Our 2023 Study Tour dates: 23 Aug - 1 Sept.

Our Study Tours are back!

Sign up to get more information about our forthcoming Study Tour in Europe in August.
You’ll be the first to find out about the itinerary, the Honeybee organisations that you’ll be visiting and booking details.

About our Study Tours

Meet your peers in organisations operating on sustainable leadership principles during one of our customised study tours. 

We run tailored study tours for C-level participants (CEOs, CFOs etc.), for functional and middle managers, for individual companies or for special interest groups. Topics include sustainable leadership, operations, innovation, renewable energy, social responsibility, and responsible finance with specific learning outcomes.

Group sizes are limited to 20 participants to maximise the learning.

The Institute for Sustainable Leadership is well experienced in running study tours. Since 1999, we have been taking groups of Australian, New Zealand and Asian managers to meet with executives from best practice organisations in Germany and Switzerland. Over the years, we have developed a network of over 40 host firms in Europe. See a sample itinerary.

Tours typically last 12 days. Participants are well-briefed on the host organisations before the tour, again on arrival and are encouraged to ask deep-level questions of the hosts during a one-day exchange in each firm.

View a presentation about the ISL Study Tours

What’s the value in a study tour?

Research has found that the deep-learning experienced in such study tours reaps many benefits.

Find out more in this free to read paper

Read past participants’ testimonials

I would recommend this tour to leaders who are looking to make long-term, positive influence in and on their organisation.

I would also recommend this to C level executives, looking for ways to impact their business beyond the next reporting cycle and develop an edge that is difficult to replicate without the right knowledge.

Matthew Ball, Former Vice President Optus Small & Medium Business

It was enlightening to understand and appreciate the alternative perspective of sustainably-led companies versus the Anglo/US style we are all generally familiar with.

To witness this business philosophy as it is implemented and espoused in these European companies was testament to the fact that we often have blinkered vision as to the view of the world we work in.

Greg Byrne, APAC Data Centre Network Build Manager at Amazon Web Services

Expect to find yourself challenged in your thinking, particularly when you compare the prevailing orthodoxy within most Australian firms of what “leadership” actually is.

This study tour showed me first hand that Sustainable Leadership practices can work, and work well, whilst also being highly profitable.

Will Huckel, Salvation Army
We delved into some of the most cutting-edge organizations in Europe confident that we were of sufficient calibre to ask the “right” questions. And we were met in return by some of the most senior managers available who were hungry for our perspectives and questions concerning their business.
Jim Garraway, Supply Chain Manager at Rexel

I was pleasantly surprised by the commitment of the firms visited, highlighted by the seniority and calibre of people that we met with.

The tour also provides unprecedented access to two outstanding professors in their field of endeavour and richly developed my understanding of sustainability and its integration into all of a firm’s being.

Todd Hulbert, MBA 2008 and winner of the Vice Chancellor's Award for Academic Excellence

The tour challenged my thinking which was in the stream of conventional business models…

If you feel curious about an alternative business model that offers long term insights of economic performance, social responsibility and environmental friendliness, this study tour might be for you.

Roger Lemus, Supply Services Director ANZ Health

The practices observed were often quite astounding for people from predominantly shareholder driven Australian companies.

The tour is exceptionally well organised: Gayle and Harry go to great lengths to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Tracy Morgan, Managing Director, Morstone Management Solutions

Thanks to Professor Gayle Avery and Dr Harry Bergsteiner, we were able to meet the most senior executives in some world-renowned companies such as Audi, B. Braun and Kärcher.

Shehan Silva, Commercial Manager, Coca-Cola Amatil

I had been in senior management in the Australian subsidiary of a Fortune 500 Healthcare company for a number of years. I’d had a lot of opportunity to travel within the company and seen lots of great leadership and outstanding corporate social responsibility… we found ourselves engaging CEOs of large and successful companies, who were very happy to spend time with us and share their knowledge.

Craig Smith, ex Director Finance & Operations at Allergan

The new revelation for me was to see first hand how these corporations can simultaneously address the social and environmental issues and achieve profitability in the long run. They have used these issues to strategically innovate across the board in their business operations. What is inspiring for me is to see companies not giving in to short terms demands of the financial markets but be steadfast in practising sustainable leadership.

Ling Wong, Head Light, Leading Light in Leadership

The European Study Tour gave me the opportunity to meet face to face with directors from many of Europe’s most successful organisations, all of whom were very open to discussing their sustainability practices and strategy. The tour was hard work, but fun, well organised and gave us an insight into business practices in Germany, Austria and Switzerland –an amazing cultural experience.

Roger Woodend, Vice President Sales, BT
Some of our study tour hosts
Aesculap Allianz Audi Baulderstone-Hornibrook
BMW Bosch-Siemens Daimler Endress & Hauser
Fraunhofer Institute GE Global Research Georg Fischer Giesecke & Devrient
Holcim IBM Infineon Jungheinrich
Kärcher KUKA Mann & Hummel Migros
Munich Reinsurance Novartis Porsche Ravensberger
Roche Rodenstock Rohde & Schwarz SAP
Seele Steiff Swatch TÜV SÜD
UBS WACKER Chemie ZF Friedrichshafen Zumtobel

Interested in finding out more about this study tour?

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