Statement in response to the Business Council of Australia report entitled “New Focus Needed on Business Innovation”, released 13 March, 2006 (PDF 31KB)
Extracts from BCA Report “New Focus Needed on Business Innovation”: The full report is available here: http://www.bca.com.au/content.asp?newsid=99520
“…Employers are concerned about the lack of skills regarding creativity, initiative, oral business communication and problem solving among graduates.”
“Courses and programs in these areas needed to be practice-based, relevant and appropriate for business innovation needs – rather than suiting particular academic interests and pursuits.”
In response to the BCA report, Bond University Chancellor Trevor Rowe, AM, said; “Bond University differentiates itself by addressing these very issues – through providing a unique, intensely practical professional development approach across every Faculty and discipline.”
“We focus on real-life scenarios where technical skills and theoretical knowledge are challenged by the workplace complexities of strategic, economic, competitive, human and political issues.
“In employer surveys, we are commended that our graduates are distinguished by their practical, industry-relevant knowledge; that they have the ability to hit the ground running and make an immediate impact on an organisation.
“This employer sentiment is further evident through the five-star graduate starting salaries afforded to our graduates.
“Bond University is no ordinary university. Our individual approach and small size (approximately 2,500 students) allows us to be responsive to both the individual student’s needs and the wider needs of industry.
“Our Business programs for instance, are characterised by a hands-on, entrepreneurial approach, with a focus on actual corporate case-studies, and projects that include working directly with established businesses.
“Successes such as our MBA team’s win in the John Heine Entrepreneurial Challenge (JHEC) - Australia’s premier business planning competition – tell us that we are doing this well.
“The judging panel, which consisted of some of Australia’s foremost venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and CEOs, said the team’s innovative approach and practical application of their business knowledge stood them apart from competing university teams.
“And we apply the same practice-based approach across all our Faculties. We have the only Australian Law School to combine traditional tuition with a practical, Legal Skills component, we have International Relations students travelling to China to take part in simulated United Nations conferences, and medical students practising their clinical skills in real-life doctor-patient scenarios.
“I am confident that we are leading the way in Australia in delivering practice-based, relevant and appropriate programs that are yielding workplace-ready graduates who have the initiative, enterprise and ambition to make a meaningful contribution to industry.”
Mr Trevor C Rowe, AM, is Chancellor of Bond University on the Gold Coast. Australia’s first private, not-for-profit University.
