Agoranws, Issue 18 (Autumn 2010)

NEWS

agora

Business School

IN THIS ISSUE: CAREER PROGRESSION WITH GREATER LEADERSHIP PURPOSE// RISK MANAGEMENT THROUGH CHARTING//THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD PERFORMANCE WHEN PUBLIC SPEAKING

“ The Global Learning Centre...

Durham Business School coming to you wherever you are.” see page 6

Alumni Magazine for Durham Business School

September 2010 Issue 18

CONFERENCE SELECTION Durham University offers you a wide choice of venues ranging from modern purpose-built conference facilities to the Historic Durham Castle.

To make a booking for a particular date, arrange a visit or request further information on any of our conference venues, call the Sales Office on: 0800 28 99 70 or e-mail: event@durham.ac.uk www.durham.ac.uk/event.durham

Business School

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CONTENTS IN THIS ISSUE...

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Dean’s Welcome There may also be cultural impediment to change, some business schools will be much more flexible in their thinking and it is these that will be able to provide a more relevant curriculum, an improved student experience and, importantly, more relevance in their research. Here at Durham Business School we continually review our curriculum to ensure that our programmes reflect what is happening in the wider business world.

Welcome to this, the latest issue of your alumni magazine, Agoranews.

More than ever the challenges facing business schools and organisations are inextricably linked. Both need to be agile, adapt quickly and avoid complacency in what is a changed economic landscape.

When I attended the latest AACSB Conference earlier in the year it was apparent that a number of the big business schools are struggling to implement change because they have complex structures and vested interests.

Noteworthy changes have recently been made to the School’s leadership team.

Following Professor Timothy Clark’s move from Deputy Dean of DBS to Dean of the Graduate School, the decision was taken to create two Deputy Dean posts. Consequently, I am pleased to tell you that Professor Geoff Moore has been appointed Deputy Dean (Learning & Teaching) and Professor Martin Laffin appointed Deputy Dean (Research).

I am sure that everyone will join me in congratulating both Geoff and Martin as they take on these exciting and challenging new roles.

MBA Programmes

I am pleased to report that plans to develop the Mill Hill Lane campus are progressing well. A series of consultations with staff will be continued over the coming months and the design team are preparing for a planning application to be submitted in September. This is in line with the original programme which would ensure the first phase of the project is completed by September 2012. The funding approval will be considered in October by University Council and this will finally determine the timescale for completion. Further information and more architects drawings are available on the School’s website at www.dur.ac.uk/dbs/about/development I would like to extend my personal congratulations to the latest group of newly graduated alumni following their congregation ceremonies at Durham Cathedral in July. I wish all of them every success for the future.

Photographs of the day’s celebrations can be found on page 18.

Finally, I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank every one of you for your continued support and commitment to the School.

Professor Rob Dixon, Dean

MBA provision is the cornerstone of the Global Learning Centre’s portfolio, with no less than three major programmes available world-wide.

Alumni – Update As the end of the academic year approaches, we have much to celebrate here at Durham Business School – the prospect of the improved and extended School building, the launch of the Global Learning Centre (page 6), exciting new appointments including Dr Lutao Ning (page 15), and a fond farewell to one of our most recognisable faces at DBS from the past twenty years, Alan Jessop (page 14).

In this issue we have alumni input from two ladies who completed an MBA in the 1990’s and 2000’s respectively.

Mary Goldsmith, who moved to Australia and set up her own consulting company talks about life after Durham (page 20) and we have an article written by alumna Liz Hughes who inspires us with her thoughts on achieving greater leadership purpose (page 8).

Also in this issue, Professor Tim Clark shares his insight into the art of public speaking (page 16) and after requests for more articles focusing on economics, alumnus Maxie Islam illustrates the power of charting to determine market trends in risk management (page 10).

Over the past six months I have had the pleasure of travelling to Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong to meet with many alumni. It is always fascinating to hear about their Durham experience and what they have gone on to achieve in both their personal and professional lives. I would like to say a big thank you to our Local Association Leaders, Gemma Pan, Abby Wang, Eddy Yu and Tina Chiu, who helped coordinate some wonderful events, especially the Shanghai BBQ in July (page 22).

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The coming year promises to be another exciting one with lots of opportunities to travel and meet with more of the alumni network. Please see page 22 for details of my forthcoming trip to India.

I am also very happy to announce that 2011 will be the 25th Anniversary of the Durham MBA. To celebrate this wonderful occasion, the school will be hosting an ‘Anniversary Weekend’ on June 3-5 2011. The merriment will coincide with the third Durham Convention whereby business leaders will be invited to address students, alumni and corporate partners of the School covering a range of topical business issues. Over the weekend we hope to offer a range of short lectures delivered by faculty past and present, as well as lots of fun activities culminating in a formal dinner.

join our online community please do so to take advantage of our careers resource section with tools and tips for obtaining jobs in specific sectors. Many of you may also be interested to listen to our weekly ‘Management Issues’ podcasts waxing lyrical about the latest business matters. This is a fantastic way for a busy professional to absorb valuable snippets on a particular business issue with a 5 to 10 minute long podcast.

THE GLOBAL LEARNING CENTRE Durham Business School coming to you… wherever you are Durham Business School has a long history of innovation in supporting the needs of postgraduate students for whom traditional on-campus study, whether full-time or part-time, is simply not an option. Presently, the School has over 900 students undertaking Masters programmes around the world, representing around two-thirds of Durham University’s total part-time student body.

As ever we hope you enjoy this read and welcome any feedback or suggestions you may have on improving our communication to the Agora network.

Alexandra Sedgwick Alumni Relations & Development Manager

From May 2010, these students have a new home in the Business School with the establishment of the Global Learning Centre, a dedicated department for the delivery and management of degree programmes taking place away from Durham itself.

The Centre has been formed through the integration of the School’s distance learning and distance taught units, bringing together Masters-level programmes delivered off-site, from the prestigious Executive MBA programme in partnership with the European Business School in Frankfurt, to the

Finally, for the next issue of Agoranews we are contemplating reducing our carbon footprint, by only posting hard copies of the magazine to those who are registered members of our online community and those who specifically request it. In this way we can reduce costs in-house, do our bit for the environment and encourage alumni to register for our Agoraweb all at once.

If you haven’t taken the opportunity to

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DEAN S WE COME A UMN UPDA E

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The candlestick and the hanging man: Risk management through charting

Maxie Islam, Durham Business School MBA alumnus 1994–95, explains how charting techniques can be used by front offices to aid the execution of proprietary trades.

Maxie works as Vice President for BNY Mellon Asset Servicing in their Performance and Risk division in the City of London.

In the world of performance measurement and reporting, risk management appears very much a new kid on the block. Since 1995 I have been involved in risk management in one form or another across multiple markets including commodities, FX, fixed income and equities. In almost all of these asset classes there is one underlying tool that some risk managers utilise – the power of charting. In its most elemental form, charting is used to determine a market’s trend and therefore conclude some form of analyses in order to control one’s risk appetite.

A deeper level analysis would lead to such charting techniques being analysed to determine entry and exit points of a market. In this article I shall attempt to introduce these charting techniques to a relatively new audience and perhaps demonstrate the kind of tools a front office uses in order to aid execution of proprietary trades.

Allow me to introduce to you the humble candlestick. It looks like a bar from any bar chart but in essence comprises of a body rather than a skeleton. Like on a bar, a candle shown to the right of Figure 1 has open and close values and also high and low values are all depicted.

So now that we know candlesticks can be black or white, what else could they possibly tell us? It’s a little known fact that candlestick charting was first used

by Japanese rice traders in the 18th century. In particular, candlesticks have more visible bullish/bearish reversal signs compared to bars and up until recently, this type of charting was a closely guarded secret by the Japanese until the West started utilising this method for its own trading activities.

worldwide network of early-career managers undertaking Durham’s rapidly-growing MA Management and MA Marketing degrees.

lead developments in programme delivery and to connect students with world-class faculty wherever they are based around the globe.

Quality of the student experience is paramount in the Global Learning Centre. Students and their sponsors can expect the highest standards of support from the Centre’s very experienced Client Services Team, with dedicated Programme Coordinators there to look after the needs of students from initial application through to final graduation, underpinned by a new Learning Resources Team, there to

With substantial investments in course design, e-learning technologies and a full-time Centre Director (Dr Mike Nicholson) reporting directly to the Dean, the Global Learning Centre represents a significant commitment by Durham University to satisfy the needs of part-time postgraduate students and creating a global learning community for the twenty-first century.

HE G OBA

Here Professors Timothy Clark and David Greatbatch explore the impact that live oratory can have on public opinion, using the UK’s recent, and new, experience of Party Leader Debates on live TV as an example.

Does live debating bring issues to life or can it kill them stone dead?

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Announcing the death of live speaking is perhaps a little premature. Despite the plethora of media, live oratory continues to remain important and can significantly influence our opinions about an individual. To a large extent significant historical political figures are remembered through recordings of their speeches that are shown to subsequent generations. President Kennedy is remembered for his inaugural speech as well as that he delivered at the Berlin wall in which he declared ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ (an ambiguous phrase which could be taken to mean ‘I am a donut’ as well as ‘I am a Berliner’). Similarly Winston Churchill is remembered more for his war time oratory (e.g., ‘We shall fight on the beaches’, ‘Blood, toil, tears and sweat’, ‘Sinews of peace – Iron curtain’) than his actions as a peacetime Prime Minister. Martin Luther King is forever associated with his “I Have a Dream” speech.

The Party Leader debates in the recent British General Election have demonstrated that people’s evaluation of an individual’s oratorical performance influenced perceptions of their leadership abilities. Grace Wyndham Goldie, who, as a producer at the BBC, did much to change television coverage of UK General Elections, points out that television is watched singly or in small groups in people’s homes with the consequence that ‘communication on television… had to be, direct, informal and friendly, and that its style was bound to be appropriate to the appearance of the speaker as a temporary guest in somebody’s house’ (1977, p. 331)*.The point is that politicians have had to develop to a more constrained, low-key and personal style in order to successfully communicate with the TV audience at home. As the three main UK party leaders discovered after the first Party Leaders’ Debate, the rewards for those who master these techniques can be instant and significant.

