Ronald Mutambiranwa, who completed his MBA at Curtin University before gaining general manager roles with global mining giant Rio Tinto, says business has shifted in the past five years from concentrating purely on profit to being “purpose driven”.

“It means organisations must now be seen to be contributing to the society they work in, and be much more inclusive and empathetic towards their workforce,” he says.

“The result of purpose-driven organisations is that if you treat your people well and develop good relationships with governments and communities, you will ultimately strengthen your brand and maximise shareholder value in any case.”

Mutambiranwa finished a mechanic’s apprenticeship in Zimbabwe and worked in several other countries before coming to Australia about 20 years ago.

At Rio Tinto, he rose steadily to become a general manager in capability development, and recently moved from human resources to another general manager position tasked with building and leading a new team for planned shutdowns.

“I would never have achieved what I have so far without my MBA from Curtin,” he says. “I wanted to develop skills in leadership because I was a technical expert.

“It taught me self-awareness, emotional intelligence and cultural intelligence. The ability to be able to manage yourself as an individual before you can manage others, along with many other skills necessary for successful leadership.

“I gained valuable knowledge in accounting, financial management, organisational behaviour, risk management and governance that I can apply in the workplace and in personal life.

“I chose Curtin’s MBA because of its flexibility – as I was working FIFO [fly in-fly out] at the time – and its reputation for excellence and focus on practical, real-world learning. The course also stood out to me because of its strong connections to industry.”

MBAs recognising business evolution

Steven Johnson, a business director with Hays, one of the world’s biggest recruitment agencies, agrees with Mutambiranwa that corporate behaviour is changing for the better.

“There’s been a shift towards meritocracy, away from nepotism and favouritism, and looking for more emotional intelligence in leaders,” Johnson says. “I would say the biggest change I’ve seen is that management has become a lot more mature.”

Johnson’s business director role at Hays specialises in the healthcare, medical technology and biotechnology fields across Australia and Asia. Until recently, he was managing director of his own executive recruitment company.

“Doing an MBA was massively valuable for me personally,” he says. “The first thing I got out of it was time management, because I was incredibly busy at work, my first child was about to arrive and I had to finish two subjects before that happened.

“The second thing was doing projects in groups with people from other industries. That was really useful, it allowed me to cross hatch and develop relationships with people from different fields. My advice to those thinking about getting an MBA has always been to do it on campus if you can. You get much more bang for your buck.”

Thirdly, he says, “it’s the skills you learn so you’re not reinventing the wheel when a business problem comes up”.

“It teaches you how to read a balance sheet and profit and loss statement; that has been very valuable for me on a day-to-day basis. In fact, I don’t think I’ve come across a business problem I didn’t learn how to deal with in some form.”

Johnson says people who finish an undergraduate degree and move straight on to studying for their MBA are wasting their time. “I wouldn’t do an MBA just to have the piece of paper,” he says. “The timing of an MBA is critical. It’s when you hit that point in your career when you’re maybe at middle management, starting to do stuff on a higher level and interacting with more senior people.

“It gives you the lexicon if you like, or the lexicography to be able to hold your head up in conversations with senior people and to earn credibility.”

In response to the evolving knowledge and skills employers are increasingly demanding, Curtin is introducing a new series of specialisations to its MBA program.

They include digital finance, artificial intelligence and business analytics, human rights and global engagement, international security, and sustainability in business.

The university requires an undergraduate degree and at least three years of professional business experience for entry to an MBA, which takes a minimum of two years to complete depending on whether studies are full or part-time.