| Jan 2008 | View back issues |
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| January 2008 | ||
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Click on any of the headlines to go to the story:
Undergraduate wins Erasmus award 
Strathclyde Business School undergraduate Cameron MacInnes has won the UK Erasmus Student Essay Prize for 2007, beating 150 other Erasmus participants for the £1,000 essay–writing award.The short listed finalists recounted and illustrated their experiences of living and studying in Europe with the Erasmus Programme to an invited audience at a ceremony held at the British Council headquarters in London in early December. Cameron (21) is studying Business Studies with languages, and had spent over a year in Mannheim, Germany. He was one of ten essay finalists. The decision on the winner was made on the basis of the individual presentations. Jane Hutt, Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, of the Welsh Assembly Government, presented Cameron Cameron McInnes with his prize. Of his time in Germany, Cameron said, "I feel as if I really did get the most possible out of the year. Using my ‘no–English’ policy allowed me to gain perfect fluency in German as well as to speak the regional dialect, integrating into the German culture and developing enormously as a person." Cameron studied business at the University of Mannheim and immersed himself in both the German language and way of life. "At the beginning it was difficult to cope with so many challenging courses in German but I always felt it’s better to give yourself challenges than to take the easy way out and I believe I’m going to reap the benefits of such an attitude in the coming years." He followed his studies with a job in the summer months which involved being employed by the University of Mannheim to translate their website into English. By doing so he became the first exchange student to be employed by the university. During his summer stay he chose to stay with a German family in the region and threw himself into life in the small village in which they stayed. "It really is true that you grow up living on your own in a foreign country. Since my return to Glasgow, I’ve organised a ‘Stammtisch’ which is a weekly meeting for students studying German and German exchange students, offering a platform for our students to practice their German with native speakers and allowing German students to get to know British students." Back to top International marketing book series published A three volume collection of articles and papers in the field of international marketing over the past 30 years has been published, edited by Professor Stan Paliwoda of the Department of Marketing, together with Professor John Ryan of Kent State University, USA. International Marketing: Modern and Classic Papers includes both classic articles as well as cutting–edge papers from current top researchers, pulled together by professors Paliwoda and Ryan, covering aspects of exporting, internationalisation, and other strategic issues in international marketing. Back to top EPRC awarded major study on European Structural Funds 
Against strong international competition, EPRC has been awarded a European Commission contract worth almost €1 million to study the implementation of European regional policy (Structural Funds) across the EU. Under one of the largest research contracts ever awarded by the Commission’s Directorate–General for Regional Policy, the research will involve examining the efficiency, sustainability and added value of EU funding during the 2000–06 period. Led by Professor John Bachtler and Laura Polverari, the research team will involve almost 40 researchers in 22 countries and run over an 18–month period. The output of the research is intended to inform the wide–ranging review of the EU budget and the reform of EU regional policy after 2012.
Back to top CIPD reaccreditation for HRM Following a recent visit by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) to the Department of Human Resource Management, the postgraduate diploma ⁄ MSc in HRM as well as two certificate–level courses – the Certificate in Personnel Practice and the Certificate in Employment Relations and Employment Law – have been accredited as meeting the CIPD professional standards. Students who successfully completed these programmes are eligible for the relevant level of membership of CIPD. In their report, CIPD praised a number of areas of good practice including the clear connection between department research and curriculum content, and for the introduction of the Student Conference held each year in June where the students present the findings of their Management Research Report to academics and practitioners. Professor Paul Thompson, head of HRM, said, "This valuable reaccreditation maintains the excellent relationship between the department and the professional body and ensures the continued success of the postgraduate and post experience programmes." Back to top EPRC presentation of EoRPA research in Poland 
On December 3, Professor Douglas Yuill and Dr Martin Ferry were in Warsaw to make invited presentations to Polish policymakers on recent regional policy developments across Europe. Douglas focused on recent changes in national regional policies while Martin concentrated on the new directions being taken by EU Cohesion policy. The two presentations were based on research papers produced for EPRC’s EoRPA consortium. The meeting was arranged by the Ministry of Regional Development in Poland and was attended by over 60 policymakers from the Ministry and the Polish regions as well as academics.
