayin’ how much it rattled their brain now So, come and see how She went in next verse of this review-Z now Jane stepped up, stared down Began spittin’ rhyme line after line “If you wanna talk philosophy with me I ride with my mate Mills and C You see it’s about what does more harm to me Who decides what is the right thing to be? Your position Mills and me can’t believe” Oh it was like she was on Broadway, got the bouquet Hit the iron right down, hole-in-one, along the fairway (Along the fairway) If you wanna hear how Don [O’Sullivan] got on His section won’t take long That’s a burn, oh yes, I can confirm Oh how did Don go? You’ll have to read on to know (Read on to know) Hey yo, we know that Don’s a marketing guy Helped by John Gurskey on stand-by, You know that they’re both a little wry We all wanted to know what Don had to supply Steppin’ up like Conor McGregor His audience couldn’t get any bigger But yo, there he stood, spittin’ out all these falsehoods

Persuading everyone like he could Judges later even gave him pretty much a knighthood “You have misunderstood I’ve been through it all in fatherhood You haven’t – no good” We be stunned speakers – ‘wishing we was’ speakers Squirming like we were down for the count, with a big hill to mount Oh why did they argue this way? (Hey we must be unlucky!) Now I’m the third guy, and thanks to Sourya I was ready to espouse why Those to my right sought to justify A position they couldn’t occupy “A tax would be no good, it’d do more damage than anything that even Trump could Your position is logically flawed, like a shot comin’ off the backboard Your plan works against the outcomes you want achieved More tax, fewer jobs, businesses, and less income; please...” By anyone’s rule of thumb These arguments were tough to overcome So that was it The debate was all done now Just had to wait on the judges’ final results now But you know how the story goes The only casualty was the Faculty Hopefully next year they can compete with thee.

p15

Highlights from the 2017 MBA Cup

Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2016 p16