South Australia’s Flinders University continues to ramp up the focus on its growing suite of MBA programs with the appointment of new Director Associate Professor Angie Shafei and Deputy Director Dr Afshin Tanouri.
They bring extensive expertise from the private and public sector to lead the Flinders MBA program towards the latest Industry 5.0 pathways and to foster new and closer industry partnerships to help address skills shortages and prepare leaders for the fast-evolving digital world.
“Our MBA has been led by esteemed industry leaders and is empowering talented graduates and future leaders with unprecedented capabilities and knowledge,” says new Flinders MBA director Associate Professor Shafei, who has more than 25 years’ experience in industry and academia in Australia, Asia-Pacific, Europe and North Africa.
Associate Professor Shafei brings a wealth of interdisciplinary expertise to the role. With a Doctorate in Business Administration as well as a Doctorate in Medicine, her areas of expertise include digital transformation and innovation in health, specialising in using emerging technologies for improving healthcare delivery and patient-centred care.
“Our future Industry 5.0 leaders need human-centric skills and competencies to manage future workforces and adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things, blockchain and much more. Utilising innovative and sustainable management approaches that also consider environmental and societal impacts is paramount,” says Associate Professor Shafei.
“With green credentials and rated among the world’s most liveable cities, Adelaide has seen a technology boom, world-class health resources and facilities and an abundance of work opportunities for international graduates.
“Our flexible and individually tailored courses have sustainability, resilience and ‘human-centricity’ embedded throughout as well as extensive industry-focused engagement through work-integrated learning and entrepreneurship programs in defence, advanced manufacturing, wine and tourism. These many and varied industry-focused MBA options are expanding to the space sector in 2023.”
Deputy director Dr Tanouri is a marketing specialist with a PhD from the University of Canterbury as well as industry experience in pharmaceutical, automotive and publishing. His areas of expertise include gamification and digital marketing, right through to social marketing and transformative services research.
“The rise of AI and digital technologies is blurring the line between the world we used to know and the digital world,” he says. “Not only does this transform the way we live and work but also comes with new opportunities for growth and innovation for businesses and society.
“More than ever, businesses now need people with a blend of technical, interpersonal and analytical skills as well as critical thinking and willingness to continuously learn and adapt and understand the ethical implications of technology use,” says Dr Tanouri.
“Flinders’ new MBA gives students hands-on interdisciplinary curriculum and develops their technical and soft skills, as well as critical thinking such as ethical awareness to prepare them to effectively operate in the rapidly changing world of AI and digital technologies.”
The Flinders MBA options include:
- MBA Future Business – 12-month accelerated program with up to 26 weeks’ industry exposure
- MBA Industry Focused – 2 year program with emphasis on building links with industry and networking, including up to 36 weeks of industry exposure
- MBA Specialisations – 2-year program to specialise on one of the six areas of business analytics, finance, international business, human resource management, marketing or healthcare management, also with up to 36 weeks of industry exposure.
This combination of technical, scientific and business skills make Flinders PhD-MBAs attractive to a wider range of employers and helps them to drive innovation in their respective field of enterprise and to succeed in industry or academic ventures.
Professor Michael Gilding, the Vice-President and Executive Dean of Flinders University’s College of Business, Government and Law, says demand for the progressive 12-month and 2-year MBA programs is growing to unprecedented levels. “Its rising popularity shows that Flinders has built capabilities in areas that are relevant to MBA graduates. As borders for international students reopen, we are also pleased to offer online courses as well as face-to-face and out-of-hours options,” says Professor Gilding. Flinders University is ranked Australia’s #1 top University for overall education experience in postgraduate Business and Management studies (Good Universities Guide, 2021).
