CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES
ANNUAL REPORT (5/12-5/13)
Introduction
Established in 1992, the Centre for International Business Studies (CIBS) aims to foster excellence in research, teaching and consultancy in the field of International Business. The Centre’s research is multidisciplinary and involves work in Economics, Employment Relations, Business Strategy, Marketing, Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour, all considered in their international context.
The key aims of CIBS are:
To enhance the postgraduate business experience in the Faculty.
To support academic staff in research.
The postgraduate experience
In the past year CIBS organized an extensive programme of lectures and seminars – 18 in total – three more than the previous year. The full list is provided as APPENDIX A. The lecture programme as in the previous year sought to achieve a balance between eminent academic researchers and business practitioners. It also reflected the interests of different subject areas, HR, Marketing, Corporate Governance, Finance and Economics. The quality of the lectures was high and the attendance averaged between 50 and 70.
Promotion was directed at post graduate students and staff in the Faculty – each masters student receiving at least one email about each event. Particular events were targeted at particular courses. For example the fascinating lecture by Simon Osborne on Evaluating Boards of Directors attracted a large number of Corporate Governance students.
A number of features of the past year’s lecture programme are worthy of comment.
The stronger collaboration with alumni with the help of Wendy Graves, the University’s alumni co-ordinator continued. Alumni attended the lecture programme consistently. Bruno Romano, an alumnus, helped to organize the marketing practitioner lectures.
The online registration system introduced last for external people wishing to attend an event was well used..
The marketing lectures in particular attracted corporate visitors. See APPENDIX B for the guest list for the Malcolm McDonald lecture.
Parts of the programme were promoted to KTP companies with some success.
Strong support was again given by the Ehrenberg Centre for Research in Marketing and other marketing staff in relation to the marketing lectures, providing chairs for lectures etc.
The programme was also publicized to selected staff in other London universities. On a reciprocal basis CIBS continued to publicize the offers of other institutions e.g. Kings’ College Management Seminars.
A meeting took place in March with representatives of the University’s Communications and Marketing team with a view to raising the profile of the series outside the Faculty next year.
The seminar programme consisted of eight papers. It met two needs. Firstly it gave LSBU staff and postgraduate students the opportunity to present their current research to colleagues and obtain feedback: four were in this category. Three seminars were given by academic staff visiting the LSBU from partner universities in the Netherlands and Spain. A final seminar, by Rob Reynolds , was arranged at the suggestion of a faculty member.
Thanks are due to John Harper for his help in promoting the programme.
Supporting academic staff:
CIBS has continued to support academic staff research by advising staff on publication options and reviewing paper drafts and providing information to staff on research opportunities /grants etc.
- CIBS provides a publishing vehicle in the form of the Centre’s Research Working Papers (RWPs). Two new papers were published during the year covered by this report:
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- Helen Sakho "International Migration: From Deepening Inequality to Stark Polarisation- The Case of the UK"
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- Mike Rigby and Miguel Angel Garcia Calavia "Extra-judicial systems of collective conflict resolution and the limits to their autonomy; the Spanish experience
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- Latest figures from REPEC indicate that RWPs were downloaded 752 times during the last year and there have been 28,180 downloads since the series started.
- Four LSBU staff and postgraduate students took advantage of CIBS seminars to present papers on their research during the last year.
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- The CIBS website continues to provide CIBS members with the opportunity to upload their preprints on to their staff profiles on the website.
- In recent years a number of visiting academics have enjoyed periods in CIBS. During their stay they have normally contributeda seminar to the CIBS lecture and seminar programme. Visitors during the last year were:
Santiago Guttierez - University of Castilla La Mancha (a second visit)
Sara Moreno – Autonomous University of Barcelona.
A by-product of visiting academics is often the signing of institutional collaboration agreements:
During this year the first five students from Carlos III University, Madrid enrolled on the Masters programme in International HRM.
Discussions have been progressing with the University of Castilla La Mancha on the mounting of joint masters programmes.
As part of discussions about collaboration in postgraduate marketing programmes agreement has been reached with ISTEC Paris on a number of areas of research collaboration including publishing.
Finally it must be reported that three longstanding members of CIBS retired during the last calendar year – Brian Ardy, Leslie Gadman and John Scriven. We offer them best wishes for the future.
