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La Trobe Business School

Australia’s Changing Health Industry: Challenges and Opportunities

December 5, 2019 / / 0 Comments

While Australia has a very good health system by world standards, like all industries it faces increasing disruption, says Dr Mark Cloney, convener for the 2020 Innovation in Health Forum (#IHF2020), taking place at La Trobe University Melbourne Campus on the 25th and 26th of June 2020.

Innovation in Health Forum 2020

So, where are the areas for innovation and improvement? Is it in patient care and outcomes or access; affordability or technological innovation; e-health or assistive technology; next generation sequencing, 3d-printed devices, point of care diagnosis, or biosensors and trackers? Or, is it in shifting the focus from treatment to prevention; exploring the role of nutritional food or alternative medicines in sustaining good health and wellness? 

A changing business model

A recent report by PWC[1] shows, Australia’s health system faces similar pressures to others globally including rising costs driven by increasing incidence of chronic diseases, an aging population, inequitable access to services, and gaps in workforce and infrastructure. In addition, changing customer expectations, under the NDIS for example, are driving a need for more personalised, digital, seamless and integrated care experiences.

In short, the business model for the health and wellness sector in Australia is rapidly changing and, as PWC concludes, providers, clinicians, and broader industry players are at varying levels of maturity in terms of adapting to this change. 

Partnership with NORTHLink

The La Trobe Business School will again partner with NORTHLink for its third innovation forum to present a range of industry and academic perspectives, world class speakers and deep dive sessions over two days, exploring the future of Australia’s health and welling industry in June 2020. 

La Trobe’s $5 billion University City of the Future Project[2] has identified a focus on this sector with:

  • a major Health and Wellbeing Hub with improved access to health services and includes a private hospital, aged care facilities and additional childcare; 
  • a world-class Sports Park for teaching, research, community participation and elite sport; 
  • a transformed Research and Innovation Precinct focussing on our world-class strengths in Agri-bioscience, Food and Fibre, Health and Wellbeing, Digital Technology and Cyber. 

NORTHLink’s 2018 Investment Attraction Strategy also focuses on innovation in the emerging health and wellbeing sector targeting sport and sports medicine, aged care, mental health, allied health, emerging medical products and assistive technology for the NDIS as future job generators for Melbourne’s north. 

Innovation in Health Forum

Given this level of partner commitment, research effort and investment, it is timely to explore how the 4th Industrial Revolution and what innovations are impacting and shaping patient care and, more broadly, the Australian health and nutritional eco-systems of tomorrow.

Specifically, then:  

  • How can the health and wellbeing sector and universities harness these research, technological and digital innovations in the most productive and ethical ways?  
  • Where within the Australian health and food ecosystems do the greatest business growth and research opportunities lie?  
  • What are the key challenges the sector faces?  
  • Are we strategically prepared?  
  • And, can the sector adapt to potential disruption and opportunities quickly? 

As well as several industry presenters, the 2020 Innovation in Health Forum will present the latest cutting science and research on health and wellbeing from La Trobe’s Science, Health and Engineering College, the Institute for Agriculture & Food (LIAF), AgriBio, Centre for Agricultural Bioscience, and provides greater detail of its City of the Future Project’s health and wellness ambitions. This maximises the potential of future industry and government engagement, breaks down silos, and creates space for enhanced collaborative research and investment opportunities in this sector.

We anticipate 350 delegates at the event with the formal marketing campaign, schedule, keynote and speakers list, and panellists to be available in late February 2020.

Why should you attend?

The benefits of attending the 2020 forum include:

  • Opportunities for research or business collaboration
  • Access to first-hand knowledge-sharing and latest trends
  • Keeping pace with the constantly changing world and latest technology
  • An opportunity for you to be challenged and grow
  • Getting into the right network

The target audience is stakeholders able to effect and/or influence innovation and change at the health care and wellness industry, at the systems, research and/or practice level. This includes business and NFP’s active in: assistive technologies, primary care, aged-care, allied health, disability service, medicinal medicines, e-health, agribusiness, banks and institutional investment, health insurance, general practice, medical specialists, hospitals, state and local government, researchers and academics.

Very pleasingly, we have already secured sponsorship from DPV Health and the Victorian Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions for the event with several more industry participants and sponsors to be announced in the New Year.

You can register your interest in attending and/or direct general enquires for the event to: LBSinnovationforum@latrobe.edu.au or contact the people listed below.

Contact 
Dr Mark Cloney
La Trobe Business School
T: 9479 5621|E: M.Cloney@latrobe.edu.au  		Contact
Professor Jane Hamilton
Dean & Head of La Trobe Business School
T: 9479 5264 |E: Jane.Hamilton@latrobe.edu.au 

[1] See https://www.pwc.com.au/health/health-matters/the-future-of-health-in-australia.html

[2] See https://www.latrobe.edu.au/future-city

Industry and academia coming together at LBS’ Behavioural Finance and Capital Markets Conference

November 27, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Last month, LBS hosted the 9th Behavioural Finance and Capital Markets (BFCM) Conference. The conference aims to bring together scholars and practitioners to present state-of-the-art research in the fields of Behavioural Finance, Experimental Finance and Capital Markets/Market Microstructure.  

