Centre for Business in Society (CBiS) Postgraduate Research
Research Coventry
discover more online www.coventry.ac.uk/research
Welcome to the Centre for Business in Society
'We have enjoyed remarkable growth since our research centre was developed and currently we have nearly 100 postgraduate researchers (PGRs) undertaking a PhD, which makes us one of the most successful centre-based PhD programmes in the UK.' Professor Glauco De Vita PhD Strategic Director, Centre for Business in Society
'PGRs can expect to be mentored, supported and challenged intellectually, so that they are confident, independent critical thinkers and researchers.' Dr Jason Begley Director of Postgraduate Research
About CBiS The Centre for Business in Society (CBiS) is a hub for specialist researchers within the Faculty of Business and Law. CBiS is responsible for nurturing and developing the research culture and expansion of dedicated research activity. This research explores the impact of business on society and of organisations on economies and societies. Through understanding the impact of organisations’ activities, behaviours and policies, our research seeks to promote responsibility and to change behaviours, to achieve better outcomes for economies and societies. CBiS’s research focuses on sustainable production and ethical consumption; big data and the digital era; economic development and inclusive economies and responsible personal finance and sector studies. There are 30 full-time research staff, over 20 associate researchers, 100 PhD candidates, a growing band of DBAs, most of the faculty’s professors, seven visiting professors and a dedicated support team. Full details are available online at www.coventry.ac.uk/research/areas-ofresearch/business-in-society/ or from CBiS’s Executive Director, Professor Lyndon Simkin. We will consider PhD applications linked to any of the areas core to the CBiS mission.
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Research environment CBiS is in the faculty’s newly refurbished Jaguar Building on the main Coventry University (the university) city-based campus. There are dedicated facilities and a specialist research support team for CBiS's PhDs and DBAs, located around the inviting and sociable café area. Doctoral students help to develop a thriving research atmosphere at CBiS through various activities. They have their own studentled reading group and are encouraged to actively contribute to the CBiS research seminar series with invited academics and international expert guest speakers. Each of CBiS’s research clusters also runs events, such as workshops and conferences, which PhDs help to co-create and manage. There are university-wide initiatives to promote doctoral research, such as poster competitions and the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. These activities provide great experience and help to develop transferrable skills for a career within or outside of academia.
The university’s Doctoral College provides research training, mentoring, counselling and career guidance to all doctoral students in a thriving PhD community. CBiS has designed its PhD programme so that it builds a dynamic community both within the clusters and beyond the centre, setting it up to support its doctoral students to have a rewarding experience whilst studying for their PhD. CBiS's dedicated research professors and readers support these clusters, as well as mentoring researchers forging their own research agendas. This mentoring reaches beyond CBiS, as we work alongside the research leads in each of the faculty’s four discipline-based schools to provide support to colleagues undertaking research alongside their teaching. In this way, the strong research momentum building across our schools is both supported and linked into CBiS's core research themes.
Key PhD student countries 3
Research themes CBiS has four clusters or research teams.
Sustainable Production and Consumption
Economic Development and Inclusive Economies
This research team focuses on the ultimate goals of living within environmental limits and the attainment of social justice, through the delivery of responsible business and ethical consumption practices. Their work focuses on areas such as waste reduction; resource and energy efficiency; sustainable community and consumer behaviours; corporate values, and supply chain governance. Their research adopts a multi-disciplinary approach and is framed by the United Nations Development Programme’s Sustainable Development Goals through the interlinked concepts of the green economy, the circular economy, the biodiversity economy and the sharing economy.
Encouraging economic growth and development is a core aim of public policy. However, the question ‘who gains from growth?’ is being met with increasing concern. The economic and social outcomes of growth and development relate to both the type of growth which is generated and the mechanisms connecting this to the experiences of workers, citizens and communities. The aim of this CBiS research cluster is to develop high-quality and impactful research, which seeks to inform and shape policy on the future challenges for economic development and inclusive economies.
Core cluster themes ▪ Sustainable supply chains. ▪ Ethical and changing consumption. ▪ Leveraging the circular economy. The cluster also enjoys strong links with industry, social enterprises and non-government organisations. Our industrial collaborators include Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, Bombardier, Unilever, Alliance Boots, the NHS and OHL, MMUK, Tesco, Woolworths (South Africa), and a wide range of small and medium enterprises.
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Core cluster themes ▪ Regional development, employment change and working conditions. ▪ Low carbon personal mobility practices. ▪ Creative and cultural industries and economic development.
Sector, Economic and Financial Studies
Data, Organisations and Society
The capital account liberalisation and financial reforms since the early 1980s, including eased restrictions on foreign direct investment and shortterm portfolio flows, are at the heart of financial globalisation. Financial openness and deregulation can be seen as an essential step in the process of economic development, but can also have detrimental effects, including higher co-dependence, contagion and likelihood of systemic crises. This research team focuses on the study of such economic and financial phenomena and how these impact on economies, industries, individuals, communities and societies, with a particular focus on responsible finances and investments.
