Dean Morrison’s Post

🌟 Reflecting on an Inspiring Keynote by Gaia Grant (PhD) Grant 📚💭🧠 At the recent CPA Australia Congress (15th–18th October), attendees had the opportunity to hear from the exceptional Dr. Gaia Grant, Innovation Researcher at the University of Sydney Business School. Her keynote on "The Ethics of Innovation: How to Innovate Responsibly for Purpose-Driven Results" was nothing short of transformative. Dr. Grant's insights into balancing creativity with ethical considerations struck a chord with the audience, leaving a lasting impact. 🎯 The feedback has been phenomenal! ✨ Many participants have shared how they are already applying tools from her 'Ethics of Innovation Toolbox', including strategies to develop #creative #intelligence - a critical skill for navigating today’s complex challenges. These actionable takeaways are empowering individuals to drive innovation responsibly while staying aligned with their values. 🔥 A big thank you to Dr. Gaia Grant for delivering such a powerful session and to everyone at CPA Congress for creating a platform that fosters meaningful conversations on innovation and purpose. 📅 If you’re looking for a speaker to inspire your team or organisation, Dr Gaia Grant is available to book via LassWho—our global speaker marketplace where you can instantly find, compare, and book incredible speakers with full-price visibility. ➡️ Click below to book Dr. Grant for your next event - https://lnkd.in/erFqRQcw #EthicsOfInnovation #CreativeIntelligence #PurposeDrivenLeadership #LassWho #Inspiration #CPACongress #InnovationLeadership

Customer Trust = hurdle requirement for brand engagement. Behavioural science evidence tells us loads about trust — including how a brands trust can be built or eroded. Whether it's related to a customer believing they can trust a brands: - pricing strategies - intentions with customers' data - sales representatives - etc... ...trust underpins customers' willingness to engage (or disengage) with brands and their representatives. Want to know more about trust (or anything behavioural)? HMU.

Interesting read. In June, association thought leaders convened in Chicago to delve into the contemporary implications and applications of the 7 Measures of Success research - revisiting the research through the lens of present-day and future perspectives. Great insights from the meeting are included in this article, with a white paper forthcoming. #ASAEFoundation #AssociationLeaders

If you haven't signed up already, there's still time to book your place on our next Locus #masterclass - International Comparisons & Emerging Trends. This event is perfect for Place Managers, Thought Leaders and BID Champions world-wide. Find out more and join us at the link below. #bidmanagement #placemaking #cpd #learninganddevelopment #trends #internationaleducation #UK #sharedlearning #sharedsuccess #sharedvision Chris Barnard / Paul Clement BSc (First) MA / Luke Winter / Matthew Gibbons

Good to look at this issue of research-business links from a perspective well outside the academy.

Of the 2,068 board members across Australia’s ASX 300 companies, only 7% hold a PhD—the least common qualification among directors. In contrast, MBA, GAICD, and FCPA qualifications are far more prevalent. What does this reveal about the value placed on deep technical or research expertise in boardrooms? And what are we losing by overlooking it? At Cruxes Innovation, we’ve seen the huge impact Australian researchers can have on solving the nation’s toughest challenges. Working with over 1,500 academics—some of whom have launched ventures or risen to senior leadership—we’ve identified three key costs of undervaluing PhD-qualified candidates for board appointments: 1. Groupthink risks: Despite progress on diversity, boardrooms often lean heavily on candidates with finance, law, or business management expertise. This homogeneity can reinforce groupthink and blind spots.  2. Suboptimal response to complex challenges: Increasing complexity of supply chains across all industries means that responding to inevitable disruptions and technological change is far more complex to manage and de-risk. Boards that don’t have PhDs are potentially missing the necessary systems-level thinkers that can effectively combine technical and socio-economical solutions.   3. Missed innovation opportunities: Researchers have honed their craft to apply a critical lens to the current state and introduce new thinking that pushes boundaries and opens new frontiers of possibility. Without them, boards may overlook disruptive technologies and miss opportunities to lead in competitive markets. So why is it difficult to appoint qualified professionals with PhDs into board roles? A few barriers we've observed are:  • A perceived lack of business experience, overshadowing their deep research skills.  • Cultural fit concerns. Do researchers align with established business norms?  • Misaligned recruitment channels, as academic networks often fall outside traditional executive searches. In what ways can researchers build the skills and relationships needed to influence decision-making in the boardroom? How can researchers best develop their capabilities in corporate governance to help solve Australia’s biggest challenges? Source: 2023 Board Diversity Index. (Watermark Search Internation & Governance Institute of Australia, 2023) #benchtoboardroom #researchtoimpact 