The conference is unique in that it merges academic research with the applied work of the finance industry. The conference continuously looks to identify new emerging fields of research and supports better cooperation and collaboration among researchers and between academia and industry. According to it comes down to this:

“The research we do should not only have academic value but also practical application that impacts the finance industry and hence our society. This conference makes that happen.”

Professor Petko Kalev (Founder of the BFCM Conference)

Day 1

After being welcomed by Dean & Head of LBS Prof Jane Hamilton, Mike Aked from Research Affiliates kicked off with a discussion why Kappa is being a more stable estimate of the skew that exists in financial markets, followed by Nick Wade from Northfield Information Services presenting why getting risk “right” is wrong, explaining how risk and volatility are not being equivalent concepts.

The industry forum discussed “Technological Disruptions in the Finance Industry and the role of Humans”. All panel members, which included Joseph Barbara (ASIC), Kingsley Jones (Jevons Global Pty Ltd), Rick Klink (Paritech) and Alistair Rew (AMP Capital), agreed there is and always will be a very important role for humans.

The industry forum
The industry forum

Keynote speaker Dan diBartolomeo from Northfield Information Services discussed “Robo-Advisers”. Particularly where these automated investment advisers have fallen short and more importantly, a solution. This was followed by a keynote of Professor Nadia Massoud from Melbourne Business School on the use of Artificial Intelligence in sentiment analyses of finance data and recent developments on how to improve sentiment measures.

Several industry doctoral candidates from the RoZetta Institute (formerly CMCRC) also presented their work. They presented on the rise in trading on close, the sensitivity of trading to the cost of information and self-organizing maps and financial applications.

PhD Candidates RoZetta Institute
PhD Candidates RoZetta Institute

In his presentation titled Harry Potter’s Classroom: The Case for Either ‘Independent Directors’ or ‘Financial Literacy’, Sam Ferraro from Global Founders Funds Management discussed whether Founder-CEO firms exhibit low board independence and if that matters. This was followed by Simon Russell from Behavioural Finance Australia presenting a chapter from his book Behavioural Finance: A guide for financial advisers focusing on the overstated role of financial literacy.

During the conference dinner Professor Peter Bossaerts from University of Melbourne delivered the last keynote of the day. Peter spoke about the relevance of theoretical finance in a world of behavioural finance, emphasising that industry should hire people who know theory. After the keynote, several presenters received best paper awards.

Best Paper Award sponsored by RoZetta Institute

Antonio Gargano, Juan Sotes-Paladino and Patrick Verwijmeren received the Best Paper Award sponsored by RoZetta Institute (Formerly CMCRC-SIRCA), for their paper entitled Out of Sync: Disagreement among Short Sellers and the Correction of Mispricing.

Best Paper Award sponsored by RoZetta Institute

Best Paper Award sponsored by Amery Partners

Oleg Chuprinin and Arseny Gorbenko received the Best Paper Award sponsored by Amery Partners Pty. Ltd. for their paper entitled Rationally Neglected Stocks.

Best paper award sponsored by Amery Partners Pty

Day 2

On the second day there were parallel sessions where scholars presented their research in one of the following streams:

  • To Be or Not to Be in Cryptocurrencies Markets or in Markets with Divergence of Opinion, Excess Price Volatility and Excessive Portfolio Turnover
  • Overconfidence, Emotions, Moods and Sentiment in Financial Markets
  • Asymmetric Information, Unobserved Heterogeneity and Market-wide Events

The keynote was delivered by Professor Elena Asparouhova – The Francis A. Madsen Professor of Finance at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. Her talk focused on human-robot interaction in financial markets. Elena gave a brief overview of social science experiments, starting with the Santa Fe competition in 1990 to current experiments that examine if and how technology exacerbates or ameliorates human errors in financial markets.

There was also the chance for doctoral candidates to present their research topics. Candidates came from Australian universities such as La Trobe University, Monash University and University of New South Wales, but there were also candidates from international universities such as the University of Utah and the University of Auckland.

BFCM in the news

Several news articles were published about research presented at the conference:

participants of the BFCM Conference

If you have any questions about the conference, please contact Prof Petko Kalev (P.Kalev@latrobe.edu.au).

PRME Week at LBS – Using dialogue to build partnerships for sustainability

November 12, 2019 / / 0 Comments

On the 24th and 25th of October, La Trobe Business School hosted a successful seventh CR3+ Conference. The theme this year was “Using dialogue to build partnerships for sustainability” and explored how partnerships can bring about sustainable solutions as we work together on progressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More than 60 people from more than 15 countries attended the conference. This blog summarises some of its highlights.

Prof Suzanne Young opening the CR3+ conference

Day 1

Prof Dennis McDermott, La Trobe University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous), was the first keynote speaker of the conference. Dennis talked about authenticity, partnership and change, and how indigenous knowledge can assist partnership building for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The second keynote was delivered by Jillian Reid from Mercer. Jillian discussed the climate scenario analysis Mercer has developed, investing for positive impact and how the SDGs are used as a framework for responsible investment.

