| Mar 2009 | View back issues |
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| March 2009 | ||
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Business School Dean's Fellowship of RSE  Professor Susan Hart, Dean of Strathclyde Business School, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE). She is one of 44 new Fellows elected after a rigorous four-stage selection process culminating in a ballot of the entire Fellowship - some 1500-strong. Each new Fellow is recognised within his or her peer group as having achieved excellence within their discipline or profession. Professor Hart is the author of over 100 articles and papers, and has worked in advisory and research capacities to a range of global organisations and the SME sector. Other new elected Fellows include Jack Jackson OBE, a visiting professor in Strathclyde's Department of Curricular Studies, Padma Kant Shukla, a Susan Hartvisiting professor in the University's Department of Physics and Scotland's Chief Medical Officer Harry Burns, who was awarded an honorary degree from Strathclyde in May 2008. Once admitted to the RSE, Fellows are encouraged to contribute to the aims and objectives of the Society, including the provision of expert policy advice to Government and Parliament, outreach education programmes for young people and public engagement events including conferences and discussions forums. Professor Hart said, "It's a great honour to be elected to the Royal Society, particularly in the company of such distinguished colleagues. The RSE's ethos of advancing learning and useful knowledge is mirrored closely by work carried out at Strathclyde, from informing policy with leading-edge research, to training highly skilled professionals needed by industry, business and commerce." In welcoming the new Fellows, the RSE President Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, said, "I know that the new intake of Fellows will enhance the already considerable knowledge base of the RSE Fellowship. We will continue to put this expertise at the service of education and policy development in Scotland, the UK, and where appropriate internationally." Back to top Strathclyde Business Forum events The Strathclyde Business Forum, a networking organisation run by members of the full time Masters programmes in the Department of Management, kicked off its 2009 programme of events this month. A workshop run over two evenings entitled, "The Rise and Fall of a National Retailer" involved a fascinating exploration, led by an MBA alumnus, of an organisation's attempt to reconstruct itself in the face of the rapidly changing digital photography market. Participants were challenged to put themselves in the position of senior managers to develop options that might have moved the company forward at key points in time. The Forum is organised around a number of interest groups comprising course members, alumni and industry who come together to share their views and experience. The Entrepreneurship group, for example, arranged for the founders of the exciting new brewer 'Brewdog', James Watt and Martin Dickie, to explain the challenges of launching a new business and building it into a successful enterprise. The other groups - namely Operations, Alternative Energy, Management Consulting, Not-for-Profit, Information Technology and Marketing - all have advanced plans for a programme of workshops, guest speakers and site visits over the coming months. The Strathclyde Business Forum is open to everyone and a relaunched website will become the main portal for information. In the meantime, information can be obtained by contacting peter@gsb.strath.ac.uk Back to top Tourism book 
Paul Lynch of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management is co-editor of a forthcoming interdisciplinary research-based text in the ground-breaking Routledge monograph series Critical Studies in Tourism, Business and Management. The series deals directly with theoretical and conceptual issues at the interface between business management and tourism studies. It incorporates research-generated studies of new and emergent themes that affect the future business and management of tourism.Paul co-edited the text "Commercial Homes in Tourism: An International Perspective" with colleagues in New Zealand, Alison McIntosh and Hazel Tucker. It is the first to examine significant conceptual dimensions of the commercial home enterprise from an international perspective. The concept of the commercial home arises from Paul's PhD and pays attention to the most frequently occurring but often neglected forms of commercial Paul Lynch accommodation such as farmstays, bed and breakfasts, guest houses, small family hotels, homestays, historic houses, self-catering accommodation and timeshares. The idea of home provides a conceptual bridge to related themes, for example, identity, gender, emotional management, sociability, temporality, sustainability and cultural mobilities whose investigation in a commercial home context offers fascinating insights into hospitality, tourism and society. Back to top SIOM in the Court Senate - and on Newsnight Strathclyde Institute for Operations Management (SIOM) presented its second Research Seminar on March 10 to another full house in the Court Senate. The topic was 'Manufacturing in Scotland' which comprised presentations by Dr Jill MacBryde (Department of Management Science), Dr Kepa Mendibil (Department of Design, Manufacture and Engineering Management), Dr Steve Paton (Department of Management), and Dr Steve Graham, Director of the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service who commissioned the research. The presentations were followed by a question and answer session with contributions from Dr Graham, Jim Mather MSP and Harry Donaldson of the GMB Union. The audience represented companies in the food and drink, electronics, finance, biotechnology, construction, defence, textiles and metals sectors. After attending the above event, Jim Mather mentioned SIOM twice on the BBC's Newsnight Scotland on March 12 in a 20-minute discussion about the future of manufacturing which was prompted by the announcement of job losses at cash machine producer NCR in Dundee. Back to top Trustee appointment for marketing professor Professor Stan Paliwoda attended a conference in Poland at which he was appointed an international trustee of IP Management Poland, together with Professor Piotr Moncarz of Stanford University and Professor Karl Klingsheim of the Norwegian Technical University, NTTU. IP Management Poland was formed by a consortium of six Polish universities - the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the University of Warsaw, the Warsaw School of Economics, the Warsaw University of Technology, the Warsaw University of Life Sciences and the Medical University of Lodz. The conference 'Intellectual Property Management - the Key to a Competitive Economy' is just the second to have been held by the group of universities and took place over March 11-13. Professor Paliwoda of the Department of Marketing presented a keynote speech on 'IP and the Challenges for Marketing.' In addition, he was a panel member reviewing the presentations of the six national finalists who went on to explain their entrepreneurial proposals to the conference at large. 
