I d e a l o g g u i d e t o e x e c u t i v e e d u c at i o n

EXECUTIVE
EDUCATION
Warning there will be a test later.
You may be saying to yourself, Richard Branson didnt need to go back to college. Now say to yourself: I am not Richard Branson.

the idealog guide to

n undeniably fine tradition of self-taught entrepreneurs and successful business people, especially in New Zealand, is no excuse for not doing all the training you need to become as successful as they are. During tough times like these there may also be the temptation to just put your head down and crank out the work, hoping that sheer tenaciousness will see you through. Its important to realise that it may not. Instead, it may be better to face up to tough times as an opportunity to up our game. Gaining new qualifications is a very effective way of doing that.

Others of you may find yourself staring at the same spreadsheet you have been staring at for years and thinking, Is this it? Or maybe youre getting bored of saying If I was the boss and you want the skills to actually be the boss, or at least take a bigger role in the decisions happening around you. In all these cases, training is the key and theres plenty on offer. So whether you fancy honing skills you have already acquired, or bashing your way over to an entirely different career path, this is the guide for you.

w r i t t e n by a n dy k e n w o rt h y

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Chapter One

FINDINg OUT whAT yOU NEED AND why

It can be difficult for anybody to fully and accurately recognise their own business training needs, especially as the years in business roll on, and even more so if you become a victim of your own success
adly, business managers radically overestimating their mastery of a variety of skill sets is not a phenomenon limited to The Office we have all encountered it. Training to ensure you never become one of those kinds of managers is one of the best ways of ensuring a career path in which you make friends and influence people. It may be that an intrinsically competitive culture, while it can stimulate some to train harder, may also stall others progress, because they feel unable to appear weak enough in a given skillset, they refuse to admit they need any additional training at all. You can test this for yourself. Firstly, if you dont already have a business mentor, preferably one outside of your own organisation, then get one. They can act as an important guide to what you need to learn as well as get you used to the idea that there are indeed folks out there who know a great deal more than you do. Also, keep in mind that it is generally much easier to identify technical deficiencies in yourself a lack of knowledge on accounting software or the latest legal requirements say, than deficiencies in more personal areas. It may be that you know all the right buttons to

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they cant lose
Bill Gates

with the latest and best training opportunities for staff development, if not for you then for the people you manage. In a busy office its all too easy to simply pay the same mediocre bunch the same money each year to bore your staff to tears. If you are worried people might leave if they become more highly trained, consider if you really want to work in a place where that may be true.

Check out whats on offer

k AUT Business School (right) aut.ac.nz k University of Auckland Business School business.auckland.ac.nz k Massey University School of Management massey.ac.nz k The University of Otago otago.ac.nz

push, but you dont come across well, are poor at personal communications or simply currently lack the charisma to inspire. You may be able to avoid tackling issues like this for a while, but the easy road seldom leads to greatness. Another opportunity to get things moving is to avoid just slouching through your annual review meeting with your line manager, but rather actively preparing a list of questions on what your training needs might be and a bunch of example courses that may best go about fulfilling them. After all, theyre likely to be the ones who will need to provide you with at least some of the time to train, and they may even chip in on some of the fees. There is often budget floating around for training in large organisations with only those who actively seek it out feeling much of the benefit. If youre a senior manager its also good practice to put time aside to keep up to date

Mentoring for beginners

Business Mentors New Zealand is backed by major commercial players and several government agencies. It offers two years of personalised mentoring for a one-off $150 plus GST registration fee. There are more than 1,600 mentors available for eligible companies, with backgrounds in everything from accounting to public relations. And if youre a BNZ customer, you may be eligible for completely free registration. k Go to businessmentors.org.nz to find out more.

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TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT BUSINESS LEADERSHIP AND HAVE BUSINESS LEADERS RETURN THE FAVOUR.
MA S TER OF BUSINESS ADMINIS TR ATION (MBA)
To nd out more:

AUT BUSINESS SCHOOL

0800 AUT UNI

www.aut.ac.nz/mba

When you study your MBA at AUT, youll acquire the skills needed to excel in business leadership roles both locally and globally. Youll extend your networks by working alongside high calibre professionals from a range of industries. And youll draw on your current professional experience and that of your peers, guided by the expertise of leading academics at the AUT Business School, which is among an elite group of 6% of business schools worldwide accredited by AACSB International. If youre ready to get noticed in the business world with an MBA from AUT, contact us at courseinfo@aut.ac.nz.