The panel discussion on the first day focused on multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainability where we learned that partnerships are complex and that dialogue, trust, respect and being open minded are critical to advancing the partners’ individual objectives, and those of the partnership.

panel discussion focused on multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainability

The day was wrapped up at Charcoal Lane – a Mission Australia social enterprise restaurant that provides guidance and opportunity to young Aboriginal people in need of a fresh start in life. The Executive Chef of Charcoal Lane, Greg Hampton, gave an insightful talk about the social development aspect of the restaurant, but also their menu and the origin of the food they use.

Day 2

The second day of the CR3+ Conference was off to a good start with a keynote from Dr Leeora Black from Deloitte (and also LBS advisory board member) discussing the social aspects of sustainability, corporate social responsibility and particularly Australia’s Modern Slavery Act.

keynote from Dr Leeora Black from Deloitte

Later in the morning it was time to get creative with Lego SeriousPlay©. Dr Heather Stewart and Dr Rob Hales from Griffith University provided a workshop using Lego that focused on building relationships and collaboration with the aim of exploring the embedding of sustainable development goals in learning and teaching within business schools.

The last speaker on the second day was Dr Raghu Raman from Amrita University. Raghu introduced the university’s Live-in-Labs® – a program that breaks classroom and lab barriers by applying learned theory in real-world settings. It uses principles of lean research for the development and deployment of sustainable solutions for current challenges faced by rural communities in India.

After the conference

The day after the conference, the Australia New Zealand PRME Chapter meeting took place on the theme ‘Students as Partners’. The day was about sharing stories and learning from students about how universities can partner with them more effectively to co-create curriculum and extracurricular activities that advance knowledge about the SDGs. Eleven students from across Australia and New Zealand were in attendance and had the opportunity to ask academics what they are doing to advance Sustainable Development across the region.

Australia New Zealand PRME chapter meeting
Australia New Zealand PRME chapter meeting

Besides the Australia New Zealand PRME Chapter meeting, there was also a PRME Champions group meeting with representatives of 40 business schools from all continents. The meeting was co-hosted by La Trobe Business School and Deakin Business School.  This was the fourth and final meeting of the 2018-2019 Champions cycle, with a key outcome of the meetings being the development of a Blueprint for SDG integration across Business Schools in the areas of teaching, research and partnerships.  Once completed, the blueprint will be available to the 700+ Business School signatories worldwide.

PRME Champions group meeting

The week of PRME-related activities hosted by LBS demonstrate our continued commitment to be a Business School with purpose. This was showcased through the week’s focus on partnerships for sustainable development, highlighting the role of indigenous values and ‘ways of knowing’ in our approach to partnerships, and the wider academic community’s recognition of the student voice in our thinking about sustainability. Furthermore, through our international partnerships with the CR3+ network, PRME and the Champions Group, our staff and students had the opportunity to engage with a global network of academics who research and teach in sustainability, partnerships and CSR.

If you have any questions about the Business School’s involvement with the UN PRME or any of the events discussed in this blog, please contact Dr Swati Nagpal. 

This blog is the last blog in the SDG Series, a series that focused on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, in the lead up to the CR3+ Conference.

 More blogs in the SDG Series:
- An introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 1
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 2
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 3
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 4
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 5
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 6
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 7
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 8
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 9
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 10
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 11
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 12
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 13
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 14
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 15
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 16
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 17

Book launch – Cost Management for Nonprofit and Voluntary Organisations

November 6, 2019 / / 0 Comments

La Trobe Business School’s Centre for Public Sector Governance, Accountability and Performance (CPSGAP) invites you to attend the launch of the book titled “cost management for non-profit and voluntary organisations” written by Professor Zahirul Hoque, Director of CPSGAP and Dr Tarek Rana, formerly an LBS staff member and now Senior Lecturer in Accounting at RMIT University.

Book cover, titled cost management for non-profit and voluntary organisation
Picture by CRC Presss

The book is one of the outcomes from a research conducted by the two authors that was funded by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) UK.

The research

Increasing competition for funding and government compliance requirements have put nonprofit organisations under pressure to be more cost-effective when undertaking development projects and delivering services to the community. Cost accounting and cost management tools are considered a means to provide adequate and quality information for management control for all sorts of organisations, including nonprofits.

The research examined the current costing and cost management practices in the Australian nonprofit sector and offers insight into how nonprofit and voluntary organisations can control and manage the costs of their operation and projects through contemporary costing and cost management tools.

The book

Routledge has published the research monograph. The book provides information on how adetailed and regularly updated cost information and reporting model can help nonprofit organisations managing their operations efficiently and effectively.

Motivated by a lack of evidence on how and whether Australian nonprofit organisations address current challenges through modern cost management tools, we attempted to write this book using our field study evidence on the sector’s cost accounting practices.

prof zahirul hoque

The book will particularly be of benefit to a range of stakeholders in the sector, including financial and management accountants, accounting professional bodies, government, policy makers, academics, consultants, and operational managers.

The authors

Professor Zahirul Hoque is Professor of Management Accounting/Public Sector in the Department of Accounting and Data Analytics and Director – CPSGAP, La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University. He is a Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA) and Institute of Cost and Management Accountants (FCMA) of Bangladesh.