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Professor Timothy Clark is Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Dean of Durham University’s Graduate School.

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Professor David Greatbatch is a Visiting Professor at Durham Business School.

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THE HANGING MAN You may be thinking if there is a candlestick that also tells of an impending downturn after a bullish run? You would be right. Allow me to introduce you to the ‘hanging man’ in Figure 9. Hanging men can sometimes be found at the peaks of markets and usually foretells of a change in direction.

Much like the hammer, the tail (or shadow) must be at least twice as long as the body in order to qualify as a reversal signal.

Examine the following hanging man candle formations in Figure 10: Bed, Bath & Beyond stock price and Figure11: FTSE100. Notice how each of the hanging men are close to the peaks of the markets before the impending downturn. A hanging man usually signifies that the market is close to its highs and is due a correction.

• Figure 8: Hammer example 3 Even though all these hammer formations have black bodies, they could have been white as well. There are other bullish reversal signals that we will discuss and these will be reserved for a future article.

A point to note here is that these reversal signals must never be looked at in isolation. A number of other factors (both technical and fundamental) must also be used before a decision is made on either entering or exiting a market.

attacked the least. He was therefore distanced from the occasional closequarter skirmishes between Brown and Cameron that reinforced his general point that he represented something different. This was reinforced by his position to the left of Cameron and Brown which gave him the opportunity to turn and become an onlooker as the other two party leaders debated amongst themselves.

that the differences with Clegg were lessened. Once again the polls suggest that either Cameron or Clegg won with Brown coming third. Thus, the conventions that Clegg used so successfully in the first debate were gradually been adopted by the other party leaders reducing their stylistic differences. As this has happened the pendulum perhaps swung away from a focus on performance to policy.

Clegg also made the greatest and most successful attempts to connect with the audience. He built a stronger rapport with the audience members than the other party leaders and this is reflected in much subsequent comment about his natural and engaging style. In his initial answers to each question he consciously mentioned the questioner’s name. He listed the questioners by name in his final summary. He also sought to make eye contact when the questioner was not always visible. By doing this he was seeking to reduce the social distance between himself and the audience members and using his connection with a single audience member to build rapport more generally.

As the closing credits rolled it was interesting to see Brown walk directly towards the audience and shake the hands of those seated in the front row.

Perhaps a late attempt to connect with the audience.

Overall, these three televised party leader debates show that live oratory is still a powerful tool and remains an important source of the public’s perception of a politician’s image and abilities. They have perhaps raised awareness of the importance of effective political oratory as the party leaders and their messages are exposed to an audience of millions rather than thousands and the instant critical scrutiny of bloggers, commentators and the “worm”. Apart from their novelty a key reason for the importance of these debates is that they provided audience members with an opportunity to use the verbal and non-verbal cues of each party leader to ascertain their leadership ability. Therefore each party leader’s oratorical skills become a proxy for their leadership skills. As Matthew Parris commented in The Times newspaper “Who would have thought that at the beginning of the 21st century we would be playing out this political battle in what — for all its novelty — is really so ancient a format? The frame may have been your television screen, but on it we played a game that was familiar to the Ancient Greeks. This contest has been judged on the art of Public Rhetoric.

It proved to be stunning”.

By the time of the second debate Brown and Cameron had started to learn and deploy successfully the practices that Clegg had used so successfully. They dropped the use of anecdotes and familiarity with one another and sought to actively engage the audience, look directly into the camera and focus more on policy differences than similarities.

The changes were reflected in the polls for the second debate which showed that although Cameron and Clegg vied for first position the three leaders’ performances were not rated too far apart. In the final debate Cameron and to a lesser extent Brown further amended the way they presented so

R SK MANAGEMEN CON NUED…

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defined future strategy, and consider this approach only with a targeted end point in mind.

Corporate leading companies have outstanding internal developmental opportunities but 64% of executives who left an admired company (measured on Fortune’s Most Admired) transferred to a firm not included on the list.

Opportunities in smaller organisations can be advantageous. There may be frustration with a rigid succession plan; do people have to morph to progress?

Smaller companies may deliver career enrichment for those that thrive on dexterity and rapid growth.

Fallacy 2: A Move Should Be a Move Up Fallacy 3: Big Fish Swim in Big Ponds Fallacy 4: Career and Industry Switchers Are Penalized

LET’S CONSIDER FURTHER… Internal promotions deliver great opportunities up to a point, but watch for the career cul-de-sac, often near the top. This delivers a risk to the organisation. People generally hop when faced with frustrating barriers.

Are upward moves the only option?

Generally yes, but sometimes a horizontal move may be considered, either internally or outside of your organisation. Be confident, have a

Successful leaders analyse and use models from different industries. The astute leader develops transferrable skills and understands how they can be applied. This broadens prospects for growth. After all, 29% of moves take people across industries and another 23% across different segments of the same industry’ How daunting it is to navigate the complexity of career management.

However, there is something that is of proven significance and should perhaps be considered first.

CAN YOU IDENTIFY, UNDERSTAND AND VERBALISE YOUR GREATER LEADERSHIP PURPOSE? Probably not – it’s a unique expressive declaration where words can be tricky to find, but once nailed, is massively powerful.

Your purpose defines you. It is uniquely yours, and will enable you to exceed your potential. It will release a significant, inspirational, emotional shift and will expose your true value.

Here are some examples of clear, uplifting and potent purpose statements from DBS students and alumni. All carry an impressive expectation of success.

‘To help improve the life of women in Africa’

This article is based on a blog on ‘The Great Debate’ written by Professors Clark and Greatbatch for the Reuters UK’s website.

The conferring of degrees ceremony was followed by a barbeque at the Business School, providing an ideal opportunity for graduates to catch up with fellow students and staff, enjoying the sun and celebration.

• What am I good at that makes others succeed?

• In which situations have I always been successful?

OUTCOME The results will be outstanding to you in terms of personal experience, and optimistically expressive to those you hope to influence.

Use your greater leadership purpose for personal advancement and to engage with those around you. You will reveal your differentiated advantage, and growth will be the outcome for you and your future employer.

Durham Business School was a very different place when I joined in 1987, and very different from teaching in an

The interested among you might think, ‘Well, I never knew about hammers and hanging men’. If so, I would encourage you to have a look at these the next time you are sitting in front of your Bloomberg terminal or Reuters screen.

Instead of looking at bar charts, select the candlestick option and see if you can determine these patterns at their respective peaks and troughs. Have the candlestick signals worked each and every time?

engineering department in London.

Moving to the North East was pretty easy not just because of my Geordie Granny but more from my parents-inlaw, refugees from Newcastle, who had introduced me to the joys of first footing (Google it), Newcastle Brown Ale (drink it) and also, vitally, to the local version of spoken English.

In 1987 we had a full-time MBA of about thirty students, almost all of whom were British (well, English, then) which made for an ‘ambiance’ about the place very different from the multicultural bustle of 2010. However, back then it wasn’t called an MBA, it was called an MSc because this was thought in some quarters to be more respectable. The name change came swiftly and I pretty quickly found myself director of the programme, the first of two stints. The support staff was, incredibly it now seems, one person – my secretary Ena Whittle.

We also delivered the first year of the part-time MBA when that was introduced. Happy days!

For the sceptics out there – and there will be quite a few who remain to be convinced – you may think I have selected a few carefully chosen charts to demonstrate the points I am making.

Indeed, you would be right in thinking this. At this stage, these charts are only to demonstrate how candle patterns work and one should never use these signals in isolation, as I have said before.

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ACU

The School ran executive education programmes for British Gas and for other local and national businesses, and taught undergraduates too, but only as contributors to bachelors programmes in engineering, Chinese and others. It was firmly our belief that management education was by definition a post-experience as well as a postgraduate activity.

Well, you know how we have grown in the intervening twenty three years, expanding in all directions – student numbers, programmes, building and, inevitably, my waistline too. There have been growing pains of course, but life has never been dull and I think we can be pleased with what must always be a work in progress.

I stop teaching full-time at the end of September but will continue part-time for a little longer. As the Queen Mother said when asked what it was like being the last Empress of India, it was fun while it lasted. I thank those of you who attended my classes; it would have been rather lonely without you. More importantly I thank you for the stimulation which teaching you has given me.

The depth and breadth of Durham Business School’s faculty continues to expand highlighting the School’s commitment to excellence in teaching and research. Here we introduce you to a recent addition to the School’s faculty.

Introducing… Dr Lutao Ning, Lecturer in International Business Lutao’s multidisciplinary research, teaching and consulting background ranges from international business and management to law, political economy and development studies. He holds a PhD degree from the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College), together with an MBA from the University of Liverpool and an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

What is your current role?

My main role is to conduct research in the field of international business and disseminate my research results to the wider society. I am currently an MBA and MA module leader for developing and teaching the Globalising Strategic Management and Global Business courses.

What are the most challenging parts of your job?

It is both challenging and exciting for academics to conduct research that allows them to explain new commercial phenomena to the business community as well as making theoretical contributions to business research.

I certainly find this knowledge creation process an important and enjoyable part of my job as well a challenge.

What do you want to achieve?

I hope my research can create a positive impact on the way our business community understands today’s turbulent global economic environment, as well as provide practical applications for the international business community and regulatory bodies to ensure globalisation work for the common good promoting the idea of ‘freedom, fairness and responsibility’ for all.

What drives you?

Today’s world has become increasingly integrated but polarised. We are yet to develop a mindset for global collective action toward effective and democratic global development. As a scholar, I am determined to make a difference by providing research and teaching to the wider international business community

and help them to understand global development, particularly the pressing issues faced by developing countries. I believe the business community could play a leading role to make globalisation work for all or at least much better both for the developing and developed world.

