Business School

2010

March

• WorkSongs: New series of events based on Marek Korczynski's research
• Researching the Bias in Journal Ratings
• Sports Minister heralds 'fantastic' SportPark at Loughborough University

February

• Security Management student wins inaugural Wilf Knight Award
• Strong Loughborough Students presence in England hockey squad
• Loughborough automotive specialist says Toyota’s troubles may have silver lining

January

• Loughborough tops Student Experience poll for 4th year running

2009

December

• New Dean of Business and Economics appointed

November

• Athletics chiefs are quick off the mark with Business School pilot programme

October

• ‘Global buzz’ offers new perspective on world economy

September

• Business School student is the new World U23 Triathlon Champion

August

• Management Sciences Graduate Completes Family Hat-Trick
• Long-Term Football Managers Get Better Results, say Researchers

July

• Loughborough and 'Santander Universities' Team up for MBA Prize
• Loughborough holds honorary degree ceremonies
• Business school professor publishes new accounting and finance book.

June

• Top-Ten again in The Times’ Good University Guide 2010

May

• Listen to Professor Paul Dobson’s expert comment on Radio 4 about Intel’s EU Fine
• Loughborough 10th in Guardian's 2010 University Guide
• Business School rises to 6th in The Independent’s 2010 rankings

April

• Gordon Brown launches ‘New Industry, New Jobs’ policy at Loughborough University
• Loughborough awarded £3 million to boost economic and social prosperity

March

• Loughborough 1st choice for Chinese Emergency Management Experts
• Increase in research funding propels Loughborough into UK top five

February

• Applications to Loughborough rise by more than twice the national average
• Delegates from Tsinghua University to present on China's National Emergency Response Platform System

2008

December

• RAE confirms Business School Research as Internationally Excellent

November

• Loughborough University Business School joins international elite

October

• Student Experience' hat-trick for Loughborough at national education awards
• PMDC Graduate celebrated as a determined role-model for Professional Development at Print Awards.

September

• Creative Loughborough MBA Students awarded KPMG prize for Managing Innovation
• Loughborough shortlisted again for two Times Higher student awards
• Sunday Times names Loughborough ‘University of the Year’
• The award of the University of the Year title caps a highly successful period for Loughborough.
• Loughborough remains one of UK’s top universities in National Student Survey
• Appeal of the NHS as an employer is fading, say health professionals

August

• Loughborough University ranked in top ten for teacher training

June

• Business School Joint Conference to Report on Empirical Analysis in Industrial Economics
• The Times Ranks the Business School in the Top 6 for UK Undergraduate Degrees
• Business School Student Wins Top Award at London Ceremony

May

• KPMG Awards Prize to Loughborough MBA Delegates
• The Loughborough MBA is Re-accredited by AMBA for the Maximum Five Year Period
• Loughborough University in Top Ten of National League Table

April

• Loughborough University Secures Another Top Ranking in National League Table
• International Business Research at Loughborough University Business School Awarded Top Ranking

March

• European Banking Programme Goes from Strength to Strength 
• Security Management Student's Forthcoming Book Sees Phenomenal Endorsement
• Business School Joins Elite 'University Alliance Program'

February

• Joint Loughborough-Hull Universities Project Shortlisted for International Award
• Senior Lecturer Recognised for Work on Online Peer-moderated Marking System

January

• Business School Professor Listed in Industry Who’s Who

2007

November

Double success for Loughborough in national education awards

Loughborough University has won two prestigious 2007 Times Higher Awards – for the Best Student Experience, and Outstanding Support for Overseas Students. It is the second successive year that the University has picked up the hotly contested Best Student Experience title. The awards presented to Loughborough were the only two to be voted for by students.

Announced last night (29 November) at a ceremony held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, the awards, organised by The Times Higher Education Supplement newspaper, aim to raise awareness of and reward the huge contribution British universities make to the economic and cultural health of the country.

Commenting on Loughborough’s success, Professor Shirley Pearce, the University’s Vice Chancellor, said: “These awards are testimony to the hard work and enthusiasm of all our staff at Loughborough and the excellent working relationship we enjoy with the Students’ Union.”

The Best Student Experience award recognises universities’ outstanding contributions to the learning experience. Loughborough was rated highly by its students for the community atmosphere, extracurricular activities and societies, and the good environment on campus and around the University.

Loughborough Students’ Union President David Gerty said: “It is an honour and privilege to have received such prestigious awards. They are particularly special because they were voted for by students, and it is a reflection of the well-rounded academic and social experience enjoyed by all of us at Loughborough.”

The Outstanding Support for Overseas Students award is presented to the university that helps international students to gain the maximum benefit from their study. International students were asked, via an independent survey, to rate various aspects of their university experience. The careers service, students’ union and visa advice were among the services that international students rated highly at Loughborough.

Tony Westaway, director of the University’s International Office, commented: “It is really fantastic that Loughborough's international students clearly believe that the support offered by staff and the Union is the best in the UK. This will continue to enhance Loughborough University's growing worldwide reputation.”

The awards come just a couple of months after the results of the 2007 National Student Survey, in which Loughborough was ranked fourth in the UK for student satisfaction, providing further confirmation of the high quality learning experience the University provides for its students.

 

Local dignitaries open multi-million pound Business School extension

A £4 million, environmentally-friendly extension to Loughborough University’s Business School was formally opened on 16 November by the Mayor of Charnwood, Councillor Joe Tormey, and Loughborough’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Shirley Pearce.

The three-storey extension provides a new state-of-the-art home for the Business School’s Professional and Management Development Centre, which is responsible for running a wide range of executive education programmes. It nearly doubles the building’s previous size, adding new teaching and seminar facilities, break-out areas, a café and staff offices.

The extension is the manifestation of Professor Ian Davidson’s vision as Director of the School for a bespoke, environmentally friendly centre of excellence, and reinforces the School’s standing as one of the top providers of business and management education and research in the UK.

“In today’s environment of sustainable development, the Business School extension stands out as an example of how good design, complemented with computer-controlled ventilation and air-circulation systems, can provide a high quality, low energy environment for professional development programmes,” says Professor Davidson.

Designed by CPMG Architects and built by Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd, the building has been designed from the outset to be low energy. Its integral air-ducting system, together with controlled ventilation openings and natural convection, enable even temperatures to be maintained in the building without the use of air conditioning. The extension’s geometry is curved to match the existing building, but the materials are deliberately different to distinguish the two parts of the building.

 

October

Loughborough University to validate degrees at the British University of Egypt

Loughborough University has signed a formal agreement to validate existing undergraduate degree programmes at the British University in Egypt (BUE). The agreement, part of a wider Loughborough-BUE partnership arrangement, will cover seven annual cohorts of students, the first being those who began their degree studies in September 2006.

Loughborough University will validate 16 degree programmes offered by the BUE, including Business Studies. Students who successfully complete these programmes will receive a degree from both the BUE and Loughborough University.

Professor Shirley Pearce CBE, Vice Chancellor Loughborough University, said: “The British University in Egypt has achieved much in its short lifetime. It represents an unprecedented extension of British education in the Middle East, and Loughborough is pleased to be working with partner organisations in both the UK and Egypt on such a pioneering project. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with the BUE.”

Dr Mostafa El Feki, BUE President, said: “The British University in Egypt is delighted to be working in partnership with Loughborough University.

Nick McHard, Registrar and Director of Corporate Services at the BUE, commented: “Although the BUE has its own degree-awarding powers, validation by one of the leading higher education institutions in the UK will be fundamental to building the BUE’s reputation, marketing its programmes and strengthening its recruitment.”

The BUE is a non-profit making, private, Egyptian university, situated at El-Sherouk city, 30km from the centre of Cairo, on a site of approximately 50 acres. Five buildings, affording 27,000 m2 of floor space, have been built so far. It is a ground-breaking initiative, which provides a British style education and will produce graduates who are attractive to major Egyptian, UK and international employers. It also aims to build a strong research community, which will contribute to international research priorities, address issues relevant to the Egyptian economy, and help to ensure that the BUE attains worldwide recognition.

The BUE was formally opened on 22 March 2006 in the presence of The First Lady of The Arab Republic of Egypt and Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.

 

September

Loughborough University has been shortlisted for two prestigious 2007 Times Higher Awards - for " Best Student Experience" and "Outstanding Support for Overseas Students". In addition, the University's former Bursar and Finance Officer, Michael Pearson, who retired from Loughborough in March this year after almost 40 years' service, has been shortlisted for the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The nominations follow on from Loughborough's success at the awards last year, when the University won the hotly contested "Best Student Experience" award for 2006. The awards, organised by The Times Higher Education Supplement newspaper, aim to raise awareness of and reward the huge contribution British universities make to the economic and cultural health of the country. The "Best Student Experience" award is based on an extensive survey of all UK students and recognises universities' outstanding contributions to the learning experience. Loughborough has been rated highly by its students for the community atmosphere, extracurricular activities and societies, and the good environment on campus and around the University.

For the "Outstanding Support for Overseas Students" award, international students were asked, via an independent survey, to rate various aspects oftheir university experience. The careers service, students' union and visa advice are among the services that international students rated highly at Loughborough. The award will be given to the institution that helps international students gain the maximum benefit from their study.

The Lifetime Achievement award will be presented to the individual who apanel of judges believe should be honoured for their contribution to highereducation. "We are delighted to have been shortlisted for these awards," said Professor Shirley Pearce, Loughborough's Vice Chancellor. "Our staff and students 'union work tirelessly to ensure all our students enjoy and get the most out of their time here, and it is excellent that their efforts have been recognised. It is a real indication of how highly our students rate their experience at Loughborough." Professor Pearce also said she was delighted by Michael Pearson's nomination for the Lifetime Achievement Award - a proposal made jointly by Loughborough University and the British Universities Finance Directors Group. She commented: "Michael Pearson's achievements have been extraordinary. His sound financial advice and vision have served to underpin Loughborough's position as one of the country's leading universities. He has also been a figure of great importance in the national higher education finance world."

The nominations come just a few weeks after the results of the 2007 National Student Survey, in which Loughborough was ranked fourth in the UK forstudent satisfaction, providing further confirmation of the high quality learning experience the University provides for its students. The winners of all the Times Higher Awards will be announced at a ceremony on 29 November at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

 

First Loughborough University spin out launched with IPSO investment

Loughborough University and IPSO Ventures plc, the IP commercialization specialist, have created the first spin out company, Axilica Limited, under the joint Framework Agreement, concluded earlier this year.

