Distinguished Business Speaker Series
The School of Business Distinguished Business Speaker Series invites business commentators to Dunedin to address students, staff and the local community.
We aim to provide our students and members of the community with opportunities to hear from business people in person. These speakers will have much to offer a broad range of individuals in the form of experiences, knowledge and insights, triumphs and heartbreaks.
Previous Distinguished Business Speakers:
2010 - Mr Chris Mace (CNZM), NIWA Chairman
2009 - Mr Andrew Bagnall, Founder, Gullivers Travel
2008 - Geoffrey Davies OBE, 2007/08 British Chamber of Commerce National Entrepreneur of the Year
2007 - Dr Nevile Bain
2006 - Dr Kathy Brittain White, President & Chairman of Rural Sourcing Inc.
2005 - Mr John Anderson, Company Director & Founder of Contiki
2003 - Mr Stephen Tindall, Founder & Managing Director of The Warehouse
2001 - Mr Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi and Saatchi
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| Chris Mace, CNZM NIWA Chairman |
2010
Mr Chris Mace, CNZM
"A pathway formed – a personal perspective"
When: 5.30pm, Tues 19 October 2010
Where: Castle 1 Lecture Theatre
All staff, students and general public are welcome to attend this lecture.
Bio: Like so many of his generation, Chris left school at the age of fifteen. He embarked upon an interesting business journey culminating in him becoming a director and principal of one of Australasia’s largest companies.
A diverse range of sporting and community interests and government assignments provide an extra dimension to his successful business career and a valuable insight into the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
Following the restructuring of the Crown research sector in the early 1990s he chaired the Crown Research Institute ESR and later the New Zealand Antarctic Institute – Antarctica New Zealand. Chris takes a strong interest in education and scientific research. He was a founding Trustee of the Sir Peter Blake Trust and continues as a trustee of the Antarctic Heritage Trust. He also works closely with the tertiary sector with a particular focus on marine science and research.
In 2004 Chris was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to Antarctica and the community. He was appointed Chairman of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in July 2009.
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| Andrew Bagnall Founder, Gullivers Travel |
2009
Mr Andrew Bagnall
"Entrepreneurship in a New World"
Download Andrew's speech here
Andrew's rules for aspiring entrepreneurs:
#1: Make your own opportunities – do not wait for others to lead the way.
#2: Always expect other people to change the rules on you.
#3: Always believe there is a way. Never let the past dictate the future.
#4: If you have a market advantage, expect others to play by different rules.
#5: Never give up.Persistence is everything.
#6: Always be at the leading edge of technology.
Bio: Andrew grew up in Wellington, and would later complete a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Otago, and also an MBA at Michigan State University, USA.
In 1976 he founded Gullivers Travel. From an initial staff of three the business grew both organically and by acquisition to become the major distributor of wholesale and retail travel services in New Zealand, with annual sales approaching $1.0 Billion. In 2004 Andrew completed an IPO for the Travel Group selling 65% and listing on both the NZX and ASX. Subsequently in 2006 he, together with all shareholders, cashed out. The listed Gullivers Travel Group being acquired at a substantial premium by Australian interests.
During the period of building the travel business Andrew also found time to keep abreast of global business developments through refresher courses at Harvard University. Investments early in the kiwifruit boom and the property collapse after 1987 were salutatory lessons and led to co-developing two of New Zealand’s first commercial retirement villages – including the doyenne Remuera Gardens.
Andrew’s ideas of Entrepreneurship have been honed at the cutting edge of industries subjected to intense competition with frequent and often radical changes. It is in this arena of a changing environment brought about by technology, innovation and a growing borderless new world that he sees opportunities for New Zealand Entrepreneurs.
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| Geoffrey Davies OBE British Chamber of Commerce National Entrepreneur of the Year 2007/2008 |
2008
Mr Geoffrey Davies, OBE
"Risks, Gambles and Growing A Global Business"
Brought up in New Zealand, Geoffrey left for England as a young man and secured a BSc Degree at Liverpool University, a BA(Hons) and Master of Science Degree from Manchester University and then a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies from Keele University. Upon leaving the Navy, Geoffrey started his successful career in Industry. Rubery Owen gave Geoffrey his first real business achievements before setting out on his own.
