Delivered by Professor Greg Elliott, Professor of Business (Marketing) and Head, Department of Business, Division of Economic & Financial Studies, Macquarie University. - Saturday 27 May 2006

“Deputy Chancellor, members of the university, graduates and guests:

It’s indeed a great pleasure to be able to speak to you today, on one of those seemingly rare days for an academic when we can appreciate the fruits of our endeavours and share in the satisfaction of our graduates in a job well done.

On an occasion such as this, it seems appropriate to begin with a grand sweeping statement, so here goes:

“Today is the first day of the rest of your lives”.

I’m sure you’ve heard this before and like I did, you may have wondered who is credited with this aphorism.

So I googled it, as you do, and I found around 1.2 million hits! So it’s not an original thought and as I read some of the references, it seems to have been commandeered by American religious zealots, self-help, and get rich quick gurus, so you may be tempted to dismiss it. But, to do so, would be premature and unfortunate, in my view.

Yes, today is a watershed day in your lives as such opportunities for well-deserved celebration occur only rarely. It’s a day for looking back and for looking forward, as well as for enjoying the moment itself. As you look back, there is much for which to be thankful. For those of you who will live here in Australia, there is certainly much to appreciate. It’s a great country with very fair and decent people. It’s a country in which the possibility to enjoy a first-class university education is still within the economic reach of the majority of the population (although for how much longer, I and many of my academic colleagues worry). It’s a country in which the opportunity to advance socially through education is still alive.

For those of you returning home overseas, it’s been a pleasure to have you with us for we are a richer academic community for the presence of so many new friends from so many countries. Naturally, we hope that you will return in future and that you will always consider yourselves members of the global Macquarie family.

While we have come from a vast diversity of social backgrounds and countries, nevertheless, for all of us I suspect, the fact that we can enjoy the privilege of such a fine education is a result of the sacrifices of our parents who in most cases were prepared to give up some of their own material pleasures for the sake of their children’s education. So today spare a thought for your parents, without whose genes and self-sacrifice, you most certainly would not be here today. And while you’re at it, spare a thought for your lecturers and professors who are dedicated to bringing you the highest quality of education that government funding and tuition fees will allow. And don’t forget your partners and significant others who have, no doubt, suffered through the long nights and exam periods with you.

It’s also a day for looking forward to the splendid social and career opportunities which your Macquarie degree will help you secure. And while you should make the most of these opportunities, may I make this plea that you consciously choose to use your Macquarie degree to help make the world better place.

In this context, if I may digress, I was only recently looking at some research based on what has been labelled “social dilemma theory” which examined, among other things, the incidence of what is termed the “social value orientation”. Under this perspective, there are broadly two types of people in this world: the “pro-socials” and the “pro-selfs”. The pro-selfs are people who seek to maximise their own benefits without regard to the social consequences. This is homo economicus, economic man, (although my economist colleagues might want to challenge this). It’s also the model assumed by conservative treasurers. “Pro-socials”, on the other hand, are more likely to consider their own economic activities and interests within a broader social context and will even sacrifice some personal gains for what they perceive to be the greater social good. So, for example, there are those who support more public transport and those who are only concerned with using their private cars. (For those of us who have no alternative, the Macquarie station can’t come soon enough, I can assure you). Similarly there would be some who argue for ever more tax cuts without considering the impact of spending cuts on the social infrastructure of health, education, the environment, welfare and so on. In contrast, there are some who do not mind paying tax (and who might even be willing to pay more tax) if they could be confident that the funds will be well spent and that the community (not just the individual) will be richer, and certainly we can make a case for increased university funding and greater access to and participation in universities based on intellectual ability and not just ability to pay.

I’ll leave it to you to decide whether you’re a “pro-self” or a “pro-social”, but may I make a plea, to paraphrase former U.S. President John Kennedy: “Ask not what your society can do for you but what you can do for your society?” (idealism from the 60’s which is just as apposite today.)

You may be tempted to say, what can I do that can make a difference? Well, I’ll respond by saying that “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem” (another 560,000 hits on Google!) More than that, you’ll be entering the job market with scarce and marketable skills and talents (and of course a Macquarie degree). My advice is: don’t sell those assets cheaply. Be demanding and choose to work for organisations whose values measure up to your own.

Today, the management literature talks about the need to manage the “triple bottom line”. This reflects financial, social and environmental responsibilities which an organisation has to its stakeholders (shareholders, employees, customers, the community etc). My plea to you is to satisfy yourself on your employer’s triple bottom line credentials so that you don’t become a tool or slave to a share price (with apologies to our applied finance graduates) and that you and your employer stand for something more so that you can both leave the world a better place than you found it (400,000 hits on Google). To choose to work for such an employer is a good start. (It may even be in your rational self-interest as, in the absence of a broader social orientation, your employer may treat you as a disposable human resource and not a vital part of its knowledge or intellectual capital, (and I should acknowledge at this point that my accounting colleagues are looking more closely at this issue of valuing intellectual capital.)

Once you choose your employer, it’s a question of personal values as to how you work with, and how you manage other people. Again, the “pro-selfs” will take a predictable path of self-interest, often to the detriment of their employer and their co-workers (the “zero sum game”). Others will take the broader view (the “positive sum game”) and will always seek to understand the issues from both the employer’s and co-workers’ perspectives, as well as their own. (My conviction is that these kind of employees, just like triple bottom line companies typically outperform their more one-dimensional competitors and co-workers, at least in the long run. (Again, our applied finance graduates might have a position on this.)

Finally, today is also a rare opportunity to bask in the limelight. It’s a great day for you. You’ve worked hard and you should feel justly proud of your achievements. Just remember to share some of the limelight and to thank those without whose tolerance and support you would not have made it.

So may I say, congratulations! Enjoy the moment; enjoy the day. I was searching for a sufficiently uplifting quote to send you off to refreshments and photos but I couldn’t think of anything Eminem or Snoop Dog had to say and I was going to quote Crosby Stills Nash and Young in saying “if you can’t be with the one you love; love the one you’re with” but my wife wouldn’t let me! And in a country where popular culture is measured by Paris Hilton, Big Brother and Tom Cruise’s baby, I had to look hard for inspiration, but as the intellectuals, there is a moral obligation for you to strive for higher things, so I’ll finish with a quote from the latter day philosopher Robert Zimmerman (some of our graduates may know him as Bob Dylan). He sang “may you always do for others as others do for you. May you always be courageous; be upright and be strong and may you stay forever young”

Thank you and have a great day.’

Contact: Skaidy Gulbis

Phone: +61 2 9850 4774