Professor Dr Ewa Okoń-Horodyńska (Professor of the Jagiellonian University and President of the Cracow Branch of IPM Poland) officially hands over business cards to Professor Stan Paliwoda who has just been elected to the Board of Trustees of IP Management.Back to top SBS hosts meeting of BAM Fellows Strathclyde Business School hosted the annual meeting of the British Academy of Management Fellows College on March 16. The meeting discussed the future design of the REF (Research Excellence Framework), the relevance of taking stock of management education and research through an ESRC-funded commission, and the role of management education in a major economic recession. Professors Colin Eden and Chris Huxham of the Department of Management attended as members of the College. Back to top EU panel invitation Professor Tom Baum of the department of Hospitality and Tourism Management was invited to participate recently as a member of an expert panel to evaluate outcomes of a study of the "Comprehensive sectoral analysis of emerging competences and economic activities in the European Union." The two-day workshop in Brussels, focussing on the hotels and restaurant sector, was one of 16 sectoral panels established by the EU and involved representatives from social partners from across the member states. Professor Baum was one of just two academics invited to join the 20-strong panel. Back to top Tourism conferences Professor Tom Baum (Hospitality and Tourism Management) was an invited keynote speaker at two major tourism conferences. The first, in Madrid, was organised by the Spanish Ministry for Tourism, and Professor Baum's presentation focussed on "Talent attraction and retention: specific approaches in tourism and hospitality." The second, organised by the University of Tartu at their Parnu campus in Estonia, was entitled, "Fit for life - education and career development in international tourism: The role of college and industry." Back to top BIG Academy moves on to second phase The second phase of BIG Academy, an ongoing programme of management training provided by SBS to executives of the Babcock International Group, is under way. The programme was initially developed by a team within the then Graduate School of Business in tandem with senior managers from Babcock led by John Howie, MD of Babcock Marine. The contract was signed and sealed by Professor Colin Eden in 2005. Babcock's diverse business operations with activity in a number of sectors was causing difficulty in establishing a common identity and a 'one business' approach across divisions, and the programme was set up in response to this to help create a common language across the business around key subjects such as strategy and finance. The programme has an excellent reputation and is much sought after within Babcock - most of Babcock's senior managers have now been through Phase 1, with ongoing cohorts planned as new managers come into the business. This positive impact, coupled with Babcock's intention to further grow the business, has resulted in a second programme - BIG Academy Phase 2 - that is delivering further, more customised and specialist training in the areas of strategy and performance management. The Phase 2 programme is now well underway, with very positive feedback received so far. This programme is aimed at increasing Babcock's competence in winning new business and growing existing business by building increased customer commitment through delivering outstanding levels of operational performance. The Babcock work is currently being managed by Dr Steve Paton, Department of Management, and is delivered by staff from across SBS. The size, profile and future potential of this programme makes it an important part of the SBS Executive Development portfolio. Back to top PhD research complete Department of Management doctoral student Kevin Gallimore has finished his PhD research on 'A developing framework for strategic thinking'. He has been supervised by Professors Fran Ackermann and Colin Eden. Kevin is a senior lecturer and subject leader in Strategic Management in the Cheshire faculty of the Manchester Metropolitan University. Prior to entering academia, he worked in the chemicals and coatings industry. Back to top Professor's editorial input to international events book Professor Tom Baum (Hospitality and Tourism Management) has worked with colleagues from Australia and New Zealand in editing the first book to bring together a research-based analysis of the human resource environment within the emerging international events sector. The volume, entitled "People and Work in Events and Conventions: A Research Perspective" will be published by CABI (www.cabi.org) later this year. Back to top Marketing Doctoral Research Day A second Doctoral Research Day in the Marketing Department took place on March 4, following on from the success of the first one last year. Co-ordinated for the second year by Professor Stan Paliwoda, there was again a mix of presentations in the morning from visiting speakers and then parallel track presentations in PhD panels in the afternoon by the doctoral students themselves. An introduction by head of department Professor Alan Wilson started proceedings, with Emeritus Professor Michael J. Baker kicking off the invited presentations by speaking on the student-supervisor relationship. The second presenter was Jose Paulo Santos from ISMAI in Portugal, together with Professor Luiz Moutinho of Glasgow University, and the title was "Neuroscience in Marketing - Empirical Research on Emotional Branding and the Social Role of Brands using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)". This dealt with the use of MRI scanners in research involving the tracking of advertising stimuli on the brain. Professor TC Melewar of Brunel University spoke on "Corporate Identity - A Research Journey" which traced his own research path as a doctoral student, focussing and finalising on his own research. The fourth and final presenter was Professor Goran Svenson, Oslo School of Management, Norway, and Halmstad University, Sweden: "The Research Process - A Counter-Intuitive View?" The remainder of the afternoon was taken up with PhD panels with Professor Amanda Broderick of Coventry University joining in. Each student had the opportunity to discuss his or her work, and students from Glasgow and Stirling universities were also present. 
