http://www.wbs.ac.uk/common/graphics/logo_wbs-120x60.gif http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/?rss 120 60 http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/?rss News stories from Warwick Business School. en-gb Copyright 2010 Warwick Business School www@wbs.ac.uk (Warwick Business School) www@wbs.ac.uk Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:28:09 +0000 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:28:09 +0000 WBS in-house RSS feed builder http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss News stories from Warwick Business School. Warwick Business School The latest news stories from Warwick Business School. www@wbs.ac.uk Warwick Business School no Warwick, business, school, management, education, university, MBA, learning, teaching, research http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/28/WBS/research/translates http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/28/WBS/research/translates Feature Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:00:00 +0000 Thursday 28 January 2010 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School Research by Vladimir Deineko, WBS Associate Professor of Operational Research, has recently provided two examples of academic research translating successfully into practice. He has been leading research into designing optimal routes for commercial waste collection services in Coventry City Council over recent months. This research by WBS faculty together with members from the Computer Science department has been supported by the EPSRC and Warwick's Centre for Discrete Mathematics and its Applications (DIMAP). Now completed, initial results show that applying new algorithms developed as a result of the research project can bring about up to 20 percent savings in transportation costs such as fuel consumption, servicing costs and wear and tear on vehicles. In addition, Vladimir has been building on and developing a tool using combinatorial type algorithms, together with Doctoral student Thomas Ridd, to allocate cohorts of students into equitable teams, taking into account the need for an even spread across the cohort of different backgrounds, skills, and cultural origins. Their work has been picked up by Warwick Ventures, where experts are currently looking into the commercialisation of this tool. Vladimir comments, "As scholars, we are always happy when our papers are published in top research journals and are highly referenced by our colleagues. Over the past two years I have been working with practitioners, implementing my theoretical results into practical tools, for example, software prototypes. I have found this highly exciting and enjoyable, and it is rewarding to see how the tools you have created make a real change in everyday work, and how people who use these tools are so impressed with the results they can get by...just clicking a button." no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/26/Postgraduate/student/consultancy http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/26/Postgraduate/student/consultancy Story Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000 Tuesday 26 January 2010 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School Whether you are a WBS student or member of staff, or someone from outside the University of Warwick altogether, you may be currently working for or know of a business that needs help with a specific project, or a short-term job that needs completing over the summer. If so, read on! Postgraduate student projects are of great benefit to businesses. For the organisation providing the project they can be a way of helping to solve a particular problem, carrying out specific research, or dealing with a short-term project. They can also result in finding the ideal new recruit. The next Project Sponsor's Evening at Warwick Business School is on Wednesday 3rd February. It provides an opportunity to find out how WBS Specialist Masters and MBA students can make a difference to an organisation through a WBS consultancy project. Examples of how projects can help include: Finding solutions to challenges facing an organisation which doesn't have time to tackle the problemProviding access to a specialist set of skills without having to pay consultant level feesFinding out about the latest theories and practices which could benefit the organisationGetting a fresh perspective on the aspects and issues around the business. Every year, WBS postgraduate students undertake targeted project work to deliver practical, professional solutions to organisations all over the world. The evening event on 3rd February, from 5pm onwards, gives the opportunity for businesses from all sectors to talk with previous project sponsors and ask questions, and to meet the programme teams and leading academics, while networking with fellow attendees over a buffet supper. Registration for this free event is through this link. no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/26/Winter/graduation/report http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/26/Winter/graduation/report Feature Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:00:00 +0000 Tuesday 26 January 2010 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School The short winter days and cold and wet weather were forgotten last week on the Warwick campus with the celebrations of Winter graduation. For WBS, 302 graduands, 565 guests and 65 staff attended the ceremony in the Warwick Arts Centre on Thursday, followed by a great buffet lunch in the Rootes Panorama Suite on campus. A similar number of students graduated 'in absentia'. Several are noteworthy for their achievements above and beyond graduation. Four MSc in Finance students won awards, presented at the lunch by Professor Mark Salmon, for their outstanding performances during their studies: Best overall - Ngoc Quynh Anh Nguyen; Best Investment Management Stream - Rajan Parmar; Best Corporate