MBS Media coverage

HR can earn its stripes in tough times

Human Resources Leader, pg 6, 17 March 2009
The current economic climate presents more opportunity for HR managers to earn their stripes than ever before, according to Melbourne Business School. For many HR managers, this is their first experience of managing in a financial crisis, said Helen Ormond, program director for Mt Eliza Executive Education, part of Melbourne Business School.

Get out of your comfort zone, says entrepreneur

Adelaide Advertiser , pg 42, 17 March 2009
South Australian entrepreneurs are being urged not to "get lost in the Adelaide market" and to use technology to expand the reach of their businesses. Venture capitalist and Melbourne Business School lecturer Martin Hosking says while the defence presence in SA is useful for technology companies, it is important to get out of the comfort zone.

Rudd has made it too easy for GM

Paul Kerin, The Australian , pg 21, 17 March 2009
If they ask for more we should refuse. Other nations leave us for dead in the due diligence conducted and commitments extracted prior to giving automotive companies support. Read the full article.

Financial Review

ABC2 News Breakfast , 16 March 2009
Melbourne Business School’s Dr. Sam Wylie speaks to Virginia Trioli about financial matters.

Let's make the figures line up and move on

The Age - Business News, pg 8, 13 March 2009
Recession is more than negative growth, write Melbourne Business School associate professor Mark Crosby and University of Queensland associate professor Philip Bodman. Read the full article.

Expensive water

ABC1 Stateline , 13 March 2009
The two shortlisted bidders need to find $3b to finance the Vic Government's planned desalination plant at Wonthaggi by the end of this month. Doubts have been raised over whether the bidders will be able to find the money for the biggest capital works project in Vic - crucial to the Vic Government's water plan. Paul Kerin from Melbourne Business School believes AquaSure and BassWater are so big they will find the money, but the Vic Government may have to bear some of the costs of the power-hungry project, including the carbon tax on emissions.

Armed force

B, pg 36, 12 March 2009
This BRW article outlines how an executive MBA from Melbourne Business School gave a former soldier the firepower to thrive in the business world.

Economy Watch

Paul Kerin, BRW, pg 21, 12 March 2009
Melbourne Business School Professor Paul Kerin delivers his verdict on the first stimulus package. He writes that it is clear that it was not all spent and that it was not all saved, he writes suggesting that an estimate of 80 percent (saved) is reasonably consistent with the historical evidence.

Survival of the finest

BRW, pg 34, 12 March 2009
The days of the stand-alone business school appear to be numbered as the market demands more than just MBA and executive education programs, writes BRW’s Leo D’Angelo Fisher. A spokesman from MBS comments on the School’s position.

Stimulus for debate

BRW, pg 20, 12 March 2009
The Australian economy is shrinking as evidenced by the contraction in the value of goods and services produced in October, November and December. But not all industries are failing, with agriculture surging by 10.4 per cent, mining remaining steady and increases in household spending on health, communication services, clothing, furnishings and food. Melbourne Business School's Paul Kerin says that permanent tax cuts would have been preferable to cash hand-outs. Kerin also notes that the most important thing is for the government to restore confidence in the economy.

Through the class ceiling

BRW, pg 38, 12 March 2009
With the world in economic chaos, business people like to turn to MBAs for a competitive edge. This article discusses the spike in applications to leading Australian business schools – including Melbourne Business School.

Coping with disasters

ABC 666 Afternoons , 11 March 2009
Interview with Jill Klein, Prof. of Marketing, Melbourne Business School, who discusses research she has conducted which looks at how teenagers cope with disasters.

Chicken Littles need to chill out

The Australian, pg 12, 11 March 2009
We're in a hole, all right, and it's going to get deeper, but we'll claw our way out. Essentially, we’ve gone from being a universe of optimists to a universe of pessimists, and it’s worth suggesting that both groups are wrong, writes Andrew Main, Business Editor for The Australian. He writes that Melbourne Business School’s Mark Crosby put the notion at a recent Global Business Outlook seminar that when markets are rising, people don't want to hear about the bad news, and when they're on the way down the reverse applies.

Steering with a firm, fair hand

Herald Sun, pg 46, 11 March 2009
Strategic performance management can help drive business efficiency in a tough economy. But local experts say employee management is suffering as corporate fortunes wane. Professor Andy Neely, a leading British expert, will run a workshop on strategic performance management in a tough economy at the Melbourne Business School later this month.

Beached - manufacturing is fighting against the tide

The Age - Business Day, pg 1, 09 March 2009
Australia is not alone in fighting for TCF survival with a structural adjustment plan. The US state of North Carolina, with its tradition of cotton growing, is the country's largest cotton sock manufacturer. However, it has faced huge losses in the past 15 years, squeezed by cheap products from China and Honduras and a big cost-cutting customer in WalMart. Dr Ian Williamson, an American who is associate professor management at the Melbourne Business School, says the manufacturers launched a reform program based on partnerships and better education programs with community colleges, an enhanced emphasis on R&D and innovation, and factory day-care centres to reduce turnover rates.

Climate Call Award

The Age, pg 17, 09 March 2009
“There is still a lot to be done to address climate change in Indonesia," says Melbourne Business School alumnus Airlangga Hartarto (MMgt Tech 1996). Mr. Hartarto won the 2009 Australian Alumni Award for Entrepreneurship, in recognition of his substantial contribution to economic and democratic developments in Indonesia and for his leadership in the Indonesian business community.

Alumni database may help when workers go

The Weekend Australian , pg 2, 07 March 2009
Employers have to be smart and retain contact with employees forced out of their jobs during the downturn, Melbourne Business School associate professor Ian Williamson says. "People are moving jobs more often throughout their careers today and managing the social component of employee relationships is critical regardless of whether the economic situation is one of constraint or surplus. It is crucial for companies to properly manage staff exits," says Williamson, whose remarks will be a part of his address at the Australasian Talent Conference, scheduled for May 5-7 in Sydney.

News Briefing

Herald Sun, pg 48, 07 March 2009
Dr Ian Williamson, associate professor of management at the Melbourne Business School, will tell organisations at the Australasian Talent Conference: Rethinking Employee Retention how they can cut costs and have access to a skilled network of individuals by forming positive relationships with staff.

Short Selling Ban

ABC2 Business Today, 06 March 2009
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission have extended a ban on short selling of financial stocks by almost three months. Critics say the ban is counter-productive. There are suggestions large price falls in stocks like Macquarie Group are the result of a tax by short sellers. MBS Professor Paul Kerin comments.

Bosses Behaving Badly

BRW, pg 46, 05 March 2009
Usually articulate and charming, the corporate psychopath can be anything but for the victims of their manipulative behaviour. Melbourne Business School program director Clarence Da Gama Pinto says it is important that managers develop their skills to recognise and deal with psychopaths in the workplace.