Experts share lessons from the last 20 years that will
shape the future for businesses and leaders
The last 20 years have been a tumultuous and transformative time across the globe.
The stock market crashed (on multiple occasions), technology threatened many brick-and-mortar businesses but gave accelerated rise to artificial intelligence – transforming the customer experience – and then we had to survive a pandemic.
As well as the lessons organisations learned to prepare for the challenges the next 20 years may bring, the need to perform under pressure and continually adapt has also impacted leaders and how they manage their workforces.
Yet, despite the ups and downs, Dean and Head of The University of Queensland (UQ) Business School Professor Brent Ritchie remains optimistic for the future, and for organisations and leaders to grow and innovate.
Professor Brent Ritchie
Professor Brent Ritchie
“If the last two decades have taught us anything we can take forward, it’s the sheer resilience and innovation that businesses and leaders continue to champion in the face of adversity,” says Brent.
“The ones who succeed long-term know that the world is always changing – their customers, workforce and markets are evolving. They constantly assess the short and long-term challenges and aren’t afraid to try something different.”
As UQ Business School approaches its 20th birthday, its experts know only too well the notable wins and hurdles businesses have faced since 2002.
“There have been some amazing discoveries and transformations over the last 20 years in business, especially on a technological front, and many of our researchers have helped steer and contribute to these developments to help advance business and society,” says Brent.
“The School is more focused than ever on working with enterprises, small businesses, government and leaders to continue addressing the grand challenges that impact Australians. Whether that’s helping businesses on their sustainability journey, digitising hospitals and patient care, or creating ethical AI.”
To help reflect on the most valuable lessons from the last two decades, top Business School experts – who have been in the School since its birth in 2002 – share their must-know insights for businesses and leaders to help them charter the future.
Image credit: Adobe Stock / nikol85
Future business and leadership trends — how the last 20 years has shaped us
Professor Janet McColl-Kennedy
Professor of Marketing and Director of Research
As the first-ever female Professor in the Business, Economics and Law Faculty and one of the world’s top service innovation and marketing researchers, Janet’s impactful work helps businesses retain and connect with their customers.
She is a recipient of the prestigious Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher Award for multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top one per cent by citations for the field and year in the Web of Science™. Janet is leading the Innovation Pathways program in the Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) project as part of the Australian Government’s Trailblazer Universities Program – the largest UQ grant in history. The project will supercharge commercialisation in the food and beverage industry.
How much has technology changed businesses in the last 20 years?
I looked back at my lecture notes for the master’s course “Services Marketing” I taught in 2002, and I had a lecture on technology in services marketing. Technology was starting to make an impact back then. For example, EFTPOS was available, websites were emerging where customers could voice their complaints, guests could check their room charges on hotel televisions and Federal Express was using technology to track packages.
What’s different today is that digital technology itself could be delivering a service. Apps may perform some roles of a service provider, such as a nurse, diabetes educator, midwife or doctor. For example, research we undertook on the M♡THer mobile app and companion portal for women with gestational diabetes suggests that patients saw the app undertaking a range of roles to enrich interactions, including that of a connector, coordinator, counsellor, enabler, instructor and watch person.
Which business trends have lasted the test of time, and which have gone out of fashion in the last 20 years?
Understanding customers remains critical to the success of a business. However, customer experience (CX) has become especially important. How CX is measured is changing, and technology is playing a vital role in its measurement – in particular, text analytics and AI are becoming increasingly important.
Surveys may still be a useful means of gathering information about customers and what they value. Nonetheless, other forms of feedback, such as online customer reports, blogs, emails, online searches and even facial recognition, are being used by businesses today to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of customer segments’ needs and preferences.
What do you think will change for business in the next 20 years?
Customers will play an even greater role enabled by digital technology in the next 20 years. They’re increasingly viewed as partners working with businesses to shape their own customer experience through value co-creation.
There is also likely to be a blurring of the lines between the employees of a business and digital technology. Apps, chatbots, human-form service robots such as Sophia and less human-like robots such as Pepper are working together, using their complementary skill sets to co-create valued service outcomes.
What were you researching when you joined the Business School 20 years ago? And what are you studying now?
In 2002, I was researching customer satisfaction, service recovery (what to do when things go wrong), customer emotions, including customer anger, and Internet use. I’m continuing to research service innovation, focusing on how digital technologies can enhance interactions and customer journeys and developing more sophisticated tools to measure customer experience using AI-based technologies. It’s an exciting time given the developments in technology.
Professor Victor Callan AM
Professor of Management and Leadership
No one knows the challenges of executive leadership better than Victor. As one of the top management researchers at an international level, now specialising in CEOs and board dynamics, Victor has worked with leading multinational organisations. He was appointed as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in 2019 for significant leadership and service to higher education in the field of management as a researcher and adviser to government and industry.
