Professor the Hon Stephen Martin

Professor the Hon Stephen Martin is the CEO of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) and has a long and distinguished background in the Australian Parliament, academia and the private sector.

He represented the New South Wales-based electorates of Macarthur and Cunningham in the Australian Parliament 1984-2002. In Government, he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Chairman of the Inquiry into the Australian Banking Industry. As a member of the Shadow Cabinet, he held portfolios in Defence, Small Business, and Trade and Tourism.

After retiring from Parliament, Professor Martin held a number of senior executive roles in academia, including President/Chief Executive Officer of the University of Wollongong in Dubai, Pro Vice Chancellor International at Victoria University, Melbourne and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Strategy and Planning) at Curtin University of Technology in Perth.

He has undertaken a number of strategic and change management roles in the private and public sectors. He is Chairman of Global Science and Technology Forum, Singapore and Visiting Professor at City University, Malaysia.

His interests are in economics, education, politics, corporate governance, financial services, defence and trade policy, and sport.

Srikant M. Datar

Srikant M. Datar is the Arthur Lowes Dickinson Professor of Accounting at Harvard University. A graduate with distinction from the University of Bombay, he received gold medals upon graduation from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India. A Chartered Accountant, he holds two masters degrees and a Ph D from Stanford University.

Cited by his students as a dedicated and innovative teacher, he received the George Leland Bach Award for Excellence in the Classroom at Carnegie Mellon University and the Distinguished Teaching Award at Stanford University. He is a co-author of the leading cost accounting textbook, Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis published by Prentice-Hall, and of Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads published by Harvard Business Press.

Professor Datar's research interests are in the cost management and management control areas. He has served on the editorial board of several journals and presented his research to corporate executives and academic audiences in North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

He serves on the Board of Directors of Novartis AG, ICF International, KPIT Cummins Info Systems Ltd., and Stryker Corporation, and has worked with many corporations on consulting and field-based projects.

Stanley Frielick

Dr Stanley Frielick is Director of Learning and Teaching at AUT University in Auckland – a central role in a network of staff, students and enabling technologies that increases the capability of the university for educational development and innovation. His career spans a range of activity, including Associate Dean in the Faculty of Health & Environmental Sciences at AUT, Director of e-Learning at NorthTec, and lecturer at the University of Auckland. His involvement in educational computing began as a teacher with the Apple IIe and LOGO in schools in 1984, and since then has participated in the evolution of networked technologies that interlink with the development of new theories and approaches to learning and teaching in higher education. His current research interest is in how ecological/biological understandings of thinking interrelate with the affordances of social media to create new modes of learning, and what these might mean for the future of higher education. Stanley is enactivist on Twitter and has a blog at www.enactivist.net .

Matthew Gitsham

Matt is Director of the Ashridge Centre for Business and Sustainability at Ashridge Business School. He works with colleagues across the Ashridge faculty to promote thought leadership around organisational change, leadership development and sustainability. He has recently led research exploring CEO perspectives on the implications of sustainability for leadership development. This was conducted in partnership with the Academy of Business in Society and the United Nations, and sponsored by Shell, Unilever, IBM, Johnson&Johnson and Microsoft. He is currently leading a major research study ‘Leading Organisations of Tomorrow’ exploring examples of innovation in leadership development in a changing global context at IBM, HSBC, Ernst&Young, IMC Group, Bovis Lend Lease, InterfaceFLOR, Fairmount Minerals and Sky.

He teaches on a range of Ashridge executive and qualification programmes, including the MBA, and is Programme Director for the Integrating Corporate Responsibility programme. Matt is widely published and a frequent contributor to industry and academic conferences. He is an elected member of the academic board of the Academy of Business and Society and a visiting tutor at Antwerp Business School. Matt frequently acts as an advisor to organisations on their sustainability strategies.

Matt was awarded the 2010 ‘Rising Star’ award as part of the Academy of Business in Society-Aspen Institute European Faculty Pioneer Awards, which are made annually to honour European Business School faculty who have demonstrated great vision and outstanding leadership in integrating the principles of sustainable development into research, education and learning, student communities and corporate practice.

Margaret Jackson AC

Margaret Jackson is Chairman of FlexiGroup Ltd and a Director of Billabong International Ltd. She is also President of Australian Volunteers International and the Advisory Board Chairman for the Salvation Army Southern Territory.

Margaret holds a Bachelor of Economics Degree from Monash University and completed an MBA with distinction at Melbourne University.

She received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Monash University in December 2002 and a Companion of the Order of Australia in the General Division (AC) in June 2003 for service to business in diverse and leading Australian corporations and to the community in the area of support for medical research, the arts and education and was awarded the Centenerary Medal in 2001 for service to Australian society in Business Leadership.

