Swinburne teaches leadership with Master Builders Victoria

Swinburne students will have access to the only management and leadership simulator facility in the southern hemisphere through a new partnership with Master Builders Victoria.

As part of the Leadership, Innovation and Creativity unit in the Master of Business Administration (Executive), students will have an unparalleled opportunity to practice and apply their skills in a simulated – but realistic – work site.

The MBA (Executive) is delivered through Swinburne’s Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship (AGSE). As with all AGSE courses, substantial industry collaboration in course development and delivery is an integral component of the postgraduate program.

Director of the AGSE, Alexander Kaiser, says the partnership supports Swinburne’s commitment to delivering courses that equip students with cutting-edge industry skills.

“We are pleased to join forces with Master Builders Victoria – a significant professional body – to co-create and co-deliver our MBA (Executive) and strengthen our ties with industry leaders.”

Director of the MBA (Executive), Professor Peter Holland, says the Building Leadership Simulation Centre will provide students with real-world experience of managing workplace issues and critical incidents, giving them an edge over others entering the industry.

“Students are given scenarios to work through with real people acting out the parts of their colleagues. The scenarios are live and we can tweak them in real time to test the students, for example, adding in a phone call from an angry CEO,” Professor Holland says.

“The benefit of the centre is that it mimics real-life situations students will face in their careers. How much more real can it get than being in a situation where you’re interacting with real people to solve problems?”

Professor Holland says students will be able to identify their leadership styles, strengths and weaknesses before entering the workforce and will deal with issues that can’t be learned in a classroom.

“Students who go through the simulation can confidently say they have experience with managing the issues they faced. People are often put into management positions with little hands-on experience, but at the end of the day, management is a ‘doing’ subject.”

“Master Builders Victoria welcomes partnerships with institutions like Swinburne University that recognise the benefits and value of immersive, realistic training for a competitive edge in the workplace,” says CEO of Master Builders Victoria, Rebecca Casson.

Media enquiries