AUTMBA-215-IDE

I d e a l o g g u i d e t o e x e c u t i v e e d u c at i o n

ChOOsINg yOUr COUrsE

Choosing an educational facility and course can be a complex business. Here are some of the key things to consider

Chapter two

Really stretch yourself

Most of us have attended pleasant enough courses in relaxing locations where we eat a lot of biscuits, enjoy the buffet and some time out, sit in some mildly stimulating talks and then promptly bin our notes and forget all about it. These are often even offered as incentives within organisations, despite the fact that most of them are a complete waste of everybodys time. Avoid them at all costs and ensure the time and money is spent on a course where you are really going to get engaged in actually learning something useful.

Entry requirements
Lower level or short-term courses will pretty much take you if you have the cash and show some interest in the course. MBAs, however, will require a minimum period of managerial work experience appropriate to the course, usually several years, ideally in addition to an existing tertiary level qualification. If you do not have a tertiary qualification you may be asked to prove that your work experience and academic ability are suitable stand-ins.

Massey Universitys Albany campus.

The qualification
Are you looking to get letters after your name or something more specific to one particular area of expertise? Even if youre going for a general qualification, its worth checking the emphasis placed on different areas of the curriculum, marketing or law for example, as they can vary significantly. Nowadays, even in MBAs there are a number of different options: one- or two-year, part-

time, distance learning or specialist executive programs. Its worth checking the curriculum listings and then phoning round to check what lies beneath the title: your idea of management training might be very different to theirs. In addition, many courses are extremely customisable. This gives you the opportunity to specialise in or research a specific area of interest that may also be part of real project work within your ordinary employment. Checking this out beforehand is another way in which you may be able to secure employer support for your training.

learning at home, or can you realistically only carve out the time to study if you actually have to show up somewhere and put your head down? Are you looking for something highly academic or more practical?

The cost
You can spend a lot of money on your course, so just like any investment, its worth crunching some numbers to ensure you know what you are getting out of it. Its also important to factor in all the other expenses, including living costs and commuting, as well as the opportunity cost of not working if you are going to take time off. Ultimately, a lot of the benefits may be long-term and relatively subtle, but that shouldnt deter you from shopping around for the best experience.

The learning style

Knowing how you work best is important in getting the most out of your training. Do you really have the self-discipline for distance

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The commitment
You will only get out of a course what you put into it. An MBA, for example, can take anything from 12 months to four years depending on how much time you have on a term-by-term basis. Its worth getting as clear an idea as possible of how you will shape your home and work life around your studies, while also allowing time for the social networking opportunities it will bring with it. Discuss this with partners, employers or colleagues who may be affected. You may be able to dial down your course workload at specific points to take into account other commitments you have, but when the going gets tough youre probably going to need the support of those around you to make it work well. With this in mind, check out the flexibility of the course: if you suddenly get called overseas or have a major work project on can you put the thing on pause and continue later?

The size
There are many good reasons why you might be tempted to plump for the biggest most prestigious institution around, especially if you plan to leverage off of their reputation. However, if you want more personal attention and have a direct recommendation it may be worth considering one of the smaller outfits, provided they have the quality of offering you need.

Commit to act on what you learn

All of this will be for nothing if the training you receive is never put into action. Before you part with any money or commit any time, its a good idea to seriously reflect on where your career may be headed, and how this course may fit into this.

The placement record

Even if you dont need to get a new job after you finish the studies, the institutions placement record will give you an indication of the quality of the course and how well it is dialled in to current commercial realities. A chat with somebody who has completed the training is also always useful, both as a networking opportunity and to get a handle on what you may be signing up to.