Finance Stream - ine Black; Best dissertation - Carmen Boschmans. Anh commented on her award, "When I opened the email from the programme team giving me the news that I had won the prize of Best Overall student, my first reaction was 'Are they sending this to the right person?!' Then I felt very happy that all my hard work was worth it. I am hoping for a career in treasury in the UK; so far the search for a job has been difficult, but this award will be of help to me." Three students taking the MA in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management won awards. Joyce Chiang was awarded the Trades Union Congress Prize for Outstanding Attainment in Employment Rights, and Sophie Stuttard was awarded the Engineering Employers Federation Prize for Outstanding Attainment in Employment Relations. Leon Moorcroft was awarded the CIPD Achievement Prize. The first cohort graduated from the newly-launched MSc in Business Analytics and Consulting. Ajit Veerappan from India is setting up his own consultancy. He reports, "Shortly before finishing my course, I decided to go ahead and start off a software firm in Bangalore, India. My passion for software combined with the business knowledge that I gained in Warwick motivated me to dream big and become an entrepreneur. "Modules in my course such as Foundations of Management, Strategy Analysis, Supporting Strategy, and Decision Analysis Consulting helped me understand how to run a business and manage people. These modules also helped me in creating a strategy and direction for my firm. "My company, AB Innovative, is an IT Services company which is 30 member strong now and has grown at a rapid pace with our employees having expertise in all platforms. We offer other IT services too - for example, a document management system, and website development for a number of clients. "I would like to thank Warwick University and the staff in Warwick Business School for making my foundations in business management so solid that I could realise my dream this early in life." Nadia Saeed is another graduate from this new degree. She is staying much closer to home - as Project Manager in the WBS Academic Services team. She started at the beginning of January and will be working on a range of projects in... no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/25/MA/graduates/win http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/25/MA/graduates/win Press release Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:00:00 +0000 Monday 25 January 2010 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School Two MA graduates returned to Warwick Business School last week to receive prizes for their outstanding course work, and then a few days later to attend the official Winter graduation ceremony. Both graduated with an MA (Master of Arts) in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. Joyce Chiang was awarded the 'Trades Union Congress Prize for Outstanding Attainment in Employment Rights' by Cheryl Pidgeon, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary. Joyce graduated from the programme with distinction overall and submitted a particularly innovative dissertation, on the attitudes of migrant workers to trade unions in the UK. Sophie Stuttard was awarded the Engineering Employers Federation Prize for Outstanding Attainment in Employment Relations by Andrew Forrest, Head of HR and Legal Services at the EEF. Sophie also graduated with distinction and her dissertation explored how newspaper coverage of redundancies had changed over time. In their seminar presentation to students following the awards, Cheryl and Andrew discussed the respective roles played by their organizations in employment relations in the Midlands, and the impact of the recession upon the region and their work. The Trades Union Congress represents 58 affiliated unions covering nearly seven million working people. The EEF is Britain's largest employers association. It works to support manufacturing, engineering and technology industries' ability to work, innovate and respond to climate change, and provides manufacturing and engineering support and advice as well as general business support to over 6,000 manufacturing, engineering and technology companies in the UK. Warwick's MA in Industrial Relations and Managing Human Resources was launched in 2009 and replaces the MA in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. It is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and provides research-led teaching and an interface with practitioners. no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/21/IBM/Universities/Business http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/21/IBM/Universities/Business Story Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Thursday 21 January 2010 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School The annual IBM Universities Business Challenge is well under way for 2009-10. Participants in teams of up to five undergraduates are challenged with the task of improving the performance of a business. Acting as management consultants, the teams actions and decisions must take into account not only the financial performance of the company, but also its responsibilities to its various stakeholders, including its suppliers, its customers and its employees. A 3-stage judging process takes place across several months, with cash prizes available for finalist teams. WBS submitted four teams, and one of these has successfully reached the second stage - the UK semi-finals. The team members are: Valentyn Makarenko - ManagementIgor Gorbatsevich Accounting & FinanceNikolay Kuznetsov - ManagementDavids Taurins Accounting & FinanceVivien James Watts Accounting & Finance. This is a great achievement, and we wish the team success in the semi-final, to be held at Weybridge on 1st March 2010. no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/15/WBS/professor/speaks