What do great leaders do differently now that they didn’t do 20 years ago?
Leaders have now become more expert in change management due to increased competition, impacts of globalisation and the greater focus on the customer. They’re much more aware now of using leadership styles that are more participative, collaborative and inclusive – while still understanding the urgency of making key decisions within a suitable time frame.
What important leadership lessons have we learned in the last 20 years?
Over the last 20 years, I’m fortunate to have assisted many organisations by designing and completing their voice or culture surveys. What I’ve learned from the results of those surveys is the importance of leadership that focuses on three outcomes:
1. Providing a strong sense of the strategic direction and purpose of the organisation.
2. Providing continuous, accurate and timely communication.
3. Managing and rewarding the top performers but also acting appropriately where performance isn’t to the standard expected.
Which leadership trends have lasted the test of time, and which have gone out of fashion in the last 20 years?
The trends that have lasted the test of time are those that focus on people and performance, creating workplaces that value ongoing training and development – with rewards systems to attract and retain talent and an openness to hearing from staff at all levels.
What has gone out of fashion but still exists are the “hero leaders” who are directive, coercive, ego-driven and believe that they own the organisation – when in fact, they’re typically custodians for a short time.
What are some of the most noteworthy changes you’ve witnessed at UQ Business School over the last 20 years?
Like most operating in the business world, I think the Business School has been very good at staying ahead of the curve regarding the needs of stakeholders. For teaching, we regularly review existing programs and introduce new programs to develop the skills required to be an effective manager and leader today and in the future.
From a research perspective, the major change is an even closer partnership with businesses in designing and delivering high-quality research that meets their organisational needs while also developing new knowledge that can be shared with a wider audience.
Associate Professor Remi Ayoko
Associate Professor in management and leadership
As an award-winning researcher in conflict management, emotional intelligence leadership, diversity and physical work environment, Remi joined the Business School in 2000 when she began her PhD. She is now leading the UQ Global Change Institute research and industry partners’ hub on the Next-Generation Workplaces.
What important leadership lessons have we learned in the last 20 years?
20 years ago, there was a gap between how leaders managed diversity as a strategy and as an action. For a long time, the focus of diversity management was on bringing women on par with their male counterparts. The gap is closing but we know now that gender isn’t the only form of diversity to be managed. There are also other froms of diversity such as ethnicity warranting managerial attention.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most leaders didn’t expect or plan for crises. Now, leaders understand the importance of planning and preparing for future crises, recognising that they can occur at anytime. During the pandemic, many leaders also learned the importance of empathy and care for employees to provide as much continuity as possible.
What do great leaders do differently now that they didn’t do 20 years ago?
Great leaders listen to their employees more than in the past, because we’ve realised to be a leader, you need to bring followers with you. Also, listening to your employees is the only way to understand them. This style of leadership leads to increased productivity and a healthier organisational bottom line.
Leaders are now also paying more attention to where employees work and how this impacts their satisfaction, productivity, and wellbeing. A next-generation workspace is emerging with a blend between home and the office. Good leaders know the office is still an important place – interactions like mentoring work best in person. A workplace should be a collaborative hub that stimulates interactivity and innovation.
What are some of the most noteworthy changes you’ve witnessed at UQ Business School over the last 20 years?
Our value of student engagement has tremendously increased over the last 20 years, which is so important. Another change at the Business School, and in industry, has been the adoption of digital technology. Since COVID-19, we now teach in hybrid mode and are more aware of challenges like cyber threats and cybersecurity.
Professor Peter Liesch
Discipline Leader for International Business
As Acting Head of School in 2002, Peter championed bringing UQ Business School to life when he lobbied to merge the UQ School of Management and School of Commerce – allowing the newly formed Business School to receive international accreditation. “If you didn’t have international accreditation, you risked being left behind,” says Peter, which also rings true for his extensive research on international business trends over his illustrious career.
Which business trends have lasted the test of time in the last 20 years?
Trends that have lasted the test of time in international business are:
1. The economic adage ‘consumers are sovereign’. Firms can’t just produce whatever they want without considering what consumers want.
2. Efficiency. Firms must produce things efficiently because the cost imperative remains.
3. Quality. Segments of a consuming population will pay a premium for the quality they desire.
What are some considerations that are imperative now to run a successful business that companies didn't consider 20 years ago?
There have always been uncertainties in business, but I think there are more now. Three important considerations are political risk, global supply chains, and inflation.
Political risk: Twenty years ago, the business world had forgotten about political risk, but it’s a big issue today. Certain countries are behaving differently or more erratically now than they did previously. Organisations have difficulty dealing with geopolitical risk because they prefer certainty.