What was the best career advice you were given?

Learning does not end when you finish study at university. I have learned a great deal from the scholars, friends, colleagues, clients and students I have met all over the world. Constantly reading, thinking and learning from others would be my ‘secrets for success’.

Of course, the crucial thing for your own career development is that you enjoy what you do!

What advice can you offer to students and alumni thinking of an academic career?

Looking back at my scholarly journey so far, I hope some of this advice may be helpful: Passion for your research and teaching: you need to be very enthusiastic about your own research field and instil this passion in people who you teach and communicate with. You also need to transform such passion into strong self-motivation as working long hours is sometimes necessary to get through some difficult research and lengthy administrative processes.

Meaningful and beneficial research for society: this could be the greatest challenge you face in being an academic, but it can be extremely fulfilling when

stakeholders can draw practical implications from your research to improve their work and our society.

People skills: as an academic you will need to work with a diverse range of people. These might include your students, peers around the globe, people from the business community, institutions and funding bodies.

Good ‘people skills’ enable you to communicate with them effectively and efficiently for mutual benefit.

What are you currently working on at Durham Business School?

My main research interests are on the strategic development issues of multinational enterprises from developing countries and particularly China and East Asia. I have recently published research in a book called China’s Rise in the World Information and Communication Technology Industry: Industrial Strategies and the Catch-up Development Model by Routledge (2009 New York and London).

My latest research examined the rapid international expansion of Chinese multinationals during the current global financial crisis. In it I have discussed whether Chinese companies can take advantage of the crisis to improve international competitiveness through the acquisition of strategic assets overseas.

Additionally I have presented my research at SOAS, University of London and will be presenting at Oxford and Harvard Universities in the coming months.

You can read more about Lutao’s research in the next issue of Agoranews.

OCUS

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Mike Burrett – Mentor of the Year The ‘Mentor of the Year’ award was launched in Agoranews last autumn.

We are delighted to announce that Durham Business School ‘Mentor of the Year’ 2010 is Mike Burrett.

Mike, who is a member of the School’s MBA Advisory Board, has provided valuable mentoring support to his three mentees as well as informal support to other students outside of the formal mentor scheme.

Mary lives and works in Melbourne, Australia, combining her extensive corporate and government experience in Human Resources, Executive Search and Selection, Executive Education and Career Transition consulting, to offer services for individuals and groups at every career stage. She completed her Durham MBA in 1994.

Graduates across all programmes, including many from the School’s Management Development Centre, some of whom had travelled from Gibraltar, joined with family and friends to enjoy the special atmosphere that only a Durham graduation can provide.

• Where have I made a real difference to those around me?

• What am I most proud of?

introducing......

Durham MBA alumna Mary Goldsmith, talks about life post-MBA.

On the first of July the School was pleased to extend a warm welcome to graduates, following congregation ceremonies at Durham Cathedral.

• What are my most significant capabilities?

• What do I do that brings me the most joy at work?

Reflect on the information. Express your ideas. Are you energised and motivated?

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Q&A GRADUATION

Below is a selection, not an exhaustive list!

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After twenty three years at Durham Business School Dr Alan Jessop is preparing to slow down and scale back on his commitments. Currently Senior Lecturer in Operational Research, Alan has previously held roles including Director of the full-time MBA programme and Chair of Board of Studies and he is well known for his ready wit and love of small sports cars!

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HOW TO GET STARTED. Appoint someone you know and trust as your greater leadership purpose guide/partner. Start a series of conversations where you consider specifically designed questions.

• What values expose my inner identity?

Faculty member Alan Jessop reflects on his time at DBS

HROUGH CHAR NG

To help charitable organisations improve their income’ ‘To unlock the potential in leaders to deliver growth for them and their organisation’

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Once you have grasped a few of these patterns and they become familiar territory, I can assure you that you will automatically be looking for them in future. I first stumbled across candlesticks while completing my MBA at Durham during the summer of 1995 and started using them in a professional manner the following year. While candlestick charting is not part of my current work domain, they remain an interesting part of my personal investment analyses. For those who are not able to access any of the data vendors that include charting as part of their services, you can subscribe to a free forum called Interactive Investor (www.iii.co.uk) and the site will supply charts (albeit a few minutes delayed) in both bars and candles.

As the series progresses, I will show you how to use hanging men and hammers in conjunction with other analyses in order to form a more complete picture and one that tells a fuller story of what a market is doing (or not doing).

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ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A GREAT OPPORTUNITY? The July/August 2010 edition of Harvard Business Review: “Managing Yourself: Job Hopping to the Top and Other Fallacies” by Monika Hamori comments on 4 Fallacies that are pertinent to today’s job market. They provide a healthy jolt to your thinking around career dynamics.

Fallacy 1: Job-Hoppers Prosper

CAREER PROGRESS ON W H GREA ER EADERSH P PURPOSE

• Figure 6: Hammer example 1

HROUGH CHAR NG

Running up to the debate most commentators agreed that as the leader of the smallest party Clegg had the most to gain given his general lack of exposure and profile with the electorate when compared to other two party leaders. Up until that event he had not been treated as an equal in Parliamentary exchanges between party leaders, such as Prime Minister’s Questions. For the first time he was afforded the same profile as the other party leaders. His enormous success in the first debate partly emanated from his much increased profile with many viewers who had little previous familiarity with him, but his positive poll ratings also benefited from a number of features from the debate itself. First, it was very noticeable that Brown sought to align himself with Clegg by mentioning on a number of occasions that Clegg and he were in agreement with one another. Although Clegg rejected Brown’s assertion that they agreed on reform of the Houses of Commons and Lords, Brown nevertheless kept pointing out their similarities whilst attacking Cameron.

Indeed, on several occasions Brown clearly tried to unsettle Cameron by interrupting his answers and not permitting him to develop his answers.

In contrast, Cameron attacked Brown and occasionally Clegg. Thus Clegg was

LET’S CONSIDER THE DYNAMICS! Competition for roles in our shifting market place is intense. Given the pessimistic employment dynamics in a period of recession, there still remains the expectation that to grow your career, a positive promotion must be achieved every 3 years, often outside of your existing organisation. This is hugely expensive. Massive sums are spent on recruitment and training, not to mention the time (consider it a period of low productivity) it takes to gain traction when embedding a new employee into a company culture and processes. A more economical approach would be to provide high potentials with significant opportunities for advancement. Would there be significant accretive benefits if hiring and training costs were spent on employee development, where top talent is encouraged to take on challenging positions? In reality, companies pay lip service to their model employees.

They over-promise and under-deliver, or worse, send them headlong into a career block. This will inhibit organisational growth. Why? Because high potential employees will look outside for development.

on The Global Learning Centre and its products and services, contact the Centre Management Team on glc.director@durham.ac.uk

THE HAMMER

• Figure 7: Hammer example 2

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To be regarded as a good public speaker has long been an aspiration of business leaders, politians and great thinkers alike. Since time immemorial the ability to capture the imagination of an audience and win their support has been crucial to success – especially political success.

An award winning MBA graduate from Durham Business School, she has almost 20 years experience in leadership roles delivering growth in multifaceted organisations.

Further Developments The MBA and MA programmes at the heart of the Centre’s activities are a starting point for a range of new initiatives that will further enhance the reputation of the School as a whole.

Durham has a well-established tradition of interfacing with the corporate sector and the Global Learning Centre is now complementing the work of the Management Development Centre with a range of blended learning short-courses, open enrolment and client-specific Executive Education products, and inhouse degree programmes to fit the requirements of the modern global organisation, including a major new Corporate MBA development initiative.

For alumni, there will be a growing portfolio of options through which to “top up” and update management knowledge, all employing the Centre’s blended-learning philosophy in order to reaffirm Durham’s commitment to highquality life-long learning. Overall, the Global Learning Centre aims to utilise the latest technology in order to offer something for everyone, wherever they are in the world.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Along with candlesticks, be prepared for the weird and wonderful names that come attached with them. Please meet the ‘hammer’. It takes on either of the following forms seen in Figure 5 (a) & (b). The hammer is a single candlestick with either a black or a white body and is a bullish reversal signal sometimes found at the troughs of a trending market. To qualify as a hammer, the tail of the candlestick must be at least twice as long as the body that hangs underneath it (often referred to as a ‘shadow’) – see Figure 5 (a) & (b). A hammer usually means that the market cannot find any more lows and is now ready for an upturn in action. Have a look at the following charts on page ? and verify the hammers:

So what’s the point of this you may be asking? Well, one major advantage of viewing a candle chart vs a bar chart is that it allows you at a glance to see whether a particular trading period has been bullish or bearish overall. Take a look at the following charts. The daily chart in Figure 2 shows the FTSE 100 trending downwards – all very clear so far. But what is happening during each individual day? At a glance, the bar chart is not so clear and we have to identify which is the open and which is the close for each and any bar you choose to analyse.

The Party Leader Debates were a significant innovation in the last UK General Election. Their novelty attracted a lot of media attention before and after each debate and large viewing figures.

As each debate was broadcast it was accompanied by numerous blogs and a “worm” (a line that fluctuated as it indicated the level of audience agreement or disagreement with the statements being made). After the first debate on Thursday 15th April the instant polls showed that Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat) was rated the best performer on the night. Some instant polls put him over twenty percent ahead of Gordon Brown (Labour) and David Cameron (Conservative).

Liz Hughes is an internationally experienced leadership coach and strategist who fundamentally believes that the need to grow exists within every individual.

Her focus rests solely on her client’s personal and organisational improvement.

Developmental needs are addressed through crisp, concise methodology, using tried and tested techniques. This framework is then aligned very specifically to the detailed aspirations of the individual. Executives, who have been supported by her, have gained key international roles in market leading organisations.

Her approach actively challenges managers to first lead themselves in order to better lead their organisations. This can be difficult, but without doubt unlocks the potential for growth, bringing about accelerated and brilliant results.