Axilica has developed an electronic design automation (EDA) software programme which simplifies and speeds up the process of designing semiconductor chips. The Axilica product is a visual design language front end for the hardware design process that allows designs to be represented in the form of Unified Modelling Language (UML).

This results in a more efficient and automated flow process from specification capture to hardware design language. The programme accepts diagrammatic input and automates the subsequent design process, providing: f aster design flow, lower design cost, quicker time to market.

IPSO is leading an investment round of up to £500,000 into Axilica, which has been spun-out from Loughborough University’s Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department. The company has also received co-investment of £25,000 from the Lachesis Fund, the University Challenge Fund for the East Midlands.

The demand driven by the continuing need to upgrade and enhance consumer products and their features is increasing. Bringing new computer chips to market is time consuming and requires substantial expertise. Axilica’s EDA software product is designed to address this demand. It will not only speed up the process, but will allow it to be carried out with little or no knowledge of front-end hardware design. The reduced development cost and timescales will enable chip design companies to reap the benefits of increased profit margins and faster times to market for their products.

Simon Hunt, Executive Chairman of IPSO, said: “We are delighted to have created our first spin-out company under our agreement with Loughborough. The quality of the team behind Axilica is very impressive and the Company is clearly addressing the market’s growing need for quicker, cheaper chip design. We are also very pleased to have co-invested with Lachesis”.

Peter Winter, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise), Loughborough University, added: “We are really excited about this deal, which we believe will be an excellent demonstration of how university technology combined with the right funding partners can move technology from the laboratory to the market place. It is our first deal with IPSO in what we hope will be a long and fruitful relationship. It also includes the Lachesis fund with which the University, along with four other east midlands universities, has a long standing relationship.”

 

August

Loughborough Ranked Joint First for Student Satisfaction

Loughborough has been ranked 12th, out of 113 institutions, in this year’s Times Good University Guide – placing it again firmly among the UK’s top 15 higher education institutions.

This marks the sixth year in a row that Loughborough has been ranked in the top 15, cementing its status as one of the country’s pre-eminent universities. The University also comes joint top of the guide in the student satisfaction category.

The Times Good University Guide is based upon eight measures of quality – student satisfaction, research quality, entry standards, student/staff ratio, services and facilities spend, completion rates, degree classifications and graduate prospects.

“We are delighted that Loughborough continues to be recognised as one of the country’s leading higher education institutions,” said Vice Chancellor Professor Shirley Pearce. “Loughborough prides itself on the high quality of education and the learning environment we offer our students. They study alongside internationally recognised academics who are committed to producing research that matters. Our degree programmes are highly regarded by professional institutions and businesses, and our graduates are consistently targeted by the UK’s top recruiters.”

 

Waitrose Renews Sponsorship for Loughborough Degree Programme

Loughborough University Business School’s BSc (Hons) Retail Management programme, a unique and acclaimed collaborative effort organised by the Business School and a consortium of retailers from its launch in 1991, has been awarded renewed sponsorship by premier food retailer Waitrose.  This confirms Loughborough as the only Retail Degree in the UK to have maintained continuous company sponsorship since its inception.

“We are delighted that Waitrose are sponsoring the retail degree,” says Programme Director Cathy Hart.  “Waitrose deliver an exceptionally high standard of training and development for graduates, which provide an excellent fit with the profile of our retail degree.  This results in a win-win outcome for both sides, and we look forward to developing the partnership further with Waitrose during the next 12 months.”      

Although the programme has been previously sponsored by several leading UK retailers such as Sainsbury, C&A, Barclays and Wickes, Waitrose has been continuous in its support of the programme since 2000.  In addition to providing student placement and graduate positions, the support includes guest lectures, talks and workshops by Waitrose managers; student projects and fieldtrips to head office, stores and distribution centres.

Says Susie Barker, Graduate Recruitment Manager at Waitrose: “As a major and progressive food retailer, our graduate recruitment strategy needs to provide our business with exemplary leaders who can shape our commercial future and enrich our people-focused culture. Graduates from Loughborough University Business School will be well prepared for such a career, and as such can assist us in moulding and developing our branches beyond their already successful base. We are delighted to be sponsoring the Retail Management degree and look forward to bettering the prosperous relationship that currently exists with Loughborough”.

Loughborough University’s unflagging rise up the League Tables – breaking into elite Russell Group territory last year when it placed 6th in the UK in the 2007 Times’ Good University Guide – is no surprise to students, staff or business partners who have witnessed the University’s expansion and consequent leap up the rankings in the last decade. Second in the UK for teaching (to Cambridge University) four years’ running (2003, ’04, ’05 and ’06), Loughborough is indeed well placed to deliver the best in management education.  Being voted Best Student Experience by students in The Times Higher Education Supplement Awards 2006 confirms that Loughborough University provides the best student environment.

Aside from outstanding teaching, Programme Director Cathy Hart and colleagues in the Marketing and Retailing Research Group (www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/bs/research/rgmarrg.html) conduct ground-breaking research into the retail industry. A recent study entitled “Buying into Retail”, commissioned by Skillsmart Retail (the Sector Skills Council for retail), surprised many with its findings concerning the retail industry in the East Midlands.

According to Cathy, “Contrary to previous opinion, the research showed that people working within retail are generally very positive about their jobs.  It also confirmed that the retail industry has a shortage of and a great need for higher skilled managers.  Working closely with retail partners is the best way for universities to prepare high calibre graduates for successful and challenging careers in the retail sector”.  

 

Automotive Management Programme Helps Dealership Score 5/5 in Undercover Which? Survey

A recent undercover investigation by Which? magazine highlighted the shameful practices rife in the garage servicing industry - every dealership but two scoring poorly.

Which? took 50 cars, each with four faults and a 'topped up' screen wash, to 50 garages across the UK for servicing with the aim of seeing if the garages a) spotted the faults, b) completed the service to manufacturers' standards and c) whether they charged for screen wash which was already topped up.

According to Which?, 46 garages (92 per cent) missed at least one fault, and two missed all five. Although few garages carried out significant unnecessary work, 20 were found to have charged for windscreen-washer fluid.

Of the 50 garages investigated, only one franchised dealership scored top marks from the Which? inspectors - for both spotting all five faults and for high overall servicing standards - Colliers Jaguar in Tamworth, Staffordshire, which has their General Manager enrolled on the Business School MSc degree programme for automotive industry managers.

Says General Manager David Watkins: "I have applied many techniques and theories from the degree programme at Loughborough University at Colliers Jaguar. Being the only franchised dealer who found all the faults and offered a top service, it’s great to see that the changes make such a difference!"

 

 

June

Enterprising Students Rewarded for Innovative Business Plans

Nine budding entrepreneurs from Loughborough University have been awarded cash prizes to develop their business ideas after winning a student business plan competition.

Loughborough University’s annual student business plan competition, now in its sixth year, aims to encourage and support students in the area of small business planning. From over 30 entries, the most commercially-promising and innovative business plans were selected and the winners announced at a special awards night at Holywell Park, Loughborough.

A team of four students scooped the first prize of £1,500 for developing www.RateMyPlacement.co.uk, the UK’s first website solely dedicated to placement years. Alastair Lindsay, Ben Smith and Chris Wickson, all final year Business School students, and Oliver Sidwell, a final year Geography student, created RateMyPlacement to provide a structured online forum where students who have completed a placement year as part of their university degree course can leave a review about their experience for the benefit of future students about to embark on their placement. The site also offers advertising opportunities for employers involved in student placements.

Second prize of £1,000 was awarded to Designers in Residence, a new initiative started by PhD research students Alister Fraser and Rebecca Lawson. The scheme places young motivated designers into UK schools to run design workshops. By providing role models, Designers in Residence aims to enthuse students and raise awareness of design and technology. It also provides teachers with an invaluable teaching resource linking the curricular subject and the creative industries.

Third prize of £500 was awarded to a team of three Business School students, James Blackwell, Patrick Horsington and Ed Sloane, for developing www.campusxchange.co.uk, an online student marketplace.

Mayor of Charnwood, Councillor Joe Tormey, joined representatives from local businesses and regional development organisations at the awards night celebrations, demonstrating continued local support for student enterprise and innovation.

“We were delighted to host this important awards night to celebrate the achievements of all of the students who took part in the competition,” says Marina Pickles, Student Enterprise Manager at Loughborough University. “All of the finalists developed plans that show real potential for a successful new enterprise that may ultimately aid regional wealth creation.”

The first prize winners will now be put forward to the national competition organised by UKSEC, the national network for enterprise educators.

“This business plan competition has been an amazing learning process for all of us,” comments Alastair Lindsay of first prize winner, RateMyPlacement. “We’re passionate about this business opportunity and excited about the challenges that lie ahead.”

The awards night audience enjoyed an interesting talk by guest speaker Ross Haddow, winner of last year’s regional student business plan competition, who shared his story of how winning the prize money has helped him to set up his environmentally-friendly power shower company, About DT Ltd.

Previous winners of Loughborough University’s student business plan competition have gone on to develop valuable business skills and build successful companies. Last year’s winner, Dan Currin, will shortly complete a prestigious fellowship, which has enabled him to learn from top business entrepreneurs in the USA, build his own entrepreneurial skills, and understand the start-up company process and how to move ideas and innovations into the market place.

“Loughborough University is extraordinarily proud of its success in enterprise as well as its teaching and research”, says Professor Shirley Pearce, Vice-Chancellor at Loughborough University. “This competition helps to raise the profile of innovation and increases the incentive for innovation amongst our students.”

 

Dragons’ Den-style Module at Loughborough a Must for All Business School Students

Called Personal Effectiveness, this Dragons’ Den-style class is a compulsory module for all first-year undergraduates at the Business School, Loughborough University.  Covering all the key transferable skill areas, such as teamwork, planning, research, analysis, oral and written communication, reflection and appraisal, the module is designed to develop students’ abilities to perform to their best in today’s competitive and global marketplace. 

“This is a unique module,” says Dr Keith Pond, the module coordinator.  “It allows the students time to reflect on their strengths and development areas to help them prepare for employment.  Key skills required by employers are highlighted, discussed and opportunities given to practice them.”