Management and Funding of CIBS
CIBS is managed from the Business Department which funds director’s salary (0.125 of an SL grade), the incidental costs of visiting speakers e.g. travel expenses, the costs of room hire and refreshments. It is an anomaly that a Faculty wide activity is allocated as a charge to one department.
Mike Rigby, who has been director of CIBS for the past three years will retire from this position at the end of September this year. The new Director will be Dr Peter Luke, Principal Lecturer and Subject Group Leader in Economics. Mike will continue to provide support to CIBS in the coming year as Associate Director..
REF
The time for the completion of the REF submission is approaching quickly. It is likely that there will be a Business and Management submission which will include representatives from across the faculty including the Computing area. Some effort has been expended in the development of research cases showing Impact.
The number of staff submitted is likely to be small which will, of course, limit any funding which is received as part of the exercise.
Achievements of CIBS members
Appendix C details the research achievements of CIBS members during the past year – conference papers, publications etc.
Future Plans
Lecture/seminar programme
Next year’s programme will aim continue the balance between academic and practitioner inputs. It would seem important to continue this year’s success in attracting corporate members to the audience and build up a data base which might be of wider use to the faculty. In addition discussions with the LSBU’s communications department hold out hope that the programme will attract more support from the rest of the University.
Sponsorship
It has been commented in previous reports that it is an anomaly that a Faculty wide activity like CIBS is allocated as a charge to one department. One way of reducing this budgetary constraint would be to seek sponsorship for the Centre and this will be an objective in the coming year.
Postgraduate promotion and recruitment
The main focus of the CIBS’ programme continues to be our postgraduate students. It is important that discussions continue with relevant marketing staff to identify ways the CIBS programme can be used in course promotion. For example this year the CIBS lecture and seminar programme was included in the MBA course leaflet.
International Conference
A conference focusing on International Business will be held during the autumn term and will seek to involve foreign institutions collaborating with the faculty. For further information contact Ceyhun Elci –
APPENDIX A
LECTURE/SEMINAR PROGRAMME 2012/13
SEMESTER 1
LECTURES
Date: 18th October 2012 Room L7 London Road (in basement near refectory)
Understanding Medium Sized Businesses – Strategies for Growth
Speaker: Emmanouil Schizas
Emmanouil is the Senior Policy Adviser for ACCA, the global body for professional accountants, and is the editor of ACCA's quarterly Global Economic Conditions Survey.
Date: 30th October Room A9 London Road
Paper Money Collapse- The Folly of Elastic Money and the Coming Monetary Breakdown
Speaker: Detlev Schlichter
Detlev has 19 years of experience in the financial markets as a derivatives trade and then portfolio managers . He will speak about the topics covered in his recently published book - Paper Money Collapse- The Folly of Elastic Money and the Coming Monetary Breakdown (Wiley,2011).
Date: 13th November 6pm Lodge lecture Theatre, London Road
The Dark Side of HRM
Speaker: Chris Brewster, Professor of International HRM at the University of Reading
Chris is one of Europe’s leading researchers on International HRM. He is also responsible for the regular Cranfield Study of Global HRM practices, based on a global survey of HRM practitioners.
Date: 15th November Lodge lecture Theatre, London Road
The Impact of Globalization
Speaker: Sir Paul Judge
Sir Paul is currently Chairman of Schroder Income Growth Fund and president of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Association of MBAs - as well as holding several other company directorships and honorary positions.
Date: 6th December 2012 Lodge Lecture Theatre London Road at 5pm
Evaluating the Board of Directors of your Company (and why it matters!)
Speaker: Simon Osborne
Simon is Chief Executive of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators
SEMINARS
Date: 6th November Room 252, London Road
Contemporary Work Life Issues
Speaker: Sara Moreno
Visiting postdoctoral researcher from the Autonomous University of Barcelona will present a paper on Contemporary Work Life Issues based on her current research.
Date: 22 November 2012 Room 252, London Road
Local Authorities Hidden Talent
Speaker: David Clifford (Linkup Ltd)
David is one of our postgraduate students and will be presenting his research on ‘Local Authorities Hidden Talent’.