Hot topics in business education

Change management Sustainable business management Leadership Organisational management Negotiation Developing high-performance teams

ElEvatE your carEEr with a MassEy MBa

contact us today to MakE thE BrEakthrough 0800 505 825 MBa@MassEy.ac.nz MBaBrEakthrough.ac.nz

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I d e a l o g g u i d e t o e x e c u t i v e e d u c at i o n

whAT yOU wIll gET FOr yOUr TImE AND mONEy

Idealog gets a free lecture from Ken Lee, director of MBA and executive education at AUT, including the largest MBA programme in the country, and Daniel Vidal, adjunct associate professor at the University of Aucklands Graduate School of Management
programme. Importantly, 40 percent of our lecturing staff is made up of people who are active in business as senior managers or consultants and they provide a strong link to business reality. The vast majority of our students are engaged in full-time employment, with an average work experience of nine years, so they are applying what they learn on a day-to-day basis and they let us know if it is not working for them. We take all this feedback, together with formal evaluations taken at the conclusion of each of the six terms, and adjust our programme accordingly.

Chapter three

Investment in and development of great people comes first and is the greatest sustaining differentiator
Tom Peters

Ken Lee

What do business people get out of courses such as yours?

In addition to a comprehensive toolbox of knowledge and skills, the programme also provides intangible benefits and instils a level of confidence in managers to perform at the very top level. A manager may have a number of direct reports and the link to professional practice, experienced on the programme, enables them to talk the language of those disciplines and interact effectively. It gives you the tools and confidence to talk to the marketing manager about marketing and management, or the IT folks about IT.

How would you rate the quality of business education available in New Zealand at the moment?
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of business education accreditation of anywhere in the world. For example, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation is an internationally recognised accreditation that nearly all business schools in New Zealand have. It is awarded to approximately six percent of the worlds business schools, which puts us in a very elite group. We are very serious about the standards of entry, assessment and the calibre of students who graduate. AUT has partnerships with a number of top business schools around the world that participate in student and staff exchange they wouldnt do that if they didnt recognise the quality of what we are doing. careers goals. It is rigorous and challenging with a strong bias towards practical application and personal development and structured in a way to enable students to fit their study around work and family commitments while receiving a consistent high quality learning experience. In short, we are transforming lives and changing business.

Daniel Vidal
You have a very active role in a couple of businesses. What attracts you to working for the university?
Its an activity I personally feel very passionate about, but more importantly it complements my work as a strategy consultant. It forces me to always be at the edge of new management research and to be in contact with the sources of information that provide the solid evidence backing the work I do with clients. Students get the benefit of being in front of somebody who is

How do you manage to ensure that the courses you provide are up to date with the business realities?
Part of my job is to scan the horizon for changes in business practice and curriculum development. We also have a very active advisory committee, which includes people like Katrina Ritchie, group manager of Fonterra and representatives from ANZ, BNZ, Deloitte and PwC. They provide critical comment on the structure and content of the

The MBA is still widely perceived as the gold standard in business education, why do you think that is?
An MBA is highly regarded by employers and enables the very best candidates to fulfil their

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What you should take away from a good MBA

The MBA is one of the soundest bases to build your business credentials on. It attracts an eclectic student body, from those starting out on the corporate ladder to those who have spent years building their careers. Heres what you should get out of one. The skills needed to lead and manage organisations in a global business environment, combined with the ability to change organisations through effective leadership The ability to analyse and evaluate to make focused and considered responses to business problems A deep and well-rounded understanding of the New Zealand business environment and the place of SMEs Teamwork and partnering communicating, negotiating and building relationships Understand and apply principles of control, empowerment and motivation Decision-making and problem-solving Technological literacy An understanding of strategy, planning, managing operations and people, marketing, financial reports, financial planning processes and decision-making An ability to critically reflect on your own thinking and action and assess strengths and weaknesses to stimulate your own learning and development Understanding ethical issues, making ethical decisions Understanding the international context in which a business operates and develop awareness of current issues affecting the economy and business AUT also provides multidisciplinary perspectives, with cross-referenced knowledge in the fields of accounting, business economics, entrepreneurship, finance, human resources management, information technology, law, leadership, marketing, organisational behaviour operations management and strategy.
AUT director of MBA, Ken Lee.

k For more, go to aut.ac/AUTMBA.

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actually doing this in practice and my clients get the benefit of working with somebody who is up to date on the latest approaches to management.

I do not fancy I know what I do not know

Socrates in Platos Apology
to a whole range of current ideas, management techniques and approaches to doing business. These are usually not found just by talking to colleagues and gaining experience in the market place. These people are seeking a better way to make decisions and think about strategy. There is this intellectual curiosity that they bring with them.

Is there a particularly New Zealand flavour to the courses we have here?