Personal Effectivess also provides a springboard for students seeking professional placement work in the third year of their degree and is an important introduction to personal development planning, a vital and much-encouraged aspect of Loughborough’s business and management degree programmes.

Bex Harris, one of this year’s PE students, described the module as “challenging but rewarding, bringing together knowledge gained from all aspects of the degree. It was brilliant for team building and cooperating in a business situation. You have to think about everything for a business, and it gets you working very hard to make your project successful.”

The final project of the module, and the most weighted points-wise, is a cooperative group project that sees students conceiving, researching, developing and finally presenting a business-related concept of their own design in front of a panel of external assessors (Dragons) from across the University’s various departments.  This year the Dragons were invited to ‘invest’ in product ideas ranging from a recyclable coat hanger to a satellite-linked rape alarm and self-cleaning spectacles.  A number of projects focused on student life and others on larger-scale commercial markets.

Current student Charlie Culverwell had this to say: “The information given on CV writing was especially beneficial and helped me secure a job for the summer.”

Past projects have included the design and manufacture of business–related board games, the delivery of effective business training and development of a marketing communications scheme in particular industry sectors.

Since 2003 the module has used webPA, a web-based programme designed at Loughborough University that allows the students to judge their team-mates’ contributions against a set of pre-determined criteria such as commitment, organisation and communication within the team, and in essence disallows ‘free-riders’ – those that attend but do not participate.

“I was an assessor this year for Personal Effectiveness,” says Professor Morag Bell Pro-Vice Chancellor (Teaching), “and was enormously impressed by the very fine student presentations.  Their ideas were not only innovative, but also of practical value.  Several emerged from a real concern with the personal safety of students, vulnerable adults or people in the workplace.  Each member of the group had a task to research.  They then pooled their resources to create a clear, coherent and entertaining presentation.  Their time management was superb.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for me and a superb way for students to develop and enhance their subject-based and generic skills.”

 

May

Loughborough breaks into The Guardian’s Top Ten

Loughborough University has risen to its highest-ever ranking of ninth place in The Guardian’s 2008 university league tables, becoming the East Midlands top rated university, and beating Bath, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, York, Birmingham and Leicester, to name a few..

Published today (1 May), The Guardian tables rank subject areas/courses against seven criteria – teaching quality, feedback, spending per student, staff/student ratio, job prospects, value added (comparing students’ degree results with their entry qualifications) and entry score. From these an average score for each institution has been compiled, weighted by number of students and mix of subjects. Ranked 13th equal (with Imperial College, London) for Business and Management Studies, Loughborough's rise up the league tables keeps progressing year to year.

For the first time, data from the National Student Survey has been used in The Guardian’s tables, which has helped to propel Loughborough up the league due to being ranked 1st in many subject areas by students, including Teaching and Overall Satisfaction.

“We are delighted that Loughborough has risen so significantly in this year’s Guardian league tables. Following our top five placing in the latest National Student Survey and our ranking of 6th in The Times Good University Guide, it is further confirmation of Loughborough’s status as one of the country’s leading universities,” said Professor Morag Bell, Loughborough’s Pro Vice Chancellor for Teaching.

 

March

 

New Research in the Delivery of Leisure Centre Facilities

A new research project into the effective delivery of leisure centre facilities is set to begin this spring. The project, developed by Business School PhD student Ian Hodgkinson, will be jointly supervised by Professor Trevor Buck, Professor of International Business and Co-ordinator of the International Business and Strategy Research Group, and Dr Paul Hughes, Lecturer in Strategic Management.

Supported by The Leisure Database Company, this 18-month study aims to influence future public policy in delivering effective leisure centre facilities.  The Leisure Database Company has agreed to provide introductions to key individuals and organisations in the industry as well as vital market intelligence. 

Information that will be researched, to identify relative effectiveness, will include the level of government support received, by leisure management contractors, in-house facilities, and leisure trusts, in order to assess overall ‘value for money’; the value of total investment in the facility under management; and participation levels for different socio-economic groups, under the various management options.  It is expected that the project will have a good chance of influencing national and local government policy when the research findings are published in two years’ time.

“The delivery of public leisure services is a complex and fragmented process, with three broad management options available to local authorities, involving various levels of private sector involvement and/or Government support,” said Ian. “The purpose of the research is to identify relative effectiveness in terms of leisure centre ‘performance’ under the different management options available to local authorities”.

Ian will be establishing a set of indicators on which to measure leisure centre performance. The indicators will be established along with the Audit Commission, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and leisure management contractors.  Research partners are being sought for the project to provide information regarding the indicators. 

If you would like to know more about the project, please contact:

Ian Hodgkinson

PhD Research Student Loughborough University Business School

Tel: +44 (0)7866 466197

Fax: +44 (0)20 7395 6174

 

February

Business School Professors Recognised for Life's Work

Congratulations to Professor Geoff Chivers, who was created an Honorary Life Member of the Universities Association of Lifelong Learning (UALL), in recognition of his long-standing contribution to this area and to a number of associated committees; and to Professor Richard M Wilson, who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award by the British Accounting Association (BAA) - the formal presentation will take place in April.  Further details and a summary CV can be found on www.baa.group.shef.ac.uk/

 

Controversial Issue of Executive Pay Explored in New Conference

A one-day conference at the Conference Centre, British Library (St Pancras) on 1 Feb 2007 will bring together top academics consultants and commentators around the theme of executive pay.

Sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council and organised by Professor Trevor Buck at the University of Loughborough Business School, the conference marks the end of Professor Buck’s ESRC grant which has supported research into the separate reward and incentive effects of CEO pay, including LTIPs, in the UK.

The morning session will explore different perspectives on the UK executive pay situation as presented by: CEO Headhunter’s Perspective: Samuel Johar (CEO, Buchanan Harvey, Headhunters for 25 per cent of FTSE100 CEOs); Institutional Investor’s Perspective: Colin Melvin, (Head of Equity Ownership Services, Hermes Pensions Mgt Ltd); American Academic’s Perspective: Professor Martin Conyon (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania); and UK Academic’s Perspective: Professor Trevor Buck (Loughborough University).

The afternoon session will comprise parallel presentations by most of the established and emerging researchers on executive pay in UK universities and consultancies. Presenters will include Professors Rez Kabir (Stirling University), Brian Main (Edinburgh University), Martin Walker (Manchester Business School), and Rob Watson (Durham University).

For further enquiries, please contact Irene Moody on 01509 223145.

2006

November

Top Students Awarded Company Prizes

Each year, 3M, PricewaterhouseCoopers and WickesAid present prizes to the best students in the Business School for their outstanding work. Loughborough welcomes the support shown by these and other companies, many of whom go on to employ our students for placements and upon graduation. Company prizes such as these reinforce student awareness of the myriad career opportunities post-degree, and give the student something to aim for in addition to their degree.

The 3M prizes, based on receiving the highest marks on the Marketing Mix module in Year One, went out this year to students Vanessa Mathews (Management Science) and Laura Burchell (Management Science). The prizes were awarded by Mr David Meekison, Human Resource Manager at 3M.

PricewaterhouseCoopers sponsors awards to the two first-year students who achieve the highest marks in both the AFM (Accounting and Financial Management) and BFM (Banking, Finance and Management) degree programmes. This year they went to Ryan Chadha (Accounting & Financial Management, 1st year) and Chris Read (Banking, Finance & Management, 1st year), presented by Sarah Cockburn, PwC’s Graduate Recruitment Officer.

PwC have long partnered with the Business School on the Accounting and Banking programmes, sponsoring these awards and providing guest lecturers throughout the year as well as training to Year 2 students in how to secure a placement, demonstrating through their continued support that Business School students are among the best in the UK. Says AFM Programme Director Ruth King: “We appreciate the support and external recognition that PricewaterhouseCoopers has shown the best of our already very bright group of students”.

WickesAid, who sponsors the Retail Resource Room in the Business School, awards prizes for Best Overall Performance in each year of the Retail Management degree programme, and for the Best Professional Studies Report, based on a student’s experience during their professional or industrial placement.

Presented by Mr Keith Stokes-Smith, Trustee of WickesAid/Storaid, and Professor Ian Davidson, Director of the Business School, this year’s WickesAid prize winners were: Victoria Jennings (winner of the WickesAid First Year Prize; £125); James Farnham (winner of the WickesAid Second Year Prize; £125); Laura Simpson (winner of the WickesAid Final Year Prize; £150); and again Laura Simpson (winner of the WickesAid Professional Studies Report Prize, describing her placement experience with Waitrose; £200).

In addition, WickesAid sponsored a University PhD studentship for three years. The studentship was awarded to Kelvin Tay who successfully defended his thesis (entitled, ‘A Consumer Ethnocentrism model of foreign grocery store patronage in Beijing: Do extrinsic cues and shopping orientation matter?’) earlier this year. WickesAid has also awarded two student bursaries to the value of £1,000 each for first year students on the Retail Management programme at Loughborough. The total sponsorship agreement, which was set up for a five-year period, covers the prizes, the Retail Resource Room, the doctoral studentship and the bursaries. The total value of this support is over £36,000, and the Business School is extremely grateful to WickesAid for their committed support.

 

Loughborough University Takes Home Best Student Experience Award at the 2006 Times Higher Awards

(from the THES winners brochure)

Whether it is the lectures, the lacrosse or the laundrette, Loughborough University gets the thumbs up from students. And that acclaim has won the 94 Group institution the award for Best Student Experience.    

The award was based on the results of an online survey in which 6,552 full-time undergraduates at 97 universities gave a rating of between one and seven for their lectures, courses, social life and union, among other things. Pollsters at the market research firm Opinionpanel then calculated the average score for each institution.   

Ben Marks, managing director of Opinionpanel, said: "Loughborough really excelled when it came to offering a social life, extracurricular activities, amenities and sports facilities, underpinned by exceptionally high ratings for its academic performance. Loughborough consistently was rated a score of six - very satisfied - or seven - the top score."    

The university, considered the number one for sport in the UK, counts world record-breaking athletes such as Baron Coe, Paula Radcliffe and Steve Backley among its alumni.    

Cambridge University came second in the poll and St Andrews University finished third.    

