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THE AGSM ALUMNI BULLETIN BOARD
Fraser Duff( EMBA’ 99)( left) is co-founder of Passmore Duff & Associates, winner of the Australian Security Industry’ s 2000 accolade for training excellence. The company’ s new line of interactive CD-ROM training products has marked a new direction for the SME, which is a corporate security risk management consultancy.
“ Being consultants wasn’ t all we wanted to do. While we did consulting well, what we didn’ t have was a strategy or plan for how we were going to compete in the marketplace as a growing business and gain operating leverage,” says Duff.
“ I used the strategic management subjects of my Executive MBA [ EMBA ] to formulate and implement a strategy to create the first of what will be a suite of training products with online assessment support.
“ In consulting, we are a limited resource in that there is only a certain number of us available – which means we couldn’ t easily handle widely distributed clients, located either interstate or overseas. So by focusing on our training capability we decided to develop competitive products that
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could be offered to clients at a much lower cost than existing face-to-face training and that were suitable for accessing the global market.”
The answer was an interactive CD- ROM training program, Robbery Safety Training, which incorporates online training assessment backup. The CD-ROM product is designed to supplement or substitute face-to-face training and is cheaper and more efficient. It teaches people and staff how to safely respond to robbery in the workplace across a range of industries – from retail, finance and franchise outlets, to oil companies or anywhere that staff handle cash or valuables.
“ I used the EMBA course work to better identify factors of market potential and how to respond to them. In our case, we knew there was an increase in litigation and the prevalence of staff suing employers for damages in cases of robbery. Our research showed that employers were not responding adequately to the risk,” says Duff.
“ My strategic management paper formed the core of our new business strategy and we launched our Robbery Safety Training CD-ROM just six months later. We currently sell under corporate licence and also independently through our Web site, and we are now planning to set up a global distribution network, when we find the right partners.
“ Our objectives are to reduce the risk to individuals during a robbery and at the same time encourage employer diligence in staff safety, with the outcome of better managing risk and protecting the organisation, too.”
Passmore Duff’ s CD-ROM training costs about $ 28 per person( compared with $ 250 to $ 380 per person for face-to-face training), and it can be rolled out immediately with staff competency assessment available online.
“ We are going forward with a suite of products [ six new products are planned, all with global potential ]; the next product is about teaching people how to deal with workplace aggression and violence,” says Duff.
“ There is no doubt that the AGSM’ s strategic management subjects helped to put us into a first mover position. We gained a better understanding of our industry and our strategic resources, capabilities, industry forces and our competitors.
“ The most important thing about the EMBA for me as a partner of an SME is that it is an applied learning program, and the final year is where you can really start to leverage the learning for the benefit of your business.”
FLYING HIGH
David Stephens( MBA‘ 88), skydives( left, foreground) with his instructor. He moved to Boston last year with his wife Sue and daughters Ella and Clare. He is now CEO of AECventure, a B2B exchange for the architectural, engineering and construction industry. For more news, see Stephens’ entry in Bush telegraph.
POPULAR VOTE
Technical Audio Group co-owners Anthony Russo( MBA’ 87)( bottom right) and Maxwell Twartz( MBA’ 90)( top left) began 2001 with winners’ grins, having won the title of‘ Distributor of the Year’ for 2000 at an industry awards event. Sponsored by the Entech Group, the award was externally audited and based on a popular vote by industry professionals.
22 | AGSM ISSUE 1 • 2001