Media Release
January 14 2008
Indulge your mind – improve your business
In
a first for Australia, UniSA’s
International Graduate School of Business is launching an exciting
new pathway to learning for senior business professionals at executive
management level that guarantees to enrich their minds with high-level
business knowledge that applies to their businesses.
As part of the Executive Doctorate of Business Administration program
launch, Associate Professor: Management,
Bruce Gurd will speak on the business conundrum of how business
success results from binning the budget in a seminar entitled
Business success = bin the budget?
Budgeting processes have been under the microscope for the last two
decades. From Europe Prof Gurd reports on the radical idea of abandoning
budgets altogether – the “Beyond
Budgeting” movement.
Annual budgeting cycle and monthly comparisons against budgets are part
of the fabric of most organisations, according to Prof Gurd.
So how could an organisation just bin its budgets?
“The radical part of Beyond Budgeting is not the binning of the budget
but the shift from a command and control hierarchical model to an
adaptive decentralised organisation,” Prof Gurd said.
“Perhaps this explains why the Scandinavian companies have led the world
in moving beyond budgets. They have strong cultures of trust and are
willing to decentralise,” he said.
“While many managers might find the idea of abandoning budgets
attractive, Sydney Water is one of few Australian organisations that
have taken the plunge,” he said. “What does the research evidence tell
us about the role of budgets in Australian organisations? Is it just
that Australian managers lack that sense of adventure?”
Like to know more about this business conundrum? Prof Gurd will discuss
this and other topics at the launch seminar.
Executive Doctorate of Business Administration (EDBA)
The EDBA program explores in-depth the leading edge literature in eight
key management fields without the narrow research focus of a traditional
PhD. It helps participants to find new management ideas to stay ahead of
the pack and to keep up-to-date with business thinking that’s relevant
to their business.
An alternative to in-house executive development programs or short
courses that lack depth, innovation and recognition, the EDBA gives
participants the chance to indulge their minds with challenging thinking
while improving the performance of their businesses by working on
practical applications based on their learning. The EDBA goes beyond the
accepted business norms to investigate the principles that will build
the theory of tomorrow.
Prof Gurd will be joined by EDBA Program Director
Dr Marguerite Kolar at the launch seminar
Business success = bin the budget?
Wednesday 30 January
6pm for 6.30pm start
Bradley Forum, Hawke Building
City West campus, University of South Australia
The seminar will also be an opportunity for people to find out more
about the EDBA program including content, assessment and learning
outcomes.
To register call Chou Tea on 8302 0504 or
register online.
Associate Professor Bruce Gurd
Bruce Gurd is a researcher and educator in management control systems at
UniSA’s International Graduate School of Business. His main research
interests are in performance measurement systems and activity-based
costing. He is supervising research in the area of the theory of
constraints and the balanced scorecard. His research areas and those of
his PhD students include alignment of stakeholder expectations and
management control systems; the balanced scorecard in Chinese hospitals;
the role of the financial manager in family business, and the theory of
constraints.
ENDS
Contact for interview
- Associate Professor Bruce Gurd office (08) 8302 0288 mobile 0423 782 790 email bruce.gurd@unisa.edu.au
- Dr Marguerite Kolar office (08) 8302 0430 email marguerite.kolar@unisa.edu.au
Media contact
- Geraldine Hinter office (08) 8302 0963 mobile 0417 861832 email geraldine.hinter@unisa.edu.au