Unlike the National Student Survey, our poll included the opinions of first and second-year undergraduate students - not just those in their final year. Marks said: "We asked students to come up with the categories for the Best Student Experience award, so this is the most student-centred poll of full-time undergraduates."

 

New Communication System Could Help Save Firefighters’ Lives

A new communication system which could revolutionise the way we fight fires is being developed by researchers in the Business School (Dr Lili Yang) and the Department of Computer Science (Professor Shuang-Hua Yang).

The SafetyNET (Secure Adhoc Fire & Emergency NETwork) project will involve the use wireless technology to give firefighters accurate information about the buildings they are called to, including details on whether people are trapped inside and if it is safe for them to enter.  It is hoped the system will drastically reduce the risk of injury to firefighters when they attend an incident, as well as reducing the number of fatalities from fires.

Over the next three years they will be developing a high-tech communication network, which will connect buildings, such as flats, offices and hospitals, with firefighters, and their head quarters.

Professor Shuang-Hua Yang, who is leading the research at Loughborough University said: “Fire is a major cause of human suffering and material loss.  According to Home Office figures, every year there are more than 40,000 accidental house fires in England, resulting in about 285 deaths and 9,000 injuries.  Clearly anything that can be done to reduce these figures would be beneficial.

“At present when firefighters first arrive at a building fire, for example, they have very limited information about the structure, its occupants or the location of the hazard.  They do not know if they need to enter the building, whether it is safe to enter and how to most efficiently deal with the hazard.  SafetyNET will provide an information structure to enable buildings, firefighters, fire tenders, and their control centre to efficiently communicate during emergency situations.

“To do this it will use sensor networks, wireless communications, DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) and 3G technologies to gather togther the most up-to-date information about the situation, providing a much more detailed picture for the firefighters on the ground.  This system will be particularly effective in high occupancy buildings, such as offices, flats or hospitals, where it is difficult to determine if people are still inside.”

The £1.3 million SafetyNET project is being funded by the DTI and industrial partners.  For further information about the research visit: www.FireSafetyNet.org.uk

For more information please contact: Mrs Ondine Barry, 01509 228840; o.barry@lboro.ac.uk

 

Notes for editors:

SafetyNET is a consortium project.  The following organisations are involved in the research:

Loughborough University
Data Cables Services International
Pera Innovation
Jennic
Sure
Arqiva
Electronics Line
Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP)
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service

 

Research Report Shows African Caribbean Businesses are Cashing In

African Caribbean businesses are thriving in the UK despite adverse circumstances, according to a research report funded by the European Social Fund and soon to be published by Loughborough University.

The report, written by researchers Ron Chapman and others in the Business School, reveals that there are some 30,000 African Caribbean businesses in the country that would appear to be doing relatively well despite facing serious barriers and problems. Published on DATE, the report shows that African Caribbean entrepreneurs have less access to financial assistance from banks and fewer opportunities open to them than businesses run by other racial groups.

In addition, African Caribbean women face ‘double jeopardy’. They are often seen as ‘playing at business’; they are not taken seriously because they are female and black, even though some of them are running businesses with turnovers in millions of pounds.  African Caribbean women entrepreneurs are in fact amongst the most successful business people in the UK, outstripping their Asian and white counterparts.

“Our report tries to clear away anecdotal perceptions, misconceptions and stereotypical models and replace these with hard and factual data,” says Ron Chapman, the project’s manager and one of the report’s authors.  “We found that African Caribbean entrepreneurs are certainly not on a ‘level playing field’ as far as business opportunity is concerned.”

The researchers found that 83 per cent of business start-ups questioned as part of the study were self-financed, either out of savings or with help from family and friends. Just 5 per cent were able to access bank finance, as compared to their white counterparts at start-up, who faced an 80 per cent chance of getting bank loan to finance their business. Only 11 per cent of respondents said that their relationship with their bank was good and 58 per cent said that it was poor. Many reported that they preferred to talk to their bank over the phone rather than face the humiliation of a face-to-face meeting.

The report also suggests there is little understanding of African Caribbean culture and practices amongst many stakeholders. “During our study we heard city council purchasing managers extol the ease with which African Caribbean entrepreneurs could access contracts.  But there is no mechanism to deal with micro-enterprises which form over 90 per cent of African Caribbean businesses.  Councils have suggested that this problem could be solved by forming consortia to bid, which is a complex hurdle to overcome and shows little or no understanding of the African Caribbean business culture in the United Kingdom,” says Mr Chapman.

This research report is the first to look at the field of African Caribbean business development in isolation. Other reports on the subject of Black and Minority Ethnic business focus predominantly on Asian business, with data on African and African Caribbean, Chinese and East Asian businesses also included.

– Ends -

Notes to editors:

Subject areas covered in the report include:

• The past history of African Caribbean business development in the UK
• In depth case studies into 60 African Caribbean businesses
• The role of stakeholders in relation to African Caribbean business
• The role of banks in relationship to African Caribbean business Focus groups’ perceptions of African Caribbean business
• African Caribbean women entrepreneurs and the challenges that they face
• African Caribbean current practices and what needs to be done in the future
• Funding sources explored both for business start-up and further expansion needs

 

October

Loughborough Shortlisted for the 2006 THES Best Student Experience Award

The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) has shortlisted Loughborough University for the UK's Best Student Experience award 2006. More than 7,000 students were polled for the highly contested award, answering questions about the courses, facilities, atmosphere, social life and more.

The THES nomination follows on the heels of outstanding rankings in both The Times Good University Guide 2007, where Loughborough placed 6th in the UK, and the 2006 National Student Survey (NSS).

The winner of the THES award for Best Student Experience will be announced at the awards dinner next month in London. Here's to a win...

 

PMDC Delegate a Finalist for PrintWeek's 2006 Student of the Year Award

Loughborough University’s Postgraduate Certificate in (Print) Management graduate Andy Read was recently a finalist in the 2006 PrintWeek Student of the Year awards – the third delegate from Loughborough to be nominated for the award in the last three years running.

PrintWeek's annual awards ceremony is an eagerly anticipated event in the UK print industry. There are a total of 24 awards (or "Prisms") given out, and they range from Innovative Printer of the Year to SME Company of the Year to Student of the Year. The prestigious award offers a cash prize and travel bursary, which makes it highly sought after. 

Loughborough student Andy Read tells us about the difference the course has made to him:

What is your current job?

"In March 2004 I took over as Print & Finishing Production Manager at Ordnance Survey which presented me with the biggest challenge of my career so far. All of a sudden I was solely responsible for a large budget, a multi-million factory floor investment and, most importantly, 32 members of staff.

"I quickly became engulfed in the tide of heavy production schedules and a whole host of issues that impacted on meeting this demand. I managed to attain a degree of competence in the disciplines of 'fire-fighting' and 'extensive multitasking'.”

What do you enjoy most about your work?

"The sheer unpredictability of the print industry makes it always a challenge and interesting: every day is different with its own set of problems, demands, rewards and challenges. Every print job is slightly different with its own set of different variables (paper, ink, data, temperature/humidity variation, high quality standards, people, machinery), which means that we have to be on top of our game to ensure the customer is happy.”

Why did you decide to pursue a degree?

 “I had decided a long time ago to forego a university education in favour of a career in the print industry as it offered me an immediate return in financial terms. I was somewhat apprehensive that after 18 years away from an academic learning environment that my memories of despair at understanding Physics 'A' Level theory would be a sign of things to come.

"In September 2004, I commenced the BPIF Professional Certificate in Print Management at Loughborough University, which introduced me to a whole new world. But my fears were soon dispelled, especially after completing my first assignment. I felt as if my brain had re-awoken fully and was raring to go!”

How was your experience on the programme?

"The course was designed so that the assignments would be incorporated into work-related projects; this was a definite enabler in that a structured approach was taken to achieve the end result. I learnt a lot of new techniques during my year at Loughborough, which have increased my confidence so that I can effectively deal with issues with reduced emphasis on crisis management. Better planning, evaluation, and execution has invariably led to the optimum course of action."

What was a highlight for you?

"In Foundations of Management Learning I began to fully understand the role of management, and have since adopted some of the recognised management models; for example, appreciating the need to let my assistant manager deal with operational needs for the most part, allowing me to concentrate on the wider strategic requirements of my post."

How has your job been since the programme?

"I played a key part in the replacement of a printing press, plus a new guillotine. New coaching techniques have been developed and employed to motivate and develop my operational and junior managers/supervisors.

"In the Planning & Operations assignment I researched and evaluated the current situation on the factory floor, resulting in a recent transition of the layout to improve workflow and generate efficiencies through eliminating waste.

"I am currently evaluating a strategy for preventative maintenance, researching the subject, adopting a problem solving approach together with financial analysis to define the problem, generate ideas, reach consensus and agree, implement and review solutions. I have presented initial ideas and proposals to my manager who has been very receptive to the potential offered by the skills I have learnt. Both he and I are very confident of realising a step change in the way we do things and gaining improvements in quality, reliability and production.”

What would you say to prospective delegates?

"Overall the course has encouraged a different way of thinking, instead of employing the hosepipe to tackle the fire, it has introduced me to a system of more strategic and planned management. I have found my experience back in the arena of academia to have been an enlightening one, giving me the tools and confidence to move forward in terms of my own career development and at the same time benefit Ordnance Survey and its staff.”

Andy’s Top 5 Tips

1. Panic when things go wrong

2. Refer to learning gained at Loughborough

3. Calm down!

4. Plan

5. Solve the problem

-ENDS-

For more information please contact: Mrs Ondine Barry on 01509 228840 or o.barry@lboro.ac.uk

 

September

Students’ Innovative Business Thinking Is Rewarded by KPMG

Six Loughborough University students have been awarded prizes by KPMG for their work in helping real-life businesses to maximise the potential of their ideas.

The students, who are all studying on the University’s MBA programme, used a cutting-edge technique – the ‘HiTech’ programme – developed in the US to evaluate the potential of companies’ technologies or ideas and suggest ways to aid their commercialisation.

At the prize giving, the award for the best oral presentation went to Gerry Barker, Jonathan Hart and Mohamed Galai Hassan Sayed.

The prize for the best portfolio was presented to Claire Draper, Jonathan Armishaw and Rick Seehra.

