A MESSAGE FROM

DIRECTOR OF
POSTGRADUATE
STUDENTS
I warmly welcome you to the Newcastle Business School at the Faculty of Business and Law.
The Faculty introduced the MBA program in 1977 and is one of Australias oldest providers
of postgraduate business education. Since introducing the MBA, the Faculty has expanded its
offerings to include masters degrees in accounting, fnance, human resource management,
international business and marketing.
We pride ourselves in offering innovative, cutting-edge postgraduate business programs that
integrate theory and practice with integrity, and educate students to meet the demands of the
global marketplace.
The Newcastle Business School is well-positioned to continually adapt its postgraduate programs
to provide you with the knowledge, skills and character you need to be a successful professional
in todays fast changing world. Our curriculum refects best practices in business education and
courses are offered through a range of delivery modes to cater to the demanding commitments
experienced by both full-time students and business professionals.
Our talented academic staff are dedicated to the creation and dissemination of new knowledge,
and to ensuring that the learning experience of our students is of the highest standard.
The School provides a culturally rich learning environment with students from over 25 countries.
To help you achieve your full potential, we offer a range of student support services, including the
Meet the Manager series, Skills Enhancement Program, the Learning Development workshops,
the Peer Mentoring Program, the employment skills development program and the social
engagement program.
I wish you all the best in your studies and hope that you have a wonderful time at the Newcastle
Business School.
Associate Professor Abul Shamsuddin
Director, Postgraduate Studies
Newcastle Business School
Associate Professore Abul Shamsuddin
Director of postgraduate students
IN THIS ISSUE
Welcome
Student profle
Sydney Presence
From Theory to Practice
Staff Teaching Awards
Congratulations
Facebook and Twitter
Skills Enhancement Program
Global Management Challenge
Staff profle
Multicultural night
Hong Kong campus
Contact
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STAFF MEMBER
PROFILE
DR SUZANNE RYAN
MULTICULTURAL
NIGHT
On Friday October 9, the postgraduate coursework students,
supported by our administrative and academic staff at City
Precinct, organised a multicultural night which was held at the
Newcastle Conservatorium of Music.
Over 220 students and staff attended the night, which forms
part of the Facultys commitment to diversity. The aim of the
evening is to create social interaction among our students that
enriches our understanding of different cultures, beliefs and
values, and how these differences fourish in a harmonious
school.
Most importantly though, the multicultural night was fun. The
music, dancing, photos and fashion display were a perfect
kick-off to the evening which, in true multicultural fashion,
ended in a cornucopia of food.
The night also strengthened the city precinct and facultys
links with local and national government. The Newcastle Lord
Mayor, John Tate, and the Federal Member for Newcastle,
Sharon Grierson, were deeply impressed by the atmosphere of
the evening and both expressed their commitment to ensure a
safe environment for all our students.
We look forward to the next multicultural night. If you have any
suggestions or comments, please email postgraduate-nbs@
newcastle.edu.au
To view more photos from the Night visit www.newcastle.edu.au/school/
business/postgraduate-business/events/multicultural-night.html
Suzanne is the longest serving member of staff, having been
associated with the University of Newcastle for over 25 years.
During this time, she has taught and advised students from all
over the world and remains in contact with many of them. As
an undergraduate, her studies were in the social sciences and
humanities. She worked as a policy advisor and consultant
to various levels of government before completing her MBA
and settling into university life and business studies, especially
organisation theory. Her PhD and continuing research interests
lie in the analysis of higher education systems, business
schools and business education. Her underlying passion is
that business graduates leave their studies with the skills
and knowledge to make a difference in their workplace and
communities now and in the future.
Suzanne teaches one of the frst courses in the Master of
Business Administration (MBA), Master of Business (MBus)
and Master of Human Resource Management (MHRM):
Management and Organisation Behaviour. This is important
because her position as program convenor for the MBA
and MBus, allows her to meet most of the students in these
programs and provide them with advice over the course of
their studies. In recent years, Suzanne has also been teaching
research courses within the DBA program. She is honoured
that she has the opportunity to teach students from such
diverse countries and backgrounds and relishes the way that
every class provides her with a learning experience of her own.
