Andrew Mencinsky awarded Chairman's Prize

AUTHOR: Editor   DATE: 03.06.05   ISSUE 1, 2005

Andrew said in his graduation ceremony speech, “at the conclusion of my studies I can look back and safely say my expectations of the MBA have been surpassed. The journey I commenced in 2002 has been challenging and exhilarating. It has also been transformational in three areas:

The recipient of the Chairman's Prize is the graduate who, in the final year of the MBA (Executive) program, best demonstrates the capabilities of corporate leadership and management.

Photo: Andrew Mencinsky

“Firstly, intellectual transformation. For the last two and a half years my mind hasn’t had a chance to rest. Secondly, professional transformation. The MBA prepared me for the next step. The MBA has given me frameworks and a toolset to apply to almost any management challenge.

“Finally, personal transformation. One of the first principles we were taught was ‘to manage others you must first manage yourself’. The rigorous and constant self-analysis the MBA requires has taught me to understand my own strengths and weaknesses, to more readily accept the fact we are human, vulnerable and imperfect.

“What then does the future hold for graduates in this hall? As graduates of Australia’s finest business school we have many opportunities open to us.

“There are people in this room who will determine the future of this country. Some will move into the corporate world, where decisions they make will contribute towards the economic prosperity of this nation. Others will move into government, where their management of public assets will develop the social and physical infrastructure underpinning our society.

“To my mind however, this great opportunity comes with an equally great obligation. This obligation is to improve life for all stakeholders in Australia. Not just shareholders, but also employees, our communities and customers. We exist in an environment where it is often left to market forces to create change. However markets can be imperfect. Externalities exist which distort market equilibria and result in a suboptimal distribution of social utility.

“As future leaders we have the opportunity to improve social utility, by considering and implementing the tenets of Corporate Social Responsibility. More than goodwill or strategic corporate philanthropy, Corporate Social Responsibility is a genuine attempt by a company to build meaningful relationships between itself and the rest of society.

“To be effective, corporate social responsibility must be integrated into day-to-day business, engage all stakeholders and include strategies to support individual managers to make socially responsible decisions, conform to ethical behaviour and obey the law,” said Andrew Mencinsky.

417 students graduated from AGSM on 3 June 2005- 4 Ph.D, 40 full-time MBA, 287 MBA (Executive), 2 Hong Kong MBA, 43 GDM, 33 GCM and 8 GCCM.

Full transcript of speech. (pdf)