13

So what is it we must look for to make us all wealthy? Ah, if life was only that simple...

16

WHEN IT COMES TO PUBLIC SPEAKING – HOW IMPORTANT IS A GOOD PERFORMANCE?

MA Programmes Originally conceived of as a way to improve accessibility to Durham’s fulltime “conversion” Masters programmes, the distance learning MAs in Management and Marketing have been the success story of the past five years, achieving growth of around 50% over the past twelve months alone. The programmes have also very much taken on a life of their own, rapidly establishing themselves as the MA-of-choice for early career managers and high-calibre graduate management trainees, particularly within the retail and services sectors.

9

Career Progression with Greater Leadership Purpose

EARN NG CEN RE

The full version of this article first appeared in Performance Measurement and Client Reporting Review (PMCRR ) Vol: 2.4 and is used with the kind permission of Osney Media. It is the first in a series which will be published in PMCRR, to read the full article or find out more visit: www.pmcrreview.com

R SK MANAGEMEN

By far the largest student body within the Global Learning Centre, are those undertaking the recently re-launched and rebranded Global MBA programme, with around 600 students currently participating. For almost 25 years, Durham Business School has operated a cutting-edge distance learning MBA programme, consistently listed within the FT Top 40, which now forms the platform for a truly innovative new MBA experience.

Substantial investment is underpinning all of the Centre’s activities, bucking the trend in terms of the current financial constraints on higher education. From online seminars and podcasts to highquality printed materials, the Learning Resources Team are driving up standards in supporting the needs of off-site learners across the globe and providing new arenas within which MBA participants from all three of the Centre’s programmes can come together to study and socialise in a state-of-theart learning environment. With the introduction of enhanced career support services for off-site learners and a new continuous professional development programme, Durham’s ambitions are very clear – to build a truly world-class Global MBA programme that does not accept that delivery at a distance should in any way involve compromise in the quality of MBA experience a student should expect.

8

Recently re-branded as Durham’s Parttime MA programmes, the Management and Marketing offerings will soon be joined by a new Financial Management degree and a Retail and Services specialism of the existing MA Management. Content is being tailored more to the needs of early career business professionals, with major investments in both course development and technology, and a more comprehensive approach to career development is being introduced. With off-shore study opportunities, taught module options and a new International MA Summer School, the Global Learning Centre will further develop its Masters portfolio to better fit the needs of pre-MBA graduate managers worldwide.

12

Candlestick charting is an art rather than a science, so over the next couple of issues of PMCRR I will introduce to you the most common of the candlestick chart patterns and, more importantly, how to use these against other technical indicators.

Candlesticks remove the need to do that. Look at Figure 3, the equivalent candle chart. Immediately you’ll notice the latter chart provides a more visually interesting record of the price action; you can see what is happening at each individual trading period where it is either an uptick or a downtick. However, you will see two colours of candles in Figure 4. One is black-bodied (bearish) and the other is white (bullish). Note how on the black candle the open and close points are opposite to the white.

(The blue candles in the FTSE charts are the black equivalents).

10

Durham’s now well-established Executive MBA programmes in Germany and the Caribbean represent the distance-taught element of the Centre’s activities, with around 125 students currently enjoying the benefits of a high-quality MBA experience delivered in a location convenient to them. A partnership with the European Business School, the DBS/EBS Executive MBA programme is a dual-site offering that combines modules delivered in Frankfurt with opportunities to study alongside colleagues on the Durhambased EMBA, expanding the networks of participants and enhancing the learning experience through interaction both with MBA peers and faculty members from two of the world’s leading business schools. Further afield, the Caribbean MBA programme enjoys the benefits of Barbados as its stunning location, attracting participants from across the Caribbean and North America. Delivered in association with the Caribbean Management Education Centre (CariMEC), the programme mirrors the Durham EMBA in content and delivery, with almost a decade of success in producing high-calibre MBA graduates attuned to the demands of the global marketplace.

Students on the Global MBA now have a very real opportunity to fit learning around their lifestyles. Traditional distance learning modules are delivered in parallel with taught modules, enabling students to “mix-and-match” delivery modes in order to better manage completion and blend the type of MBA experience that best fits their individual needs.

Q. How do you feel your Durham MBA prepared you for your current role?

A. After I returned to Australia, my Durham MBA gave me the passport I needed for my perfect job. While my corporate HR and consulting experience were important, I wouldn’t have been considered for the position of Program Director, Mt Eliza Business School (Australia’s equivalent of Ashridge, now part of Melbourne Business School), without my MBA. That experience gave me the expertise, confidence and credentials to work in my current capacity as a Career and Leadership Development consultant to a diverse range of clients.

Q. Can you describe your typical day?

A. Given I’m self-employed, no day is the same! This week I spent a day at one of Australia’s leading banks working with managers whose department had been abolished.

As I am currently involved with the recruitment of a board director for

a Not-For-Profit organisation, I spent a couple of days interviewing candidates.

This morning I met with the firm which hosts my newly developed 360 degree feedback tool.

Q. What would you say has been the most satisfying aspect of your career so far?

A. I love working with and encouraging the development of talented people.

At Mt Eliza Business School I designed and delivered executive development programs for middle and senior managers. Now I enjoy mentoring professionals who need a career boost or who are experiencing career transition and change.

Q. What do you do to unwind?

A. I have a gorgeous spoodle called Chica, who needs walking twice a day. Although we live in the city, I love to clear my mind by walking the dog around Melbourne’s fabulous gardens.

Q. Where do you envisage your career might take you in the future?

A. I’m keen to spend the next few years coaching and developing our future leaders. In particular I hope to mentor women who are pursuing senior leadership opportunities in corporate and government organisations across Australia. Now we have both a female Governor General and Prime Minister, the future is very exciting!

In his role as mentor, Mike keeps in regular contact with his students through one-to-one meetings going that extra mile by forwarding suitable job postings to assist with their career planning. Whilst this is not explicitly an objective of the mentor role it has proved most valuable to his mentees.

Commenting on the success of one of his mentee matches Mike said; “Mentoring initially was to provide (the mentee) with confidence that he can, and will succeed, later we honed it down to CV preparation, job search, type of role and industry he would like to work in.”

Mike first came across his group of mentees through the Boardroom Activity during the MBA programme’s term one.

This innovative initiative integrates academic learning from the core modules into a live boardroom situation.

It is designed to replicate the tensions of a real leadership challenge in order to develop the life skills required in a business environment. The activity culminates in a role-play of a boardroom meeting. Mike put to use his experience as a company executive, chairing a team session and providing guidance, direction and feedback.

The Mentoring Scheme expanded further this year with 99 successful matches compared to 70 last year.

These included students from the full-time MBA, part-time MBA, Global MBA, MSc and MA programmes.

Many mentees have commented very positively on their experience of the scheme.

“Very good. I got a lot of support after the first communication with my mentor, such as how to reduce the pressure during the exam period and how to get support for proof reading of assignments.”

You can find out more about Mike Burrett and his peer Ambassadors on Agoraweb – www.agora.org.uk

Q. If you had one piece of career advice for Durham graduates starting out what would it be?

A. While your Durham MBA will give you access to some great opportunities, it’s just the next phase in your career journey. It doesn’t stop there… it’s important to apply what you’ve learned and commit to your ongoing professional development.

If you would like to become a mentor, we would like to hear from you. Please contact dbs.alumni@durham.ac.uk for a registration document.

*Matthew Parris “How TV became the lightning rod for voters’ rage with politicians” The Times, April 30, 2010.

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HOW MPOR AN

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BOOK REVIEW

local association news The Agora network goes from strength to strength 1. GIBRALTAR AGORA The Gibraltar Local Association has been assisting MDC with the logistics of ensuring that graduating students made it to Durham in July. The MA graduates, with family and friends, made the 4,000 mile round trip to attend the congregation ceremony at Durham Cathedral.

See photograph on page 18.

The group will be hosting a global get together on 10 September, which is also Gibraltar National Day, where almost all of the 400 alumni in the area will be in attendance. We wish them all the very best with their sterling efforts which demonstrate to the world their allegiance to Durham Business School. They make us proud!

2. BEIJING AGORA We are pleased to report that the Beijing group is getting bigger and bigger with each event. The most recent, taking place at Raffles Beijing Hotel, welcomed new faces to the network. Due to the success of the recent events, the Beijing Local Association will be going ‘on the road’ with a weekend out-of-town event. They are also in the process of

working with Agora on a mini website to sit within Agoraweb for the exclusive use of Beijing members.

For more information please contact the group’s leader Abby Wang.

3. SHANGHAI AGORA The Shanghai group recently hosted a fun BBQ event with DBS staff Alexandra Sedgwick, Alumni Relations Manager and Claire RoperBrowning, Marketing Manager in attendance. The event took place at O’Malley’s on a sweltering day in July and was organised by group leader Gemma Pan. Alumni, both from DBS and the wider University community, had an afternoon of great food, drink and laughter.

4. INDIA AGORA DBS Career Development Manager, Marcia Hoynes and Alumni Relations Manager, Alexandra Sedgwick are currently working on plans for a trip to India in November. As well as meeting with the ever-growing alumni population in the country, they are coordinating exciting initiatives and events in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. More information will shortly be available on Agoranet (agora.org.uk)

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Colin Theakston, Durham Business School’s Librarian, shares with us his view on this recent publication.

Local Associations are the perfect way to join in the DBS Global Get Together events. Forthcoming dates include: 10 September and 10 December 2010.

We particularly look forward to hearing about your events and receiving photographs.

If you are interested in joining these or any other groups throughout the world (your location or perhaps a business area you frequent), please email us and we will put you in touch. New groups are in the pipeline for Canada (Vancouver) and Jordan.

4

2

I enjoy these book reviews and wanted, if I were able, to combine an academic book AND some element of popular culture. The things you do to prove to your children that librarians are cool!

