January 28, 2016

Business academic chosen for UN advisory committee

Academic to represent Australia and New Zealand in mission to advance responsible management education.   

UOW business academic Dr Belinda Gibbons has been chosen to represent Australia and New Zealand on a new United Nations advisory committee tasked with championing responsible management education, research and thought leadership globally. 

The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) advisory committee had its first meeting in Budapest last week (24-15 January), with representatives from 20 business schools around the world attending. 

In the two years she will hold a permanent place on the committee, Dr Gibbons and her committee colleagues will seek to improve management education in order to develop a new generation of business leaders capable of managing the complex challenges faced by business and society in the 21st century. 

“I look forward to working with PRME Chapter members from around the world, in particular being able to provide a stronger voice for the Australia/New Zealand region in regards to the global direction of responsible management education,” she said. 

Dr Gibbons is a Lecturer in the School of Management, Operations and Marketing at UOW as well as the PRME Faculty Coordinator and the PRME Australia/New Zealand Coordinator.  

Receiving her doctorate from UOW in 2015, Dr Gibbons’ research focuses on business education and experiential learning, in particular responsible and sustainable management decision-making.  

In 2014, she won the Vice-Chancellor’s Outstanding Contribution to Teaching & Learning award for her coordination of a final year interdisciplinary subject focused on socially innovative commerce. 

“Business higher education institutions, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, sit in the fortunate position of educating the decision-makers of the future,” she said. 

“Providing graduates with an awareness of the consequences of their decisions on the environment, society and the economy early in their business education journey allows the opportunity for questioning and discovery and lays the foundation upon which their careers and life experiences will grow.” 

Dr Gibbons has also designed and developed a web-based total-enterprise computer simulation (IDLE) for use in a business capstone subject. IDLE recently won the NSW iAwards for information, communication and technology innovation and previously won the 2011 UOW Trailblazer award for potential innovative products.  

Acting Executive Dean of the Faculty of Business Associate Professor Grace McCarthy said Dr Gibbons’ appointment to the UN committee highlighted the distinctive quality of business education at UOW. 

“In all our courses, we aim to inspire students to consider the implication of business decisions for all stakeholders and to develop innovative sustainable solutions. 

“We are delighted that our commitment to the Principles of Responsible Management Education has been recognised by  Dr Gibbons’ appointment to this prestigious UN advisory committee.”