Supply chains: After entering the era of globalisation in the early 80s, businesses started disregarding country borders – and consumers responded. We saw the reorganisation of production around global supply chains. If we wanted something, we could quickly get it from anywhere in the world. Consumers and producers were lulled into thinking this would always be the norm, but the last couple of years during the pandemic disrupted everything. Today, we have to wait weeks or months to receive items from overseas.
Inflation: People are talking about inflation now, but 20 years ago, it wasn’t an issue. There are signals that it’s having a severe impact in some parts of the world today, such as the United States. Recessions are a possible consequence of unbridled inflation. There have been periods like this in the 70s and 90s with severe recessions when people lost their jobs and houses – that’s something governments and businesses should consider.
What do you think will change for international business in the next 20 years?
Right now, we’re thinking carefully about whether we should change how international production is organised through global supply chains and whether we bring some of that production back home to Australia. We’ve seen this happen in the US in the last decade. However, I have a gut feeling that we won’t see a radical change in this area.
We won’t resurrect the Australian motor vehicle industry or start making electronics and planes again. But we’ll look at better ways of forming alliances with firms overseas to minimise supply chain disruptions.
How was UQ Business School born?
Twenty years ago, UQ’s Schools of Commerce and Management merged to become UQ Business School. At the time, if your school or program didn’t have international accreditation, it limited your international market. Overseas students looked to accreditation agencies and university reputation to choose where to get their degree. We knew that we would never get accreditation as separate schools teaching into an MBA, so we decided to merge.
There were only two business schools in Australia in 2002. So, we saw an opportunity for another entrant into that market to shake it up. Over time, the Business School has shown enormous growth. Between one in four and one in five UQ students are enrolled in Business School programs.
Professor Neal Ashkanasy OAM
Professor of Management
It’s one thing to lead a team, but it’s another to understand them emotionally, what they need and what motivates them. Neal has been at the forefront of emotions in the workplace for over 25 years, with research on emotional intelligence even being piloted in the Australian Defence Force with SAS leaders. Neal was awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia in 2017.
What important leadership lessons have we learned in the last 20 years?
The most important lesson we've learned in the last 20 years is that our leaders are actually human beings with a full range of emotions.
Only somewhat recently, we’ve had a big breakthrough in our understanding of leadership. Essentially an emotional process, leadership comes first and foremost from the heart rather than from the head. We're only just beginning to understand those processes.
20 years ago, I was studying leadership and organisational culture, but I've since come to realise that it goes a lot deeper than just culture. I focus on the role of emotions in leadership, the importance of emotional intelligence, and that human beings are ultimately driven by their feelings.
Which leadership trends have lasted the test of time, and which have gone out of fashion in the last 20 years?
What's gone out of fashion is that leaders are somehow mechanical offerers of carrots and sticks. Instead, good leaders are the ones who can express a vision and motivate their followers to follow them on their mission or goal, taking them on a journey.
When John Howard became prime minister of Australia, he really won out over Paul Keating, who was a visionary leader, rather than taking a carrot and sticks approach. But, in the recent election, we saw Anthony Albanese win by taking a decidedly visionary approach, and that’s how attitudes have changed.
Transformational leadership will never go out of fashion because it’s leaders stating their vision for the future, which goes back through history. However, it’s become less mechanical in how leaders action it and more from the heart.
What does the future hold for leaders?
Of course, we really don’t know what’s happening in the future. I think that we need to be pragmatic and go with life as it unfolds. The most important thing for leaders is to be flexible and lead from the heart to help navigate the constant disruptions that are happening all the time and will continue to happen.
You can have all the data and logical decisions in the world, but if you can’t show emotion and flexibility as a leader, you won’t be able to bring your employees along with you – they will disconnect.
Of course, there are certain expectations and requirements for when we're in a business setting, but it's crazy to think that human beings aren't going to be human beings once they come into the office.
The debate regarding working from home (WFH) versus in the office is another important consideration for leaders. While WFH seemed like a good idea at the time, doing it full-time can be extremely stressful. Many employees struggle with their mental health caused by limited social interaction.
I think there is a tipping point – an optimal balance of home and office work. There’s much research delving into this topic right now. Again, it comes back to flexibility on the leader’s part and listening to what works for their employees.
What are some of the most noteworthy changes you’ve witnessed at UQ Business School over the last 20 years?
It was terrific to see how the two branches of business education at UQ came together in 2002 – both management and commerce. They were separated to a large extent – the commerce school was sort of right-wing, and the management school was left-wing, but when the two came together, it gave a very powerful approach to business and leadership in general. In the future, UQ Business School will continue to increase our cross-disciplinary approach across the University but also with industry, government and other universities – which is vital to future success.
While 2002 might feel like the blink of an eye for some and a lifetime ago for others, the School is very proud to have so many world-renowned researchers, passionate lecturers and professional staff that have been with us since the start.
Thank you to our wonderful team of passionate staff members.
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