Well this month I think I might have succeeded. Yes, a book that combines both marketing AND my children’s favourite character, Harry Potter.

So what can Harry Potter teach us, in this case, about branding?

According to author Stephen Brown, the Harry Potter brand can teach us a great deal indeed. Harry Potter may not be the biggest brand in the world, or the most established, but his story is certainly one of the most dramatic.

Brown’s book tells the story of the Harry Potter brand and how

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Dean’s Welcome There may also be cultural impediment to change, some business schools will be much more flexible in their thinking and it is these that will be able to provide a more relevant curriculum, an improved student experience and, importantly, more relevance in their research. Here at Durham Business School we continually review our curriculum to ensure that our programmes reflect what is happening in the wider business world.

Welcome to this, the latest issue of your alumni magazine, Agoranews.

More than ever the challenges facing business schools and organisations are inextricably linked. Both need to be agile, adapt quickly and avoid complacency in what is a changed economic landscape.

When I attended the latest AACSB Conference earlier in the year it was apparent that a number of the big business schools are struggling to implement change because they have complex structures and vested interests.

Noteworthy changes have recently been made to the School’s leadership team.

Following Professor Timothy Clark’s move from Deputy Dean of DBS to Dean of the Graduate School, the decision was taken to create two Deputy Dean posts. Consequently, I am pleased to tell you that Professor Geoff Moore has been appointed Deputy Dean (Learning & Teaching) and Professor Martin Laffin appointed Deputy Dean (Research).

I am sure that everyone will join me in congratulating both Geoff and Martin as they take on these exciting and challenging new roles.

I am pleased to report that plans to develop the Mill Hill Lane campus are progressing well. A series of consultations with staff will be continued over the coming months and the design team are preparing for a planning application to be submitted in September. This is in line with the original programme which would ensure the first phase of the project is completed by September 2012. The funding approval will be considered in October by University Council and this will finally determine the timescale for completion. Further information and more architects drawings are available on the School’s website at www.dur.ac.uk/dbs/about/development I would like to extend my personal congratulations to the latest group of newly graduated alumni following their congregation ceremonies at Durham Cathedral in July. I wish all of them every success for the future.

Photographs of the day’s celebrations can be found on page 18.

Finally, I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank every one of you for your continued support and commitment to the School.

Professor Rob Dixon, Dean

5

Alumni – Update As the end of the academic year approaches, we have much to celebrate here at Durham Business School – the prospect of the improved and extended School building, the launch of the Global Learning Centre (page 6), exciting new appointments including Dr Lutao Ning (page 15), and a fond farewell to one of our most recognisable faces at DBS from the past twenty years, Alan Jessop (page 14).

In this issue we have alumni input from two ladies who completed an MBA in the 1990’s and 2000’s respectively.

Mary Goldsmith, who moved to Australia and set up her own consulting company talks about life after Durham (page 20) and we have an article written by alumna Liz Hughes who inspires us with her thoughts on achieving greater leadership purpose (page 8).

Also in this issue, Professor Tim Clark shares his insight into the art of public speaking (page 16) and after requests for more articles focusing on economics, alumnus Maxie Islam illustrates the power of charting to determine market trends in risk management (page 10).

Over the past six months I have had the pleasure of travelling to Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong to meet with many alumni. It is always fascinating to hear about their Durham experience and what they have gone on to achieve in both their personal and professional lives. I would like to say a big thank you to our Local Association Leaders, Gemma Pan, Abby Wang, Eddy Yu and Tina Chiu, who helped coordinate some wonderful events, especially the Shanghai BBQ in July (page 22).

The coming year promises to be another exciting one with lots of opportunities to travel and meet with more of the alumni network. Please see page 22 for details of my forthcoming trip to India.

I am also very happy to announce that 2011 will be the 25th Anniversary of the Durham MBA. To celebrate this wonderful occasion, the school will be hosting an ‘Anniversary Weekend’ on June 3–5 2011. The merriment will coincide with the third Durham Convention whereby business leaders will be invited to address students, alumni and corporate partners of the School covering a range of topical business issues. Over the weekend we hope to offer a range of short lectures delivered by faculty past and present, as well as lots of fun activities culminating in a formal dinner.

Finally, for the next issue of Agoranews we are contemplating reducing our carbon footprint, by only posting hard copies of the magazine to those who are registered members of our online community and those who specifically request it. In this way we can reduce costs in-house, do our bit for the environment and encourage alumni to register for our Agoraweb all at once.

If you haven’t taken the opportunity to

join our online community please do so to take advantage of our careers resource section with tools and tips for obtaining jobs in specific sectors. Many of you may also be interested to listen to our weekly ‘Management Issues’ podcasts waxing lyrical about the latest business matters. This is a fantastic way for a busy professional to absorb valuable snippets on a particular business issue with a 5 to 10 minute long podcast.

As ever we hope you enjoy this read and welcome any feedback or suggestions you may have on improving our communication to the Agora network.

Alexandra Sedgwick Alumni Relations & Development Manager

6

THE GLOBAL LEARNING CENTRE Durham Business School coming to you… wherever you are Durham Business School has a long history of innovation in supporting the needs of postgraduate students for whom traditional on-campus study, whether full-time or part-time, is simply not an option. Presently, the School has over 900 students undertaking Masters programmes around the world, representing around two-thirds of Durham University’s total part-time student body.

From May 2010, these students have a new home in the Business School with the establishment of the Global Learning Centre, a dedicated department for the delivery and management of degree programmes taking place away from Durham itself.

The Centre has been formed through the integration of the School’s distance learning and distance taught units, bringing together Masters-level programmes delivered off-site, from the prestigious Executive MBA programme in partnership with the European Business School in Frankfurt, to the

worldwide network of early-career managers undertaking Durham’s rapidly-growing MA Management and MA Marketing degrees.

lead developments in programme delivery and to connect students with world-class faculty wherever they are based around the globe.

Quality of the student experience is paramount in the Global Learning Centre. Students and their sponsors can expect the highest standards of support from the Centre’s very experienced Client Services Team, with dedicated Programme Coordinators there to look after the needs of students from initial application through to final graduation, underpinned by a new Learning Resources Team, there to

With substantial investments in course design, e-learning technologies and a full-time Centre Director (Dr Mike Nicholson) reporting directly to the Dean, the Global Learning Centre represents a significant commitment by Durham University to satisfy the needs of part-time postgraduate students and creating a global learning community for the twenty-first century.

7

MBA Programmes MBA provision is the cornerstone of the Global Learning Centre’s portfolio, with no less than three major programmes available world-wide.

Durham’s now well-established Executive MBA programmes in Germany and the Caribbean represent the distance-taught element of the Centre’s activities, with around 125 students currently enjoying the benefits of a high-quality MBA experience delivered in a location convenient to them. A partnership with the European Business School, the DBS/EBS Executive MBA programme is a dual-site offering that combines modules delivered in Frankfurt with opportunities to study alongside colleagues on the Durhambased EMBA, expanding the networks of participants and enhancing the learning experience through interaction both with MBA peers and faculty members from two of the world’s leading business schools. Further afield, the Caribbean MBA programme enjoys the benefits of Barbados as its stunning location, attracting participants from across the Caribbean and North America. Delivered in association with the Caribbean Management Education Centre (CariMEC), the programme mirrors the Durham EMBA in content and delivery, with almost a decade of success in producing high-calibre MBA graduates attuned to the demands of the global marketplace.

By far the largest student body within the Global Learning Centre, are those undertaking the recently re-launched and rebranded Global MBA programme, with around 600 students currently participating. For almost 25 years, Durham Business School has operated a cutting-edge distance learning MBA programme, consistently listed within the FT Top 40, which now forms the platform for a truly innovative new MBA experience.

Students on the Global MBA now have a very real opportunity to fit learning around their lifestyles. Traditional distance learning modules are delivered in parallel with taught modules, enabling students to “mix-and-match” delivery modes in order to better manage completion and blend the type of MBA experience that best fits their individual needs.

Substantial investment is underpinning all of the Centre’s activities, bucking the trend in terms of the current financial constraints on higher education. From online seminars and podcasts to highquality printed materials, the Learning Resources Team are driving up standards in supporting the needs of off-site learners across the globe and providing new arenas within which MBA participants from all three of the Centre’s programmes can come together to study and socialise in a state-of-theart learning environment. With the introduction of enhanced career support services for off-site learners and a new continuous professional development programme, Durham’s ambitions are very clear – to build a truly world-class Global MBA programme that does not accept that delivery at a distance should in any way involve compromise in the quality of MBA experience a student should expect.

MA Programmes Originally conceived of as a way to improve accessibility to Durham’s fulltime “conversion” Masters programmes, the distance learning MAs in Management and Marketing have been the success story of the past five years, achieving growth of around 50% over the past twelve months alone. The programmes have also very much taken on a life of their own, rapidly establishing themselves as the MA-of-choice for early career managers and high-calibre graduate management trainees, particularly within the retail and services sectors.

Recently re-branded as Durham’s Parttime MA programmes, the Management and Marketing offerings will soon be joined by a new Financial Management degree and a Retail and Services specialism of the existing MA Management. Content is being tailored more to the needs of early career business professionals, with major investments in both course development and technology, and a more comprehensive approach to career development is being introduced. With off-shore study opportunities, taught module options and a new International MA Summer School, the Global Learning Centre will further develop its Masters portfolio to better fit the needs of pre-MBA graduate managers worldwide.

Further Developments The MBA and MA programmes at the heart of the Centre’s activities are a starting point for a range of new initiatives that will further enhance the reputation of the School as a whole.

Durham has a well-established tradition of interfacing with the corporate sector and the Global Learning Centre is now complementing the work of the Management Development Centre with a range of blended learning short-courses, open enrolment and client-specific Executive Education products, and in-house degree programmes to fit the requirements of the modern global organisation, including a major new Corporate MBA development initiative.