The ‘HiTech’ programme was brought to this country, and adapted for the MBA programme, by Loughborough University staff, working in association with colleagues at North Carolina State University. At its heart is a framework, or algorithm, that explores the interaction between technology, products and markets. This method of assessing business potential has been responsible for the creation of more than 250 jobs in existing companies and spin-out ventures in the US, which have attracted over $120m in venture capital.

Working in groups, each on a specific technology, the students put together a portfolio that evaluated the potential of a given technology and demonstrated the most appropriate way to commercialise that technology.

Feedback from businesses that participated in the scheme was very positive, and some said they would put forward other business ideas for evaluation next year, when the module is run again.

The prizes were presented on 23 September at the MBA Induction Day at Loughborough University.

For more information on the Loughborough MBA, please contact our MBA Office on 01509 223398 or mba@lboro.ac.uk.

For further details on the collaboration between Loughborough and North Carolina State, please contact Grahame Boocock on 01509 223117 or J.G.Boocock@lboro.ac.uk.

 

 

August

Loughborough Tops the National Student Survey Again

The 2006 National Student Survey (NSS) results placed Loughborough University 1st in the UK overall for a second year in a row using the combined survey data for 2005 and 2006. The average scores for 2005 and 2006 over the seven measures of assessment place Loughborough top in nine subject areas among full-time students - six more than any other university. Click here to see the full results for 2006.

 

June

Loughborough joins the prestigious 1994 Group

Loughborough University, one of the country’s leading higher education institutions, has been invited to join the esteemed 1994 Group – a set of internationally recognised, research-intensive universities. From 1 August, Loughborough will join eighteen other member universities, each of which undertakes diverse and high quality research, while at the same time ensuring excellent levels of teaching and student experience.

Commenting on the news, Professor Shirley Pearce, Vice Chancellor of Loughborough said: “Loughborough’s place as a top university, that is both research-intensive and offers an exceptional student experience, is widely recognised. We are delighted to be joining the 1994 Group and look forward to working together to promote the excellence of UK Higher Education."

Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Loughborough has established a reputation for first-class teaching, pioneering research and multi-faceted industrial collaboration. It has been awarded five Queen's Anniversary Prizes – an achievement equalled only by Oxford – and last week it was ranked 6th in The Times league table, confirming it as one of the country’s leading higher education institutions. In the first-ever National Student Survey, full-time students voted it one of their favourite universities.

Other universities also joining the 1994 Group are the University of Leicester, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and Queen Mary University of London. Welcoming them, Professor David Eastwood, chair of the 1994 Group, said: ”Along with other member universities they share a commitment to research excellence, high quality teaching and an outstanding student experience. This shared ethos means that the Group is able to engage in a coherent and positive manner with key stakeholders and play an increasingly pivotal role in shaping policy in the higher education sector.”

– Ends –

Notes to editors:

From 1 August 2006, the members of The 1994 Group will be: Bath, Birkbeck, Durham, East Anglia, Essex, Exeter, Goldsmiths University of London, Lancaster, Leicester, Loughborough, Queen Mary University of London, Reading, Royal Holloway University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, St Andrews, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick and York.

 

The Business School Is Recognised for Its Support of the Royal National Institute of the Blind

2006 marks the second year in a row that the RNIB has recognised Loughborough University Business School for its support of blind and partially blind students in securing work placements. The award was presented to the Business School by Martin Traynor, Group Managing Director of Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce .

The Director of IT for the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Philip Wilkinson-Blake, said of the award: "Whilst working with the RNIB students I have found the experience very rewarding".

 

May

Celebrating 35 Years as a Business School

This year marks 35 years as a business school and 40 years as a Royal Chartered University, and the School celebrated in style May 20th with graduates and staff members from as far back as 1976 in attendance. Professor Ian Davidson hosted the event and guest speaker Adrian Moorhouse MBE, 1988 Olympic Gold Medallist and Managing Director of Lane4, delighted everyone with an inspirational speech on achievement and mentoring. For photographs and a write-up of the evening, please click here.

 

New Ground-breaking Automotive Management Course Developed for School Leavers

The Business School is launching a new retail automotive degree programme for school leavers.

For years the automotive retail sector has struggled to attract good quality young people into its ranks. A number of schemes have been tried with only limited success. One of the major barriers has been how to get 18-year-old school leavers to join the non technical side of the industry. With Government pressure to get increasingly large numbers of people into higher education Loughborough is offering a unique opportunity to attract youngsters into dealerships and other retail automotive channels.

Prof Jim Saker who is heading the initiative said, ‘Technical apprenticeships have long been the normal route into the aftersales side of the business usually recruiting at the age of 16. What we are offering is the equivalent of a commercial apprenticeship leading to a degree. This is breaking new ground in the UK education sector.’

The proposal is to recruit summer 2006 school leavers with a minimum of 2 A Levels or candidates with equivalent qualifications. They will work full time at a dealership whilst studying for a BSc degree in Automotive Retail Management funded by their sponsoring dealer. The degree is part time requiring attendance at University for 15 days a year during the 3 years, with studying and work related assignments back at the dealership. All the assignments are based around business improvement, helping the students to apply their new-found knowledge practically, bringing benefit to the dealership throughout the three year training period.

The sponsoring dealer will need to fund the student’s management trainee position and also pay for their degree tuition fees. In return they will gain a full time, bright enthusiastic individual who can gain work experience in every department whilst undertaking assignments and research that bring benefits to the business. As a sponsoring organization the dealer would have the option of an additional two year contractual arrangement to keep the student with them for a guaranteed five year period. The aim is to develop the new educated and experienced managers of tomorrow.

What’s in it for the dealer:

Major cost savings on recruitment The business benefit of having each part of the business looked at as part of the assignment research for the course A bright well trained employee An employee committed to the dealership for up to five years

What’s in it for the student:

A BSc degree from Loughborough University No student loan No top up fees A clear career path Job opportunity for at least five years

For more information, please contact Ruth Cufflin on either R.Cufflin@lboro.ac.uk or 01509 223140.

 

April

Research Assistant Amon Chizema wins the prestigious Michael Z Brooke prize

Congratulations to Amon Chizema, Research Assistant and part-time PhD student in the International Business Strategy research group, for winning the Michael Z Brooke prize for the best competitive doctoral paper at the Academy of International Business UK conference, Manchester University Business School on 7 April. Amon's was the best of 43 submissions and presentations, some of them from full-time students in their third and fourth years. As a result, he has been invited to Turku University, Finland to make his presentation again, as a model for Turku's PhD students.

 

March

Business School students take home four medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games

Accounting and Financial Management student Euan Dale (Scotland) won Silver for both the 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (with partner David Carry) and the 400m Individual Medley in this month's Commonwealth Games, held in Melbourne, Australia.

And recent graduates Kemel Tompson (Jamaica), who won Bronze in the 400m Men's Hurdles, and Lucilla Wright (England, Women's Field Hockey), who also took home Bronze, are both to be congratulated on their outstanding achievements.

The University won an astonishing and (we think) unprecedented 30 medals in all at the Games. For a complete listing of Loughborough University's medals at this year's Commwealth Games, please go to: www.lboro.ac.uk/service/publicity/commonwealth_games/.

For more information on the Business School's undergraduate programmes, please contact Charlotte Guest on 01509 223393 or visit our webpages: www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/bs/ug/teach_ug.html.

 

Unique European Banking Programme to be Held at the Business School

Spearheaded by Dr Keith Pond, Programme Director for the Banking, Finance and Management BSc (Hons) programme, this innovative 10-day programme on European Banking is to be hosted by Loughborough University Business School next month (17 - 27 April), with 24 students plus staff coming from all over Europe to participate.

Funded by the Institute of Financial Services (ifs), Erasmus and the EU, the programme is the brainchild of four universities  -- Loughborough, Liechtenstein, Urbino in Italy and Espoo in Finland. Now in its third year, the ifs and the Business School teamed up to design a programme that would celebrate the strengths of the UK and educate the partner university students in how banking and financial services work together to serve the global marketplace.

Students taking part in the programme are currently studying varying aspects of business, not just banking, and the programme reflects this and makes the most of their rich pool of knowledge. Participants will take part in group projects as well as individual presentations, with hard-to-come-by visits to Canary Wharf in London, sponsored by the ifs, to local building society The Loughborough and to Experian's headquarters in Nottingham. An intensive banking gaming element is a vital part of the programme as well, with active role-playing and other skills development activities. Students will also be invited to attend a special Masterclass on Advanced Negotiation and Influencing Skills at Loughborough University, organised by the ifs and run by expert Derek Arden. 

To learn more about the programme, please visit www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/bs/pages/eurobanking.html.

For further information on the ifs, please go to www.ifslearning.com.

 

The Loughborough MBA Relaunches with Innovative, Flexible Format

The Loughborough MBA -- "Best Executive MBA of the Year 2003-2004", Business Britain -- relaunches as a modular format programme with two entry points per year (September and February). Programme Director Stuart West describes the new format as meeting the needs of both working professionals and the ever-changing global marketplace.

Modules now delivered in innovative block release format allows delegates to better incorporate study into their working lives with maximum benefit and minimal disruption to their organisation. A major benefit of the Loughborough MBA is in its immediate translation to the workplace. Delegates learn new and effective techniques for solving a wide range of workplace issues, share best practice with their cohort and discover and hone their ability to appreciate the organisation as a whole rather than their specific job role, and apply that learning directly to their job.

To find out more about the programme or to schedule a visit, please contact Stuart West on 01509 223398 or mba@lboro.ac.uk.

 

February

Business School-run Seminar in Mumbai to Focus on Career Management

The seminar series ‘Critical Perspectives on Career and Family-friendly Policies’ funded by the ESRC and run by Dr Amal El-Sawad, Professor Laurie Cohen and Professor Peter Ackers from the Business School at Loughborough University, seeks to join up academic research, policy and practice.

The series grew out of the lack of research into careers and family-friendly policy initiatives – topics which have historically been looked at as two distinct areas. The aim of this seminar series is to facilitate ‘joined-up thinking’ on career and family-friendly policy issues by providing a forum for professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds and sectors to pool, share and compare knowledge and up-to-date research findings. 

To date, the research group has held six seminars – five in the UK and one in Portugal. A notable limitation, identified through the six seminars held so far, has been the dominance of Western models and examples, and the absence of insights from/attention to less economically developed countries, which is the primary reason for holding the final seminar in India.