During her career at the University of Newcastle, Suzanne has
undertaken many administrative and developmental duties,
including the Academic Integrity Project of which she is most
proud. This project was introduced into the University to
provide both staff and students with a common understanding
of behaviours associated with academic integrity and the tools
to both promote it and deter misconduct. As a result of the
project, the University has codes of conduct, tools for clarifying
and improving teaching, research, writing and assessments.
Turnitin was introduced primarily to assist students to learn
about and avoid plagiarism, and only in extreme cases to
provide evidence that it has taken place.
Filipino students performing the Bulaklakan dance
AWARD WINNING TEACHERS
Excellent professional education develops mastery of
a discipline area, and teaches the skills needed to do a
particular job. But an Human Resource Management (HRM)
or Employment Relations (ER) professional needs to learn
more than this. HRM/ER professionals work as advisors to
and advocates for, as well as managers of, people. They are
frequently required to fnd a solution to very complex workplace
challenges. They must be able to put a strong and reasoned
argument for a particular way forward, based on a deep
theoretical as well as a practical understanding of different
views. In many senses, this is the most critical role that they
play at work.

To develop students comfort with addressing these workplace
challenges, we are employing problem-based learning (PBL)
principles in our MHRM courses. In general terms, PBL
organises learning around a real-world problem. The student
is supported through teamwork, as well as by their teacher,
who provides information and support. But effective students
quickly learn they are responsible for their own learning, much
as they will be when they are faced with challenges at work.
Use of PBL helps us to graduate high-calibre professionals who
are a credit to themselves and the University of Newcastle.
Dr Johanna Macneil
Senior Lecturer
Vice-Chancellors Citations for Outstanding
Contributions to Student Learning for 2009
This year I was awarded the Vice-Chancellors Award for
Teaching Excellence and Learning Support in the Faculty of
Business and Law. As a recipient of my disciplines award
for excellence in 2008, receiving the award of Outstanding
Educator in the Discipline of Management, I was nominated to
the Faculty level award based on my consistently high teaching
evaluations and my pedagogical commitment to student-
focused learning that is guided by clear teaching principles
refecting best-practice in higher education.
One such principle is that I believe in setting clear expectations
and standards, and holding both myself and my students to
these standards. I design assessment to serve both summative
and formative purposes and I provide learning supports to
foster cumulative learning through assessment. With this
approach, I provide my students with the building blocks to
meet the high standards we hold at Newcastle Business School
and I ensure that our graduates are second to none.
Dr Brendan Boyle
Lecturer
Vice-Chancellors Award for Teaching
Excellence
Christiaan McComb
Lecturer
Australian College of Educators Award
I recently won a student-nominated award from the Australian
College of Educators for online teaching. The certifcate
I received reads for encouraging, empathising, inspiring
and motivating us. A big thank you to the six students who
nominated me!
Online lecturers and students will know that the online learning
environment can be a challenging one. I remind myself that
good course design is important to learning, but it is only
one half of the story. A big challenge for lecturers, (especially
online), is to be able to engage in relationships with students to
promote their learning. This begins with realising that students
are people too, often juggling work, family and study, and
understanding the implications of these other commitments for
their studies. As adult learners, students need encouragement,
empathy, and a bit of good old fashioned fun whilst they learn!
It may sound like a simple strategy but as the certifcate I
received says, they then feel inspired and motivated to
learn - such is the power of the learning relationship!
Congratulations to Dr Marcus Rodrigs for winning the
Australian College of Educators (ACE) award for 2009. Dr
Marcus Rodrigs also won the ACE award as well as the Vice
Chancellors Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student
Learning in 2008. According to his students, what separates
Marcus from other teachers is his great ability to transfer
knowledge in a fun but effcient manner. By bringing out the
best in each student, he encourages students to strive for
excellence rather than to settle for mediocrity.
We as students are privileged that he not only cares for us in
class but also outside of class. If students have a personal
problem or issue, Marcus is always there to help. That is
a great comfort when you travel across the world to study.