As the growth and potential of big data continue to explode, so does the need for a better understanding of the opportunities this new phenomenon provides. Deeper insight into big data’s impact in areas such as marketing, strategy and innovation across a range of sectors is needed, as well as the business, ethical, social, privacy and security challenges it poses. The cluster adopts a cross-disciplinary approach to research examining this explosion of data and its implications for organisations and society. The aim is to undertake theoretically rigorous and practically relevant research to contribute to knowledge and to help shape policy and practice in relation to data, organisations and society.
Core cluster themes Four themes represent this cluster’s research interests. ▪ Macro and international finance. ▪ Personal and community finance. ▪ Sector studies.
Three themes comprise this cluster’s interests: ▪ Data and strategy. ▪ Data and the digital economy. ▪ Data and society.
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Postgraduate research: what we offer PhDs at CBiS Doctoral students are part of a vibrant and engaging community at CBiS. CBiS's research has led to the creation of four clusters and each PhD student is integrated into a cluster, making them an important part of the CBiS research community. CBiS provides numerous opportunities to engage in training and development, develop networks, present research at national and international conferences and publish research alongside the PhD. Postgraduate research is an integral part of CBiS and its broad portfolio of research. We welcome applications from high-quality candidates in possession of a master’s with research interests in one of the four clusters at CBiS. ▪ Sustainable production and consumption. ▪ Economic development and inclusive economies. ▪ Sector, economic and financial studies. ▪ Data, organisations and society. Full requirements for entry onto the CBiS Doctoral Programme are online at: www.coventry.ac.uk/research/researchopportunities/research-students/making-anapplication/research-entry-criteria/. Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) CBiS also offers a professional doctorate programme, DBA, for senior executives. The DBA offers senior managers the opportunity to develop the skills required to create, undertake and write-up research that can facilitate real change in their organisation. Details of the DBA are online at: www.coventry.ac.uk/dba-cbis.
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The success of the PGR programme is evident in the outcomes of the PGRs, in the employment opportunities that PGRs have on completion of their thesis or the international value of the research. For example: ▪ Dr Victoria Barker won the 2019 Economic Geography Research Group PhD Thesis Prize for her thesis ‘The creative ecosystem: investigating ecosystem approaches through the creative sector’. ▪ Dr Malte Busch published a chapter in Begley et al., 2019, ‘Revival of a city: Coventry in a globalising world’, entitled ‘Coventry at war: industrial relations, ownership and production’, from his thesis ‘The influence of non-governmental organisations on a multinational company’s corporate social responsibility approach during a crisis’. Malte is currently employed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Germany, part of Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization, Fraunhofer Society. ▪ Dr Nora Lanari completed her PhD thesis ‘The influence of global production networks on processes of water governance’. Recently graduated, Nora has a postdoctoral research fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation, which she is completing at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Nora is also involved in the CBiS-based ‘Sustainable Cut-Flower Flower Project’ that was highly commended at the annual Green Gown Awards in 2019. ▪ Dr Duncan Greaves completed his thesis on ‘An integrative model of information security and trust formation in sociotechnical environments’. His research was informed by expertise from different CBiS clusters, resulting in an integrative model of information security and trust in socio-technical environments. Duncan is currently a tutor in Cybersecurity and Computer Science at Coventry University’s Scarborough campus.
Testimonials
'Being a DBA candidate provides an experience that has provided fulfilment in many more ways than I had ever contemplated. The opportunity to explore that one niggly problem in a specific area, in a way that is academically rigorous and defensible, is unique. The research process has provided me with a real appreciation of the extent and depth of study in my sector. Working with a magnificent team of supervisors, and with great peers, committing to this research to make a positive, tangible difference and develop my own skills along the way, is something I shall never regret.' Nicola Cardenas Blanco Solicitor
'Studying my PhD with CBiS has given me the opportunity of surrounding myself with other likeminded researchers and industry experts, as well as being supervised by an extremely knowledgeable and supportive supervisory team. I have also been involved in the PGR reading group, which helped me socialise and share my experiences of my PhD journey with fellow PGRs who have a variety of research interests. The PhD has helped me develop my subject knowledge, presentation skills and perspective on the world – all of which I see as key learning opportunities throughout the process.' William King
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Find us on social media: CBiS_CovUni
Find us Coventry University, Jaguar Building, Gosford Street, Coventry, CV1 5DL T: +44 (0)24 7765 7688 E: cbis.info@coventry.ac.uk www.coventry.ac.uk/cbis
J1667-20 Š Coventry University.
PGR enquiries Dr Jason Begley E: jason.begley@coventry.ac.uk