Scheduled to be held in Mumbai on 9 March at Prudential UK’s India centre (Prudential Process Management Service), the seventh and final seminar – ‘The Development and Management of Careers in Emerging Employment Sectors: Joining up Theory and Practice’ with sponsorship from Prudential – will focus on examining the interplay between theory and practice in less economically developed countries, and, in particular, on applying Western theories to Indian contexts. Speakers will include Angshik Chaudhuri, Director of Human Resources, PPMS; Leena Chatterjee, Professor of Behaviour Sciences, and Miss Kirti Sharda, doctoral student, both from IIM Calcutta; Dr Alhajie Saidy Khan from Keele University and Professor Ackers, Professor Cohen and Dr El-Sawad from Loughborough.

Dr El-Sawad and Professor Cohen are completing a research study into careers in a globalised financial services organisation based in the UK and India. Professor Ackers is currently on study leave in Calcutta, where he is pursuing a Leverhulme Fellowship at the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta.

For further information please contact: Ondine Barry, Marketing and Publicity Officer, Loughborough University Business School, T: 01509 228840, E: o.barry@lboro.ac.uk

 

January

 

Assessing Risk and the Design Engineer

Loughborough University Business School has recently been awarded an EPRSC research grant to look into how individual designers influence safety performance.  The research, involving Professor Kevin Daniels, Dr Alistair Cheyne and Nick Beesley at Loughborough, with collaboration from AMEC Oil and Gas and the Heerema Group, will endeavour to synthesise the engineering and psychological approaches to enhance safe working through better design of industrial equipment.

The complexity generally found in large engineered systems has been shown to present certain psychological difficulties for designers who find analysing safety risks particularly difficult. The effect of how individual designer differences combine with certain job design factors and design team characteristics will be used to predict the types of decisions that lead to risk becoming embedded in a design.

This work is unique and innovative for two main reasons. First, the research will assess designers' decisions in real-time by using questionnaires administered by palmtop computers to designers several times per day over four working weeks. Second, with the aim of collecting 15,000 entries from more than 300 designers, this project exceeds similar past projects in respect of sample size and measurement precision.

This research will have implications for the future selection, training and development of individuals occupying a safety critical role within a design organisation and for socialising designers. By investigating risk at an individual level, our work will aim to complement the approaches already being taken at other levels of analysis within the job, team and regulatory frameworks.

For further information on the research project, please contact: Professor Kevin Daniels, Director of Research at Loughborough University Business School (k.j.daniels@lboro.ac.uk); Dr Alistair Cheyne, Lecturer in Organisational Psychology (a.j.t.cheyne@lboro.ac.uk); or Nick Beesley, Research Associate (n.j.beesley2@lboro.ac.uk).

For information on the Business School, please contact: Ondine Barry, Business School Marketing and Publicity Officer, T: 01509 228840, E: o.barry@lboro.ac.uk

 

New Groundbreaking Healthcare Fire Safety Course at Loughborough

Loughborough University Business School and NAHFO (National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers) are in the process of finalising the delivery of a first-ever fire safety course jointly organised between the two institutions.

The course is designed for newly appointed Fire Safety Practitioners and will serve as a foundation course for those with major roles in fire safety who intend to undertake the proposed Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Fire Safety Management.

This course and the proposed Postgraduate Certificate are unique as they are the first ever to be developed specifically for Healthcare Fire Safety by a University. They also replace the previous fire safety courses run by NAHFO.

It is NAHFO’s intention to support and participate in the development and delivery of the course, which will at long last give a formal qualification in healthcare fire safety, which it is hoped will assist in recruitment and retention and the Knowledge and Skills Framework. Successful completion of the Postgraduate Certificate will result in a formal graduation at Loughborough University.

Course details can be obtained by downloading a PDF here, or by contacting the course administrator, Jenny Hinckley.

 

Business School Urges Companies to Put Their Business Ideas to the Test

Companies are being urged to bring their latest ideas and technologies to Loughborough University, to enable their business potential to be assessed.

Using a cutting-edge technique developed in the US, students on the MBA programme will evaluate the potential of the technology or idea and suggest ways to aid its commercialisation.

The ‘HiTech’ programme has been brought to this country, and adapted for the MBA programme, by Loughborough University staff, working in association with colleagues at North Carolina State University.  At its heart is a framework, or algorithm, that explores the interaction between technology, products and markets.  This method of assessing business potential has been responsible for the creation of more than 250 jobs in existing companies and spin-out ventures in the US, which have attracted over $120m in venture capital. 

“At this stage we are looking for unexploited ideas and/or technologies, or perhaps a technology that is already being exploited but not to its full capacity,” explains Grahame Boocock, Senior Lecturer in the Business School.  “The technology shouldn’t be too ‘blue sky’ and there must be commercial applications.  The ideal project would comprise a platform technology with high growth potential. 

“The algorithm works best with B-to-B manufacturing technologies, although it can also be applied to service sector firms or those selling to the public.”

Students on the University’s MBA programme, who tend to be ‘high fliers’ in their 30s, will work in groups, each on a specific technology.  Each group will consist of students with a mix of technology and business expertise. 

At every stage of the exercise, the groups will be faced with critical decisions about how to develop the technology: a single technology might yield three to five products that can be offered across 10 to 15 markets.  In some cases there might appear to be a clearly defined market and product for a given technology, but the algorithm allows the full potential of any idea to be assessed.  The groups then put together a portfolio that evaluates in depth the potential of a given technology and demonstrates the most appropriate way to commercialise that technology. 

“The feedback from businesses that participated in the scheme last year was very positive.  In every case, the technologists felt that the students added great value to existing business plans or forced them to question preconceived ideas about the way forward,” says Grahame.

It should be stressed that the Intellectual Property of any technology or idea remains with the company and that all participants on the MBA programme sign Non-Disclosure Agreements. 

The next Technology Evaluation and Commercialisation module of the MBA will be run from February to May 2006.  It is essential that the student groups are able to discuss progress with the inventor or technologist.  Companies participating in the scheme must be available to attend two sessions in Loughborough – on the afternoon of Friday 17 February and the morning of Saturday 11 March – and will be invited to a series of presentations on Saturday 6 May.  The students might also make contact between formal sessions.  In return, the University offers a modest honorarium and will cover any expenses.

If you would like to participate or want more information about the HiTec algorithm, please contact

Grahame Boocock, Tel: 01509 223117, Email: j.g.boocock@lboro.ac.uk,

or Kate Clift Tel: 01332 874183, Mob: 0781 4989476, Email: kate.clift@btopenworld.com

For further information about the Business School and Loughborough University, please contact:

Ondine Barry, Business School, T: 01509 228840, E: O.Barry@lboro.ac.uk

Hannah Baldwin, Head of PR, T: 01509 222239, E: H.E.Baldwin@lboro.ac.uk

2010

March

-- Professor Marek Korczynski's research into the social history of music in the workplace has provided the theme for a series of events organised by RADAR. His research is also being published by Cambridge University Press as a monograph, entitled Rhythms of Labour: Music at Work in Britain

-- Upcoming Inaugural Lecture on Operations Management, 24th March. Book your place!

January

-- Congratulations to Yizhe Dong on successfully defending his PhD thesis (with minor corrections) on 'Cost Efficiency in the Chinese Banking Sector: A Comparison of Parametric and Non-parametric Methodologies'. With Professor Barry Howcroft as the director of research and Dr. Robert Hamilton was the independent panel member, Yizhe's thesis was supervised by Professor Mark Tippett, internally examined by Dr Ali Ataullah, and externally examined by Professor Donal McKillop (Queen's University, Belfast). Well done Dr. Dong!

2009

December

-- Professor Neil Doherty wins the 2009 Stafford Beer Award Medal. "In producing a paper that is accessible and valuable to practitioners and academics alike, the Operational Research Society congratulates the authors, Colin Ashurst, Neil Doherty and Joe Peppard, on their being awarded with the Stafford Beer Medal 2009." See http://www.orsoc.org.uk/orshop/(bexrjuzyw2r14nfl3t2sz445)/orcontent.aspx?inc=activity_awards_beer.htm for details

-- Conference: Behavioural Perspectives on the Financial Crisis

-- Business School Administration Manager Julie Hibbert has completed her Masters at DMU (DeMontfort University) - with a distinction - for her dissertation entitled ''The impact of the RAE on collegiality and academic work: a case study of Loughborough University Business School''. Well done Julie!

November

--Public Lecture: 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year Peter Cruddas on what it takes to be successful in Business.

October

-- Congratulations to Trien V. Le on successfully passing his PhD viva on 'Chinese Privatization: State Ownership and Firm Performance’, which was joint supervised by Prof Trevor Buck and Dr Amon Chizema, internally examined by Dr Ali Ataullah, and externally examined by Dr Chengqi Wang, Associate Professor at Nottingham University.

-- Public Workshop: Constrained Innovation – R&D in High-Risk Sectors – The Practitioners’ View

September

-- Congratulations to Waleed Qasrawi on successfully passing his PhD viva on 'The Efficiency of the Jordanian Banking System', which was joint supervised by Dr Robert Hamilton and Dr Ali Ataullah, internally examined by Dr Keith Pond, and externally examined by Professor Phil Molineux.

-- Business School and imago to exhibit at Birmingham NEC’s ‘World of Learning’ Exhibition

July

-- Business school professor publishes new accounting and finance book.

May

• Listen to Professor Paul Dobson’s expert comment on Radio 4 about Intel’s EU Fine

February

-- Congratulations to Jane Glover who will be awarded a PhD, subject to minor corrections, following a robust defence of her thesis 'Why do farmers continue to farm?'.

-- Mick Fryer, who first came to the Business School as an MBA student, has also successfully defended his PhD thesis on 'Organisational Leadership & Ethics' and will be awarded his PhD after completing some minor corrections

January

-- Dr Alper Kara and Prof Barry Howcroft have been awarded a Nuffield Foundation small research grant of £6412 for their research topic: "The choice of syndicated loans over bilateral lending: The case of participant banks".

-- Dr Alper Kara’s new book “Turkish banking: Banking Under Political Instability and Chronic High Inflation”  (co-authored with Yener Altunbas and Ozlem Olgu) is published by Palgrave Macmillan.