http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/15/WBS/professor/speaks Press release Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:00:00 +0000 Friday 15 January 2010 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School Nigel Piercy, Professor of Marketing & Strategic Management, and Associate Dean for the Warwick MBA, has written an article published on Page 2 of today's Wall Street Journal Europe. He succinctly argues that apportioning blame to business schools for last year's global financial crises and the resulting recession is not valid. Read the full article in the link below. no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/07/Implementing/information/and http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2010/01/07/Implementing/information/and New book Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:00:00 +0000 Thursday 7 January 2010 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School Jointly authored by Mark Hall, Mike Terry and John Purcell of WBS, with Sue Hutchinson and Jane Parker. The report Implementing information and consultation: developments in medium-sized organisations is also now published. Both can be downloaded below. The project on which these reports are based is part of an extensive programme of research to inform policy-making and promote better regulation on employment relations, labour market, and equality and discrimination at work issues. The research is led by the Employment Market Analysis and Research branch of the UK Government's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and this particular project was co-sponsored by Acas and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. It was commissioned to investigate organisational responses to the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004. The reports are based on longitudinal case studies carried out between 2006 and 2009 in organisations with 150+ employees (Report No.105) and with 100-150 and 50-100 employees (Report No.106). Both reports analyse and account for the differing experiences of information and consultation bodies in the variously-sized case study organisations over the two-year period between initial and final research visits and employee surveys, highlighting the key factors shaping developments. To access the full reports, download Report No. 105 here, and Report No. 106 here. no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/31/OBE/for/David http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/31/OBE/for/David Press release Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Warwick Business School nick.kaijaks@wbs.ac.uk (Nick Kaijaks) Warwick Business School Professor David Storey, of the Centre for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, has been awarded an OBE for services to business in the 2010 New Year honours list. Storey has worked at WBS since 1987, where he coordinated the largest research programme undertaken on small business in the United Kingdom. no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/21/Howards/Leaving/Lunch http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/21/Howards/Leaving/Lunch Feature Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:00:00 +0000 Monday 21 December 2009 Warwick Business School vin.hammersley@wbs.ac.uk (Vin Hammersley) Warwick Business School Professor Howard Thomas, Dean of Warwick Business School, attended his leaving lunch on Monday 21 December enabling staff from WBS and the wider University community to thank him for the contributions he has made during his nine years at Warwick. He received from WBS staff a camera and camera holder, and to reflect his love of the sport of rugby and his Welsh nationality, a Welsh shirt and Welsh rugby football signed by many WBS colleagues. Howard, officially leaving at the end of January, will be taking up the role of Distinguished Professor of Strategic Management and Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business at Singapore Management University. He has been made a WBS Emeritus Professor. Professor David Wilson has already taken over the role of Acting Dean, with Professor Simon Collinson joining Professor Bob Johnston as Deputy Deans. The process of appointing Howard's successor is ongoing. Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nigel Thrift said, "During his nine years with us, Howard has been integral to the success of WBS - we greatly appreciate the valuable contributions he has made and wish him much success in his new role." Click on the link below to see photographs of Howard's leaving lunch. no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/16/Complexity/Science/and http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/16/Complexity/Science/and Feature Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:00:00 +0000 Wednesday 16 December 2009 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School Yasmin Merali, Associate Professor of Information Systems at Warwick Business School and Co-Director of the Complexity Science Doctoral Training Centre, defines Complexity Science and explains its growing importance and developments. Turning to Complexity Science because... The Internet and related technologies have accelerated the expansion of the globalised economy and the evolution of a network society. The resulting interconnected world is characterised by increased complexity as more people, devices, institutions and countries interact in a multitude of ways, exploiting diverse media and communication capabilities. This presents exciting possibilities for innovation, and allows new ways of organising people and resources across traditional boundaries. However, these possibilities are accompanied by challenges of dealing with a more dynamic and uncertain environment. The non-linear dynamics of the networked world means that small changes in one locality can have large consequences for the global system. The networked society makes it harder for