Hughes, Owen --- "In the business of business" [2005] MonashBusRw 1; (2005) 1(1) Monash Business Review 3

In the business of business

Owen Hughes

This is the first issue of Monash Business Review, a new journal devoted to communicating research about business to a wider audience.

Starting a new journal is something not to be thought of lightly. Why would the Monash University Faculty of Business and Economics and its Graduate School of Business wish to take on such a task?

There are a number of reasons.

First, the academic study of business is sometimes somewhat removed from practice and some research that would be of use to business readers is not in a form that enables communication to occur. Like the journal Nature, we wish to use research papers but edit them carefully to enable their findings to be readily understood by a more general audience. Monash Business Review (MBR) will be devoted to the improvement and further development of the theory and practice of business, primarily in Australia but also elsewhere in the world. As far as possible the refereed articles will be edited to be readable for a non-expert audience along the lines of the Harvard Business Review, while the non-refereed content will also be aimed at matters of general interest for a business audience.

Second, Monash Business Review aims to include the wide range of activities that the word ‘business’ encompasses. There are very good journals that specialise in one aspect – for example marketing or strategic management. Like the Harvard Business Review, the Monash Business Review will look at business in the broad sense, as well as its sub-disciplines such as organisation structure and behaviour; leadership; entrepreneurship; methods and techniques for evaluating and understanding competitive, technological, social, and political environments; planning processes; and strategic decision processes. Also covered will be economic and econometric issues, management and marketing, accounting, corporate governance, finance and banking, business law and taxation, international trade and investment, public policy, and industrial relations.

Third, the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash can provide its resources and imprimatur to such a new venture. Monash has the largest such faculty in Australia, with more than 15,000 students. There are more than 4,000 on-campus Masters students in the Monash Graduate School of Business, in what is easily the largest on-campus graduate program in the country. The journal will assist our links with the more than 50,000 Monash business alumni, as well as a wider community in business and academia.

Fourth, it does need to be emphasised that Monash Business Review is not reserved for Monash academics. It is not a ‘house journal’. We wish to have articles from elsewhere including academics from other institutions. Academic articles, wherever they derive, will be refereed and there is no preference given to Monash academics in either commissioning or refereeing. A call for papers is being issued. The journal also has other general content that is not refereed and there may be some small sections discussing developments and news associated with Monash.

So here it is; the first issue of a new journal.Thanks to all those who have assisted with the first one and, as with all journals, we hope there is to be a long run.

Owen Hughes

Director, Graduate School of Business, Monash University

Cite this article as

Hughes, Owen. 'In the business of business'. Monash Business Review. 2005.; Monash University ePress: Victoria, Australia. http://www.epress.monash.edu.au/. : 3–3. DOI:10.2104/mbr050001