The Stanford Business Reporter

Australian study trip group.

GSBers practice their marksmanship through laser trap shooting.

 The Goal

      There were now a number of new goals.  Firstly, we wanted to examine the “myth” of Australia.  Secondly, we wanted to see how companies were either hindered or advantaged by being Australian.  Thirdly, we wanted to see Australia’s move from a resource-based economy to one based more on services.  Finally, with Australia’s roots in Europe, we wanted to learn more about its integration into Asia. 

 The Trip

      The companies spanned a number of industries.  The traditional resources industry was represented by BHP.  Media and entertainment were represented by Fox Studios and PBL, a holding company for Australia’s leading television and gambling companies.  Foster’s and Qantas both have a global presence and actively use Australia in their marketing message.  The government was well represented by Austrade, which promotes Australian companies overseas and Peter Costello, Australia’s Treasurer.  Other meetings were with people in non-profits, sports, technology, VC, financial services, telecoms, education and, of course, cosmetics.

      However, no trip to Australia would be complete without visiting a wildlife sanctuary to see koalas, kangaroos and other unique wildlife.  Those of us fortunate enough not to have finals also had the opportunity to go sailing in the Whitsundays and diving in The Great Barrier Reef.  Other activities also included climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and taking a cruise in Sydney Harbour.  Each day also included visits to some of Australia’s top restaurants and clubs, including a special Indian meal at a trip leader’s apartment.  There was also a GSB Alumni Dinner at Crown thrown by GSB alum and PBL CEO, Peter Yates.  The setting gave us an opportunity to communicate back to alums how their alma mater was doing.  It was heartening to see the interest and passion shown by these alums.

 The Players

      The team picked to represent Team Australia was, not surprisingly, one predominately of veterans.  On the 8^th of December, Gilligan led some familiar faces -  the Millionaire, the Movie Star, and Mary Anne -  and some new characters -  the Dinner Club President, Koolishiss, the Governor, J-Lo, the Big Game Hunter, Gel Boy, Buttons, the Sharpshooter, and the Pirate -  out to the remote outskirts of his island on a 3 day tour.  The Skipper and our token Canadian (yes they did make us take one) would join up with the group a couple of days later, after spending some time with the Man, the Myth, the Legend- Neil Diamond.  On the 16^th of December our other veterans, the High-Heeled Golfer, The Spirit, and The Keeper, would join the group along with the rookies: The Gambler, The Haggler, the LA gangster, Guns, and Wheresana, and the adults:  Uncle Bruce, the Professor and His Wife.   (For those of you not familiar with our players, at the GSB they are known as: Dhruv Gupta, Steve Boord,, Liana Downey, Evelyne Manse, Jamie Russell, Geoff  Lieberthal, Dan Langer, Alex Abell, David Trujillo, David Landry, Jonathan Daves, Sarah Israel, Lindsay Hubbard, Amy Koo, Benita Daryani, Yuki Hasegawa, Jennie Cheung,  James Edmunds, Ana Pedros, Katherine Malachuk, Kelly Wardwell, Euree Kim, Andy and Beata Skrzypacz, and Bruce McKenna).

 The Takeaways: Australia the Country

Big Country, Small Market. Australia is a country whose size is similar to the 48 continuous states, however whose population is about the size of California- 19 million.  Larger companies can use Australia’s small population to their advantage because it makes it an ideal test market for new products.  On the other hand for upstarts, its population can be a great disadvantage, because it means that there is added pressure to get things right before products are introduced into the market. 

An Australian economy- When the Asian market took a downturn, analysts predicted that Australia would follow suit.  When this didn’t happen analysts said it was because Australia was linked to the North American marketplace.  However, the recent slowdown has also left Australia unaffected.  Much to analysts’ chagrin, Australia has proven that it is neither reliant on the Asian nor North American markets.  Quarter 3 results showed a 1.1% increase, placing it on target for a FY 2001 growth of 4 - 5%.

“It stinks working with an American company.”  Many of the companies we visited spoke of the lack of effort US companies make in trying to understand Australian business or in treating their Australia counterparts as equals.  One CEO related to us, “It seems like US headquarters never really takes our considerations into mind when they schedule anything.  Our weekly tech status call with our US counterparts is at 1:00 am.” 

 The Takeaways: Advice

Pick a Fight- “When you get a new job- you need to gain respect and credibility.  What I do at that point is pick a fight. Pick one where I know more than everyone else and I can deliver value.  When you deliver you will immediately garner respect.” Sloan alum, Peter Yates, CEO of PBL.

Words of wisdom. “Once you’ve attended Stanford – there is no one left to be afraid of.” Paul Anderson, Stanford alum, CEO of BHP.

Touchy Feely- “The value I got while attending Stanford was in the soft stuff.  I don’t remember a thing about the hard stuff.  But the soft stuff I use everyday in the real world.” Stanford alum, Macquarie Bank

 The Takeaways: The Legacy of Team Australia

Negotiating 101.   Whenever you enter into business dealings or, maybe more importantly – go shopping, you want to have a good negotiator with you.   Team Australia looked to Kelly, who aptly earned the name, The Haggler, by negotiating a room price at the Four Seasons which was 30% of the rack rate.  How did she manage to accomplish that?  After receiving a rack rate price quote, she informed the Four Seasons that they didn’t understand - “We are not your average group - we are a group of students from a very, very prestigious university.” Of course after hearing this, the Four Seasons realized their mistake and promptly issued us the prestigious university discount of 70% off rack rate.

The Chant.  Like all good politicians The Governor’s aim is to serve his constituents.  As such The Chant “Steve Board Dance” became our voice- our voting mechanism.  Whether it was at the Crown Casino where we chanted “Steve Board Dance” and the Governor improvised a 10-minute speech for the Alumni Association or on the Harbor Bridge where the same chant provided much needed comic relief, the Governor willingly followed his constituents’ requests.

GSBers are hunters by nature.  Team Australia was a team of gun lovers.  The LA gangster annihilated the competition in the Our Harbor Cruise women’s clay pigeon shooting competition despite having to use the full-length shotgun.  In the men’s competition, The Sharpshooter outshot the Skipper, Gilligan, and the token Canadian for the title.  However, our clay pigeon experts weren’t the only ones who liked guns.  We had our Big Game Hunter who managed to get a date with the most beautiful woman in Australia and had a lovely dinner with her and her husband.  There was also Guns, who was aptly named for her… well Katie what were you named for?

Bridge Climb- Half of Team Australia undertook an amazing experience when we climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  It was an adrenaline filled experience where we walked the arches of the bridge up to the top, over 500 feet above sea level.  To our Canadian who, like others, said the Bridge Climb was too strenuous for him to take, I just say- Mandy Moore, a 102 year old great-great grandmother, and the Olsen twins (from Full House) all completed the Bridge Climb.

Go Buttons!!!- Apparently our veterans put on such a show in Whitsundays that some of our most popular stars were able to pick up some groupies.  Who said rock stars and CSU athletes are the only ones who get the babes. 

Australian FOAM- Wanting to make us feel at home in Australia, the social committee took charge of making sure we enjoyed a FOAM night.  As such The Millionaire was able to convince a closed bar, the importance of FOAM and we able to persuade the barkeep to keep the bar open for a private FOAM gathering.  For those of you who haven’t yet heard despite the Keeper’s effort, Team Illinois whipped Team Ohio in our fully sanctioned Australian relay race.

 Conclusion

      After a short week, Team Australia had won its battle.  A week of insomnia may have left us drained, but it also left us with some of the best experiences of our lives.  To all of Team Australia, thanks for the memories- I hope you had the time of your life.

 

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