University News

Perth businesspeople have a premium opportunity to update their knowledge and networks through a two day conference focussed on doing business with the State's major trading partners in an ever-changing and more complex world order.

This is the message from Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett who together with 10 other key Perth business and government leaders have shaped the discussions for the inaugural IN THE ZONE Conference initiated, and to be hosted by, The University of Western Australia from 8-10 November.

In times of global turmoil it is more important than ever that business schools remain relevant at an international level, pursue deeper understanding of business fundamentals and encourage creative thinking regarding the critical business issues faced around the world.  As part of our pursuit in Achieving International Excellence, the UWA Business School actively supports international forums for dialogue and debate between academics, students, alumni, and business professionals and leaders.

Woodside's sponsorship of the UWA Business School is gaining traction. The recent appointment of internationally-renowned Professor, David Day as the Woodside Professor in Leadership and Management is a key element in the joint strategy to invest in improving the business and commercial skills of university graduates as well as currently employed managers and executives.

Business education in Western Australia has received a boost with the announcement of a $150,000 donation from Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd to The University of Western Australia's Business School.

At an official signing ceremony, Mitsubishi Development's Managing Director and CEO Mr Kirk Yamanaka said the company is planning to broaden Mitsubishi Development's scope of activity in WA and is grateful for the support from local business partners and the broader community.

Building a lifelong learning relationship with our Alumni is vital to the sustainability of the Business School, and its relevance to industry.  As the University strives to achieve international excellence, the Business School is also focused on fostering leadership, recognising accomplishments and providing networking opportunities among its Alumni. 

Stan & Jean Perron Visiting Professor

As the 2009 Stan & Jean Perron Visiting Fellow, Professor David Yermack from the Stern School of Business - New York University, will teach an Honours Unit in Finance during semester one 2009.

The University of Western Australia was founded on a culture of philanthropy, of giving back to the community and investing in the future to foster the highest possible educational standards.  For some graduates, this translates into philanthropic acts directed to the university that helped shape their success.

Once again the Business School was host to many exciting international and local events, including alumni events, public lectures by world-renowned presenters, student events and conferences.

The Business School is currently planning many "not to be missed" events for the remainder of the year and into 2009.  These include:

• Conference of the Australian Institute of Transport Research - December 10 - 12, 2008
• Breakfast by the Bay with Kunal Basu - February 25, 2009
  

Callum Jones is currently completing his Honours year in Economics at the University of Western Australia.  His thesis, supervised by Professor Ken Clements, investigates and applies a number of economic models on housing prices.  For Callum, academic life has been a rewarding journey.

Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS)
The PASS program continues to be very popular with students, attracting hundreds of enrolments in the five units offered in semester 2.

Student Research Finds Generation Y, “Creatures of Convenience”
Four 3rd year undergraduate Business School students undertook research into young peoples’ petrol purchasing habits and the role that price of petrol plays in their purchasing behaviour. 

Singapore Presentation Ceremony
Over 200 guests and 96 students attended the presentation ceremony held at the NTUC Business Center in Singapore, including 28 Bachelor of Commerce, 37 MBA, 2 DBA and 29 Bachelor of Science students.

Economics Cocktail Evening
The Economics cocktail evening held in the first semester, was one of ECOM's best in the series.  Hosted by Ron Manners - Business School donor, in conjunction with the UWA Careers Center, the evening attracted a large student body as well as industry heavy weights such as KPMG, Mannkal Economic Education Foundation, Mainsheet Corporate, Marsden Jacob Associates, and Ernst & Young.

To date, 2008 has been a year of highlights for the UWA Business School with many achievements contributing towards our goal of being internationally focused on attracting the best students, attracting and retaining the best staff and building strong links with the business community.

Our Executive Education activity continues to grow. So far this year, the AIM-UWA Business School Alliance has been successful in winning and delivering the first of a series of new Management Development Programs in Singapore, for the parent company of our partner PSB Academy.

The Teaching and Learning (T&L) Committee continues its good work in improving the quality of the student experience at the Business School.  A summary of these initiatives are included.

The Business School is planning many exciting events for the second half of 2008.  

Events scheduled include:

• Breakfast by the Bay Series: Trevor Nisbett - 10 September 2008
• Shann Memorial Lecture - 19 August 2008
• Program Information Evenings

The Business School hosted many high profile events in the first half of the year including the Women in Management Dinner with Leanne Preston, CEO Wild Child, as well as public lectures presented by Professor Vernon Smith, 2008 Alcoa Visiting Professor,  Robert Elstone, Managing Director and CEO of the Australian Stock Exchange, Professor Steven Zeff, the Herbert S Autrey Professor of Accounting at Rice University in Houston, and Professor Dan Druckman, the Vernon M and Minnie I Lynch Professor of Conflict Resolution at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University.   The Mining and Energy Seminar held in June attracted a high calibre of people from around Australia.

More than 200 students and families gathered to celebrate the UWA Business School Prize Giving Ceremony held at the University Club in early May.

Roger Corbett, former CEO and Director of Woolworth's Ltd reviewed the success of Woolworths and future challenges, at the annual GMA black tie dinner.