Many thanks to my good friend Takhavi Kamzabek for inviting me to explore the field of strategic management as an interdisciplinary study for my second major. Our join paper ESCALATION OR ESCAPE FROM BUSINESS UNIT DOWNTURNS: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE,' has been accepted for presentation at the The Strategic Management Society 2024 and the British Academy of Management 2024 conferences. Our second paper, titled 'WHEN EXECUTIVE TURNOVER LEADS TO INERTIA,' has also been accepted for presentation at the British Academy of Management 2024 conference. Conference webpages: SMS conference: https://lnkd.in/gKTmUrft BAM conference: https://lnkd.in/gD_vDFMP #strategy #sms2024 #bam2024 #behavioralstrategy

Attention Board Directors and Aspirants MIT's research has shown that companies with digitally savvy board members report up to 38% higher revenue and over 30% higher market cap on public markets. Why your next Board Director must be Digitally Savvy Join us as we speak with distinguished guest Dr Peter Weill, Chairman of the MIT Sloan School of Management Centre for Information Systems research (CISR). Peter discusses CISR's latest research on the importance of having digitally savvy board members for optimal company performance. Peter will discuss what digitally savvy means, how digitally savvy boards operate and what they do differently. Do tech committees work? What role does the executive team play in this? We will uncover several real world case studies highlighting the direct impact tech skills for board members have played in business outperformance. The world is changing rapidly and companies need to make sure everyone, including the Board, are optimising their opportunities and oversight. Register for this free event at https://lnkd.in/gkGQ6m9k

JOINING THE DOTS IN THE VUCA WORLD In 2016 we produced a research report entitled Joining the Dots: Decision Making for a New Era. In this research we spoke of the VUCA world which had developed and its effects on how we made decisions for our businesses and organisations. In fact we spoke about how the VUCA world was impacting the global economy, international relations, and life on the planet in the round. VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It describes the situation of constant, unpredictable change that is now the norm in industries and business around the world. This research was based on a survey of 300+ C-suite professionals. The research found that a solution to the challenges of the VUCA world was the adoption of Integrated Thinking and Reporting. But it also contained wider analysis on good business practices for creating and preserving value in the VUCA world, and indeed how to meet its challenges 'head on.' Dusting this research down recently, I was struck by its relevancy today. If anything the world of 2024 is even more complex and the drivers of VUCA have intensified and indeed multiplied: The Ukraine War being a very good example, and the Return of Inflation being another, and the rise of generative Ai being another. As we head into the next few months which are potentially pivotal for our current regime of global relations and economics, Joining The Dots is worthy of a read and a think, as it's perspectives and analysis are possibly more relevant now than they were in 2016. #cima #aicpa #cgma #finance #joiningthedots #sustainability #vuca #researchandevelopment #AAAHQ #managementaccounting #sustainability #esg #ai #cybersecurity #enterrpiseriskmanagement #workplace #strategy #finance #accounting #softskills #monash #usp #lse #unsw #universityofmelbourne #resilience

My latest publication dives into the critical topic of multi-sector collaboration, a growing approach to tackling complex challenges ("wicked problems"). While it holds immense promise for collective goal achievement and capacity building, I explore the unforeseen hurdles presented by power imbalances and fragmented relationships between key stakeholders. My analysis reveals how internal dynamics of power, personal connections, and even corruption can derail collaborations, often trumping policy considerations. ⬇