Dr Tarek Rana is Senior Lecturer in Accounting at RMIT University. He is a Chartered Management Accountant of CIMA (UK), Chartered Global Management Accountant of AICPA, Chartered Accountant of CA ANZ, and Fellow of CPA Australia. Dr Rana was the co-investigator to this project while at La Trobe University.

Event details

Guest speaker: Catherine Willis
Acting Assistant Commissioner General Counsel,
Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission

When: Friday 22 November 2019 03:00 pm until 05:00 pm
Where: La Trobe City Campus, Level 2, 360 Collins Street, Melbourne, Room 2.10
Registration & Contact: Professor Zahirul Hoque (z.hoque@latrobe.edu.au/ 03 9479 3433)
Event webpage: www.latrobe.edu.au/events/all/cpsgap-seminar-and-book-launch

MBA students contribute to economic development in Melbourne’s North

October 31, 2019 / / 0 Comments

With more than eight years professional experience and at least three years in a management position, MBA students use their knowledge and expertise gained through business education to work as management consultants for La Trobe University’s Industry Partners and their affiliated organisations, particularly in Melbourne’s North.

Experiential Learning Project

The subject that facilitates students to work as management consultants is called Experiential Learning Project (BUA5ELP). Students enrolled in 2019 have contributed to the economic development in Melbourne’s North by:

  • Creating a new model for recruiting and training vocational education and training (VET) teachers for the Northern College of Arts and technology (NCAT).
  • Recommending strategies to improve young women’s access to investment opportunities for the Women’s Investment Network Forum (WIN).
  • Developing a growth strategy for the Carlton Respects program.
  • Presenting a comparative analysis and strategy options for Melbourne Innovation Centre.
  • Creating new job opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to work in the digital economy.

The Experiential Learning Project was a crucial experience in my MBA journey. It gave me the opportunity to practically experience the inner workings of a SME and help the organisation resolve an identified business blockage. The consulting project helped me practically utilize my learnings from the MBA into a real business scenario. The ELP was an incredible learning opportunity that helped me get industry ready post the MBA.

Mahima Chaudhary (International MBA Advanced Student)

MBA Study Tour with NORTH Link

NORTH Link is a regional partnership of industry, education and government and one of Victoria’s key economic development organisations. As part of its interest in food security and reinventing the industrial focus of Melbourne’s northern suburbs, NORTH Link is facilitating new export markets for agricultural products and food manufacturing.

Supported by the La Trobe International and prestigious Chongqing University, this study tour invited MBA students to accompany the NORTH Link delegation on this important business venture to China.

Six MBA students learnt first-hand how businesses in Melbourne’s North are working together to develop new commercial opportunities for the region. Students expanded their knowledge of international trade in the Chinese market and built professional networks.

The MBA Study Tour with NORTH Link provided an opportunity for me to experience China and international trade like no other. Incredibly grateful to have been part of the delegation, receiving in-depth learning of culture, business interactions and opportunities within Chongqing and Chengdu. The friendships and networks made were invaluable and enhanced my MBA experience exponentially. 

Alana Pendrick (OnLine La Trobe MBA student)
The NORTH Link and La Trobe MBA Delegation at Chongqing University
The NORTH Link and La Trobe MBA Delegation at Chongqing University

What happens when an MBA student combines an Experiential Learning Project with an International Study Tour?

Bhrigu worked on a growth strategy and business plan for Juanita’s Kitchen, a food manufacturing business in Coburg. Then he seized the opportunity to take Juanita’s hot sauces and spices to the Sichuan province of China on an MBA-NORTH Link Business Study Tour.

Study Tour 2019 – China proved to be one of the best experience I have had during my MBA journey so far. It was one in the lifetime opportunity for me which helped me gain deep insights about China’s culture, history, city planning, local businesses and foreign trade by being a part of a prestige delegation from Melbourne’s North which included NORTH Link and prominent government officials. Moreover, it opened pathways for networking and helped me in making some precious business networks and friends. I would like to thank the MBA Director, Dr Geraldine Kennett for providing MBA students with this wonderful opportunity which significantly and undoubtedly added value to our degree.

Bhrigu Dutt Sharma (MBA Student)

LBS plays important role in LTU’s Net Zero target

October 29, 2019 / / 0 Comments

In August, La Trobe University announced that it will become Victoria’s first zero-emissions University. The $75 million initiative combining 20 separate projects will ensure that LTU will have Net Zero emissions by 2029.

Net-zero carbon emissions, or carbon-neutral emissions, are achieved by balancing the amount of carbon released with an equal amount of carbon offset by producing clean energy.

The La Trobe Energy Analytics Platform (LEAP) provides the technology pillar for the Net Zero initiative and is designed and implemented by researchers and students from LBS’ Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition (CDAC). The team will design and implement the platform which then monitors energy consumption in up to 50 smart buildings and makes lighting, heating and cooling adjustments in real time to reduce energy consumption.

