Vision Is Not Short Sighted

“We have lost sight of why organisations exist. Is it to create shareholder wealth or is it to perform a valuable function for customers?”

Dr Rob Cooke Associate Professor of Managerial Studies University of Illinois, Chicago and Director of Human Synergistics/- Centre for Applied Research

Dr Rob Cooke, the leading international authority on the culture – performance connection, will show why far too many organisations are working with the wrong business model.

He will challenge corporate Australia’s obsession with shareholder wealth and will point out the pitfalls of chasing short term performance at the detriment of long term sustainability.

His international research clearly shows there is a need to refocus our priorities.

Robert A. Cooke, Ph.D.
University of Illinois

Robert A. Cooke is the Director of Human Synergistics / Center for Applied Research in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He also is Associate Professor of Management at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he teaches Organisational Behaviour, Organisation Development and Research Methods.

Cooke was previously an Associate Research Scientist at the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center and a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. in Organisational Behaviour from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, North Western University.

He specialises in the development and validation of surveys used for individual, group, and organisation development and has helped an impressive list of organisations improve performance, including:

His research has been supported by such agencies as the National Science Foundation, the National Center for Health Services Research, the National Institute of Education, and the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects.

A highly regarded author, Cooke’s work has appeared in such journals as Psychological Reports, Science, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, Educational and Psychological Measurement, and Group & Organization Management.

Throughout his career Cooke has created or co-authored many of the world’s most highly regarded development tools, including:

• Leadership/Impact™

• The Organisational Culture Inventory™

• The Organisational Effectiveness Inventory™

• The Human Systems Reliability Survey™ (“The Safety Survey”)

• The Group Styles Inventory™

• The Culture for Diversity Inventory™

• The Stress Processing Report™.

He has also developed various group process exercises and simulations published by Human Synergistics and the American Management Association (AMACOM).

Other achievements include:

• The William Davis Memorial Award for outstanding scholarly research

• The Douglas McGregor Memorial Award for Excellence in the Applied Social Sciences

• National Defense Educational Act Scholar

• Commonwealth Edison Fellow

• Alumni Award for Outstanding Teaching at the University of Illinois.

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