Transforming a suburban Melbourne TAFE into an international education brand is a thrilling challenge for its CEO.
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Entrepreneur: John Maddock, Chief Executive Officer
Company: Box Hill Institute of TAFE
Business type: Tertiary education institution
Employees: about 650 full-time; 750 part-time/casual
Turnover: (Calendar 2007) about $111M
Head office: Box Hill, Victoria
Contact details: +61 3 9286 9222
The Box Hill Institute Of Tafe Story
Box Hill Institute of TAFE has been through many changes since the original campus was established more than 80 years ago. The institute's chief executive officer, John Maddock, says: "Our origins are from 1924 when Whitehorse Girls' Technical School was set up as a vocational school for females, teaching secretarial and fashion skills."
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Key learning points:
- Vision - Don't be bound by historical conceptions of what your business does or where it does it. Consider how your organisation can better fit into the value chain of global business.
- Partner networks - Who are your organisation's partners and how do you benefit each other? Consider partnerships with government, community groups or educational institutions that can help build your brand, improve recruitment and spread your corporate network.
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Maddock has set himself the task of integrating Box Hill into the national and global business community, giving the organisation, its staff and students a real international focus. It is a fascinating transformation of a local TAFE.
Maddock worked as the deputy CEO of Box Hill Institute of TAFE for five years before taking on the position as CEO with the Gordon Institute in Geelong in 1996. He returned to Box Hill Institute in 1999 and is passionate about working in education. "What's really exciting is that we change peoples' lives. We also work with enterprises to make them really profitable and build skilled workforces in sustainable communities."
The Challenge
Exporting education services to international markets.
The Solution
Education is a highly competitive international market, which has been stoked by the internet and the rise of global business. For Maddock, as incoming CEO of a suburban Melbourne training college, the challenge was to expand Box Hill's geographic market and integrate it more closely with the business community in a way that would benefit both sides: students and corporate partners.
Maddock has developed four pillars to underpin Box Hill's growth:
- Inbound students
- International projects and international industry relationships
- Extended campuses
- Global network
Over the past three years Box Hill Institute's international program has grown rapidly, to more than 5,500 students in 2007 - up from 3,600 in 2006 -covering students studying in Australia and at overseas campuses. In some ways it has been a game of catch-up. Maddock says: "We [also] have many inbound students studying at our Melbourne campuses, with more than 2,500 expected in 2008, however that is the same for many educational institutions."
Maddock has worked to expand Box Hill's reach beyond Australian shores. For example, in 2007 the federal government established the Australian Pacific Training College, an initiative to support the development of the Pacific Islands. Box Hill won the contract to design and implement the hospitality and tourism training throughout Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
The multi-million dollar contract runs for five years and Box Hill will oversee the design, building, construction, the roll-out of the Australian curriculum and development with industry. Maddock says: "This project is about building this capacity within the countries to ensure sustainability."
Students pay good money to do their courses and want a reputable brand on their graduation certificate as well as a clear path to better work. Box Hill has developed partnerships with many companies including: the technology company Cisco, car maker Mazda, beauty products marketer Aveda and the baking franchise Baker's Delight. Maddock says: "We embed real live businesses onto the campuses. Our students can move from a conceptual space into a safe, simulated work environment - then easily into employment." In 2007 Box Hill Institute trained 42,835 students in Melbourne and in overseas locations.
The partnership with Cisco typifies what Maddock wants to achieve in such relationships. Box Hill is one of only four "Cisco Super Cats" (expert training centres) in the world. Maddock says: "We are responsible for the professional training of trainers and educators, curriculum roll-out and quality assessment at more than 1,200 Cisco academies in the Asia-pacific region. This involves training 10,000 trainers who in turn supervise 94,000 students. We train 23% of the global market of Cisco's trainees."
Another area of international growth has been the extended campus program. These campuses operate like business franchises and run licensed programs. There are 21 campuses operating in training colleges or embedded in universities in various countries including: China, Fiji, Vietnam, Macau, Chile and the recently established Box Hill College Kuwait. Maddock says: "What differentiates us as an institute is our closeness to our customers, particularly our enterprises."
In April 2007 Box Hill Institute won the tender to train 2,500 hospitality staff for the prestigious Venetian Sands Hotel Casino located in Macau. The hotel can accommodate 10,000 guests and its opening in August 2007 was broadcast globally on CNN. Maddock says: "Three weeks prior to the opening we ran a simulation and identified areas for improvement. The opening was a huge success, which has led to other international properties talking to us about their training needs."
The fourth pillar - the global network - focuses on a formal education exchange program for staff and students. Maddock says: "This is an opportunity to send our staff and students overseas to gain further experience. Our goal is to provide 100 scholarships for overseas study."
The international program has its challenges. Maddock says: "Finding enough trainers and staff is always difficult." The institute's international projects office has a team of project managers who deliver one-on-one training to staff heading overseas. An inbound students' office looks after the needs of international students.
The Result
Box Hill Institute won the Victorian Export Award in 2006 and 2007 and the Australian Export Award in 2007. The institute also won the Austcham ANZ Australia China Industry Sustainable Development and the Large Employer Awards in 2007.
In 2007 Box Hill Institute trained 5,500 international students, up from 3,600 in 2006. Maddock is forecasting further growth in 2008.
In 2006 the institute was selected to train the recruits for Jamie Oliver's Melbourne restaurant project, Fifteen. Maddock says: "Toby Puttock had studied here but our established youth support network fitted in with the Fifteen philosophy."