Preface

Welcome to the RMIT University, Graduate School of Business and Law Strategic Management Case Study Series. The strategic management teaching team in the Graduate School of Business and Law have developed 14 case studies on a range of Australian and international corporations in the semiconductor, retail, mining, airport, aviation, healthcare, hospitality, financial services, property, and building industries. These case studies have been used by the Graduate School of Business and Law at RMIT, RMIT Online, and the Centre for Business and Human Rights for teaching and Executive Education. Case study authors include Editor-in-Chief Dr Tim O’Shannassy and contributors Dr Justin Pierce, Dr Stephen Jasper, Mohamed Farah and Chris Hope.

Dr Tim O’Shannassy (PhD, Monash University) is a Senior Lecturer and the Executive MBA Program Director at RMIT University in the Graduate School of Business and Law. Tim coordinates and teaches strategy courses in RMIT University (RMIT) MBA programs, has served in the Executive MBA Program Director role since February 2021, and on the Graduate School of Business and Law Executive for more than five years. Tim has served on RMIT Academic Board for seven years. Tim is managing author of the book Strategic Management: The Challenge of Creating Value (Routledge Publishing). He has been Associate Editor for Journal of Management & Organization since 2012 and serves on the Editorial Board of Australian Journal of Management, and Journal of Strategy and Management. In 2018 Tim won the Associate Editor Excellence Award from Journal of Management & Organization and Cambridge University Press. Tim’s research appears in publications including Journal of Business Research, Frontiers in Public Policy, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Management & Organization, Journal of Strategy and Management and more – with strong impact scores on Google Scholar (H-Index 13, 880 citations) and Scopus (H-Index 7, 158 citations).

Dr Justin Pierce is an Associate Professor at Torrens University Australia’s Business Faculty.  Justin was Torrens University Australia’s MBA Director, Director of Innovation, Industry & Employability, Acting Associate Dean, and supervised Torrens’ first PhD student.  Justin serves on the Academic Board, and supervises twelve HDR students.  Outside of Torrens, Justin has worked with Tim on Strategy courses at RMIT University, and RMIT University Vietnam, where he was an Adjunct Professor.  Justin has taught postgraduate MBA courses for Deakin University, Chifley Business School, Torrens University Australia, RMIT University, and has guest lectured at Swinburne University, and the University of Melbourne.  He was an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland, and provided external support to SPJain for their faculty development.  Justin is a registered TEQSA expert in the areas of Business and IT Security.

Dr Stephen Jasper is currently an adjunct lecturer at Torrens University while developing his consulting and speaking engagements as The Jet Lag Guy. Dr Jasper completed his PhD on this topic at RMIT University in 2019 and has more than eight years experience as an adjunct lecturer teaching a range of MBA courses. Prior to this Dr Jasper had a long career in the pharmaceutioal industry with organizations including CSL limited, Sigma Pharmaceuticals, Pharmion, Avexa and GSK. Hir research appears in Frontiers in Public Policy and Journal of Strategic Marketing.

Mohamed Farah joined the Graduate School of Business and Law in 2022 as an Associate Lecturer in Business (MBA programs) after being affiliated with the School since 2018. Before this appointment, he was an academic, senior marketing manager, and management specialist with experience across various industries, including Airline/Aviation, Not-for-Profit, and Service Sector. Mohamed coordinates courses and facilitates accelerated programs in the MBA and Executive MBA programs at RMIT University. Among the courses, he coordinates include Business Research Design, Strategy, Digital Entrepreneurship, Leading in the Age of Digital Disruption and International Strategy. Mohamed is currently undertaking a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science with a special focus on governance for sustainable development in Somaliland. Mohamed’s research interests include governance, public policy, peace and state-building in post-conflict developing countries.

Chris Hope is an Sessional Lecturer at RMIT University and current research student at the University of Cambridge. Chris is the Founder of a non-profit organisation in the mental health space and has a number of international experiences in both management consulting and strategy consulting. Chris teaches Strategy at RMIT University and has experience working as an online lecturer with RMIT Online. He currently consults to the education sector with clients in the UK, US and Australia and is the author of a childrens book on mental health. In 2019 Chris completed his MBA at RMIT University and was named a finalist at the Australian Graduate Management Awards, and named Humanitarian of the Year at the RMIT University Awards. He led UNICEF’s #CookforSyria project in Melbourne and a food bank for internatonal students during COVID-19.