The Matilda who waltzed into an MBA

“I realised there were so many aspects to dealmaking that lawyers really needed to have skills that went well beyond the law library because nobody was ever solving a problem that was just a legal issue,” she said.

“What might present in your inbox as a legal problem was actually a multifaceted challenge across technology, finance, tax, usually organisational human resources dimensions as well, and it would help to have a better understanding of all those converging disciplines.”

In 1997, she moved out of a legal role at Telstra and took a business task managing Telstra’s joint venture investments, including at FOXTEL. Next was a business development role at Fairfax (which became Nine Entertainment, publisher of the AFR) and then four years later to an economics consultancy.

She also worked in football governance. She joined the board of Football Australia and then of FIFA in 2013 in a bid to reform the global soccer body. It was embroiled in a corruption scandal that saw her get caught up in an FBI raid at a hotel in Switzerland.

“Having the breadth of education certainly helped to have the confidence to move into new situations and feel like I’d at least done a lap of learning around the business issues,” she says, joking that it hadn’t prepared her for a dawn raid at a luxury hotel.

Dodd is one of several high-profile graduates from the University of NSW’s business school. Others include Macquarie Group chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake, who undertook a Bachelor of Commerce and a Doctorate of Business; Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci, who has an MBA; and CBA chief executive Matt Comyn, who has a Master of Commerce. Comyn also has an executive MBA from Sydney University.

Critical thinking

Dean at the University of Sydney Business School Leisa Sargent says a post-graduate business degree can help build an executive’s capability to lead, be analytical and have foresight.

“It builds frameworks and ways of thinking and critically analysing that really creates that executive mindset,” she said.

“We’re living in economically uncertain times, so I think having that kind of perspective around how we can work and how we can operate in that environment is something you do get from doing a postgraduate business degree.”

Postgraduate degrees provide students with valuable experiential learning and a safe place to fail in simulations and exercises, she says.

Other notable graduates from the University of Sydney Business School include Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh, who has a Master of Commerce and a Master of International Business, and Kirsty Muddle, CEO of Dentsu Creative Australia & New Zealand, who has an MBA.

Amanda Gudmundsson, executive dean of the QUT Faculty of Business and Law including the Graduate School of Business, says an MBA is a broad degree which can help executives move from being a deep discipline specialist into a more management-focused role.

Someone in a mid-level management role who wants to rise to the C-suite will need to understand strategy, finance and governance.

There are also specialist degrees which can help students move into a new field of business, such as a Master of Business in specific disciplines such as human resources, finance or international business, she said.

Well-known alumni from QUT include author and columnist Kirsten Ferguson, who has a PhD in Leadership and Culture, and Suncorp Group chief executive Steve Johnson, who has a Bachelor of Business.

Nick Wailes, dean of the Australian Graduate School of Management at the University of NSW, says business degrees aren’t just about what someone learns, but also about whom they learn with.

“I often have a class where I have 30 or 40 people from different backgrounds, different industries, and if you can unlock the expertise in the room and get people sharing each other’s insights then there’s an incredible amount you can learn from your peers,” he says. “It’s also a network for the future.”