As the Chief Operating Officer of Alamo Group Europe and Vice President of Alamo Group Inc. (USA), with 22 operating companies and an annual turnover in excess of NZ$800 million, Geoffrey Davies won the British Chamber of Commerce National Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2007/8. This award was in recognition of his record in rescuing under-performing companies in the manufacturing sector and transforming them into aggressive, world class concerns.
Geoffrey’s group of companies has won numerous National and International business awards including The Queen’s Award for Enterprise. He has a particularly strong record and reputation for turning businesses around. He lectures, as a guest lecturer, at Harper Adams University College, and sponsors five undergraduates a year, with 25 currently on the programme. Geoffrey writes a regular business column for a well known newspaper, and in 2004 was awarded an OBE by the Queen for 30 years service to British Agriculture.
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| Dr Nevile Bain Distinguished Speaker |
2007
Dr Nevile Bain
"Reputation Is All"
Dr Bain is an experienced former CEO, company chairman and non-executive director who has worked internationally in his career. He spent 27 years at Cadbury Schweppes plc and was Finance Director and later CEO of the listed group in South Africa, and in the UK, Group Strategy Director, before running the worldwide Confectionery business. Finally he was appointed Group Finance Director and Deputy Chief Executive. He was then head-hunted to run Coats Viyella, a world wide clothing, fashion and textile group, and later moved into a portfolio career of non-executive roles, and investing and participating in smaller businesses.
Dr Bain’s seminar “Reputation Is All” focused on the idea that reputation is an important driver of value in an organisation, and equally so for an individual. It takes time to build and can be so easily lost through carelessness, or a lack of focus by the organisation. Reputation management is much more than having good public relations, and a crisis management process in house. Reputation is also a driver of the value of an individual. There is also a wider aspect in that countries can establish a reputation that can either be a magnet for inward investment, or an impediment to trading with them.
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| Kathy B. White Rural Sourcing Inc. |
2006
Dr Kathy Brittain White
The Workforce of the Future: the Case for Virtual Sourcing
Leading the charge of Rural Sourcing in the US, the School of Business's 2006 Distinguished Business Speaker, Dr Kathy Brittain White discussed how New Zealand can revitalise its economy through establishing technology hubs in our rural centres – essentially allowing our graduates to work in their home towns rather than have to move to the larger centres such as Auckland for work. Named one of the most powerful women in business by Forbes magazine, Kathy is President and Chairman of the Board of Arkansas Rural Sourcing Inc - a non-profit organisation serving the technology needs of the Arkansas Delta, a Director of Mattel, and founder of the Horizon Institute of Technology.
See news clip from TVNZ's ASB Business - 9 August 2006: " Business: One of America's top businesswomen (3:15)"
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| John Anderson Founder Contiki Tours and the Ellerslie Flower Show |
2005
Mr John Anderson
An Entrepreneur’s Story: Living and Creating the Dream
Company Director and Founder of Contiki – an international brand and one of the world’s major tour operators; the Ellerslie Flower Show and the Great Gathering.
Mr Anderson is one of New Zealand’s best entrepreneurial successes. At the age of 22, having sold his bicycle and cashed in his stocks, he left his hometown of Wellington for England on a one year Overseas Experience (OE). He returned 20 years later with his wife, four children and the international tourism business – Contiki Holidays.
When he sold Contiki Holidays some years ago, it was and remains one of the world’s major tour operators (the largest catering exclusively for 18-35 years olds) and is established as an international ‘Brand’ name. Perhaps the only truly international brand (apart from primary products) created by a New Zealander. After 43 years the brand has stood the test of time. Some 1.7 million people have taken a Contiki tour including 260,000 New Zealanders.
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| Stephen Tindall Founder, The Warehouse |
2003
Mr Stephen Tindall
It’s Not Just About Red Sheds! Business Advice for Budding Entrepreneurs.
Founder and Managing Director of The Warehouse, Managing Director, The Warehouse Group Limited, Founder and Trustee, The Tindall Foundation, Founder and Trustee, Alay Buhay Educational Foundation, Member, Prime Minister’s Enterprise Council Member, New Zealand Science and Innovation Council, Chairman, New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development.
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2001
Mr Kevin Roberts
What’s So Funny ’Bout Peace, Love and Understanding?
CEO Worldwide, Saatchi and Saatchi, Co-founder The New Zealand Edge, Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Waikato Management School, University of Waikato, and the University of Limerick, Ireland.
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