Date: 29th November 2012 at 12 noon in Room 252 London Road
Open Source Leadership: Leading and Managing Community Led Programmes to support strategies for next generation broadband implementations across Europe
Speaker : Leslie Gadman (LSBU)
Date: 11th December Room 252 London Road
The Reputation of Spanish Banks
Speaker: Maria Belen Ruiz Sanchez (University Castilla La Mancha)
SEMESTER 2
LECTURES (all in the Lodge Lecture Theatre in London Road)
Date: 14th February, 2013
The Role of Powerful Brands in creating Shareholder Value
Speaker : Malcolm Macdonald
Emeritus Professor of Marketing at Cranfield University, School of Management, with special responsibility for E business.
Malcom has written over 40 books including the best seller ‘Marketing Plans: How to prepare them, how to use them’. Malcolm has successfully maintained a close link between the academic and commercial work, being marketing director of Canada Dry and currently the chairman of six companies. He has acted as consultant to many global companies.
Date:26th February,2013 at 5pm in the Lodge Lecture Theatre, London Road
Globalization and its impact on the Strategies of Multinational Enterprises
Speaker: Professor Pervez Ghauri
Professor of Marketing and International Business at Kings College, London
Professor Ghauri, before moving to Kings College, held academic posts with distinction at Uppsala University, the Norwegian Management School, Maastricht University and Manchester Business School. Professor Ghauri is currently consultant to the International trade centre in Geneva, Airbus Industries in France, Eriksson in Sweden and the Norwegian Export Council
He has published extensively in the area of international business.
Thursday 14th March 2013 at 5pm in the Lodge Lecture Theatre , London Road
Innovation and the Economy
Speaker: Helen Lawton Smith
Professor of Entrepreneurship at Birkbeck College, University of London and Director of the Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research.
Helen has specialized in studies of innovation and entrepreneurship in both high tech and traditional sectors . She established the Oxford Economic Observatory (OEO) on the South Eastern knowledge economy. Under her leadership the OEO has produced high profile reports on the spin-offs from university research into business development.
Helen has published extensively on innovation , her latest book being ‘ Networking regionalised Innovation Labour Markets’.
Tuesday 23rd April 2013 at 5pm in the Lodge Lecture Theatre, London Road
China’s growth: The Making of an Economic Superpower
Speaker: Linda Yueh
Chief Business Correspondent BBC World News
The BBC announced in January that Linda has been appointed as the BBC World Chief Business Correspondent, a new Singapore based position from which she will travel throughout Asia covering economics and business stories- joining the BBC team of Robert Peston and Stephanie Flanders..
Linda has a wealth of experience in business journalism, most recently being the London-based Economics Editor for Blomberg TV. Linda is currently a Fellow in Economics at Oxford University, Professor at the LBS and Associate at the LSE and IDEAS, the international affairs research centre.
Linda previously worked as an international corporate lawyer in New York and as a special adviser to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
She is the author of several books including three on China.
Tuesday 30th April at 5pm in the Lodge Lecture Theatre (HAD TO BE POSTPONED UNTIL OCTOBER)
How to restore trust in Banking without anyone getting killed!
Speaker – Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy Group
Rory Sutherland is at the centre of an advertising revolution in brand identities. He joined Ogilvy and Mather’s as a junior copy-writer but became one of the first in the traditional advertising world to see the potential of digital technology. He was promoted to Head of Copy in 1996 and Creative Director in 1997. He more recently became vice- chairman.
Rory is the original advocate of 360 degree branding and a great champion of Ogilvy’s 360 degree branding approach.
SEMINARS (all in L252 unless otherwise stated)
Date: 12th February 2013
Small Business Support Networks
Speaker: Rob Reynolds (3i)
Rob Reynolds will be presenting the findings of his doctorate research on Small Business Support Networks
Date 19th February Lodge lecture theatre
A Critical Look at European Competition Law
Speaker Anne Sophie Andela ( a visiting lecturer from the International Business School of Amsterdam University)
Date ; 21st February 2013
Trade Unions in Developing Economies: The Blind Spots and Cultural intelligence
Speaker: John Opute (LSBU)
Date ; 8th May l
Changing Corporate/Public Authority Consultancy Needs: Implications for the University Role