David Pender
Email: david.pender@adelaide.edu.au
Mobile: 0408 804 490 

David is a management practitioner and an adjunct senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide Business School. He has had a very wide range of business experience over the past 35 years or so.

He spent 13 years practising on his own account as a Chartered Accountant followed by senior management positions in distribution management and general management within the financial services industry (12 years). Since 2003 he has practised as principal of Knowledge Perspectives, a consulting collaborative that applies the principles of leadership, knowledge and intellectual capital management in a variety of fields: performance improvement, transition management, M&A, and strategic direction and mapping. Clients cover both private and public sectors in Australia, Asia and North America. He is a regular presenter at knowledge management conferences.

He holds a degree in Economics and a MBA from the University of Adelaide and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

He teaches courses in Knowledge Management, Negotiation and Fundamentals of Leadership in the Business School’s MBA program, other postgraduate knowledge management courses and is involved in the Internship programs of the Faculty of the Professions and Executive Education.

David is a 2016 recipient of the Executive Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Additional reference resources may be identified during workshop sessions.

The course is taught through workshops and field visits.

The course will commence with a compulsory four hour workshop at which the relevant theoretical concepts, analytical frameworks and reference sources will be outlined and the assessable requirements identified.

The course will then take place over 6 consecutive full days in Sydney, which will include 5 industry visits.

On return from Sydney, there will a further half day workshop to debrief experiences in Sydney.

In addition to the 7 days of scheduled contact, students are required to undertake sufficient research, group and individual study hours, and assessment preparation to make up the balance of the 156 hour minimum workload for this course.

Preliminary Workshop

• Discuss the planned course outcomes
• Discussion of instruments set for the workshop
• Operating rules for the tour, expectations of course staff
• Confirmation of the assessment submission content and timetable.
• Group activity

Sydney itinerary

Personal Brand & Sparking the Entrepreneur Within
Branding & Success, Personal Brand Audit, Bringing out Your Unique Values, Building your Personal Brand Reputation, First Impressions and Introducing Yourself and Others

Communicating Your Business Aspirations
Public Speaking, Selling Yourself, Communication Techniques and Tools, Body Language, Business Etiquette, Digital and Offline Communication Etiquette, International Protocol, Cross Cultural Richness, Face-to-Face Meetings & Negotiations

Wellbeing, Image & Presentation
Finding your Balance in Life, Health, Skincare & Hair Care, Grooming, Wardrobe Styling, Presenting yourself in Business and Social Settings, Essentials for Dress Codes (from smart casual to business cocktail), Creating Your Own Personal Style with a Styling Expert

Dine Like An Executive & Industry Network Experience
Sofitel Sydney Fine Dining Experience, Dining Etiquette, Difficult Foods, Navigating the Table, Conversing socially & for Business, Experience an Industry Networking Event with Industry Experts in collaboration with the Australia China Business Council in Sydney.

Business Insights Speaker Series & Graduation Cocktail
Reflection on Networking and Application of Learning, Speaker Event with Panel of Business Experts. Program concludes with a Graduation Cocktail Session applying Life Skills.

Corporate visits (TBC)

Marks allocated for active participation will be determined by the individual student’s

• contribution to workshop class discussions
• degree of engagement
• preparation, timeliness

Group assessment will be marked according to the performance of the group on the designated group tasks. Simulating the workplace, student groups will uncover the rubric for assessment during the course. Assignment details are on MyUni

The journal and reflections will require students to individually record their visit observations after each activity and appraisal of specific aspects of the visit in a structured pro forma document. Marks will be awarded according to the level of reflection and learning which is demonstrated in the responses. Responses that only reproduce factual information will not be sufficient to achieve a pass result.

Further instructions are on MyUni.

Participation in discussion boards
At least 3 discussion boards will be set. Students are expected to provide opinion, argue, criticise and develop understanding through their use. Responses like “I agree with Sally” will not earn any marks.

Individual assignment Part 1 Personal Brand Plan
Word limit: 3,000 words excluding data appendices

Individual assignment Part 2
Develop and publish a suitable personal profile on LinkedIn