Smart Building source: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1452109

The creation of a smart building allows the building to ‘think’ for itself in optimising its energy consumption. Formulating this Smart Building involves Artificial Intelligence, Unsupervised Machine Learning, Data Analytics and Software Development; this includes CDAC’s own brand of algorithms that have been developed over the past decade. CDAC’s research work is internationally renown and has also been used successfully in several industrial engagements ranging from Health, Transport, Fire and Emergency Services, Sport and Energy. The Centre also hosts a unique blend of research and expertise in its staff and researchers which makes it the ideal candidate to develop such a platform and espouses the concept of a Living Lab that La Trobe University champions.

LEAP Technical Architect (and LBS PhD candidate) Nishan Mills summarised the system as:

Buildings and spaces display distinctive behaviours in energy consumption. The LEAP platform will use available data streams to create digital twins for buildings and spaces in the University environment in order to capture this behavioural profile. This allows the platform to detect, analyse and suggest corrective measures to achieve the most efficient energy consumption across the university.

Read more about LTU’s Net Zero projects here

Going to Vietnam as part of your LBS degree

October 24, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Another successful Vietnam Study Tour has taken place during the 2019 Winter Semester. Students explored and experienced Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi and Halong Bay.

The subject

The study tour is an optional elective and part of the subject Tourism and Hospitality International Study Program (THS3ISP). The objective of the study tour is to examine and observe the cultural, social and environmental aspects as a tourist, the impacts of government policy and the legacy of war.

The assessment tasks include:

  • Case study relating to war and ethics
  • Daily reflective journal of personal experiences
  • Report evaluating the differences between the hotel and restaurant standards of Australia and Vietnam
  • Group presentation based on photo journal on a given topic

The students

This year, nineteen students went on the Vietnam Study Tour, 13 females and 6 males, of which four international students. The students were accompanied by Paul Strickland, lecturer at LBS and program director – Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management, and Lisa Murphy from the LBS admin team.

The study tour

The study tour started with a tour through Ho Chi Minh City where students visited the Central Post Office and Opera House, both colonial-era architectural masterpieces, followed by the Reunification Palace, so-called for the building’s integral part in the reunification of the country after the war.  Students also visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, who not only served as living questers during the Vietnam War but also as supply routes and hospitals for thousands guerrilla fighters. The trip was combined with a visit to the War Remnants Museum for a firsthand look at the Vietnam War through the eyes of Vietnamese people.

The Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City organised a lecture about Vietnamese culture, food, religion and the differences in study techniques. The Vietnamese students organised interactive games, hosted morning tea and gave a vocal performance followed by a cooking demonstration at Mandarin Restaurant. Before traveling to Hoi An, there was time to visit the site of Australia’s Nui Dat Task Force base, Nui Dat SAS Hill, the Long Tan Cross at the War Memorial, Australian War Graves, Long Tan battlefield and Vung Tau city – the arrival port for Australian troops. This may be the last time students gets to see the Nui Dat SAS Hill in its current form as it has started to be quarried.

Lecture at Vietnam National University
Lecture at Vietnam National University

In Hoi An, a former trading port, is famous for its restored architecture, homemade silk, expert tailors and delicious noodles and seafood. Here the students visited Chua Ong Pagoda, built in 1653 in honour of the Chinese general Quan Cong who is worshiped as a symbol of loyalty and justice. Students also visited Phuc Kien Assembly Hall to see a temple dedicated to the goddess of the sea, the 200 years old Tan Ky house and took a boat trip along Thu Bon river to the Red Bridge Cooking School for a five-course cooking lesson. While in Hoi An, students also visited My Son, the former capital of the ancient Cham civilisation who ruled Vietnam from the 2nd until the 13th century and attended not-for-profit charity restaurants.

Red Bridge Cooking School in Hoi An
Red Bridge Cooking School in Hoi An

From Hoi An, the students travelled to Hue – the Imperial City of the former Emperor. They enjoyed a tour of the city and boat trip on the Perfume River to the Thien Mu Pagoda. After visiting Hue the tour continued to Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city. Students visited the Temple of Literature, built in homage to the Chinese scholar Confucius, Hoa Lo prison and the Old Quarter’s 36 streets.

Towards the end of their two-week study trip, students went on a boat cruise through UNESCO World Heritage Halong Bay. The cruise included a visit to the Tien Ong Cave, which covers an area of 1000 m2, a cooking demonstration, squid fishing and a visit to Cua Van floating fishing village.  The study tour ended when students returned to Hanoi with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Complex where they heard about the man who led Vietnam’s campaign for independence from French colonial rule.

Kayaking at Halong Bay
Kayaking at Halong Bay

Student feedback

We asked two students for feedback about the trip and both had an amazing time.

I absolutely loved everything about this trip! The culture, the food, the consequences of war and the diverse tourism products and services available.

My daily reflection and photo journal will be a treasured memory for years to come. I knew no-one in the beginning and made lots of friends. I would definitely recommend this study tour to anyone.

I learnt so much during this once in a lifetime experience!

The study tour was extremely interactive. Everything we did, one of us [a student] was involved in everything, if not all of us. I loved seeing the diverse countryside, the cities, the jungle, the fields and of course the beach and water.

SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 17

October 22, 2019 / / 0 Comments
SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals

The sustainable development goals can only be realized with strong global partnerships and cooperation. The final sustainable development goal in our SDG Series is about just that: “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development” (SDG compass, 2015).

The focus of SDG 17

SDG 17 seeks to strengthen global partnerships to support and achieve the ambitious targets of the 2030 Agenda, bringing together national governments, the international community, civil society, the private sector and other actors (SDG Knowledge Platform, 2019). SDG 17 reflects a holistic approach to the means of implementation for the 2030 Agenda, including 19 targets that span finance, technology, capacity-building, trade and systemic issues. In addition, the means of implementation are integrated across the other Goals through dedicated targets, underlining their cross-cutting nature (UN High Level Political Forum on the SDGs, 2018).

Partnerships and PRME Week at La Trobe Business School

As we work towards building a more sustainable world we cannot work in isolation. Partnerships are necessary to ensure long term success. However, the partnership model may be problematic, with issues arising such as co-option and abuse of power. Differences between actors can also lengthen the journey and make the measure of success difficult to determine. Hence, LBS has drawn on its various networks to turn the spotlight on partnerships and SDG 17 over a week of UN PRME-related activities this month.

CR3+ Conference 24-25 October

CR3+ is a collaborative initiative of four PRME champions: Audencia Business School (France), Hanken School of Economics (Finland) and ISAE Brazilian Business School (Brazil) and La Trobe Business School (Australia). These champions have been working together since 2008, with the aim to exchange ideas, pedagogical processes, curriculum and research in the area of corporative responsibility.

Working in conjunction with PRME champions, The La Trobe Business School is hosting a two-day conference on the topic ‘Using dialogue to build partnerships for sustainability’ from the 24th to 25th October 2019. The conference explores how partnerships can bring about sustainable solutions as we work together on progressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Australia/New Zealand PRME Chapter Meeting – 26 October

The day after the conference, fifteen regional PRME Chapters are coming together to help advance the Six Principles (i.e. purpose, values, method, research, partnership and dialogue [link]) within a particular geographic context, rooting PRME in different national, regional, cultural, and linguistic landscapes. They function as platforms for localized engagement from higher education institutions, and in cooperation with Global Compact Local Networks, and can develop projects and initiatives that support the Sustainable Development Goals regionally (UN PRME, 2019).

The theme of this year’s chapter meeting is ‘Students as Partners’. In addition to representatives from Australian and New Zealand business schools, 11 students will be attending the meeting this year. These students are having input into the program for the day and will be actively involved in the discussions on the day.

4th PRME Champions Meeting for the 2018/2019 Cycle

After meeting with the regional PRME Chapters, there is a PRME Champions Meeting. The PRME Champions group is made up of 40 business schools from all continents, with the aim of developing a blueprint for embedding the PRME principles and Sustainable Development Goals across three key areas – research, teaching and partnerships. The meeting in Melbourne is the culmination of the 2-year PRME Champions Cycle, with a focus on partnerships for sustainable development.  Once completed in 2020, the blueprint will then be shared across the 750+ PRME business schools across the world.

A key output from the meeting will be the development of the partnership element of the blueprint, highlighting best practice, the role of multiple voices (Indigenous approaches to partnerships is a key sub-theme of the meeting) and some of the challenges facing multi-sector partnerships.

SDG Videos

Because the last SDG is about partnerships, there is not one, but there are three videos from different CR3+ partners. In each video, Associate Professor Martin Fougere from Hanken School of Economics introduces particular SDG 17 targets and the CR3+ partner(s) that illustrate how their university is working on these targets.

The targets that are being discussed in the videos are:

  • 17.6 – Knowledge sharing and cooperation for access to science, technology and innovation
  • 17.9 – Enhance SDG capacity in developing countries
  • 17.16 – Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development
  • 17.17 – Encourage effective partnerships

The first video shows Patricia Guérin from Audencia Business School. Patricia discusses how the university’s partnership with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Planète Urgence and particularly its “solidarity leave” volunteering scheme works towards targets 17.9 and 17.17.

The second video looks into targets 17.16 and 17.17 and shows representatives from both La Trobe Business School and Hanken School of Economics. Professor Suzanne Young and Dr Swati Nagpal discuss LBS workshops that are being organised for capacity building in connection with different SDGs. Associate Professor Pia Polsa from Hanken School of Economics talks about the CORE project the university is part of. The project is funded by Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland, and studies and develops collaborative action in environmental planning and decision-making.

The third video shows Professor Cleverson Andreoli from ISAE Brazilian Business School and focuses on targets 17.6 and 17.7. Cleverson talks about the National Institute of Science and technology for Sustainable Sewage Treatment Plants (INCT), a cooperative network that focuses on issues related to sanitation in Brasil, and the research that ISAE and other Brazilian universities conduct in this area.

If you would like access to the full videos to use in your teaching, please contact Dr Swati Nagpal.

This blog is part of the SDG Series, a series that focuses on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, in the lead up to the CR3+ Conference in October 2019.