people, institutions and countries to insulate themselves from the impact of events in distant locations, or to predict how situations may change due to interventions and actions of the diverse stakeholders. Policy makers must bridge the gap between higher (global, regional or national) level policy formulation and its local implementation. This entails the difficulty of accommodating diverse stakeholders' needs, contributions and agendas, whilst maintaining equity and engaging their best efforts in a wide variety of overlapping and interacting implementation contexts. Even more demanding is the challenge of understanding the intended and unintended impacts of policy interventions in practice. Policy is concerned with a mix of 'tame' and 'wicked' problems. Tame problems are generally amenable to traditional methods of prediction, analysis and solution. Wicked problems (e.g. climate change, providing health care for an aging population etc.) are often highly non-linear (in time and space), uncertain (as opposed to risky) and characterised by emergent phenomena arising from the complex networking among key actors and the entanglement of social, economic and political systems. "One size fits all" strategies that are good "on average" are likely to fail if they ignore the disproportionate and disruptive influence of outliers. Consequently, wicked problems demand methods to define their complexity in a meaningful way, analyse its consequences appropriately and develop suitable policy interventions. Wicked problems can be difficult to identify prior to the implementation of a 'solution': legendary failures are attributable to the imposition of tame solutions on wicked problems, for example, widely-publicised failures in government IT projects. Complex problems do not necessarily require complicated solutions: the difficulty is in identifying the critical dimensions of the problem ... no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/16/Complexity/Science/Research http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/16/Complexity/Science/Research Feature Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:00:00 +0000 Wednesday 16 December 2009 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School In Spring 2008, a partnership between The University of Warwick and Boston University in the USA was announced to exploit the complementary resources of both institutions in addressing novel research domains. Complexity Science was identified as a key area of interdisciplinary research by both universities. Earlier this year, senior colleagues from Boston University visited Warwick to consolidate the institutional relationship and to develop the agenda for collaborative research. In addition to institutional level meetings hosted by the Vice-Chancellor and the International Office, Professor Andrei Ruckenstein, Vice President (Research) and his Boston colleagues attended a two-day Research Workshop on Complexity Science and Policy. The workshop was chaired by Yasmin Merali, Associate Professor of Information Systems at Warwick Business School and Co-Director of the Complexity Science Doctoral Training Centre and jointly funded by the Institute for Advanced Study and the International Office. Conceived as a transdisciplinary event, the workshop identified collaborative projects in which application of Complex Systems concepts will aid policy formulation and implementation in areas as diverse as the Digital Economy, Health, the Low Carbon Society and Sustainable Energy. Warwick participants included Robert MacKay (Chair of the Centre for Complexity Science) Robin Ball (Director of the Complexity Science Doctoral Training Centre), John Benington (WBS), Jonathan Cave (Economics Department), Sadie Creese (International Digital Laboratory), Frances Griffiths (Warwick Medical School), Phil Mawby (Engineering) and Andrew Sentance (Warwick Business School). In recent years Complexity Science has attracted much interest from public and private sector institutions and the research councils. In a related feature, Yasmin Merali outlines some of the promises and challenges associated with the use of Complexity Science concepts and tools to understand and explain the behaviour of socio-economic systems for policy makers. no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/16/Innovation/in/Local http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/16/Innovation/in/Local New book Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:00:00 +0000 Wednesday 16 December 2009 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School Co-authored by Colin Crouch. The study of varieties of capitalism is moving on from the analysis of static national types to embrace local and sectoral diversity and the study of systems in the process of major change. This volume addresses the issue by examining four localised sectors, comparing a German case with one in another European country. The general changes taking place in Germany itself and the other countries (Hungary, Sweden, and the UK) form the context of the studies. The case studies concern: Furniture making in North-Rhine Westphalia and southern Sweden, Automotive manufacture in east Germany and northern Hungary, Biotechnology around Munich and Cambridge, TV programme and film-making in Cologne and central London. The studies find a complex pattern of conformity with, and deviation from, national types, but only occasional examples of where divergence takes the form of a direct confrontation with a national model. This is partly because national models are themselves changing; partly because they are often capable of accommodating more diversity than is often assumed by national studies; and partly because firms are increasingly able to reach outside their national boundaries for institutional resources. no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/15/Realising/the/Real http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/15/Realising/the/Real