The Australian Institute of Business has expanded its MBA faculty of expert Industry Guest Lecturers with 19 new influential business leaders.
These recent additions include Martin Herbst (Asia Pacific General Manager, eBay Classifieds Group – Gumtree), Cain Cooke (General Manager, CIBO Espresso), Lee Stewart (Head of Sustainability, Fujitsu Oceania) and Barry Trubridge (Partner of PWC.)
AIB’s Industry Partnerships were introduced to replace outdated textbook theories and traditional means of education with lessons and lectures from real business professionals, giving AIB’s MBA units a strong dose of reality and relevance.
As a result, the partnerships give students the opportunity to learn from the best in business, strengthening the practical learning journey and industry linkage for the AIB student community, over 90% of which are working professionals.
“We introduced Industry Guest Lecturers last year and the feedback to date from our student community has been hugely positive,” AIB CEO Paul Wappett said.
“The linkage between education and what is happening in industry today is so important, and these industry experts add another layer to that for our students.
“We’re excited to welcome Martin, Barry and all of the innovative leaders that will be guest lecturing with us this year.”
Gumtree Australia General Manager Martin Herbst said he was excited to be joining the AIB Industry Guest Lecturer team.
He has 15 years’ experience launching and leading eCommerce and digital media brands, with previous roles at Wall Street Journal and PayPal.
“I’m really excited to be presenting on Strategic Management and Managing People in a Global Context. I’ll be sharing insights from my career and current role leading global teams in Australia and Hong Kong that are driving solid growth in both user metrics and revenue for leading online marketplaces Gumtree Australia and Gumtree Singapore,” Mr Herbst said.
PWC Partner Barry Trubridge’s contribution to the program will be as guest lecturer in the MBA subject Managing Change. With over 20 years’ experience in the financial sector, defining and executing retail banking and wealth business strategies, Mr Trubridge has held consulting, general management and executive leadership roles in the UK, Switzerland and Australia.
“Connecting change to an overarching purpose and ensuring that all leaders understand why it is needed is absolutely critical. You’ve got to be in touch with the real world, get real feedback and understand where real people are at with the change,” he said.
Other recently announced Industry Guest Lecturers include: Andre Moten (Chief Operating Officer Aus & NZ, Corporate Travel Management) David Fechner (Partner, BDO Australia) Natalie Truong (Head of B2B Marketing, Pacific, Mercer) Rohan Higgins (CFO, Kyocera Document Solutions Australasia) Tracie Deegan (General Manager, HR & Development, Alliance Airlines).
