SMI: Influencing the future
The SMI is a learning and networking organisation whose objective is to augment the effectiveness of the practice of Strategic Management. Specifically, the SMI’s charter is to contribute to knowledge in the field of strategic management. Formed in 2005, the fundamental principles of the SMI are to:
- Facilitate the personal development of the Strategy Professional
- Capture and align the combined knowledge of the strategy manager and make a positive contribution to the standard of Strategic Management practices to enhance the strength of the organisations with whom they work, through the development of individual skills and provision of strategically oriented, performance enhancing knowledge
Contributions to Knowledge
As discussed in the June 16 edition of BRW magazine, nothing short of a; revolution in management, and; significantly improved strategic management capabilities, are required if the ambitions of modern managers seeking to achieve greatness are to be realised. The SMI’s strategy accreditation and executive development programs are grounded in the knowledge and practice of managerial and teaching attributes that will equip the modern manager with practical ‘know how’ skills, as opposed to the more common theoretical perspectives that are better described as ‘know what’ skills.
The content of the following articles contributed to Leo D’Angelo Fisher’s article. They provide further insight into:
- issues that inhibit effective strategy (7 Inconvenient Truths of Strategy),
- problems and solutions that will provide managers with greater control over strategy, and
- insight into the management revolution that is required to deliver sustainable business outcomes - overall.
Read 'The Seven Inconvenient Truths of Strategy'
Read 'Reinventing Management; Transforming the Way we Manage, Communicate, Structure Organisations'
Read 'Skills in Strategy Creation and Execution The first step towards management greatness final'
Advisory Board
The SMI and CSP program is overseen by an advisory board made up of highly experienced and qualified academics and executives. Current members include:
Professor John Toohey: Professor of Organisational Behaviour, RMIT Graduate School of Business & Law; Previously International Dean, College of Business and Head, Graduate School of Business (RMIT); Principal and Deputy Director, Australian Graduate School of Management
Professor Veronique Ambrosini: Monash University (previously Cranfield) her research work takes a strategy as practice (SAP) approach to the resource-based view of the firm. Véronique has articles published in journals such as Jnl of Mngmnt Studies, British Jnl of Mgmnt, and Mngmnt Learning as well as European Mngmnt Jnl. She is author 'Tacit and ambiguous resources as sources of competitive advantage'(Palgrave, 2003), co-editor 'Advanced strategic management: A multiple perspectives approach', (Palgrave, 2007), also associate editor of the British Jnl of Mngmnt; co-editor of the Organization Mngmnt Jnl.
Ms Gaye Mason: past Director, Business Development Telstra and now independent director. Gaye was recently President, Victorian Division, CPA Australia. Current roles: Independent Member, Audit & Risk Management Committee , Vic Dept. of Health; Chair/Independent Member, Audit Committee at City of Port Phillip.
Dr Denis Bourke: Head of Talent and Succession Management, Insurance Australia Group (IAG) and previously IAG’s Head of Group Human Resources. Denis is the founder of the Centre for Executive Development, he has attended programs at Harvard Business School and is a graduate of RMIT and the University of Hawaii (Manoa).
Dr Paul Hunter: Paul is the founder and Chief Executive of the SMI and Director of HCP Management Consultants and past partner of a Big Four consulting firm. Paul has taught strategy in MBA programs and has given numerous presentations and lectures to a broad base of audiences and venues on strategy and related topics.
Quality Assurance and Adviser: Dr Tim O’Shannassy; Senior Lecturer RMIT GSB&L. International specialist and MBA teacher in Entrepreneurship/Strategy. A regular participant and presenter at Conferences and events including the global Strategic Management Society, ANZAM and Academy of Management as well as past SMI seminars and briefings.
Our History
On 12 April 1886, CPA Australia’s founding fathers met to discuss the future of accounting, recognising the need for greater rigour and substance in the profession. In a similar vein, but not until the mid to late 1930’s, a similar story to the CPA’s was unfolding as the nucleus of the soon to be Australian Institute of Management. The emergence of AIM followed the realisation in the years following the great depression that: “there was virtually no formal management training in any organisation or educational institution … that would allow …… the manufacturing industry to rebuild itself, through access to more efficient and well-managed processes on the shop floors. Soon after the foremanship course at the Melbourne Technical College was set up to fulfil this requirement.
Today, business schools and the MBA Degree in particular have significantly raised the bar in management education. With a focus on functional and technical supremacy over practical application however, there are some who consider the MBA to be lacking in relevance as a management discipline. Strategy and Strategic management in particular is a case in point. As an example, strategy guru Gary Hamel once said, there is a ‘Dirty Little Secret’ of strategy, i.e. there is no one correct approach to strategy creation. Similarly, Bob De Wit and Ron Meyer built an entire program and text around the same observation (“Strategy Process, Content, Context an International Perspective,” 3rd Ed., London, 2004), noting that strategy exists a as a ‘paradox’, whereby it is known that there are many contradictory views (polarities) of strategy, but each are equally defendable and appear to be true; at the same time.
In mid 2005 the Strategic Management Institute was established as a mechanism to actively disseminate literature and knowledge about the best practical applications and practices of strategy and strategic management. Similar to the AIM Above, there was (and still is) an observed state of practice where little uniformity exists, where high levels of misunderstanding and misconceptions prevail while minimal uniformity in education confound, rather than resolve the problem. The findings of research conducted by a few organisations provide insight into this state of play, which can be summed up by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s research whose findings were that; “only 11% of executives (globally) are highly satisfied that (strategic planning) is worth the effort”.
As an adjunct to HCP Management Consultants, the SMI started life as an informal educator in strategic management. The SMI’s primary activities were the formation and distribution of white papers, participation in national and international conferences and the conduct of Breakfast Briefings; Twilight Evening Seminars, and; ‘in house’ client oriented workshops.
Each of these activities and competencies emerged into a single core competence that ultimately provided it with a capability to conduct strategy education and accreditation programs, the basis of which is the Certified Strategy Practitioner (CSP) accreditation program.
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Can We Help? We would be delighted to discuss our program with you. Please contact Dr Paul Hunter,
Ph: +613 9863 8980, Email: phunter@hcandp.com