 More blogs in the SDG Series:
- An introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 1
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 2
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 3
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 4
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 5
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 6
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 7
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 8 
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 9
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 10
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 11
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 12
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 13
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 14
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 15
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 16

Visiting Manchester, Liverpool and London during LBS’ Sport Study Tour

October 17, 2019 / / 0 Comments

During the winter semester, several students went on a sport study tour to the United Kingdom as part of their Sport Management degree. Read about the tour and students’ amazing experience.

The tour reinvigorated my belief on why I chose to study sport and what direction I want to take for the future.

Hamza Nur

The subject

The Sport Study Tour (BUS3SST) is a winter elective subject that provides third-year Bachelor of Business (Sport Management) students the opportunity to extend their formal academic learning beyond the local classroom into the global sport environment.

The tour brings students for two weeks to the UK. While overseas, students are based at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), a partner of La Trobe University, whose industry partners include Manchester City FC, Manchester City Council and UK Sport. 

Participating in this study tour allowed for students to understand the multicultural and sporting City of Manchester and enhance their understanding of different cultural contexts, values and practices, as part of the process of becoming and global citizen. Assessments included:

  • Case study on the UK sport system (Individual)
  • Daily reflective journal and photos (Individual)
  • Group presentation on sport development program (pairs)

The students

Ten students (8 males and 2 females) attended the study tour and were accompanied by Dr Pam Kappelides from LBS and Emily Harbrow from LTU Sport. Emily is an LBS Sport Management alumna and worked at Manchester City FC meaning that besides the many contacts she has in the UK, students heard first-hand about her journey in sport.

The students partaking in the study tour

The study tour

Upon arrival, students enjoyed a walking tour of Manchester, were officially welcomed by the Pro Vice Chancellor (Research) and after an introduction to the subject had their first lecture on UK Sports Volunteer Management by Catherine Elliott, senior lecturer of Sport Management & Marketing at MMU. Other (guest) lectures organised for the students included:

  • Lecture on UK Sport Policy and Sport Mega Events by Professor Jonathan Grix and Paul Brannagan from MMU
  • Guest lecture by Colin Bridgford, CEO at Manchester Football Association
  • Guest lecture by Neil Fairlamb from the Manchester City Council on Strategic Lead – Parks, Leisure & Events
  • Lecture on E-Sports by Dr Qi Peng from MMU
  • Guest lecture by Matt Stocks from Greater Sport UK

Obviously, the tour included a variety of interesting and sport focused field trips, such as:

  • National Football Museum
  • Manchester Institute of Health and Performance
  • Old Trafford Cricket Ground
  • Manchester Velodrome
  • Manchester City Elite
  • Manchester City Football Club
Students at Old Trafford Cricket Ground

Besides Manchester, students also visited Liverpool and London. In Liverpool students enjoyed a Beatles and City Walking Tour before attending the Netball World Cup watching Australia play England. In London students attended Wimbledon followed by a tour through Wembley Stadium. While in London, students also had the opportunity to talk with another LBS Sport Management alumni over dinner – Gareth Ficarra – who is currently working at Arsenal Football Club.

The two-week trip finished with students’ group presentations and the presentation of fun awards for each student on their participation during the tour.

Student feedback

We asked the students for some feedback about the trip, and they all agreed that it was a trip of a life-time!

The study tour was a fantastic opportunity to immerse ourselves in international sporting organisations and continue to grow our networks at an international level.

Haylee Jesensek

The study tour was an opportunity of a lifetime! The tour provided the chance to grow internationally and created great networking opportunities as well as a great learning experience. The tour gave us the opportunity to hear and connect with Sport CEOs and La Trobe Alumni.

Max Hannah

The UK study tour provided all students with incredible exposure to some of the most influential sporting organisations in the world, as well as unparalleled networking opportunities with highly regarded sports professionals throughout England.

Will Holding

The trip was amazing, I was able to fulfill a life dream. It was really interesting to see the difference between Australian and UK sporting culture, through the stadium tours and presentations. Before going on the trip, I was quite unclear of what I wanted in my future. Although this may still be the case, I know 100% that my future belongs in sport after this amazing experience.

Hayden Atherton

The UK sports study tour was a once in a life time experience. To be able to see the leading international sporting clubs and their facilities was unbelievable. The opportunity to establish international sporting connections gave me an insight into opportunities beyond Australia. Being able to experience the atmosphere at world class sporting events is something I will treasure forever.

Jacqui Lawson

SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 16

October 15, 2019 / / 1 Comment
SDG 16 - Piece, justice and strong institutions

We cannot hope for sustainable development without peace, stability, human rights and effective governance, based on the rule of law. Yet, our world is increasingly divided. Some regions enjoy peace, security and prosperity, while others fall into seemingly endless cycles of conflict and violence. This is not inevitable and must be addressed (UNDP, 2019).

The facts

While homicide and trafficking cases have seen significant progress over the past decade, there are still thousands of people at greater risk of intentional murder within Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and around Asia. Children’s rights violations through aggression and sexual violence continue to plague many countries around the world, especially as under-reporting and lack of data aggravate the problem.

