MBS Media coverage

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.

Business confidence down

ABC News Breakfast, 04 March 2009
Melbourne Business School’s Dr. Sam Wylie speaks about the national accounts figures. He says that the Reserve Bank has seen the figures and has not increased rates. He notes that business confidence is down and inventories are up.

Out of work executives chase jobs in the Smart State

Courier Mail, pg 9, 04 March 2009
Melbourne Business School associate professor Ian Williamson has advised employers not to cut ties with "existing employees". "While the state of the economy is fuelling the increase in workforce reductions among organisations globally, employers need to think more broadly about their social capital during this time," Dr Williamson said.

Measure up

PSF Journal, pg 21, 02 March 2009
Demonstrating the effectiveness of your marketing activities is the best way to shore up your budget in uncertain times, which means you need appropriate metrics in place. According to research conducted by Melbourne Business School marketing academic Dr Don O’Sullivan, measuring marketing performance is generally seen as a priority among marketers.

Surviving workers carry extra burden

Daily Telegraph, pg 43, 02 March 2009
As mass retrenchments become commonplace in Australian workplaces bosses should spare a thought for those left behind. Organisational psychologists warn that clumsy and mismanaged retrenchments are causing anxiety and guilt among remaining workers. “New responsibilities are assigned to workers after job cuts and management does not offer adequate training,” Melbourne Business School program director Carol Gill said.

Compulsory saving reduces national savings and investment

Paul Kerin, The Australian, pg 25, 02 March 2009
Last week I advocated scrapping superannuation compulsion and subsidies to improve individual citizens’ lives. But super advocates also play the ‘national importance’ card, which relies on two assumptions: that boosting national savings is vital and that super boosts it. Both are myths. Indeed, super harms national savings and investment Read the full article.

Manufacturing Dissent

The Age - Insight, 28 February 2009
Australia is reeling from a spate of job losses this week. Many industries are crying out for federal and state governments to do more to ease the pain of the economic crisis. Melbourne Business School associate professor Ian Williamson sees innovation as the future for Victoria’s clothing firms.

National Banks change priorities

Weekend Australian, 28 February 2009
Even conservatives ponder the benefits of interim public ownership. While it remains true that not one taxpayer dollar has been spent propping up an Australian bank, events in this crisis have proved very hard to predict. “We are constantly being surprised by bad news,” says Melbourne Business School professor of management Joshua Gans. “So I wish I could dismiss the possibility of something happening to one of our major banks but I can’t. I think that we’ve only touched the surface in terms of the fallout".

Rethink job cuts

Sky News, 28 February 2009
Clothing company, Pacific Brands is considering a request by the Federal Government to rethink its job cuts. The Weekend Australian newspaper reports that Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research met with the company to request all or some of the jobs be retained. Melbourne Business School’s Jill Klein comments.

Think carefully before making jobs a casualty

Radio National Saturday Extra , 28 February 2009
Melbourne Business School Professor Ian O. Williamson speaks to Radio National presenter Geraldine Doogue about job cuts. Williamson says that business leaders are caught between competing demands and must respond to market conditions and investors. Williamson says layoffs are the first sign of broader problems and could be related to cost or structure.