RESUMÉ
Name:
Zhanming Liang
Preferred Name:
Ming
Language:
English, Cantonese and Mandarin
Nationality:
Australian
Postal Address:
School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC 3086
Telephone:
03-9479 5136
Email:
z.liang@latrobe.edu.au
Brief summary of background and areas of expertise
Ming has been actively involved in teaching and research in the area of health service
management for ten years. She is currently a senior lecturer in health service management in the
School of Public Health, La Trobe University. Her current research focuses on managerial
competency, evidence-informed decision-making, and project management in the healthcare
sector. The other areas of her research and teaching focus can be found in the resume below.
Ming has been focusing on the design, development, conduct of and leading the Management
Competency Assessment partnership Project (MCAP) since 2009. As a result, a novel Managerial
Competency Assessment Tool consisting of a 360°Assessment and Objective Assessment has
been developed and used to assess the competencies of middle and senior level managers in
Victorian hospitals and community health services. This tool will soon to be commercialised for
large scale usage in the health industries.
Prior to becoming academic active in research, teaching and community development, she
worked in diverse roles such as medical practitioner, planning and evaluation consultant and as a
senior manager before she pursued her academic career. One of her strengths is conducting needs
analysis, planning and evaluation for healthcare organizations, including community-based and
non-government organizations. She is also an experienced project manager excellent in not only
managing projects, but training and coaching healthcare professionals who have taken up project
management roles. She has also worked as consultant for a number of years to provide advice to
healthcare organizations in planning and evaluation. The book she co-authored with her
colleagues titled ‘Project management in health and community services: getting good ideas to
work’ has been recognised as the best project management book for health sectors in Australia.
Award Nominations
 The Managerial Competency Assessment Project (MCAP) designed and conducted by Ming
and two of her colleagues was nominated for Business/Higher Education Round Table
(B/Hert) Award under the Best Research & Development Collaboration category by La Trobe
University in 2014.
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 Nominated for the La Trobe University Early Career Researcher Award by the School of
Public Health in 2012
Awards Received
 SHAPE Annual Augural Student Award, 2003
 Coordinator of the year 2001 by Liverpool City Council
Membership
 Fellow, Australian College of Health Service Managers(FCHSM)
Community Engagement




Member, Editorial Committee, Journal of Behavioral Rehabilitation
Book Review Editor, Australian Journal of Primary Health
National Secretary, The Society of Health Administration Program in Education
Director, Board of DRUG-ARM Australasia (2007 – 2013)
Education
 Tertiary:
Degree Awarded:
Scholarship held:
Topic:
Griffith University
PhD (Public Health) in May 2007
Three years
Characteristics, competencies and challenges: a quantitative and
qualitative study of the senior health executive workforce in New
South Wales, 1990-1999.
 Tertiary:
Study period:
Degree Awarded:
University of Wollongong, Australia
February, 1997 – December 1998
Master of Science in Mental Health
 Tertiary:
Study Period:
Degree Awarded:
Medical College, Jinan University, P.R. of China
September 1988 – June 1994
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery
Employment
 Current Position
Work Place:
Date of Commence:
Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator
Health Service Management
School of Public Health, La Trobe University
Since 2007
 Position Title:
Work Place:
Period:
Lecturer, Health Service Management
School of Public Health, Griffith University
January 2005 – June 2007
 Position Title:
State Manager
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Work Place:
Period:
Drug Awareness and Relief Movement (DRUG-ARM), NSW
1/14 Court Road, Fairfield, NSW 2160
2002-2005
 Position Title:
Name of Employer:
Period:
Research Consultant
Catherine James' Consulting
1999 – 2002
 Position Title:
Name of Employer:
Location:
Period:
Team Leader, Aged Care Services
Australian Chinese Community Association
2 Mary St, Surry Hills, NSW 2010
1997 to 1999
 Position Title:
Name of Employee:
Location:
Period:
Medical Practitioner / Physician
The No. 2 People’s Hospital of Foshan
Foshan City, Guangdong, P.R. of China
September, 1994—August, 1996
RESEARCH INTERESTS
o Health Reform and the change of management practice
o Evidence-based management practice
o Competencies for senior health executives
o Project management in healthcare settings
o Turnover among senior healthcare workforce
o Early intervention in alcohol and other drug (AOD) issues
o Support to families with AOD issues through volunteering
TEACHING AREAS
o Change management in healthcare systems
o Strategic decision making in health
o Health finance and project management
o Planning and evaluation
o Quality and performance management
o Australian Healthcare System
A1 Books Published
1. Dwyer J, Liang Z, Thiessen V and Martini A. (2013). Project management in health and
community services: getting good ideas to work. Allen & Unwin: Sydney.