Newcastle Business School is very lucky to have Dr Marcus
Rodrigs as a lecturer because of his unique ability to connect
with students from all around the world.
Written by MBA student, Anders Akerstrom (one of the
students who nominated Marcus for this award).
Dr Marcus Rodrigs
Lecturer
Australian College of Educators Award
Become a fan of NBS postgraduate Facebook
Currently we have 173 fans :) . Find us at www.facebook.com and search for
Newcastle-Business-School postgraduate or, follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.
com and search for nbspostgrad.
GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
CHALLENGE
The Global Management Challenge (GMC) is a strategic
management simulator, which is played online as a competition
between university business schools around the world. The
frst round fnished on Friday 31 October and involved eight
graduate business schools in NSW.
The Newcastle Business School team members for 2009 were:
Anders Akerstrom (Norway), Gokul Bakthavatsalam (India),
Troy Fletcher (Australia), Darren Whitbourne (New Zealand)
and Christine Schreiner (Austria). According to the team
leader, Christine, having a team with such diverse backgrounds
made the game a wonderful learning experience.
The game was held over three weeks and required the team
to make two decisions about an international company twice
a week. Each strategy decision consisted of many smaller
decisions, for example, workforce size, R&D investment,
markets, distribution, pricing, product mix, use of funds and
general investment. The students were running a company
in competition with other players in the game. It demanded
knowledge from different areas such as fnance, accounting,
human resources, marketing, operations management and
strategy as well as a keen nerve, as the circumstances
changed quickly.
It was a valuable learning and worthwhile skill building exercise
for the Newcastle team members. Christine explains the game
as showing us the practical side of what we learn in class - it
is very exciting. But in the end, the game is just a game and
the real world operates differently; nevertheless, it was truly an
enjoyable experience.
L to R: Troy Fletcher, Christine Schreiner, Gokul Bakthavatsalam
Anders Akerstrom, and Darren Whitbourne.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE
SKILLS ENHANCEMENT
PROGRAM
SEP provides written communication
skills support to postgraduate
students at each of Newcastle
Business Schools locations. It
works on an entirely individual basis.
Rather than running classes for
groups of commencing students, it
focuses on each new individuals
particular bundle of communication
skill strengths and weaknesses.
These are assessed via the
skills assessment task handed out at the SEP session on
Orientation Day and sent by email to latecomers.
SEP focuses on general language skills grammar,
punctuation and style rather than on academic skills,
although SEP staff also comment on students skill at
constructing essays.
We are happy to look at marked work in order to help with
problems that may be affecting your performance.
Here are some reasons why you should seize the chance to
participate:
once you hand in your completed skills assessment task,
you receive a free Cambridge University Press grammar
text book
your written communication skills are analysed in detail
by SEP staff
skills advice is extensive and detailed, directing you to
those sections of the grammar text that will help your
particular needs
no marks are given and no records are sent to any central
university body
the whole process is individual: advice is sent via email
and marked work is returned individually to students.
Our objective is to make you a more skilled editor of your own
work at the drafting stage. If you have any questions, please
contact Jo at Jo.Killmister@newcastle.edu.au
Hi, my name is Jason Pauling. I would like to share my
experience of postgraduate study and, in particular,
postgraduate study at NBS in Newcastle.
My frst degree and early career were focused on science,
which, although interesting, offered a fairly restricted career
path. When I started my MBA, it was a signifcant change
from anything I had studied previously because it was initially
quite challenging to the way I saw the world and approached
problems.
Upon completion of my MBA, I soon made the transition from
technical scientist to manager of a quite large laboratory
operation. During this period, the skills provided by my studies
provided the opportunity to serve on the Whyalla Hospital
and Health Service board and, eventually, serve as deputy
chairperson to this organisation quite a step from my humble
science beginnings!
Currently, I work in a small fnancial frm, which presents very
different challenges from those of medium and large business
and, yet again, I am well equipped by my studies at NBS. I
have also just undertaken the role of president for Business
Charlestown Inc the business chamber of Charlestown. This
role provides further diversity and I very much look forward to
the challenges and opportunities of the year ahead.
