When BHP chairman Ken MacKenzie called the dean of the Melbourne Business School, Ian Harper, to set up a school for top new CEOs, Harper was quick to offer to come and see him. No, no, MacKenzie insisted, I’ll come and see you.

Such is the pulling power of the Melbourne Business School which is run by a charitable company, jointly owned by the University of Melbourne and a host of the country’s biggest businesses including Amcor, Ansell, Orica, Wesfarmers, Westpac, ANZ, NAB, AMP, Goldman Sachs Australia, HSBC Australia, PwC, Deloitte, Accenture, EY, Shell, Coles, BHP, BP Australia and IBM Australia.