-- Congratulations to Ian Hodgkinson, who has now joined the IBS group as Lecturer in Strategy. Ian is in the final stage of completing his PhD supervised by Trevor and Paul, and his research mainly focuses on strategies in the sports and leisure sector.

-- Ravindra Galhena, who is completing an Engineering Doctorate within the MSISOM group, has been awarded the Henry Spurrier Scholarship (£1300) by the "Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport". This has been awarded to Ravi to visit India for further research into "The barriers and enablers to reduce lead-times and risks in the India-UK Maritime logistics chain".

2008

November

-- Loughborough’s Professor John Arnold comments on a new government initiative encouraging children to take over various workplaces around the country for a day – The Guardian, 01/11/08 (National and Online)

-- Congratulations to Tracey Preston on receiving the award of Postgraduate Diploma in Management and Leadership (Higher Education Administration).  Tracey will be taking part in the Winter Degree Ceremony on 15 December 2008.

-- Congratulations to John Cadogan who has recently been invited to join the Editorial Board of the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS). Having reviewed articles for the JIBS on an ad hoc basis for several years, the Editor-in-Chief of JIBS recently informed him that the JIBS editors had formally nominated him for membership of the JIBS Editorial Review Board for the period of January 2009 to December 2010. This is huge mark of esteem for John, and reflects well on the calibre of Research staff working at the Business School as a whole.

 

September

-- Loughborough University has won the coveted University of the Year title in this year’s Sunday Times University Guide – The Sunday Times, 21/9/08 (National); ITV Central East Carlton: 6pm News, 20/9/08 (Regional Broadcast); BBC Radio Leicester: News, 22/9/08 (Local Broadcast); The Times, 20/9/08 (Online)

-- Loughborough University has again been rated as one of the UK’s top universities for student satisfaction in this year’s National Student Survey – Leicester Mercury, 13/9/08 (Local)

-- Staff at the University have given the organisation their overwhelming seal of approval, according to the results of the first-ever campus-wide staff survey – Leicester Mercury, 15/9/08 (Local)

-- Loughborough’s Professor John Arnold comments on the attachment children can have with their parents in a feature on families and children who go into the same line of work as their parents – The Guardian, 13/9/08 (National and Online)

-- Loughborough University Business School will focus on their graduates to help retail software provider Maple Lake recruit new staff for their Hamilton headquarters – Insider: Midlands Business East, 1/9/08 (Regional)

-- Congratulations to Andrew Farrell on being awarded his PhD. Andrew impressed his examiners (both our own Barry Howcroft, and Chris Ennew from Nottingham University) with both the comprehensiveness of his PhD and his polished performance in the viva. Andrew's research focused on the influence of hotel managers' leadership behaviours on the attitudes and behaviours of frontline service staff in the UK. The findings of the work indicate that leadership has situational effects on employees and, depending on what it is a manager wants to achieve, different forms of leadership can be desirable. Currently, Andrew is writing up his work for publication in a range of outlets and continuing in his role as Research Associate to the Marketing & Retailing Group.

-- Loughborough has again been rated as one of the UK’s top universities for student satisfaction in this year’s National Student Survey. The Business School was ranked joint 4th for Management Studies, joint 5th for Accounting, and 9th for Finance, further underlining its ‘top-ten’ reputation. Loughborough University was ranked 4th in the UK, based on the percentage of full-time students rating their overall satisfaction with their university course as ‘four’ or ‘five’ on a five-point scale. Ninety-one per cent of the University’s students gave the University this score. The survey, which was published on 11th September 2008, asked students to rate their satisfaction in seven areas of their degree programme – teaching, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, personal development, and overall satisfaction.

-- Staff at Loughborough University have given the organisation their overwhelming seal of approval, according to the results of the first-ever campus-wide staff survey. An amazing 95% of staff who took part in the survey say the University is a good place to work. For a fuller report on the staff survey, please click here.

 

August

-- In an article on Leicester's changing shopping scene and the current financial climate, Professor Paul Dobson says the summer sales could run into autumn sales – Leicester Mercury, 18/8/08 (Local)

-- Loughborough’s teacher training has been rated among the top ten universities in the UK by the Good Teacher Training Guide 2008-09. The University was ranked ninth out of 73 higher education institutions in the league table, which is published by the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, after previously being graded as ‘outstanding’ – the highest possible category – by Ofsted back in April. For a fuller report on Good Teacher Training Guide, please click here.

July

-- Loughborough University Business School is to assist retail software firm Maple Lake with graduate recruitment – This is Business East Midlands, 31/7/08 (Online); Leicester Mercury, 31/7/08 (Local) 

-- Professor Paul Dobson comments on the new Highcross shopping centre in Leicester and the positive impact big stores like John Lewis and Marks & Spencer will have on the other retailers – Leicester Mercury, 22/7/08 (Local)

-- Professor Paul Dobson says that no other company appears to have the resources to match Santander's take-over bid of Alliance and Leicester – This is Business East Midlands, 16/7/08 (Online)

-- Article on struggling camera retailer Jessops, in which Professor Paul Dobson says the company has a great heritage – This is Business East Midlands, 16/7/08 (Online)

-- Researchers at Loughborough have found that organisations that adopt a proactive approach to health and safety management reported a 25% higher profit margin than those that weren't proactive – Business Insurance, 14/7/08 (Specialist)

-- Article on whether Leicestershire is well placed to withstand an economic recession; Professor Paul Dobson comments on recent redundancies in the county – Leicester Mercury, 11/7/08 (Local)

-- Plans for the University’s multi-million pound extension to the Loughborough Science Park are set to be approved by the Council.  Loughborough’s Community Relations Officer comments that the park will generate up to 2500 jobs and develop links with industry and business – Leicester Mercury, 7/7/08 (Local)

-- Security Management graduate Graham Turner writes about the benefits of studying at Loughborough University – Professional Security, 1/7/08

 

June

-- Feature on building service charges, which makes reference to research at Loughborough University Business School that revealed they now stand at £4 billion per year – FM World, 26/6/08 (Specialist)

-- Loughborough University’s UCCE cricket team has won the inaugural national Twenty20 tournament hosted in Durham – In Loughborough, 26/6/08 (Online)

-- Feature on the cost of fuel, in which Professor Paul Dobson says we've seen tough times before – Leicester Mercury, 19/6/08

-- Back Care Management student Davina Jones has received a national award for her work in training home care staff –
In Loughborough, 18/6/08 (Online); Warwick Courier, 19/6/08 (Online); Milton Keynes Citizen, 19/6/08 (Online); Denbighshire Free Press, 19/6/08 (Online); Wakefield Express, 19/6/08 (Online); Stamford Mercury, 19/6/08 (Online); Morpeth Herald, 19/6/08 (Online); Luton and Dunstable Herald and Post, 19/6/08 (Online); Wigan Evening Post, 19/6/08 (Online); Morecambe Bay Visitor, 19/6/08 (Online); Hartlepool Mail, 19/6/08 (Online); Louth Leader, 19/6/08 (Online); Lisburn Star, 19/6/08 (Online); Leamington Spa Courier, 19/6/08 (Online); Horncastle News, 19/6/08 (Online); Fife Online, 18/6/08 (Online); Derbyshire Times, 18/6/08 (Online); Buckingham Today, 18/6/08 (Online); Bexhill Today, 18/6/08 (Online); Batley News, 18/6/08 (Online); Worthing Today, 18/6/08 (Online); PA News Wire, 18/6/08 (Online); Kirkintloch Herald, 18/6/08 (Online); Fenalnd Citizen, 18/6/08 (Online); Berwickshire News, 18/6/08 (Online); Sheffield Star, 18/6/08 (Online); Newmarket Journal, 18/6/08 (Online); Kings Lynn News, 18/6/08 (Online); Kenilworth Weekly News, 18/6/08 (Online); Buxton Today, 18/6/08 (Online); Burnley Express, 18/6/08 (Online); Matlock Mercury, 18/6/08 (Online); Evening Leader, 18/6/08 (Online); Eastbourne Herald, 18/6/08 (Online); Chichester Observer, 18/6/08 (Online); Blythe and Wansbeck Today, 18/6/08 (Online); Yorkshire Post, 18/6/08 (Online); Worksop Guardian, 18/6/08 (Online); Skegness Standard, 18/6/08 (Online); Knaresborough Today, 18/6/08 (Online)

-- Article on commercial leases, which makes reference to research by Business School staff member Dr John Calvert into service charges – Property Week, 13/6/08

-- Loughborough has topped the Sport and Recreation table of The Complete University Guide – The Independent, 12/6/08 (Online)

-- Loughborough win an historic fifth consecutive victory in the BUSA women's cricket championship – BUSA, 11/6/08 (Online)

-- Feature by Lecturer Ian Herbert on the pros and cons of employee empowerment – Finance and Management Faculty, 1/6/08

-- The British Journal of Industrial Relations (BJIR) has announced that Professor Peter Ackers' paper "Collective Bargaining as Industrial Democracy: Hugh Clegg and the Political Foundations of British Industrial Relations Pluralism" was voted the best BJIR paper in 2007 by members of the Journal's International Advisory Board. Many congratulations to Professor Ackers on this success.

-- The Business School and Economics Department to host joint conference on industrial economics, 27 June, at Loughborough University. Speakers include leading economics expert Professor Paul Dobson and others - for the press release, go to General News Releases.

-- In The Times' 2009 Good University Guide, published 19 June, Accounting & Finance and Business Studies at Loughborough University both received top marks - 4th and 6th in the UK respectively - our highest placement ever! Loughborough retained its 12th place ranking, out of 113 UK institutions, reinforcing its position as one of the country’s leading universities.

-- Loughborough University places 1st in the UK for sport, in The Independent's sport and recreation table, published 12 June. Quoting The Independent: "If you are sports-mad and want to pursue competitive sport as an undergraduate, then Loughborough is the university for you. It is ranked No 1 by the British Universities Sports Association (Busa), ahead of Bath (second) and Birmingham (third)".

-- Davina Jones, a student on the Back Care Management MSc programme and Strategic Back Care Adviser for the Conwy County Borough Council, Wales, was awarded the CERETAS UK National Trainers Award for her manual handling work and support for social services in London.

-- Emeritus Professor Richard Wilson has been awarded the J A Valentine Visiting Professorship in Commerce for 2008 at the University of Otago, New Zealand.