New book Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:00:00 +0000 Tuesday 15 December 2009 Warwick Business School Diana.Holton@wbs.ac.uk (Diana Holton) Warwick Business School Authored by Dr Ilan Oshri, WBS Associate Fellow, and Julia Kotlarsky, Associate Professor at WBS. This research was conducted by Warwick Business School in collaboration with Cognizant, a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. It focuses on understanding the real benefits of outsourcing beyond a one-time cost saving alone. The study goes beyond this objective by trying to understand the underpinning factors behind client firms inability to systematically measure the benefits offered through outsourcing and by examining the strategic role that key players can play in achieving this goal. The ideas presented in this paper are based on original research conducted at Warwick Business School (UK) and carried out by Dr Ilan Oshri and Dr Julia Kotlarsky. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews and held discussions with experts in the field of outsourcing, including CIOs and CFOs from leading multinationals with headquarters based in Europe, such as ABN AMRO, Maersk, Shell and Phillips. These firms are considered to be some of the most sophisticated outsourcing clients and their practices have become a benchmark for many others. The ideas in this paper are also based on a quantitative survey, which was carried out in partnership with research organisation Vanson Bourne. The quantitative survey sampled 263 CIOs and CFOs across the UK (52%) and other European countries such as France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg), comprising 48% CFOs and 52% CIOs at companies with revenues from $500m up to over $6bn (71% over $1bn) from financial services, manufacturing, logistics, retail, utilities, telecom and other sectors. Download PDF file no http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/15/WBS/Leaders/Series http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/15/WBS/Leaders/Series Feature Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:00:00 +0000 Tuesday 15 December 2009 Warwick Business School Vin.Hammersley@wbs.ac.uk (Vin Hammersley) Warwick Business School Wednesday 20th January 2010, 12 noon - 2pm, London. Professor David Wilson will share with delegates the findings of his research into "Managing in tough times: the challenges of effective governance" with an opportunity for discussion following. Professor David Wilson worked in a variety of industries before entering academic life. His main academic interests are in strategic decision making and performance; managing risk and uncertainty; strategic change and politics in organisations; and strategy implementation. If you have received an invitation, either by email or through the post and would like to attend the seminar, please book your place via the online events page. http://www.wbs.ac.uk/events/2010/01/20/WBS/Leaders/Series There is no charge for this event. no 0:03:23 http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/14/Making/decisions/about http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/2009/12/14/Making/decisions/about Press release Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:00:00 +0000 Monday 14 December 2009 Warwick Business School vin.hammersley@wbs.ac.uk (Vin Hammersley) Warwick Business School The immediate outcome from the current UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen may not be the binding global agreement many had hoped for. But the speed with which any political agreement is converted into rapid growth in renewable energy investment is critical if existing and future carbon reduction targets are to be met. This was the message at a recent Renewable Energy Seminar at Warwick presented as part of the Low Carbon Society Initiative and in association with the Warwick Global Energy MBA. Kirsty Hamilton from Chatham House opened the seminar by looking at investment levels in the clean energy sector. Investment grew around 60% per year up to 2007, stalled in 2008 and looks like falling by 30% in 2009. It will require a 6-fold increase in investment on current levels to meet the targets set by European governments. Despite the financial slow down there is still investment money available but the decisions that governments take, individually and at events like COP15 in Copenhagen, have a significant impact on investor confidence in the renewables sector. The seminar then looked at individual example of companies bring alternative energy technologies to market. Professor Tim Jones (University of Warwick Chemistry Department) described the role photovoltaics could play in meeting global energy demand. Tim is CEO of a spin out company from the University, Molecular Solar, which is developing a flexible film charger using molecular photovoltaic technology. Tom Castle, a WBS MBA alumnus working with Morgan Stanley, spoke about the opportunities for tidal energy. The predictability of tides offers advantages over power from wind turbines but there are still many alternative technologies, each still to be proven at scale. Add the cost and availability of grid connection and the investments needed to bring tidal energy online become significant. Finally Dr Henri Winand, CEO of Intelligent Energy and also a WBS alumnus, described the role hydrogen and fuel cells could play in the transition to a low carbon economy. Intelligent Energy work with partners such as Suzuki, PSA Peugeot Citron, Boeing and the utility company Scottish & Southern to develop alternative energy systems based on fuel cells. Henri emphasised the critical importance of the end consumer when developing renewable energy products. There is no point developing great energy saving ideas if they have no financial payback and if there is no immediate appeal to consumers. It is important to remember he said that consumers want what they had before plus. no