There is, but without losing sight of the key importance of the international picture. One of the focal points of the MBA at the University of Auckland is about enhancing the capabilities of business and managers to think and operate more internationally. In the New Zealand environment there is a real appetite for learning these skills, particularly around entering overseas markets.

What are the drivers that are bringing business people into training right now?
Undoubtedly having an MBA from the University of Auckland adds some kudos for a person. But this is not necessarily about getting a better job. This is an outcome of it, but not necessarily a driver. The driver, more than anything else, is the opportunity to be exposed

What are some of the key things that show that somebody is ready to do your course?
At the interviews what we are trying to find out is whether this person is seeking a piece of paper or actually looking for a different paradigm towards business and a new away of thinking. We look for participants who want to move away from typical corporate catchphrases and want to think critically and conceptually.

Daniel Vidal.

We seek people who are all-rounded, with rich and diverse background and interests. People who, through their participation, can enrich everyone elses learning experience.

Want to fly high?

The part-time Otago MBA brought balance to my life and I have greatly increased my personal productivity. It is a very demanding course but absolutely worthwhile.
Eben Joubert has lived in Dunedin since 2008 during which time he has played 14 representative rugby matches for Otago. A qualified maths teacher, Eben says he has always been interested in business. Eben chose the part-time Otago MBA to give him the flexibility he needed to negotiate the demands of a busy playing schedule. Eben studied some semesters full-time, and others part-time.

Find out how you can become an Otago MBA high flyer at: www.otagomba.com

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lEArNINg by EXAmplE
One of the most important facets of a business learning experience is the people you share it with. A lot of the time they are the ones you will be learning from, at least as much as from the folks at the front with the white board markers. So lets meet some of those who have studied up recently, and find out what they learned and how that has helped them

Chapter Four

Hamish Nuttall.

Chris Beh.

Mark Godenho.

Hamish Nuttall
CEO and founder of Nakedbus, MBA alumn, Massey University
Nuttall took his MBA in the wake of the failure of his first business in New Zealand, after moving here from the UK. Since 2006 he has grown the low-cost bus travel company he started in his living room from three buses to 35. He now has a staff of 16, his business has grown 40-60 percent each year and has relocated offices every 18 months or so to accommodate the growing team. He attributes much of that to the pricing models he learned on his course. There are certain things I learned that I use on a regular basis, such as the theory of constraints, thats one of my favourite ideas, Nuttall says. And its so important to understand how to transition your business through the different stages of growth. There was also a massive boost to his confidence. It definitely marked a turning point for me. I came out of the process a different person, more confident and resilient generally. It was exactly what I needed after

The only limits are, as always, those of vision

James Broughton
the shock of losing my previous business. It was the right thing at the right time.

sector should address to improve the sustainability and competitiveness of the industry, Beh says.

Mark Godenho
Strategic marketing specialist, The Radio Network, MBA alumn, University of Auckland
After originally setting out to become an engineer, Godenho took a study trip to a radio station and never looked back. He signed on for his MBA after arriving back from his OE in the UK. The global recession had hit and I felt that something bigger could be happening and affecting New Zealand, Godenho says. I realised I was going to have to expand my skillset. I didnt agonise over it, at all it was an incredibly quick decision. Id forgotten how much fun it is to learn. It was like being a kid and learning about dinosaurs for the first time. The way that I now approach everything has been completely revolutionised. I never used to read the business section of the newspaper. But now I not only read it, I clip things out.

Chris Beh
Management consultant, Newport Consulting, MBA student, AUT
With a PhD in chemical engineering, Beh has worked extensively in the New Zealand dairy industry and has set up his own consultancy business bringing overseas investors, particularly those from China, into New Zealand agriculture. During his MBA he has completed a special topic paper under one of AUTs professors of economics, producing a model of return on investment. I developed a simplified milk price model and discussed several areas that policy makers and influencers in the New Zealand dairy

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Natalie Milne.

Eru Lyndon.

Karen Rolleston.