Back to top SCER research into student finance 
The Scottish Centre for Employment Research, based in the Department of Human Resource Management, has been awarded a large research contract by the Scottish Government to investigate student income, expenditure and debt.The project, which has just started, will run until early 2009 and has a large and joint research team that includes colleagues from the Department of Management at Glasgow University. The project managers are professors Chris Warhurst and Andy Furlong. A national survey of students at Scottish universities and colleges will be conducted in spring next year, with follow–up interviews later in the summer with students struggling with their finances. With its policy emphasis on expanding education and training in Scotland, the findings of the project will feed into the government–s assessment of widening access and funding arrangements for students. Back to top Careers fair February 8 will see the first Scottish MBA and Business Postgraduate Careers Fair taking place in the Business School–s Cathedral Street building. Leading recruiters with an interest in recruiting MBA and industry experienced postgraduate students will be present, with companies such as Royal Bank of Scotland, IBM Global Business, Amazon, B Sky B, Inver House Distillers, Atos Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Procter and Gamble, and Johnson and Johnson already confirmed, and a number of others expected to confirm their attendance. All MBA students and postgraduates with at least two years work experience are invited to attend. In addition to manning a stand at the fair for informal discussion of recruitment internship or project–based opportunities, each company has the opportunity to give a short presentation in the Cathedral Street lecture theatre and carry out more structured discussions in a private room. In addition to recruiting companies there will also be several recruitment agencies, as well as a number of organisations that offer career–based services to the MBA and postgraduate student community including Scottish Investment Operations, AMBA, Graduates for Growth and Graduates into Business. The event has been organised by Irene Taylor and more information is available from her by emailing Irene@gsb.strath.ac.uk or telephoning 0141 553 6057. Back to top Work, Employment and Society As of the beginning of January, for a three year period, the British Sociological Association journal, Work, Employment and Society (WES) is to be edited by a team based in the Department of Human Resource Management. The team consists of professors Chris Warhurst and Phil Taylor as overall editors, Professor Paul Thompson as research notes, debates and controversies editor and Dr Dora Scholarios as book reviews editor. Their collective stewardship follows the team–s election by the editorial board of WES; a significant achievement as WES is a leading journal in several fields with a growing international reputation. It reflects the emergence of the Department as one of the leading centres for teaching and research in employment studies. Back to top Prestigious engineering award for MBA student 
MBA student Mamta Singhal has been awarded the prestigious Women’s Engineering Society prize at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards, which took place on January 11.Mamta, of East Kilbride, is currently lecturing in mechanical engineering at Strathclyde and studying for an MBA at the business school. She began her engineering career as a creative development engineer for toy manufacturer Hasbro, helping produce a range of hugely popular toys, including Action Man. Her responsibilities at Hasbro included the design and manufacture of toys ensuring that products were made with the correct materials and conformed to the specified mechanical function level. Robin McGill, chief executive of the IET said, "I would like to congratulate Mamta on this fantastic achievement. Mamta is a very talented engineer and is particularly passionate about informing others of the great opportunities and challenges that a career in engineering can provide. A great role model for other young women, Mamta has a promising career in engineering and Mamta Singhal technology ahead of her." Mamta is keen to share her enthusiasm for engineering with others and has given various talks to tell people about why she enjoys engineering and why more should consider entering the profession. Mamta received an engraved trophy and a cheque for £500 at the BT Centre, London, from scientist and TV personality Dr Maggie Aderin. Mamta also won the Greenest New Product Idea award in the Strathclyde Supernovas competition for her invention of an energy–saving kettle that filters water before boiling it. This award was made at Strathclyde’s first Enterprise Awards Dinner in November. Back to top Police control and communications room research Professor Phil Taylor of the Department of HRM presented the findings of a three year long research project into working conditions in police control and communications to 75 participants at a seminar organised by public sector Unison in London on December 12. The research was based upon the questionnaire returns from over 600 staff from 51 UK police forces, extensive interviews conducted with senior and middle management and trade union representatives and data from extensive work observations. The project was funded by Unison and was conducted by Professor Taylor, the late Peter Bain and Eli Dutton, all of HRM. Participants included senior figures from the Home Office and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). The authors’ report ‘Working in Police Control Rooms’ has comprised a significant element in submissions by Unison to a wider review conducted by the HMIC. Back to top New book 
A new book by Professor Sara McGaughey of the Department of Management, has been published in the prestigious New Horizons in International Business series.Entitled Narratives of Internationalisation: Legitimacy, Standards and Portfolio Entrepreneurs, the book presents a longitudinal case study of more than 20 years into the growth and internationalisation of a cluster of small Australian firms. The research monograph makes three main contributions to the field of international business. First, key events and activities, such as export market choice, are interpreted though the conceptual lens of legitimacy and legitimation processes. Second, readers are invited to treat the narrative as ‘data’, and reinterpret events Prof McGaughey and activities using their own diverse perspectives. Creative forms of representation such as drama and cartoons are used in the narrative to support this aim and draw the reader into the world experienced by the entrepreneurs. Third, an attempt to display the research process transparently is intended to allow others to judge the utility of the research and hopefully alleviate some of the anxiety that researchers feel when faced with the uncertainty inherent in in–depth, real–time and retrospective longitudinal fieldwork. Back to top Winning students Two MBA students, Kumar Abhishek and Sambit Banerjee, were members of the winning team in a business game organised by Deloitte on November 23. The event was organised by Deloitte for graduates from different streams to make them aware of the sort of work which goes on in the enterprise risk services department of Deloitte. Students had to work in groups of four on a case study and teams were selected randomly on the day, with students having registered previously via the Deloitte website. As well as Strathclyde, there were students from Glasgow and Imperial amongst others, making up a total of five teams. Kumar said it was a good experience and the event gave them the chance to talk to people from Deloitte regarding the work culture and future opportunities. Back to top |
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