The Changing Face

It’s certainly no secret that the social media phenomenon has exerted a profound influence on the world over the past few years.

Tools like Facebook and LinkedIn have virtually exploded out of nowhere, radically transforming the way we approach many fundamental tasks. Business is certainly no exception. Significantly, it’s been said that the social media upheaval is akin to the business process restructuring of the ‘80s. If so, it has the potential to irrevocably alter existing business models, radically reduce costs and revolutionise the way business is conducted.

The exact nature of this impact is forming the basis of our new three-year research project. In particular, we’ll be focusing on how social media is changing the recruitment process and how the advent of online profiling is altering the way in which organisations identify and contact new talent.

Interestingly, a study conducted in the 1960s linked the ability to find employment with one’s level of social embedded-ness. Its authors contended that it was the people you knew and the connections you had that helped most when identifying future employment opportunities. Thanks to social media, that embedding process is now infinitely easier. Moreover, the costs of those transactions are lower and the potential for connecting more broadly and quickly with a wide range of people is seemingly without limit. We’re interested in how companies can take advantage of that virtual embededness.

But it’s not only organisations that need to be aware of social media’s potential. Indeed, we’re already working with some of our students to remove any online material that may hinder their chances of future employment. It all comes down to the idea of your personal brand, determined largely by the nature of your social media presence. As such, it’s not only your CV that matters to potential employers, but also the types of conversations you have, the types of information you share and the types of people you’re connected to.

Author: Associate Professor Nick Wailes – University of Sydney Business School

Follow The Leader

(Picture source: http://www.afrboss.com/emergingleaders/)

For us here at the Business School, taking up an invitation to sponsor the Financial Review BOSS Emerging Leaders Program was an easy decision.

With the initiative offering participants the chance to not only hear from some of the business world’s most inspiring characters, but to also spend time with and be mentored by senior business leaders (like former Microsoft and current Telstra board member Steve Vamos), we felt the concept fitted beautifully with our own maxim of assisting smart and ambitious people achieve their maximum potential.

The first event (held back in December) featured Saatchi Australia CEO Michael Rebelo as keynote speaker. Having taken over the company’s London office right in the middle of the GFC, his recollections and insights were highly illuminating. The idea that really emerged was the need to be confident and unafraid of devising innovative new approaches during extremely difficult times. He also spoke about the need to be pathological in thanking people for their contributions to your organisation. For young leaders in particular, it was a really important message.

The program’s second event focused on career planning and drew on the expertise of Barclays Australia CEO Cynthia Whelan. She talked about how she left school early to pursue a career as a classical ballerina, only to be forced into retirement a few years later due to chronic back injuries. Undaunted, she went back to school, got qualified, and started again. It really went to the point of resilience; the idea that if something doesn’t work, you need to draw on all your reserves and move on to the next challenge. The central message was that successful people haven’t always enjoyed easy rides.

The next event will focus on doing business in China. With Asia becoming increasingly central to the future of our own economy, I can’t think of a more timely or important topic.

Article: http://sydney.edu.au/business/news/afr_boss_emerging_leaders_event

Author: Associate Professor Nick Wailes – University of Sydney Business School

Business Brazilian Style

Brazil might be an absolutely brilliant destination for a holiday, but it’s also a great place for providing budding business innovators with an insight into the realities of operating in a foreign economy.

That’s why 16 of the Business School’s Master’s students have just spent two-weeks in Sao Paulo participating in our Doing Business in Brazil International Business Project. Designed to foster an understanding of the country’s corporate, cultural, economic, political and social frameworks, the program provided students with the chance to engage in action-based projects on behalf of five Australian companies who are looking to expand into the world’s seventh largest economy.

It was as exciting as it was challenging. That’s because there are so many barriers to doing business successfully in a country like Brazil. Indeed, the nuances of the prevailing social and regulatory environments, the competitive dynamics of the local marketplace, and the ways in which Brazilian companies operate are just some of the issues that demand a high level of understanding. After a crash course in these essentials from our project partners at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas School of Business Administration, the students got on with the job of exploring the Brazilian market for potential opportunities for Australian products ranging from wine to boats to street wear.

With none of our students ever having been to Brazil before, they all revelled in the chance to apply their Master’s coursework to a real project in a real business situation. They also made the most of the amazing opportunity to develop their strategic and operational thinking skills while also establishing important foundations for possible future leadership roles. At the conclusion of the two-weeks, the students compiled a group project report and made a slideshow presentation to a panel of top Brazilian academics and business representatives. All were impressed with the high level of the presentations and felt that the students had done a great job.

Author: Professor Sid Gray - group leader and academic adviser

Women Building Business

With International Women’s Day virtually upon us, what better time to ponder this salient fact: Australia currently boasts the most highly educated female population it’s ever had.

The problem is, the skills and educational qualifications developed by women are not being optimally utilised. Relative to many other economies, Australian women’s labour market participation levels are low. And relative to workforce participation, we still see relatively low levels of female participation in senior and strategic positions. As a result, we have significant talent and potential going to waste. For us at the Business School, this represents a serious concern. Indeed, when it comes to economic and financial empowerment for women (a subject set to form the basis of a panel discussion this Wednesday evening at the Darlington Centre), there are several crucial areas that need addressing.

Perhaps the most obvious is the clash that frequently arises from the desire of many women to combine career aspirations and their family lives. As such, the question of how to make organisations adopt practices that will better facilitate female participation in a way that is reconcilable with parenting roles becomes paramount. Despite fairly recent legislative changes, significant barriers to increased workplace involvement still exist within some organisations. Indeed, too many Australian organisations work on outmoded assumptions regarding career track preferences and rewardable behaviors.

I believe that an assessment of the effectiveness and economic soundness of these practices is long overdue. Afterall, chopping women off in their prime is not only detrimental to those who become trapped in jobs well below their skill levels, but also to the bottom line of organisations who fail to take advantage of expertise and talent of women.

The young women I see coming through the Business School at the moment are among the most talented I’ve ever seen. They all want to go out and make their mark, and they express a strong desire to combine family and career. There has never been a more important time to address this issue.

Author: Rae Cooper – Senior Lecturer – The University of Sydney Business School