For alumni, there will be a growing portfolio of options through which to “top up” and update management knowledge, all employing the Centre’s blended-learning philosophy in order to reaffirm Durham’s commitment to highquality life-long learning. Overall, the Global Learning Centre aims to utilise the latest technology in order to offer something for everyone, wherever they are in the world.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION on The Global Learning Centre and its products and services, contact the Centre Management Team on glc.director@durham.ac.uk

8

Career Progression with Greater Leadership Purpose Liz Hughes is an internationally experienced leadership coach and strategist who fundamentally believes that the need to grow exists within every individual.

Her focus rests solely on her client’s personal and organisational improvement.

Developmental needs are addressed through crisp, concise methodology, using tried and tested techniques. This framework is then aligned very specifically to the detailed aspirations of the individual. Executives, who have been supported by her, have gained key international roles in market leading organisations.

Her approach actively challenges managers to first lead themselves in order to better lead their organisations. This can be difficult, but without doubt unlocks the potential for growth, bringing about accelerated and brilliant results.

An award winning MBA graduate from Durham Business School, she has almost 20 years experience in leadership roles delivering growth in multifaceted organisations.

LET’S CONSIDER THE DYNAMICS! Competition for roles in our shifting market place is intense. Given the pessimistic employment dynamics in a period of recession, there still remains the expectation that to grow your career, a positive promotion must be achieved every 3 years, often outside of your existing organisation. This is hugely expensive. Massive sums are spent on recruitment and training, not to mention the time (consider it a period of low productivity) it takes to gain traction when embedding a new employee into a company culture and processes. A more economical approach would be to provide high potentials with significant opportunities for advancement. Would there be significant accretive benefits if hiring and training costs were spent on employee development, where top talent is encouraged to take on challenging positions? In reality, companies pay lip service to their model employees.

They over-promise and under-deliver, or worse, send them headlong into a career block. This will inhibit organisational growth. Why? Because high potential employees will look outside for development.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A GREAT OPPORTUNITY? The July/August 2010 edition of Harvard Business Review: “Managing Yourself: Job Hopping to the Top and Other Fallacies” by Monika Hamori comments on 4 Fallacies that are pertinent to today’s job market. They provide a healthy jolt to your thinking around career dynamics.

Fallacy 1: Job-Hoppers Prosper Fallacy 2: A Move Should Be a Move Up Fallacy 3: Big Fish Swim in Big Ponds Fallacy 4: Career and Industry Switchers Are Penalized

LET’S CONSIDER FURTHER… Internal promotions deliver great opportunities up to a point, but watch for the career cul-de-sac, often near the top. This delivers a risk to the organisation. People generally hop when faced with frustrating barriers.

Are upward moves the only option?

Generally yes, but sometimes a horizontal move may be considered, either internally or outside of your organisation. Be confident, have a

defined future strategy, and consider this approach only with a targeted end point in mind.

Corporate leading companies have outstanding internal developmental opportunities but 64% of executives who left an admired company (measured on Fortune’s Most Admired) transferred to a firm not included on the list.

Opportunities in smaller organisations can be advantageous. There may be frustration with a rigid succession plan; do people have to morph to progress?

Smaller companies may deliver career enrichment for those that thrive on dexterity and rapid growth.

Successful leaders analyse and use models from different industries. The astute leader develops transferrable skills and understands how they can be applied. This broadens prospects for growth. After all, 29% of moves take people across industries and another 23% across different segments of the same industry’ How daunting it is to navigate the complexity of career management.

However, there is something that is of proven significance and should perhaps be considered first.

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CAN YOU IDENTIFY, UNDERSTAND AND VERBALISE YOUR GREATER LEADERSHIP PURPOSE? Probably not – it’s a unique expressive declaration where words can be tricky to find, but once nailed, is massively powerful.

Your purpose defines you. It is uniquely yours, and will enable you to exceed your potential. It will release a significant, inspirational, emotional shift and will expose your true value.

Here are some examples of clear, uplifting and potent purpose statements from DBS students and alumni. All carry an impressive expectation of success.

‘To help improve the life of women in Africa’

‘To help charitable organisations improve their income’ ‘To unlock the potential in leaders to deliver growth for them and their organisation’

HOW TO GET STARTED. Appoint someone you know and trust as your greater leadership purpose guide/partner. Start a series of conversations where you consider specifically designed questions.

Below is a selection, not an exhaustive list!

• What are my most significant capabilities?

• Where have I made a real difference to those around me?

• What values expose my inner identity?

• What do I do that brings me the most joy at work?

• What am I most proud of?

• What am I good at that makes others succeed?

• In which situations have I always been successful?

Reflect on the information. Express your ideas. Are you energised and motivated?

OUTCOME The results will be outstanding to you in terms of personal experience, and optimistically expressive to those you hope to influence.

Use your greater leadership purpose for personal advancement and to engage with those around you. You will reveal your differentiated advantage, and growth will be the outcome for you and your future employer.

10

The candlestick and the hanging man: Risk management through charting

Maxie Islam, Durham Business School MBA alumnus 1994–95, explains how charting techniques can be used by front offices to aid the execution of proprietary trades.

Maxie works as Vice President for BNY Mellon Asset Servicing in their Performance and Risk division in the City of London.

In the world of performance measurement and reporting, risk management appears very much a new kid on the block. Since 1995 I have been involved in risk management in one form or another across multiple markets including commodities, FX, fixed income and equities. In almost all of these asset classes there is one underlying tool that some risk managers utilise – the power of charting. In its most elemental form, charting is used to determine a market’s trend and therefore conclude some form of analyses in order to control one’s risk appetite.

11

A deeper level analysis would lead to such charting techniques being analysed to determine entry and exit points of a market. In this article I shall attempt to introduce these charting techniques to a relatively new audience and perhaps demonstrate the kind of tools a front office uses in order to aid execution of proprietary trades.

Allow me to introduce to you the humble candlestick. It looks like a bar from any bar chart but in essence comprises of a body rather than a skeleton. Like on a bar, a candle shown to the right of Figure 1 has open and close values and also high and low values are all depicted.

So now that we know candlesticks can be black or white, what else could they possibly tell us? It’s a little known fact that candlestick charting was first used

by Japanese rice traders in the 18th century. In particular, candlesticks have more visible bullish/bearish reversal signs compared to bars and up until recently, this type of charting was a closely guarded secret by the Japanese until the West started utilising this method for its own trading activities.

So what is it we must look for to make us all wealthy? Ah, if life was only that simple...

So what’s the point of this you may be asking? Well, one major advantage of viewing a candle chart vs a bar chart is that it allows you at a glance to see whether a particular trading period has been bullish or bearish overall. Take a look at the following charts. The daily chart in Figure 2 shows the FTSE 100 trending downwards – all very clear so far. But what is happening during each individual day? At a glance, the bar chart is not so clear and we have to identify which is the open and which is the close for each and any bar you choose to analyse.

Candlesticks remove the need to do that. Look at Figure 3, the equivalent candle chart. Immediately you’ll notice the latter chart provides a more visually interesting record of the price action; you can see what is happening at each individual trading period where it is either an uptick or a downtick. However, you will see two colours of candles in Figure 4. One is black-bodied (bearish) and the other is white (bullish). Note how on the black candle the open and close points are opposite to the white.

(The blue candles in the FTSE charts are the black equivalents).

The full version of this article first appeared in Performance Measurement and Client Reporting Review (PMCRR) Vol: 2.4 and is used with the kind permission of Osney Media. It is the first in a series which will be published in PMCRR, to read the full article or find out more visit: www.pmcrreview.com

Candlestick charting is an art rather than a science, so over the next couple of issues of PMCRR I will introduce to you the most common of the candlestick chart patterns and, more importantly, how to use these against other technical indicators.

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THE HAMMER Along with candlesticks, be prepared for the weird and wonderful names that come attached with them. Please meet the ‘hammer’. It takes on either of the following forms seen in Figure 5 (a) & (b). The hammer is a single candlestick with either a black or a white body and is a bullish reversal signal sometimes found at the troughs of a trending market. To qualify as a hammer, the tail of the candlestick must be at least twice as long as the body that hangs underneath it (often referred to as a ‘shadow’) – see Figure 5 (a) & (b). A hammer usually means that the market cannot find any more lows and is now ready for an upturn in action. Have a look at the following charts on page ? and verify the hammers: • Figure 6: Hammer example 1 • Figure 7: Hammer example 2 • Figure 8: Hammer example 3 Even though all these hammer formations have black bodies, they could have been white as well. There are other bullish reversal signals that we will discuss and these will be reserved for a future article.

A point to note here is that these reversal signals must never be looked at in isolation. A number of other factors (both technical and fundamental) must also be used before a decision is made on either entering or exiting a market.

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THE HANGING MAN You may be thinking if there is a candlestick that also tells of an impending downturn after a bullish run? You would be right. Allow me to introduce you to the ‘hanging man’ in Figure 9. Hanging men can sometimes be found at the peaks of markets and usually foretells of a change in direction.

Much like the hammer, the tail (or shadow) must be at least twice as long as the body in order to qualify as a reversal signal.

Examine the following hanging man candle formations in Figure 10: Bed, Bath & Beyond stock price and Figure11: FTSE100. Notice how each of the hanging men are close to the peaks of the markets before the impending downturn. A hanging man usually signifies that the market is close to its highs and is due a correction.

The interested among you might think, ‘Well, I never knew about hammers and hanging men’. If so, I would encourage you to have a look at these the next time you are sitting in front of your Bloomberg terminal or Reuters screen.

Instead of looking at bar charts, select the candlestick option and see if you can determine these patterns at their respective peaks and troughs. Have the candlestick signals worked each and every time?

For the sceptics out there – and there will be quite a few who remain to be convinced – you may think I have selected a few carefully chosen charts to demonstrate the points I am making.

Indeed, you would be right in thinking this. At this stage, these charts are only to demonstrate how candle patterns work and one should never use these signals in isolation, as I have said before.