Some more facts by the United Nations Development Programme regarding SDG 16 (UNDP, 2019):

  • By the end of 2017, 68.5 million people had been forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations.
  • There are at least 10 million stateless people who have been denied nationality and its related rights.
  • Corruption, bribery, theft and tax evasion cost developing countries US$1.26 trillion per year.
  • 49 countries lack laws protecting women from domestic violence.
  • In 46 countries, women now hold more than 30 percent of seats in at least one chamber of national parliament.
  • 1 billion people are legally ‘invisible’ because they cannot prove who they are. This includes an estimated 625 million children under 14 whose births were never registered. 

The focus of SDG 16

Sustainable development goal sixteen (SDG 16) aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. There are ten targets set for this goal, including: reducing all forms of violence and related death rate; ending abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children; ensuring equal access to justice for all; providing legal identity for all, including birth registration; reducing corruption and bribery in all their forms and developing effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.

Ultimately, to tackle the challenges listed earlier in the article, and to build more peaceful, inclusive societies, there needs to be more efficient and transparent regulations put in place and comprehensive, realistic government budgets. One of the first steps towards protecting individual rights is the implementation of worldwide birth registration and the creation of more independent national human rights institutions around the world (UN SDGs, 2019).

SDG 16 Progress in Australia

Australia is a relatively peaceful country, ranking 15 out of 163 in the Global Peace Index. Australia also ranks highly in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index at 13 out of 176 (although our score has dropped since 2012). Australia was a strong advocate for the inclusion of a separate goal on governance and law and justice throughout negotiations of the 2030 Agenda. SDG 16 lies at the heart of Australian values and commitment to political, economic and religious freedoms; liberal democracy; the rule of law; and good governance, transparency and accountability (Voluntary National Review on the SDGs, 2018).

That said, there remain a range of areas for improvement in this space, including for example Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, domestic violence, and bribery and corruption (UNGCNA, 2018).  Violence, while declining, is still a major issue in Australia, following distinct gender and age-based trends. While from 2012 to 2016 the proportion of people experiencing violence declined (with men reporting a steeper decline), the proportion of men and women experiencing sexual violence/harassment increased to almost 18% of females and less than 10% of men (Transforming Australia, 2018).

Further, Australia’s prison population is at its highest recorded level, with indigenous people representing over 28% of the prison population and the female prison population increasing by 77% over the last decade. Household crime statistics indicate that the highest levels of incarceration are in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, suggesting that rising numbers may be linked to social exclusion, limited access to justice and rehabilitation (Transforming Australia, 2018).

Tackling safety and Gender-based violence at La Trobe

Student safety is a key priority for the La Trobe Business School, especially considering the findings of the 2017 report by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) into the nature, prevalence and reporting of sexual assault and sexual harassment at Australian universities. The Universities Australia ‘Respect Now Always’ initiative has become a focus of the whole of university culture at La Trobe University, and we have acted swiftly on the recommendations from the report implementing a significant number of measures including the Speak- Up and Respect at La Trobe programs to enable a whole of organisation culture change to halt behaviour towards students that includes intimidation, harassment, discrimination, bullying and all forms of violence (LBS PRME Report, 2018).

The university also established the La Trobe Violence Against Women research Network (LAVAWN). The aim of LAVAWN is conducting research that creates a world where everyone can live free from violence.  Members of the network include researchers and higher degree students across the university from different schools and disciplines including Law, Sociology, Rural Health, Public Health, Planning, Sexual Health, Social Work.

SDG Video

The video below is created by our CR3+ partner Hanken School of Economics (Finland). In the video, Associate Professor Martin Fougere discusses the targets set for SDG 16. He particularly focuses on targets:

  • 16.4 – Combat organised crime and illicit financial and arms flows
  • 16.5 – Substantially reduce corruption and bribery
  • 16.6 – Develop effective accountable and transparent institutions

Martin talks about corruption and the Financial Secrecy Index and why we need to reframe the question of “why is your country corrupt?” to “what are the drivers and enablers of corruption?” to address the issue of corruption. He also discusses the problem of tax avoidance, particularly the problem of multinational tax avoidance and the need for greater accountability and transparency, not just in the public sector but also the private sector and civil society organisations.

The second part of the video shows an interview with Lyydia Kilpi. Lyydia is policy advisor for tax justice and corporate accountability at KEPA – the Finnish Service Centre for Development Cooperation. KEPA is the umbrella organisation for Finnish civil society organisations (CSOs) who work with development cooperation or are otherwise interested in global affairs. Lyydia talks about the importance of tax and tax avoidance issues in relation to piece, justice and strong institutions. She also discusses how tax issues can be addressed through SDG 16 and its targets, and what the benefits would be of an institutionalised tax country-by-country corporate reporting.

Please enjoy the presentation.

If you would like access to the full video to use in your teaching, please contact Dr Swati Nagpal.

This blog is part of the SDG Series, a series that focuses on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, in the lead up to the CR3+ Conference in October 2019.


More blogs in the SDG Series:
- An introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 1
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 2
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 3
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 4
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 5
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 6
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 7
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 8 
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 9
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 10
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 11
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 12
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 13
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 14
- SDG Series: Sustainable Development Goal 15
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