The main point of my presenting my experiences is to highlight
the expansion in opportunities and career possibilities that
postgraduate study provides. That said, the experience yields
more than professional advantage. My best memories of the
course are the personal interactions (many of the friendships
remain) and the interpersonal debate that forces you to look
at the way you see yourself, the workplace and, perhaps, the
world.
If anyone is considering undertaking study with NBS but is
undecided, I would certainly suggest they factor in the many
positive aspects of the course in relation to skills, knowledge
and personal growth. I would certainly recommend the
postgraduate study experience to everyone.
JASON PAULING
MY NBS POSTGRADUATE
EXPERIENCE
SYDNEY PRESENCE
The University of Newcastle in Sydney was offcially launched
on 12 October 2009. Sydney Presence offers the Master of
Professional Accounting, Graduate Certifcate in Business
Administration and Master of Business programs as well as
the ELICOS program.
Sydney Presence is advantageously located in the heart of
Sydneys CBD with the Town Hall station, Darling Harbour and
Chinatown only a few minutes walk away. It is well equipped
with modern teaching and learning infrastructure including
wireless internet, a library, computer laboratory, study areas,
lecture theatres, on-site teaching and learning support and
state-of-the-art audiovisual facilities for video conferencing.
The director of Sydney Presence, Hock-Thye Chan, welcomes
students who are commencing their postgraduate and
ELICOS studies in 2010. Hock-Thye is committed to ensure a
positive learning experience for the students. He is located at
Level 11, 60 Bathurst Street in Sydney and can be contacted
via email at Hock-Thye.Chan@newcastle.edu.au
From left to right, Professor Gordon Boyce, Head of
Newcastle Business School, Hock-Thye Chan, Director,
Sydney Presence, and Professor Stephen Nicholas, Pro-Vice
Chancellor, Faculty of Business & Law.
Martin Matthews, partner, Forsythes Assurance & Risk
Services, enlightened our MPA students in their Auditing and
Assurance Services class on 11 November 2009 with his
presentation A practical overview of an audit service offering.
The objective was to help students hear from a practitioner,
and Martin was able to bridge the gap between theory and
practice. In a precise manner, he introduced students to the
ground rules of audit, the legal requirements and the different
types of audit before answering students queries.
FROM THEORY TO
PRACTICE
CONTACT US
If you have any comments, ideas or suggestions
regarding the newsletter, please contact Ann at:
T +61 2 4921 5968
F +61 2 4921 6127
E Ann.King@newcastle.edu.au
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J
HONG KONG
CAMPUS NEWS
Meet the HKMA administrative team
The Faculty of Business and Law has a well established and rewarding partnership
with the Hong Kong Management Association (HKMA), with highly successful
postgraduate programs having been taught intensively in Hong Kong since 2003.
The Faculty International Operations (FIO) unit within the Faculty of Business and
Law has developed friendly and professional relationships with the administrative
staff at HKMA. Together they strive to ensure that students receive the best possible
support and services throughout the year.
The HKMA administrative staff are pictured here at the November 2009 graduation
ceremony in Hong Kong. From left to right: Yung Yung, Mickey Lau, Miranda Kwok,
Lucy Lau, Francine Ngai and San Cheng.
In 2009, 23 students received their well deserved DBA degree. Three DBA students from
HKMA travelled to attend the October graduation ceremony in Newcastle.
Wai Bo Sinn - Knowledge Management Practices in Building Services Organizations in
Hong Kong: Four Case Studies
Hung Kwong Elton Yeung - Factors Affecting Employee Adoption and the Perceived
Effectiveness of E-Learning
Ping Fai Harris Tsang - An Evaluation of Outsourcing of Hong Kong Housing
Authoritys Property Management Services
Pictured from left to right: Wai Bo Sinn, Hung Kwong Elton Yeung, Suzanne Ryan and
Ping Fai Harris Tsang.
CONGRATULATIONS DBA GRADUATES!