As the series progresses, I will show you how to use hanging men and hammers in conjunction with other analyses in order to form a more complete picture and one that tells a fuller story of what a market is doing (or not doing).

Once you have grasped a few of these patterns and they become familiar territory, I can assure you that you will automatically be looking for them in future. I first stumbled across candlesticks while completing my MBA at Durham during the summer of 1995 and started using them in a professional manner the following year. While candlestick charting is not part of my current work domain, they remain an interesting part of my personal investment analyses. For those who are not able to access any of the data vendors that include charting as part of their services, you can subscribe to a free forum called Interactive Investor (www.iii.co.uk) and the site will supply charts (albeit a few minutes delayed) in both bars and candles.

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Faculty member Alan Jessop reflects on his time at DBS After twenty three years at Durham Business School Dr Alan Jessop is preparing to slow down and scale back on his commitments. Currently Senior Lecturer in Operational Research, Alan has previously held roles including Director of the full-time MBA programme and Chair of Board of Studies and he is well known for his ready wit and love of small sports cars!

Durham Business School was a very different place when I joined in 1987, and very different from teaching in an engineering department in London.

Moving to the North East was pretty easy not just because of my Geordie Granny but more from my parents-inlaw, refugees from Newcastle, who had introduced me to the joys of first footing (Google it), Newcastle Brown Ale (drink it) and also, vitally, to the local version of spoken English.

In 1987 we had a full-time MBA of about thirty students, almost all of whom were British (well, English, then) which made for an ‘ambiance’ about the place very different from the multicultural bustle of 2010. However, back then it wasn’t called an MBA, it was called an MSc because this was thought in some quarters to be more respectable. The name change came swiftly and I pretty quickly found myself director of the programme, the first of two stints. The support staff was, incredibly it now seems, one person – my secretary Ena Whittle.

We also delivered the first year of the part-time MBA when that was introduced. Happy days!

The School ran executive education programmes for British Gas and for other local and national businesses, and taught undergraduates too, but only as contributors to bachelors programmes in engineering, Chinese and others. It was firmly our belief that management education was by definition a post-experience as well as a postgraduate activity.

Well, you know how we have grown in the intervening twenty three years, expanding in all directions – student numbers, programmes, building and, inevitably, my waistline too. There have been growing pains of course, but life has never been dull and I think we can be pleased with what must always be a work in progress.

I stop teaching full-time at the end of September but will continue part-time for a little longer. As the Queen Mother said when asked what it was like being the last Empress of India, it was fun while it lasted. I thank those of you who attended my classes; it would have been rather lonely without you.

More importantly I thank you for the stimulation which teaching you has given me.

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introducing......

The depth and breadth of Durham Business School’s faculty continues to expand highlighting the School’s commitment to excellence in teaching and research. Here we introduce you to a recent addition to the School’s faculty.

Introducing… Dr Lutao Ning, Lecturer in International Business Lutao’s multidisciplinary research, teaching and consulting background ranges from international business and management to law, political economy and development studies. He holds a PhD degree from the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College), together with an MBA from the University of Liverpool and an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

What is your current role?

My main role is to conduct research in the field of international business and disseminate my research results to the wider society. I am currently an MBA and MA module leader for developing and teaching the Globalising Strategic Management and Global Business courses.

What are the most challenging parts of your job?

It is both challenging and exciting for academics to conduct research that allows them to explain new commercial phenomena to the business community as well as making theoretical contributions to business research.

I certainly find this knowledge creation process an important and enjoyable part of my job as well a challenge.

What do you want to achieve?

I hope my research can create a positive impact on the way our business community understands today’s turbulent global economic environment, as well as provide practical applications for the international business community and regulatory bodies to ensure globalisation work for the common good promoting the idea of ‘freedom, fairness and responsibility’ for all.

What drives you?

Today’s world has become increasingly integrated but polarised. We are yet to develop a mindset for global collective action toward effective and democratic global development. As a scholar, I am determined to make a difference by providing research and teaching to the wider international business community

and help them to understand global development, particularly the pressing issues faced by developing countries. I believe the business community could play a leading role to make globalisation work for all or at least much better both for the developing and developed world.

What was the best career advice you were given?

Learning does not end when you finish study at university. I have learned a great deal from the scholars, friends, colleagues, clients and students I have met all over the world. Constantly reading, thinking and learning from others would be my ‘secrets for success’.

Of course, the crucial thing for your own career development is that you enjoy what you do!

What advice can you offer to students and alumni thinking of an academic career?

Looking back at my scholarly journey so far, I hope some of this advice may be helpful: Passion for your research and teaching: you need to be very enthusiastic about your own research field and instil this passion in people who you teach and communicate with. You also need to transform such passion into strong self-motivation as working long hours is sometimes necessary to get through some difficult research and lengthy administrative processes.

Meaningful and beneficial research for society: this could be the greatest challenge you face in being an academic, but it can be extremely fulfilling when

stakeholders can draw practical implications from your research to improve their work and our society.

People skills: as an academic you will need to work with a diverse range of people. These might include your students, peers around the globe, people from the business community, institutions and funding bodies.

Good ‘people skills’ enable you to communicate with them effectively and efficiently for mutual benefit.

What are you currently working on at Durham Business School?

My main research interests are on the strategic development issues of multinational enterprises from developing countries and particularly China and East Asia. I have recently published research in a book called China’s Rise in the World Information and Communication Technology Industry: Industrial Strategies and the Catch-up Development Model by Routledge (2009 New York and London).

My latest research examined the rapid international expansion of Chinese multinationals during the current global financial crisis. In it I have discussed whether Chinese companies can take advantage of the crisis to improve international competitiveness through the acquisition of strategic assets overseas.

Additionally I have presented my research at SOAS, University of London and will be presenting at Oxford and Harvard Universities in the coming months.

You can read more about Lutao’s research in the next issue of Agoranews.

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WHEN IT COMES TO PUBLIC SPEAKING – HOW IMPORTANT IS A GOOD PERFORMANCE? To be regarded as a good public speaker has long been an aspiration of business leaders, politians and great thinkers alike. Since time immemorial the ability to capture the imagination of an audience and win their support has been crucial to success – especially political success.

Here Professors Timothy Clark and David Greatbatch explore the impact that live oratory can have on public opinion, using the UK’s recent, and new, experience of Party Leader Debates on live TV as an example.

Does live debating bring issues to life or can it kill them stone dead?

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Professor Timothy Clark is Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Dean of Durham University’s Graduate School.

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Professor David Greatbatch is a Visiting Professor at Durham Business School.

Announcing the death of live speaking is perhaps a little premature. Despite the plethora of media, live oratory continues to remain important and can significantly influence our opinions about an individual. To a large extent significant historical political figures are remembered through recordings of their speeches that are shown to subsequent generations. President Kennedy is remembered for his inaugural speech as well as that he delivered at the Berlin wall in which he declared ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ (an ambiguous phrase which could be taken to mean ‘I am a donut’ as well as ‘I am a Berliner’). Similarly Winston Churchill is remembered more for his war time oratory (e.g., ‘We shall fight on the beaches’, ‘Blood, toil, tears and sweat’, ‘Sinews of peace – Iron curtain’) than his actions as a peacetime Prime Minister. Martin Luther King is forever associated with his “I Have a Dream” speech.

The Party Leader debates in the recent British General Election have demonstrated that people’s evaluation of an individual’s oratorical performance influenced perceptions of their leadership abilities. Grace Wyndham Goldie, who, as a producer at the BBC, did much to change television coverage of UK General Elections, points out that television is watched singly or in small groups in people’s homes with the consequence that ‘communication on television… had to be, direct, informal and friendly, and that its style was bound to be appropriate to the appearance of the speaker as a temporary guest in somebody’s house’ (1977, p. 331)*.The point is that politicians have had to develop to a more constrained, low-key and personal style in order to successfully communicate with the TV audience at home. As the three main UK party leaders discovered after the first Party Leaders’ Debate, the rewards for those who master these techniques can be instant and significant.

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The Party Leader Debates were a significant innovation in the last UK General Election. Their novelty attracted a lot of media attention before and after each debate and large viewing figures.

As each debate was broadcast it was accompanied by numerous blogs and a “worm” (a line that fluctuated as it indicated the level of audience agreement or disagreement with the statements being made). After the first debate on Thursday 15th April the instant polls showed that Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat) was rated the best performer on the night. Some instant polls put him over twenty percent ahead of Gordon Brown (Labour) and David Cameron (Conservative).

Running up to the debate most commentators agreed that as the leader of the smallest party Clegg had the most to gain given his general lack of exposure and profile with the electorate when compared to other two party leaders. Up until that event he had not been treated as an equal in Parliamentary exchanges between party leaders, such as Prime Minister’s Questions. For the first time he was afforded the same profile as the other party leaders. His enormous success in the first debate partly emanated from his much increased profile with many viewers who had little previous familiarity with him, but his positive poll ratings also benefited from a number of features from the debate itself. First, it was very noticeable that Brown sought to align himself with Clegg by mentioning on a number of occasions that Clegg and he were in agreement with one another. Although Clegg rejected Brown’s assertion that they agreed on reform of the Houses of Commons and Lords, Brown nevertheless kept pointing out their similarities whilst attacking Cameron.

Indeed, on several occasions Brown clearly tried to unsettle Cameron by interrupting his answers and not permitting him to develop his answers.

In contrast, Cameron attacked Brown and occasionally Clegg. Thus Clegg was

attacked the least. He was therefore distanced from the occasional closequarter skirmishes between Brown and Cameron that reinforced his general point that he represented something different. This was reinforced by his position to the left of Cameron and Brown which gave him the opportunity to turn and become an onlooker as the other two party leaders debated amongst themselves.

that the differences with Clegg were lessened. Once again the polls suggest that either Cameron or Clegg won with Brown coming third. Thus, the conventions that Clegg used so successfully in the first debate were gradually adopted by the other party leaders reducing their stylistic differences. As this has happened the pendulum perhaps swung away from a focus on performance to policy.

