From Business Challenge to Professional Capability: Action Learning in the ICMS MBA 

ICMS Deputy Vice Chancellor (Learning & Teaching), Professor Heidi Le Sueur, together with Natalie Harrison, Professional Placement Manager presented an industry-integrated approach to MBA education at the 2026 Australian International Education Conference (AIEC), demonstrating how students can build professional experience while completing their studies. 

The presentation, Action Learning for Employability: Embedding Industry-Assessed Projects in MBA Programs, explored how the International College of Management, Sydney (ICMS) incorporates real business challenges, industry engagement and assessed workplace experience since launching its Master of Business Administration (MBA) curriculum. 

Presented on 28 October 2026, the session highlighted an important question for higher education: how can universities and colleges help international students demonstrate the professional experience employers expect? 

Addressing the International Graduate Employment Gap

International graduates continue to face challenges entering the Australian workforce, particularly when employers expect local experience. 

The 2025 Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) Graduate Outcomes Survey reported a full-time employment rate of 52.2% among international postgraduate coursework graduates available for full-time work, compared with 88.3% among domestic graduates. The survey measures outcomes approximately four to six months after course completion. 

This 36.1 percentage point difference provides context for curriculum approaches that enable international students to develop professional capabilities and demonstrate them to employers. 

At AIEC, Professor Le Sueur outlined how ICMS addresses this challenge through an MBA curriculum that integrates academic learning with practical industry experience. 

Action learning provides one approach to addressing this curriculum challenge. Rather than positioning students as recipients of workplace knowledge, action learning engages participants with authentic organisational problems through processes of inquiry, questioning, action and critical reflection. In management education, the approach is intended to create value in two directions: contributing to organisational challenges while supporting individual and professional learning. 

Turning Business Challenges into Learning Opportunities

A central feature of the ICMS MBA is its compulsory Work Integrated Learning (WIL) program, which includes an Industry Action Learning Project and a professional placement. Together, the two WIL components provide more than 600 hours of structured work-integrated learning and associated learning and assessment activity.  

Through the Action Learning Project, students work with industry partners to investigate genuine organisational challenges, develop evidence-based recommendations and present their findings to executives. 

Rather than working with hypothetical business scenarios, students engage with industry stakeholders and contribute to projects with practical business applications and opportunities. 

The process involves four stages: 

1. Frame: Define a strategically relevant organisational challenge, clarify its scope and stakeholders, and develop focused inquiry questions. 
2. Investigate: Analyse the internal and external environment, synthesise relevant evidence and critically examine assumptions. 
3. Recommend: Develop and justify evidence based practical recommendations and present findings to industry representatives. 
4. Reflect and articulate: Critically evaluate individual learning and translate professional experience into evidence of capability through a professional portfolio. 

Students receive academic and industry supervision throughout the process. 

The approach is designed to develop graduate capabilities including professional communication, teamwork, critical thinking, stakeholder engagement and independent problem-solving. 

Employer Evaluations Provide Evidence of Capability and Contribution

The presentation included findings from employer evaluations across organisations involved in the Action Learning Projects. 

Employers provided an average rating of 4.80 out of 5 across 11 employability capabilities, with no negative ratings recorded. 

The highest-rated capabilities included teamwork and motivation, both scoring 4.86 out of 5, followed by communication, professionalism and adaptability, each scoring 4.83. 

The Industry projects covered a range of business sectors and challenges. 

For example, students working with an aged care and home care provider examined staff onboarding processes and identified opportunities for improvement, including the potential application of AI tools. 

Other projects involved developing tourism program models for strategic improvements and evaluating digital customer journeys for businesses in the fashion and events sector to identify opportunities to improve conversion. 

The projects gave students opportunities to apply business knowledge while providing participating organisations with their evidence based insights, analysis and recommendations they could use. 

Building Experience That Employers Can Recognise

The presentation also examined opportunities for students to maintain professional connections with host organisations beyond their initial projects. 

In the evaluations reporting on continuation, 16 of 18 host organisations indicated an expectation that students would continue contributing to their companies in some capacity. 

This continuation could involve supporting implementation, undertaking another project, maintaining an existing arrangement or entering employment. It does not necessarily indicate a confirmed paid position. 

Student reflections highlighted the value of working through unfamiliar business challenges, communicating with stakeholders and taking responsibility for project outcomes. 

Taken together, these findings suggest that structured industry projects can provide students with opportunities to apply disciplinary knowledge, engage with workplace stakeholders and develop evidence of professional contribution. 

Connecting Employability with Curriculum Design

A key message from the AIEC presentation was that employability should be embedded in curriculum design rather than treated as preparation for employment after graduation. 

At ICMS, Action Learning Projects form part of a structured WIL framework supported by institutional employability policy, academic supervision and industry assessment. 

Students are assessed not only on their recommendations but also on their ability to investigate business problems, communicate professionally and reflect on their learning. 

The inclusion of a professional portfolio further supports students in presenting evidence of their experience and capabilities to prospective employers. 

By sharing this approach at AIEC 2026, ICMS contributed to the broader discussion about how higher education providers can connect academic learning with meaningful industry participation and support international students in Australia. 

The presentation illustrated the value of giving students opportunities to demonstrate what they can contribute to an organisation before they graduate. 

Explore the ICMS MBA Degrees

ICMS offers four Master of Business Administration degrees, combining business and leadership studies with work-integrated learning.  

Students can choose a general MBA or a specialised qualification aligned with their professional interests. 

• Master of Business Administration 

• Master of Business Administration (Business Analytics) 

• Master of Business Administration (Innovation and Entrepreneurship)