2. Howard P, Liang Z and Fitzgerald L. (2009). Evidence-based decision making in health
service management: the knowledge and practice amongst middle to senior level health
service managers in Victoria, Australia. VDM: Saarbuecken.
3. Liang Z (2008). Health reforms and Australian senior health executive workforce:
characteristics, competencies and challenges. VDM: Saarbuecken.
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Book Chapter
Liang, Z. (in press). Project Management. In G. Day & S. Leggat (Eds.), Leadership and
Management in Healthcare, Cambridge University Press.
Soresen, R. Liang, Z. and Cooper, H. (in press). In Health Management Research E-book.
SHAPE.
Research Articles in Peer Reviewed Journals Published
1. Liang Z, Leggat S, Howard, P and Koh L. “What makes a hospital manager competent at the
middle and senior levels”, Australian Health Review, 2013, 37(5):566-573.
2. Liang, Z, Howard P, Koh L & Leggat S. Competency requirements for middle and senior
managers in community health services. Australian Journal of Primary Health 2013, 19(3),
256-263.
3. Liang Z, Howard P & Koh L. Hey boss: are you sure they are the managers you are looking
for? Managerial competency requirements for level II & III managers in community health
services. GSTF Journal of BioSciences, 2(1): 86-91.
4. Liang Z, Howard P, Leggat S & Murphy G. A framework to improve evidence-informed
decision-making in health service management. Australian Health Review 2012, 36 (3): 28489.
5. Liang Z and Howard PF “Evidence-informed managerial decision-making – what evidence
counts? (part two)” Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management 2011, 6(2):12-21.
6. Liang Z, Howard P, Leggat S & Murphy G. A framework to improve evidence-informed
decision-making in health service management. Australian Health Review, 37:566-573.
7. Liang Z, Howard PF, Rasa J. “Evidence-informed managerial decision-making – what
evidence counts?” Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management 2011, 6(1), p23-29.
8. Liang, Z and Howard, P.F. "Competencies required by senior Health Executives in NSW,
1990 -1999", Australian Health Review 2010, 34, 52-58.
9. Liang, Z. and Brown, C. “The twenty-first century face of senior health executives”, Asia
Pacific Journal of Health Management 2008, Vol 3 (2): 30-36.
10. Liang Z. and Howard, P. “Lesson learned from the introduction of performance management
to the senior health executive levels in NSW in the 1990s”, Australian Health Review 2007,
31(3): 393-400.
11. Liang Z. Short SD, Howard PF, and Brown CR. “Centralised control and devolved
responsibilities: personal experiences of top-level health executives on the implementation of
area health management model in NSW 1986-99”. Asia Pacific
Journal
of
Health
Management 2006, 1(2): 44-50.
12. Liang Z, Short SD, and Brown CR. “Characteristics and employment status of senior health
managers in the 1980s, 1990s and early 21st Century: implication for future research and
education development”. The International Journal of Health Administration
Education
Summer 2006, 23(3): 281-302.
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13. Liang Z, Short, SD, and Lawrence B. “Healthcare reform in New South Wales 1986– 1999:
using the literature to predict the impact on senior health executive”. Australian Health
Review 2005, 29(3): 285-91.
Refereed full conference papers
1. Liang Z. Howard P, Leggat S. ‘Leadership Competencies of Middle and Senior Health Service
Managers in Australia from the Perspective of Supervisors’, 9th International Organisational
Behavior in Healthcare Conference, Denmark, 23-25 April 2014.
2. Liang Z. Howard P, Koh L. ‘Hey Boss, are you sure they are the managers you are looking
for? - Managerial competency requirements for Level II & III managers in community health
services’ Global Healthcare Conference, Singapore, August 2012. (Print ISSN: 2251-3833, EPeriodical ISSN: 2251-3825).
Journal articles currently under review
1. Liang Z, Howard, P and Leggat S. “360° Management Competency Assessment: is our
understanding adequate?” Under review by Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources
2. Liang Z, Howard, P and Leggat S. “Health care manager competence: exploring differences
between type and size of organisation and management level” under review by Health Care
Management Review.
3. Leggat S, Liang Z and Howard, P. “Enhancing public sector talent management: exploring
differences between average and high performing healthcare managers” under review by Asia
Pacific Journal of Human Resources.
4. Liang Z and Howard P. “Evidence-informed decision-making: the competency assessment of
health service managers and requirements for improvement”. under review by EURAM 2015.
Unpublished Reports
1. Eight organisation reports on Managerial Competency Assessment on middle and senior level
managers to six Community Health Services and Two Health Services in Victoria.