Five Business School students led by Dr Fang Liu have won the Global Google Online Marketing Challenge.  The team beat 1,650 other teams from around the world to win Google's first University Online Marketing Challenge.

A team of Business School students has won the national SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) championships and will represent Australia at the SIFE International Championships to be held in Singapore from 1-4 October. 

The recipients of the 2007 Faculty Teaching awards were announced on 13 March 2008 at a ceremony at UWA Club.  

Who is responsible for education?  Traditionally, Australian culture would indicate that it's not our personal duty to address the sustainability and delivery of education.  However, times have changed and to remain internationally competitive, Australian universities are turning to their alumni, students, and friends to assist with a growing financial need.

The new Business School website was formally launched on 30 April 2008.

Timothy Marney, Western Australian Under Treasurer, has been appointed to the Business School Board.

Corrs Chambers Westgarth is the first law firm to join The UWA Business School's Corporate Circle Program.

The University of Western Australia's Business School has become the only business school in the State to hold the prestigious European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) international business accreditation. 

Thursday, 1st May is the opening of the first nomination period for the 2008 Faculty Teaching Awards. A second nomination period will open in October.

In today's fast-moving business environment, it is critical for individuals and organisations to invest in human capital in order to ensure relevance and competitive advantage. At the UWA Business School we are pleased to work closely with students and organisations to provide a life-long journey of learning experiences.

More than 80 graduates attended the Singapore Presentation Ceremony held in August at the Raffles City Convention Centre including 52 Bachelor of Commerce students, 27 Master of Business Administration students, three Master of Business Research students and 1 Doctor of Business Administration student.

Since joining the AIM-UWA Business School Alliance as its Director more than 18 months ago, Suellen Tapsall has witnessed significant growth in executive education with interest from corporate, government and non-profit sectors. We touch base with Suellen who provides an update on what is happening with the Alliance programs.

With our professional lives becoming even faster paced, competitive and global, Director of the AIM-UWA Business School Alliance, Suellen Tapsall, says executives and organisations are searching for ways to keep up with the latest information and trends - with many turning to Executive Education programs for the solution.

The Teaching and Learning (T&L) Committee meets monthly - the following is a summary of some of the significant highlights.

The following is a list of current and upcoming events....

In today's fast-moving business environment, it is critical for individuals and organisations to invest in human capital in order to ensure relevance and competitive advantage. At the UWA Business School we are pleased to work closely with students and organisations to provide a life-long journey of learning experiences.

The Business School Corporate Circle Program is a membership style program providing companies with information, networking, training, hospitality and acknowledgement benefits.

Leadership is one of the most studied, analysed and debated areas of business research, but according to DBA graduate and WA Australian Institute of Management Deputy Executive Director, Dr Shaun Ridley, our level of confidence in truly understanding leadership attributes remains low.

SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise), a global not-for-profit organisation that has student teams from universities in more than 40 countries around the world, conducted an exclusive HSBC Financial Literacy Forum in New York in early October.

Mr Adrian Fini, Executive Director Development, Mirvac WA Ltd, and Mr Jimmy Wilson, President of BHP Billiton's Stainless Steel Materials customer sector group have been appointed to The UWA Business School Board of Directors.

The Reserve Bank has announced the winners of the inaugural RBA Economics Competition. This competition is run by the Bank in conjunction with the UNSW Economics Society.

First prize went to Callum Jones and second prize went to Virginia Grogan, both Business School students in their third year of double degrees in Law and Economics.

More than 80 graduates attended the Singapore Presentation Ceremony held in August at the Raffles City Convention Centre including 52 Bachelor of Commerce students, 27 Master of Business Administration students, three Master of Business Research students and 1 Doctor of Business Administration student.

MBA Jakarta student and Division Head (Factory Operation) for PT Eastern Pearl Flour Mills - Interflour, Martin Krebs is a truly dedicated student. Flying every weekend for more than four hours to attend weekend classes is now a typical weekend occurrence for him.

Over 200 school students and other members of the community streamed through the UWA Albany Centre recently and discovered just what might be involved if they chose to study at university in Albany.

As ECOMS rolled into a new semester, many exciting events have already been held.

Despite the poor weather, hundreds of people lined up for tickets to our annual ECOMS Ball that was held on 25th August and was sponsored by Pitcher Partners. With 1,320 tickets selling out in a record 34 minutes, we feel a sense of achievement in continuing to organise such an anticipated event. With a Venetian Carnivale theme, the ball was bigger and better than ever.

Coming from a family of teachers, Freehills' Business Development and Client Relationship Manager, Mr Lindsay O'Sullivan said lifelong learning was second nature to him when he completed an Executive MBA with the UWA Business School.

Business School graduate and inaugural winner of the Sir John Monash Award, Jean-Paul Carvalho, currently pursuing his PhD in Oxford, was recently named a Humane Studies Fellow by the Institute for Human Studies in Virginia, and invited to present his work at at a Colloquium in Washington D.C. The other winners included some of the top students from Harvard, Stanford and MIT.

Manila
The biannual student-alumni gathering for the Manila MBA program was held in August at The Rockwell Club in Manila. Organised to coincide with the a visit from UWA Business School staff, 50 guests celebrated their academic achievements and took the opportunity to meet other students and graduates living in the Philippines.