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Tuesday, 2 November 2010

UWA Business School
Four graduates from The University of Western Australia are among the Oxford Saïd Business School (SBS) MBA class of 2010. Farell Sutantio, Claire Zani, Leonard Lau, and Carlo Bellini all successfully graduated from Oxford University's globally-focused management course earlier this year, giving UWA alumni a disproportionately strong presence among the 2010 year group.

The UWA graduates proved themselves to be leaders both within the Oxford community and beyond. Leonard Lau, who graduated from the UWA Business School with a Bachelor of Commerce (honours) in 2002, was elected Co-chair of the Energy and Resources Oxford Business Network (OBN) and went on to win the Saïd Business School Prize for 2009/10. Considered the highest honour among Oxford MBA students, the prize is awarded to best overall student for the year in recognition of academic achievement, and contributions to the school and wider community.

These contributions were evident in Leonard's election as a class representative to the Oxford MBA Committee. ‘It was our job to be the conduit between faculty, administration and the students,' explains Leonard. ‘We put together issues that students had and we would meet twice a term and discuss issues with the MBA Director and push through changes to improve the course.'

As one of three class representatives, Leonard raised concerns about the study load during the Hilary (second) term and succeeded in altering the MBA course structure. ‘We introduced change for next year's students, including a more balanced course structure and better student feedback systems, so it was all about trying to improve the MBA course for faculty and students,' says Leonard.

Leonard attributes his commitment to community involvement to his undergraduate time at UWA. ‘UWA gave me a good academic grounding and always encouraged me to get involved,' he says. ‘I was president of ECOMS (the Economics and Commerce Student Society) and used to sit on the Economics and Commerce Faculty Board. I learned that it was important to contribute.'

Carlo Bellini was another former UWA student contributing to the Oxford community. The UWA medical graduate was elected Class President from a field of ten nominees and led the Student Advisory Board (SAB), which represents all Oxford MBA students.

As Class President, Carlo was responsible for chairing fortnightly meetings and managing a board of 14 student representatives with wide-ranging portfolios; representing the student body to faculty and administration; acting as student ambassador at various functions; managing the student budget of ₤35,000; and organising three end-of-term black tie gala events.

‘Being Class President was the most rewarding experience I had at Oxford,' says Carlo. ‘I learnt how to manage smart, intelligent people, and the complexities of doing so. Also I learnt more about the challenges and nuances of managing delicate cultural differences in a very multicultural class. Significantly, I learnt a lot more about myself as a leader and manager, and more clearly identified my strengths and weaknesses and how to respectively harness and overcome them.

‘I feel the largest achievement I made as Class President was managing a motivated and intelligent group of student representatives to create a very unique vibe within our cohort at Oxford. Many staff commented how nice our year group was, and there was certainly something very special about the members of our class. As student leaders we created a synergy with each other and the university to maximise our Oxford experience.'

Carlo was awarded the Oxford Business Alumni (Australia) Boston Consulting Group Scholarship prior to entering the MBA, was elected Co-Chair of the Oxford Business Network in Healthcare (2009/10), and was one of nine students, to make the Dean's Commendation List, recognising his non-academic contributions to the Oxford Saïd Business School.

It was a spirit of community leadership that began with Carlo's time at UWA. In 2006, he delivered the valedictory address for his graduating medical class, and two years later he went on to be named Western Australian Junior Doctor of the Year.

Meanwhile, Farell Sutantio is using his management skills to make a difference in developing countries. The Indonesian business leader graduated from UWA in 2007 with a Bachelor of Commerce, and is now hoping to open a Fair Trade spa in Bali to help end the exploitation of labour in the spa industry.

Farrell previously helped lead an Indonesian dairy company. ‘I witnessed first hand how Fair Trade transformed the lives of poor dairy farmers in Indonesia,' he explains. ‘Once you do the economics, you will discovery that paying the farmers or factory workers a few cents more for the product you buy actually doubles their disposable income, changing their lives significantly.

‘Businesses these days are always on the lookout to save costs, and often the ‘simplest' way is to reduce labour costs. Yes, customers will get cheaper products - but little do they realize that low price comes at a high cost: a vicious poverty cycle for the sweatshop workers. I firmly believe that businesses have both the potential and the obligation to create social change.'

Farrell used his time at Oxford to extend his knowledge of the developing world. He was named as a Skoll Centre Associate Fellow, and also took part in Fair Trade and other events. ‘One highlight of the MBA programme was the "Treks" that I did to West Africa (Nigeria and Ghana) and Brazil,' says Farrell. ‘In both Treks we visited organisations and businesses in each country. Learning the impact of a country's culture on its business practices and economic success was very insightful.'

Like Leonard, Farrell says that his undergraduate experiences were formative. ‘At UWA I participated in exchange programs to Queen's University (Canada) and Vienna University of Economy and Business Administration (Austria),' he says. ‘The exchanges gave me a global perspective and taught me how to work with and learn from people from different countries - an essential in the MBA program.

‘My advice to current UWA students is to participate in the study abroad / exchange programs. It really is an eye-opening experience, and you will have a different worldview once you come back to Perth.'

There were 240 students in the 2010 MBA class at Oxford. Of these, 95% were international students and just 5% were from the Oceania region. As such, the four UWA graduates represented a significantly disproportionate number both overall and within Australian admissions to the prestigious Oxford school.

Despite the compressed one-year programme presenting challenges in time management, all four graduates praised the experience of studying at Oxford University. ‘The highlight by far was meeting so many amazing people with such a diversity of backgrounds, insights and experiences,' said Claire Zani, who graduated from UWA with a Bachelor of Economics (honours) in 2001.

Leonard, meanwhile, enjoyed the opportunity to extend his skill set and names the entrepreneurial project as his favourite unit. ‘We began with a blank piece of paper and at the end of it you have to hand in a business plan and give a pitch,' he says. ‘It was a bit of a roller coaster. We had to look at human resources, financials, and the marketing plan.' As a testament to his academic achievements, Leonard made the Dean's List twice, which occurs when a student scores over 70% in a unit in any given term. He was in good company, with Farell also making the list.

Other experiences at Oxford included having dinner with Sir Terry Leahy, the CEO of Tesco and Lord John Browne, the former chief executive of BP, as well as attending guest lectures by Prince Charles, George Soros and other well-known leaders.

Leonard is currently working at Xstrata, Carlo and Farrell have gained employment at distinguished international strategy consulting firm BCG, and Claire is working at the Royal Bank of Canada.

Media references

Heather Merritt
Director, External Relations
UWA Business School
T: +618 6488 8171
E: [email protected]

Verity Chia
Communications Officer
UWA Business School
E: [email protected]

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