In 2006 Margaret was awarded the Institute of Chartered Accountants Meritorious Service Award, for outstanding service to the profession and in particular The Institute of Chartered Accountants and that year also received Melbourne Business School’s Inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award. She is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Margaret has also served as Chairman of Qantas, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, Deputy Chairman of Southcorp Limited, and a director of The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited, The Australian and New Zealand Banking Corporation, Pacific Dunlop Limited, John Fairfax Holdings Limited and Telecom Australia. She Chaired the Steering Committee for the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy Report on behalf of the Hon. Martin Ferguson. Margaret has also served on a diversion range of charitable and not for profit entities over the last 30 years.

Michael Segon

Michael Segon is Senior Lecturer in the Graduate School of Business and Law at the RMIT University, specialising in Ethics CSR & Governance. He is the former Director, Deputy Director of the MBA and Associate Director Academic in the GSB&L at RMIT.

He has authored over 30 papers and published works in the field of applied business ethics and has provided ethics commentary for Australian TV and Radio and holds the title of Professor of Business Ethics with the Malaysian Business Ethics Institute.

From 2002-2007 he was the Integrity Specialist at KPMG Australia and currently is Senior Consultant Ethics and Integrity with national Australian firm, McGrath Nicol. He has worked with companies such as Coles Myer, Fonterra, Qantas and various State and Local Government Authorities in Australia, conducting ethics audits, ethics training and assisting with the development of organisational ethics systems. He also made a significant contribution to the Ethics Resource Kit published by the Victorian Government’s State Services Authority of Victoria.

In addition to his research and consulting in applied ethics, he has undertaken research and published journal articles examining pedagogical issues related to quality MBA programs, the use of simulations and reflective practice in MBAs and currently is examining the capabilities or competencies expected of MBA Graduates by business leaders and organisations.

Suresh Sood

Caught a case of digital business diphtheria? Feeling a bit like Fred Flintstone? Synaptic overload? If one more person talks about the "latest" social media buzz are you going to look for a big fat analogue rock and hide under it? Well, Suresh brings a rare blend of two decades of practical hands on experience with an ability to educate executives and create real business change, develop winning business strategy and innovative technology know how to support select clients as trusted advisor. Today, his primary focus is the application of mobile social technologies and e-commerce to build communities transforming customer relationships and underlying business processes directly impacting the cost and delivery of products and services.

Currently, Suresh manages and leads consulting engagements shifting offline businesses to embrace online environments and social media channels. Working with key clients Suresh works through the entire life cycle from initial client engagement, proposal development through to hands on completion of delivery including technology deployment and organisational change management. A key focus of early stage activity with clients is the acquisition of new customers using social  media. 

As past Senior Vice-President Business Development with Reuters, Suresh writes numerous thought leadership articles on social media and presents at a variety of local and global conferences. Suresh holds a BSC (Hons) in Physics   from London University and an MBA from University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Suresh earned his doctorate from UTS studying consumer stories relating to luxury goods, travel destinations and fashion labels occurring in social media. Currently, his postdoctoral research activities extend to developing software for sensemaking brand consumer interactions in naturalistic settings to uncover the primal forces individual consumers experience with iconic brands and tell in stories within social networks.

Lee Styger

Lee Styger is the MBA Director for the Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong.  He has over 25 years experience in innovation, change management and sustainability and has worked with companies such as BAE, Rolls Royce and BMW. Throughout his career Lee has maintained strong industry and academic links and developed a unique publications and research portfolio.  He has developed and delivered postgraduate programs in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. Lee maintains close links with both his international academic and industrial contacts and consults for leading companies and government agencies around the world.

Suzanne Young

Dr. Young is an Associate Professor at La Trobe University Graduate School of Management (GSM), where she has worked since 2005. Dr Young has been an academic for over ten years, lecturing in both undergraduate and postgraduate programs in corporate governance, corporate responsibility, management, organisational behaviour, organisational theory, employee relations, and strategic management.

As the Director of Corporate Responsibility and Global Citizenship she has been influential in the GSM becoming a signatory to the UN Principles of Responsible Management Education and is responsible for developing relationships with industry and leading research consultancies in this area, operationalising the PRME initiative and integrating ‘responsibility’ holistically into the operations of the GSM.

Dr. Young has also taught extensively in international programs including Denmark, England, Vietnam, Mongolia, Singapore and Malaysia. She has been a visiting Professor at the Copenhagen Business School, lecturing in governance and corporate responsibility, and recently presented seminars in those areas at the University of York and Cardiff University.

Prior to moving to the education sector she worked in accounting and finance in the public health system, and in chartered accounting, business consulting, taxation and auditing. Dr. Young has experience in a number of executive positions including finance manager, chairperson and board memberships in the health and education sectors and in employee and employer associations.

Her research interests are in corporate governance and corporate responsibility, outsourcing, and employee relations and health sector management. Suzanne is the editor of a recently published book in the area of International Corporate Governance with international contributors from Italy, Norway and the UK.