2. Forty-one detailed reports to middle and senior managers from Victorian Community Health
Services and Public Hospitals on their results from the Managerial Competency Assessment.
3. Howard, P, Liang Z. and Fitzgerald L. (2009). An examination of the practice of evidencebased decision making among middle level and senior healthcare managers in Victoria.
ACHSE.
4. Liang, Z. “Drug awareness and education program for Chinese parents in the Fairfield Local
Government Area - Final Project Report to NSW Premiers Department”. DRUG-ARM NSW,
2003
5. Liang, Z. “DRUG-ARM Wollongong Street Outreach Service – progress report to Alcohol
Education and Rehabilitation Foundation”. DRUG-ARM NSW. 2003.
6. Liang, Z. “DRUG-ARM Wollongong Street Outreach Service – final report to Alcohol
Education and Rehabilitation Foundation”. DRUG-ARM NSW. 2003.
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Conference Papers
1. Liang Z; Isouard G; Briggs D; Leggat S and Howard, P. Developing competent health service
managers: how much do we know and how much have we done?. The Society of Health
Administration Program in Education Symposium 2014, Sydney
2. Liang Z. Competent of Health Service Managers: how do we assess them?. The Society of
Health Administration Program in Education Symposium 2013. Brisbane.
3. Liang Z, Howard P & Koh L. Hey boss: are you sure they are the managers you are looking
for?- Managerial competency requirements for level II & III managers in community health
services. 1st Global Healthcare Conference 2012, Global Science and Technology: Singapore.
4. Liang Z, Howard, P, Leggat, S and Murphy G. ‘Evidence-informed management decision
making – how to make it happen?; ACHSM International Congress 2011, Rotorua, New
Zealand.
5. Leggat, S. Liang Z and Howard P. ‘We know you are a competent health services manager now help us prove it!’, ACSHE National Congress, July 2010, Fremantle.
6. Liang. Z. and Howard P. ‘The practice of evidence-based decision making among healthcare
managers in Victoria: implications to researchers and research institutions’. SHAPE
Symposium, July 2009, Glenelg.
7. Liang Z. and Howard P. ‘Strategies to improve the use of evidence in health management
decision making’, ACSHE National Congress, Aug 2009, Gold Coast.
8. Liang, Z.M., Short, S. & Brown, C.R. ‘preliminary finding of the development of the roles
and responsibilities of Senior Health Executives in NSW Health Public Service, 1986 to
present’, ACHSE QLD State Conference, Gold Coast, 2005.
9. Liang, Z.M., Short, S., 'Researching the development of the roles and responsibilities of toplevel executives within the NSW health service, 1986 to present', Annual SHAPE (Society for
Health Administration Programs in Education) Symposium, Sydney, NSW, July, 2003.
10. Liang, Z.M., ‘The struggles and experiences in developing the newly released ex-prisoners
supported accommodation program in Blacktown Area’, Sydney Metropolitan CDAT
(Community Drug Action Team) Conference, Homebush Bay, NSW, June 2003.
11. Liang, Z.M., 'The effectiveness of drug and alcohol education programs to Chinese Parents in
the Fairfield Local Government Area', 4th International Conference on Young People and
Drugs, Wellington, New Zealand, May, 2003.
12. Liang, Z.M., ‘Government and non-government agencies to work together to tackle drug and
alcohol problems’, Drug Action Week 2002: Fairfield Drug and Alcohol Workers’ Forum,
Fairfield, NSW, June 2002
13. Liang, Z.M., ‘Service gaps in supporting family with dual diagnosis’, Drug Action Week
2002: Mental Health Forum, Liverpool, NSW, June 2002.
Research Grants
Project Title
Project Source
Amount
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1 Developing an web-based platform for
the Managerial Competency
Assessment tool for Health Service
Managers
La Trobe University E-research grant
$14,354
2 Competencies for healthcare managers
in Victoria: An exploratory, mixedmethods study to guide health
management workforce development
(2011 – 2013)
Sector Workforce Planning, DoH, Vic;
Victorian Healthcare Association; The
Australasian College of Health Service
Management;
$145,540
14 Health Services in Victoria.
3 Evidence-based management practice
among senior healthcare managers
Victoria. (2008-2009)
Australian College of Health Service
Executives, Victorian Branch;
$20,000
School of Public Health, La Trobe Uni.
4 To conduct needs assessment on
Chinese Community in Fairfield Local
Government Area on their educational
needs on alcohol and other drug issues
(2002).
NSW Premiers Department
$25,000
REFEREES
Upon request
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