Professor Roy Green
Professor Roy Green discussed his vision for MGSM with guests at the MGSM A-List event at the CBD campus on 6 June, 2006.
Pleased to take up his new role as Dean, Professor Green spoke of the changing global business school environment. In particular he noted the drop in full-time MBA numbers experienced by schools both in Australia and internationally.
"MGSM has primarily focused on general management education, but understands the direction of the market. We need to stay ahead of the market and meet new areas of demand such as building the innovative capabilities of management", Professor Green said. "These trends became apparent to me in Ireland where I was able to participate over a six year period in the transformation of this economy to one based on research and innovation, as a member of the Enterprise Ireland research funding board, as chair of the private sector panel of the year-long 'Forum on the Workplace of the Future' and as part of the steering group for the Atlantic Technology Corridor.
Professor Green studied at both Adelaide and Cambridge, and was an economist before becoming a management academic. He told guests he discovered that economics did not tell us much about the dynamics of management and that he felt management theory could supplement economic analysis by providing more depth in a micro analysis of the organisation.
Reflecting on his training as an economist, Professor Green recalled the recent speech of the Secretary of the Treasury, Ken Henry. According to Professor Green, Henry challenged us to think deeply about the development of Australia's economy and the recent reversal of the long term deterioration in Australia's terms of trade. With China entering the world economy, Australia has been forced to consider "what if this is not just a commodities spike?" and to propose a solution as if this is a more permanent change in the economy. He asked what the implications of this may be, and while Ken Henry chose not to provide a detailed answer, he hinted that there would need to be significant adjustments to the economy and policy. Australia's previous response early last century was tariffs to protect infant industries, and this protection remained until the last few decades when governments realised Australia's competitive advantage was blunted, restricting adaptation and innovation.
As an economist, Professor Green reflected on the results of leaving adjustments to the market, and used the "Dutch disease" as an example, with currency rising, making industries no longer competitive. Similarly, the UK squandered the results of its oil windfall with a consumption boom to serve electoral strategy. In contrast, Norway did not squander its earnings in this way but channelled windfall funds into infrastructure, research and innovation.
Professor Green pointed out that Ireland made a similar move, but with significantly less resources. The Irish knew they needed to develop their competitive advantage by creating a knowledge economy and have become the world's largest exporter of software (though initially with imported technologies). Policies and support from business alter the way the economy works and is perceived. Ireland moved into ICT, medical technology, pharmaceuticals and agri-food and achieved this through foreign investment attraction and schemes such as the EU Structural Fund.
However, according to Professor Green, the single most important factor in this was the investment Ireland made in human capital - education and research and development - occurring in the broader context of the EU's Lisbon strategy to make Europe 'the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010'. Ireland is now increasing spending on research to 3% of GDP to continue improving the country's competitive advantage.
Importantly for business schools, beyond commercialisation of research lie management capabilities. Managers must understand what is happening and deliver on their strategic objectives. Professor Green highlighted that moving forward, progress was not just about investment in technology, but also in organisations, as encouraged by the Business Council of Australia - investment in organisational improvement is as much about innovation as R&D. According to an Australian Bureau of Statistics survey, only one in five organisations undertook organisational innovation in the past 12 months.
It is the role of business schools to deliver management capabilities in innovation, broadly defined, and Professor Green believes that it is business schools that will have a major influence on where economies should, or could be in 2025. MGSM's strengths are that it is an MBA school that takes pride in producing a quality product. He forecast a further bifurcation of the MBA market, contrasting the low cost end of the market (which remains a viable business model) with MGSM's preferred business model of premium programs. He believes there is a "shake out" underway in the middle of the market and that consumers in this market are making the flight to quality.
MGSM's part-time program consists primarily of experienced Australian managers, whilst the full-time MBA program is comprised of international managers from 42 different countries. Professor Green made note of MGSM's success with its relatively new full-time program, citing a full-time intake double that of MGSM main local competitor.
However in moving toward discussion of MGSM's future, and his vision for the School, he commented that the School needed to think globally about the MBA. This is the first of Professor Green's five areas of the vision to take the School forward. MGSM is developing global connections as part of a global network. MGSM may become the Asia-Pacific partner in a Global MBA program, with leading business schools in Europe and the US. MGSM's study tour program will be expanded, due to the popularity and success of the existing programs, with the possibility of tours to China and India, and these tours being linked to modules in the MBA program.
The Corporate and Executive Education arm of MGSM's business will be expanding, and a new Director of C&EE, Mr Kip Meyer, has recently been appointed. Professor Green has plans to double revenues from corporate and executive education over the next few years and these plans will be finalised shortly. He was delighted MGSM had just been ranked # 1 in Australia for custom programs by the Financial Times (and # 50 in the world) but it was still necessary to do more to capitalise on opportunities in this area.
Professor Green also felt that research was a marker of a quality business school. It is increasingly being recognised that research quality is an important part of the School's brand. We must also take account of the broader framework of the Australian government's Research Quality Framework (RQF), which will put pressure on the School to ensure research is of international calibre and standing. MGSM is already heading in this direction but is in the process of developing a new research strategy to develop its research concentrations. One example of this is MGSM's CRC application for a $150m research centre on risk management solutions for financial institutions. This has progressed to the second round of applications, which gives MGSM a 75% chance of success. Finance and innovation are emerging as important areas for MGSM research 'centres of excellence'..
Another area on which Professor Green sees MGSM focusing is business and community engagement, particularly through the rebuilding of the MGSM Advisory Council. While this process is already under way, MGSM is also reforming its MGSM P/L Board following the resignation of Macquarie University's former Vice Chancellor, Emeritus Professor Di Yerbury. MGSM will announce those selected to lead these important bodies shortly. As the final element of the business and community engagement strategy, Professor Green explored further the Enterprise Networker Scheme. This involves developing business plans and contributing to business on a voluntary basis.
Finally, he closed the session with a discussion on a question debated hotly at business schools - relevance or rigour? Some critics claim business schools are out of touch, whilst others ask how the subject matter can be relevant if you don't provide a grounding in social science. Professor Green feels this debate is interesting, but somewhat misleading as it creates a false dichotomy. MGSM provides a combination of practical examples and academic theory. Professor Green feels the real issue at hand is quality, which distinguishes the MGSM MBA and is a major part of his vision for the School.