Natalie Milne
Global marketing manager, Zespri MBA alumn, Massey University
Milne left school at 15 with two School Certificates, but completed diploma level qualifications in computing and business management prior to doing her MBA in 2006. She did the course part-time, while covering two management positions at her work. Its not for the faint-hearted but incredibly well worth it, Milne says. I knew I was going to be facing some serious study. You need to be able to compartmentalise your life and remember that it doesnt just impact you. Massey is really good at combining the practical and the academic. Its so important to be able to understand the theory within an appropriate business framework. You learn a huge amount and it stays with you. I was worried that I might forget significant amounts of it, but you dont. The fundamentals are so ingrained in my every

day work that I cant imagine having to do my job now without this knowledge. Two years on you realise that every single day you draw on some level of the experience.

Eru Lyndon
Manager of policy and development, Ngati Whatua Orakei Corporate, Alumn, MBA (Distinction), AUT
Lyndon says there is not a day that goes by without him applying what he learned in his time at AUT. From problem-solving to strategic management, and relationship building to influencing people these are all skills I use on a daily basis. The MBA has added value to everything I do.

Karen Rolleston
Co-ownwer of Manzana, MBA, AUT
As Karen Rolleston finished her MBA degree she embarked on a new career as co-owner of her own company, Manzana, an interactive

whiteboard distributor. Together with her business partner they expanded into Australian market and started two other companies 2Touch Technologies and Interactive Whiteboards Australia. Five years on Rolleston sold her shares in the companies and is now an owner and director of a new venture, Limestone Risk Management, a security risk management company that also has plans to expand globally. Doing an MBA has given her the skills and confidence to start up and run her companies. Its about stepping out of your comfort zone, she says. It made me aware of my strengths and weaknesses. It made it easier to identify them and surround myself with people who can offset my weaknesses. You become one of the small percentage of people who have an internationally prestigious business postgraduate degree at this level. The benefits down the track are endless. Rolleston was part of the AUT team that won New Zealands 2006 Boston Consulting

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Group Business Strategy Competition, which cemented everything she had learned on the MBA. It took all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and put them together. Rolleston says completing the MBA has given her a future she never expected. I now see opportunities everywhere. Ive got a world of choice.

mONEy bACk gUArANTEE?

Conclusion:

Jonathan Mirkin
Managing Director, Nomos, MBA alumn, University of Otago
Mirkin completed a Bachelor of Laws in 2008 and followed that up with an MBA this year to help make the switch from legal work to business. He now runs commercial lease management software company, Nomos, which launched in November. I identified the MBA as an effective way to learn multiple business disciplines in a high-pressure and time-intensive environment. What I got was a significant shift in perspective. The skills I gained in the course have enabled me to approach my new business with a strong focus across multiple areas including strategy, finance, marketing and human resource management. I have particularly gained in my quantitative analysis skills, which I was lacking in beforehand. Its early days, but hes is already thinking of expansion. I view my success through how many jobs I can create, he says. Its nice to think about revenue, profit and gross margins, but in the end, if I can create 30 jobs that werent there before, then Ill be happy.

ack in 1996 I did my Masters in Language Arts and Education, spending a year of my life and the equivalent of about $11,000 with amateur poets pretending to be literary. After two years of cutting lawns to repay my debts I returned to the local tertiary college I could have attended straight from school, spent a few hundred on a 10-week professional journalism course and walked into my first reporting job straight after. As they say in America, go figure. Obviously, how quick you get your payback on your training depends on the courses you take and what you do with the information. By the time I got my journalism qualification I was ready to knuckle down and had done the networking required to get a foot in the door. But, in a world where you may be borrowing the cash to pay for the course in the first place, or where you have to convince a reluctant boss that it is worth their while helping you out on this, it is good to do some rough calculations on how long it will be before the dollar value

ROI stacks up. Bloomberg Businessweek has calculated that it would take members of the MBA class of 2008 an average of 5.6 years to recoup their MBA investment. For the class of 2010, it would take about 6.5 years. The magazine explained the difference in lower 2010 salaries, while the costs of the course had increased. Of course, many of the successful examples in this guide prove that the lessons from a good course, if properly and energetically applied, can earn your money back a lot faster, and many times over.
Andy Kenworthy is a regular contributor to Idealog. The best business course he ever did was the sadly now-defunct WWF Leaders course with the international environmental organisation. He lobbied internally to do it, despite not being with the organisation long enough to qualify, did 18 months of his study in his own time and was then given the opportunity to travel all expenses paid to Vietnam and Switzerland to complete it.

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