 

May

-- Loughborough Students RAG win the Breast Cancer Campaign’s ‘RAG of the Year’ award for raising funds and awareness for the charity’s vital research – Loughborough Echo, 9/5/08

-- In an article on the fashion group Next and the rise in their share prices despite poor sales, retail expert Professor Paul Dobson comments on the credit crunch and how it has affected peoples' spending – Leicester Mercury, 9/5/08

-- In an article on John Lewis's recent out-of-character fall in sales, Professor Paul Dobson says the figures reflect that the economic slowdown is being felt more in some parts of the country than others and that people are reluctant to spend money on large items – Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 6/5/08

-- The results of research by staff in the Business School's Centre for Hazard and Risk Management (CHaRM) into the impact of health and safety management on an organisation were discussed at the annual IOSH Conference – Safety & Health Practitioner, 1/5/08

-- Lecturer Ian Herbert analyses two 'soft' management techniques used in manufacturing – Financial Management, 1/5/08

-- Loughborough Students’ Union win the Gold Award at the Sound Impact Awards 2007/8 for their environmental initiatives – Ecologist, 1/5/08

-- The Association of MBAs (AMBA) has re-accredited the Loughborough MBA for another five years, the maximum period the accrediting organisation awards. Well done to everyone involved and a heartfelt thanks to all our students and graduates!

-- Current Loughborough MBA delegates Imran Ibrahim, Gareth Ellison and Chris Jackson are awarded first prize by KPMG for their group work on innovation. (see press release for details)

-- Loughborough is one of the top ten universities in the UK, according to The Guardian league tables 2009, in which the University ranked 10th out of 117 institutions in the overall table, making it the top university in the East Midlands. In the individual subject tables Loughborough University is ranked in the top ten in nine of the tables.

 

April

-- In the 2009 Good University Guide (published April 2008), Loughborough is ranked third for student satisfaction – below only Cambridge University and St Andrews – and Business Studies at Loughborough is ranked 8th in the UK - The Independent: Education x 2 cuttings, 24/4/08 (Online); The Independent: Complete University Guide, 24/4/08

-- In a list of AM Magazine’s Power List for 2008, Professor Jim Saker is ranked 82nd, seven places higher than in 2007 – AM Magazine, 18/4/08

-- Article on the work of researchers Professor Will Seal and Ian Herbert into the contribution that shared service centres can make to intellectual capital – Financial Management, 1/4/08

-- Security Management graduate Magus Darroch-Warren comments on how his Masters study has gone – Professional Security, 1/4/08

-- In a separate article, Security Management Programme Director Tom Mulhall talks about the course – Professional Security, 1/4/08

-- In the 2009 Good University Guide (published 25 April 2008 by The Independent) Loughborough University is ranked third in the UK for Student Satisfaction - below only Cambridge and St Andrews - and is in 13th position overall, placing the University firmly among the UK's academic elite. In the individual subject tables the University is ranked in the Top 10 in 14 of the tables.

-- Congratulations are extended to Professor Anne Souchon (International Marketing), who made the top 40 ranking of most prolific authors in International Marketing Review.  Also, Professor A. Diamantopoulos (who has joint appointments at the University of Vienna and at Loughborough University)  made the top 65 ranking of most prolific authors in the Journal of International Business Studies, the top 2 ranking of most prolific authors in International Marketing Review, and overall, was ranked 24 in the list of most prolific authors in the six leading international business journals. 

 

March

-- In an article on camera retailer Jessops, which is cutting 200 jobs in a bid to revive its fortunes, Professor Paul Dobson says the company is likely to be hit by worsening economic conditions as consumers look to tighten their belts – Leicester Mercury, 27/3/08

-- Ratemyplacement.co.uk, a website (designed by a group of students from the Business School and other departments at Loughborough) that allows students to rate their work placements has earned the now graduates a place in the semi-final of the HSBC Unipreneurs Awards – Kenilworth Weekly News, 21/3/08

-- A Business School-wide fundraising initiative for the charity Macmillan Cancer Support, raising in excess of £600, is covered by the Loughborough Echo, 14/03/08

-- Recent Business School graduate Alastair Lindsay and three graduates from other departments at the University have reached the semi-final in the new HSBC Unipreneurs Awards for their website Ratemyplacement.co.uk. Good luck Alistair & co!

-- At the 2008 Academy of International Business conference at Portsmouth University, "Employee Tenure in China: Comparing Foreign Joint Ventures" won the Best Paper prize - written by Dr Angelika Zimmermann with co-authors Dr Xiaohui Liu and Professor Trevor Buck; and PhD student Sigrun Wagner (supervised by Dr Ursula Ott and Professor Malcolm Hill) won The Neil Hood and Stephen Young Prize for the Most Original New Work for her presentation entitled "Corporate Political Activities of Multinational Enterprises in the European Union – The Automotive Industry and Environmental Regulations".

-- A Business School-wide fundraising initiative for the charity Macmillan Cancer Support raised more than £600 and generated some media covereage mid month. Julie Collett, staff member in the Business School and an active supporter of many charities, organised the event which featured School staff dressing up in costumes, fundraisers out and about on campus collecting donations and a raffle complete with Best Dressed prizes going to Kay Harris (as Little Bo Peep) and Andrew Farrell (as a *real* doctor).

-- Professor Laurie Cohen has been appointed Associate Dean of Reseach - AD(R) - to the Social Science and Humanities Faculty, with a broad remit covering research and research funding for all the departments in the Faculty. 

-- Professor Paul Dobson has recorded a planned segment for BBC Radio 4's "You and Yours" programme Monday 17 March for a feature relating to exclusive dealing arrangements for printer ink cartridges between Hewlett-Packard and Staples.

-- Ian Herbert has two new publications forthcoming: "Theory Into Practice: Shared Service Centres, Financial Management" (co-written with Professor Will Seal and Ross, L), CIMA (April 2008); and "Maintaining Alignment in Assessment", Joint CHA and BAMF Assessment in Accounting Workshop, London 23 April 2008, with Hassall, T. and Joyce, J.

-- Michael Blyth, a student on the Security Management programme at the PMDC, has received phenomenal endorsement of his forthcoming book Risk and Security Management: Protecting People and Sites Worldwide (due to be released by Wiley this August). For more information about Mike, or about his forthcoming book, please email him at Michael@riskandsecuritymanagement.com

 

February

-- And the award for Most Downloaded Article goes to... Dr Chanak Jayawardhena, Professor Anne Souchon and Andrew Farrell for “Outcomes of service encounter quality in a business-to-business context”, Jayawardhena, C., Souchon, A. L., Farrell, A. M. and Glanville, K. (2007) in Industrial Marketing Management. (Award given out by Industrial Marketing Management.)

-- Dr Keith Pond's output from his research on WebPA, an innovative online peer-moderated marking system, undertaken with his recent academic practise award for his WebPA research and contributions in this area, will be presented at the Business Management Accounting & Finance (BMAF) annual conference in Edinburgh, 29th - 30th of April 2008. Read the full story here: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/bs/news/pressreleases.html

-- Dr Amon Chizema has been awarded a Nuffield Foundation small research grant for his research topic: "To Disclose or Not to Disclose: An Account of German Board Remuneration".

-- Dr Xiaohui Liu is organising the up-coming 19th CEA (UK) conference "China’s Three Decades of Economic Reform (1978-2008)" to be held 1-2 April at Cambridge University. Keynote speakers include: Professor Weiying Zhang (Dean, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University); Professor Saul Estrin (London School of Economics); Professor Xiaolu Wang, (Deputy Director, National Economic Research Institute, China); Martin Wolf, (Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial Times), Professor Wing Thye Woo (The Brooking Institute, USA) and Professor Christine Wong (Oxford University).

-- Ian Herbert has the forthcoming articles in the pipeline: "Self Perceived Employability: Construction and initial validation of a scale for university students" in the Journal of Vocational Behaviour, with Rothwell, A. T. and  Rothwell, F. M.; "Modern Manufacturing: Production technology and management accounting" in Financial Management, CIMA, March, 2008; "New Working Practices and Management Accounting" in Financial Management, CIMA, April, 2008; and "Modern Manufacturing: The role of management accounting in supporting empowered work practices" also in Financial Management, CIMA, June, 2008.

 

January

-- Postgraduate Research student Teresa Roca is quoted in several articles on stress caused by school inspections in UK schools, based on recent Business School research headed by Ms Roca – EducationGuardian.co.uk (online), 12/01/08; Yorkshire Post, 13/01/08; The Journal (City edition), Newcastle, 13/01/08; SecEd (trade), 25/01/08 – as well as participating in a public broadcast on Teachers' TV News – 19th - 21st January

-- In an article on a bogus university that targets foreign students, Professor John Arnold says students are paying for qualifications that are unlikely to be taken seriously – BBC, 7/1/08; BBC 1 News, 7/1/08; BBC Radio London, 8/1/08; The Flat Hat, 18/1/07 

-- Article on the apparent high street gloom, with comments by Professor Paul Dobson. Three Leicetserhire retailers, including Jessops camera chain, have reported upbeat trading figures; Professor Paul Dobson says tough times still lay ahead for Jessops – Leicester Mercury, 09/01/08

-- Professor Paul Dobson has been included in the prestigious International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers and Economics 2008, having been nominated by the Global Competition Review publication as “one of the world’s pre-eminent competition economics.” He is one of just six UK academics to be included in the list.

-- Professor Kalyan Raman is a finalist for the prestigious 2008 William F. O’Dell Award. The  William F. O’Dell Award is given to the author(s) of the paper with the maximum impact in a five-year period among all the papers published in the premier marketing journal—the Journal of Marketing Research.  Kalyan’s paper on optimal budgeting and allocation under synergy in multimedia marketing communications, co-authored with Prasad Naik (University of California Davis), was nominated for the award. Kalyan was previously a finalist for the 1999 William F. O’Dell Award for his paper on probabilistic models of brand name recall, co-authored with Wes Hutchinson (Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania) and Murali Mantrala (University of Missouri).

-- Dr Huan Joy Zou, a Lecturer in Strategic Management at the Business School, has just received a grant from the British Academy Small Grant for a project titled “The role of venture capital in the growth of Chinese high-tech new ventures”.