(L-R):- Prof Michael J. Baker, Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Strathclyde University - Prof Stan Paliwoda, Deputy Head of Department and Coordinator of Doctoral Research Day - Jose Paulo Santos, ISMAI, Portugal - Prof Luiz Moutinho, Glasgow University - Prof Amanda Broderick, Coventry University - Prof T.C. Melewar, Brunel University Back to top Paper to be published Professor Jonathan Fletcher of the Department of Accounting and Finance has had his paper - "Risk reduction and mean-variance analysis: An empirical investigation" - accepted for publication by the Journal of Business Finance and Accounting. Back to top Accountancy project will result in book Ian Thomson of Accounting and Finance has been invited to take part in the Accounting for Sustainability case writing project, organised by Professor Anthony Hopwood as part of the Prince of Wales Accounting for Sustainability Forum. The aim is to document a number of corporate attempts to use the Connected Reporting Framework recommended by the earlier Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project. This project consists of eight case-writing teams, each of whom will work with a selected organisation. The other teams are located in Said Business School, London School of Economics, Warwick Business School, Sheffield University School of Management, Nottingham Business School, University of Dundee and Lancaster University Management School. This project will be published in a book and a special issue of Accounting, Organisations and Society. Back to top IMA Fellowship for professor Professor Tim Bedford (Department of Management Science) has been elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA). The IMA is the UK's learned and professional society for mathematicians and its applications. It promotes mathematics research, education and careers, and the use of mathematics in business, industry and commerce. Back to top International conference paper Professor Richard Butler, of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, gave an invited paper at the International Conference on Sustainable Tourism in Quebec City on March 17. Professor Butler's visit was hosted by the Quebec Ministry for Tourism. His paper was entitled "Maximising Community Benefits from Sustainable Tourism." Back to top Multi-purpose Visit to India by HRM professor Professor Phil Taylor of the Department of Human Resource Management travelled to four cities in India during February on a multi-purpose visit. First, he participated at the Nasscom Leadership Forum, the annual conference of the software and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries. Professor Taylor was sponsored by Scottish Development International to conduct an evaluation of the impact of the global recession on India's offshored business service sector and the consequences for the Scottish economy. He was also invited to the prestigious academic institution, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, to deliver a lecture to masters and postgraduate students on the Globalisation of Call Centres. He then went on to visit publishers Sage in New Delhi to discuss ways to enhance the impact of the journal Work, Employment and Society of which he is co-editor as part of the editorial team based in the Department of HRM. Finally, Professor Taylor undertook fieldwork in Bangalore and Kochi, conducting interviews with managers and workers in a range of call centre and BPO centres. 
Professor Phil Taylor after giving a lecture on the Globalisation of Call Centres.
Back to top Professor is 'one to watch'  Professor Dennis Nickson from the Department of Human Resource Management featured as a 'Professor to Watch' in the Financial Times on March 16. The feature consisted of a profile of Professor Nickson and was entitled, "Union Clock-watcher blooms into workplace fashionista." It traced Professor Nickson's academic career and focussed on his research on aesthetic labour, an area that he has worked in for a number of years with Professor Chris Warhurst, also of Department of HRM.
Back to top In the news Dr Andrea Coulson of the Department of Accounting and Finance was quoted in the Evening Times in an article about the project Bridging the Finance Gap, a project which she is overseeing and which has been launched by Strathclyde and the Glasgow-based bridging firm, Munro Bridging Finance (MBF). Back to top Marketing DBA students begin studies A new cohort of five Marketing DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) students based in Zurich started their studies on the weekend of March 20. The group of DBA students is focussing on research areas relating to services marketing and is being jointly supervised by professors Alan Wilson and Heiner Evanschitzky of the Department of Marketing. 
Marketing DBA students begin studies
Back to top New book from SBS's World Bank-based professor  A new book, co-edited by Professor Kevin Ibeh of the Department of Marketing, entitled Contemporary Challenges to International Business, has been published by Palgrave Macmillan. Professor Ibeh is currently spending his sabbatical leave as consultant with the World Bank Group in Washington DC.The book is organised over four sections and offers a scholarly dissection of the biggest challenges facing international business today, from ever-potent cultural and institutional complexities to 'newer' concerns such as climate change and international terrorism. Professor Ibeh's book examines these challenges from the perspectives of Kevin Ibehdifferent international business actors, including multinational enterprises, international SMEs, developing countries and emerging market players, and woman managers. All contributions discuss one or more aspects of the contemporary challenges that international companies face and embody invaluable insights on appropriate managerial and/or policy responses to such complexities. The book is the latest in the Academy of International Business Series on International Business. Back to top |
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