Clegg also made the greatest and most successful attempts to connect with the audience. He built a stronger rapport with the audience members than the other party leaders and this is reflected in much subsequent comment about his natural and engaging style. In his initial answers to each question he consciously mentioned the questioner’s name. He listed the questioners by name in his final summary. He also sought to make eye contact when the questioner was not always visible. By doing this he was seeking to reduce the social distance between himself and the audience members and using his connection with a single audience member to build rapport more generally.

As the closing credits rolled it was interesting to see Brown walk directly towards the audience and shake the hands of those seated in the front row.

Perhaps a late attempt to connect with the audience.

Overall, these three televised party leader debates show that live oratory is still a powerful tool and remains an important source of the public’s perception of a politician’s image and abilities. They have perhaps raised awareness of the importance of effective political oratory as the party leaders and their messages are exposed to an audience of millions rather than thousands and the instant critical scrutiny of bloggers, commentators and the “worm”. Apart from their novelty a key reason for the importance of these debates is that they provided audience members with an opportunity to use the verbal and non-verbal cues of each party leader to ascertain their leadership ability. Therefore each party leader’s oratorical skills become a proxy for their leadership skills. As Matthew Parris commented in The Times newspaper “Who would have thought that at the beginning of the 21st century we would be playing out this political battle in what — for all its novelty — is really so ancient a format? The frame may have been your television screen, but on it we played a game that was familiar to the Ancient Greeks. This contest has been judged on the art of Public Rhetoric.

It proved to be stunning”.

By the time of the second debate Brown and Cameron had started to learn and deploy successfully the practices that Clegg had used so successfully. They dropped the use of anecdotes and familiarity with one another and sought to actively engage the audience, look directly into the camera and focus more on policy differences than similarities.

The changes were reflected in the polls for the second debate which showed that although Cameron and Clegg vied for first position the three leaders’ performances were not rated too far apart. In the final debate Cameron and to a lesser extent Brown further amended the way they presented so

This article is based on a blog on ‘The Great Debate’ written by Professors Clark and Greatbatch for the Reuters UK’s website.

*Matthew Parris “How TV became the lightning rod for voters’ rage with politicians” The Times, April 30, 2010.

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GRADUATION On the first of July the School was pleased to extend a warm welcome to graduates, following congregation ceremonies at Durham Cathedral.

Graduates across all programmes, including many from the School’s Management Development Centre, some of whom had travelled from Gibraltar, joined with family and friends to enjoy the special atmosphere that only a Durham graduation can provide.

The conferring of degrees ceremony was followed by a barbeque at the Business School, providing an ideal opportunity for graduates to catch up with fellow students and staff, enjoying the sun and celebration.

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Q&A Durham MBA alumna Mary Goldsmith, talks about life post-MBA. Mary lives and works in Melbourne, Australia, combining her extensive corporate and government experience in Human Resources, Executive Search and Selection, Executive Education and Career Transition consulting, to offer services for individuals and groups at every career stage. She completed her Durham MBA in 1994.

Q. How do you feel your Durham MBA prepared you for your current role?

A. After I returned to Australia, my Durham MBA gave me the passport I needed for my perfect job. While my corporate HR and consulting experience were important, I wouldn’t have been considered for the position of Program Director, Mt Eliza Business School (Australia’s equivalent of Ashridge, now part of Melbourne Business School), without my MBA. That experience gave me the expertise, confidence and credentials to work in my current capacity as a Career and Leadership Development consultant to a diverse range of clients.

Q. Can you describe your typical day?

A. Given I’m self-employed, no day is the same! This week I spent a day at one of Australia’s leading banks working with managers whose department had been abolished.

As I am currently involved with the recruitment of a board director

for a Not-For-Profit organisation, I spent a couple of days interviewing candidates. This morning I met with the firm which hosts my newly developed 360 degree feedback tool.

Q. What would you say has been the most satisfying aspect of your career so far?

A. I love working with and encouraging the development of talented people.

At Mt Eliza Business School I designed and delivered executive development programs for middle and senior managers. Now I enjoy mentoring professionals who need a career boost or who are experiencing career transition and change.

Q. What do you do to unwind?

A. I have a gorgeous spoodle called Chica, who needs walking twice a day. Although we live in the city, I love to clear my mind by walking the dog around Melbourne’s fabulous gardens.

Q. Where do you envisage your career might take you in the future?

A. I’m keen to spend the next few years coaching and developing our future leaders. In particular I hope to mentor women who are pursuing senior leadership opportunities in corporate and government organisations across Australia. Now we have both a female Governor General and Prime Minister, the future is very exciting!

Q. If you had one piece of career advice for Durham graduates starting out what would it be?

A. While your Durham MBA will give you access to some great opportunities, it’s just the next phase in your career journey. It doesn’t stop there… it’s important to apply what you’ve learned and commit to your ongoing professional development.

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Mike Burrett – Mentor of the Year The ‘Mentor of the Year’ award was launched in Agoranews last autumn.

We are delighted to announce that Durham Business School ‘Mentor of the Year’ 2010 is Mike Burrett.

Mike, who is a member of the School’s MBA Advisory Board, has provided valuable mentoring support to his three mentees as well as informal support to other students outside of the formal mentor scheme.

In his role as mentor, Mike keeps in regular contact with his students through one-to-one meetings going that extra mile by forwarding suitable job postings to assist with their career planning. Whilst this is not explicitly an objective of the mentor role it has proved most valuable to his mentees.

Commenting on the success of one of his mentee matches Mike said; “Mentoring initially was to provide (the mentee) with confidence that he can, and will succeed, later we honed it down to CV preparation, job search, type of role and industry he would like to work in.”

Mike first came across his group of mentees through the Boardroom Activity during the MBA programme’s term one.

This innovative initiative integrates academic learning from the core modules into a live boardroom situation.

It is designed to replicate the tensions of a real leadership challenge in order to develop the life skills required in a business environment. The activity culminates in a role-play of a boardroom meeting. Mike put to use his experience as a company executive, chairing a team session and providing guidance, direction and feedback.

The Mentoring Scheme expanded further this year with 99 successful matches compared to 70 last year.

These included students from the full-time MBA, part-time MBA, Global MBA, MSc and MA programmes.

Many mentees have commented very positively on their experience of the scheme.

“Very good. I got a lot of support after the first communication with my mentor, such as how to reduce the pressure during the exam period and how to get support for proof reading of assignments.”

You can find out more about Mike Burrett and his peer Ambassadors on Agoraweb – www.agora.org.uk If you would like to become a mentor, we would like to hear from you. Please contact dbs.alumni@durham.ac.uk for a registration document.

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local association news The Agora network goes from strength to strength 1. GIBRALTAR AGORA The Gibraltar Local Association has been assisting MDC with the logistics of ensuring that graduating students made it to Durham in July. The MA graduates, with family and friends, made the 4,000 mile round trip to attend the congregation ceremony at Durham Cathedral.

See photograph on page 18.

The group will be hosting a global get together on 10 September, which is also Gibraltar National Day, where almost all of the 400 alumni in the area will be in attendance. We wish them all the very best with their sterling efforts which demonstrate to the world their allegiance to Durham Business School. They make us proud!

2. BEIJING AGORA We are pleased to report that the Beijing group is getting bigger and bigger with each event. The most recent, taking place at Raffles Beijing Hotel, welcomed new faces to the network. Due to the success of the recent events, the Beijing Local Association will be going ‘on the road’ with a weekend out-of-town event. They are also in the process of

working with Agora on a mini website to sit within Agoraweb for the exclusive use of Beijing members.

For more information please contact the group’s leader Abby Wang.

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3. SHANGHAI AGORA The Shanghai group recently hosted a fun BBQ event with DBS staff Alexandra Sedgwick, Alumni Relations Manager and Claire RoperBrowning, Marketing Manager in attendance. The event took place at O’Malley’s on a sweltering day in July and was organised by group leader Gemma Pan. Alumni, both from DBS and the wider University community, had an afternoon of great food, drink and laughter.

4. INDIA AGORA DBS Career Development Manager, Marcia Hoynes and Alumni Relations Manager, Alexandra Sedgwick are currently working on plans for a trip to India in November. As well as meeting with the ever-growing alumni population in the country, they are coordinating exciting initiatives and events in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. More information will shortly be available on Agoranet (agora.org.uk)

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Local Associations are the perfect way to join in the DBS Global Get Together events. Forthcoming dates include: 10 September and 10 December 2010.

We particularly look forward to hearing about your events and receiving photographs.

If you are interested in joining these or any other groups throughout the world (your location or perhaps a business area you frequent), please email us and we will put you in touch. New groups are in the pipeline for Canada (Vancouver) and Jordan.

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BOOK REVIEW Wizard!: Harry Potter’s Brand Magic by Stephen Brown Colin Theakston, Durham Business School’s Librarian, shares with us his view on this recent publication.

I enjoy these book reviews and wanted, if I were able, to combine an academic book AND some element of popular culture. The things you do to prove to your children that librarians are cool!

Well this month I think I might have succeeded. Yes, a book that combines both marketing AND my children’s favourite character, Harry Potter.

So what can Harry Potter teach us, in this case, about branding?

According to author Stephen Brown, the Harry Potter brand can teach us a great deal indeed. Harry Potter may not be the biggest brand in the world, or the most established, but his story is certainly one of the most dramatic.

Brown’s book tells the story of the Harry Potter brand and how it has taken the entertainment world by storm.

J.K. Rowling and her fabulous moneyspinning creation is a contemporary fairytale in more ways than one. An impoverished single parent writes an accidental bestseller, whose book sales grow exponentially. The book begets more books, which beget movies, merchandise and huge media coverage.

Today, Harry Potter is as much a brand as Brad Pitt, McDonalds or Dyson. The Harry Potter "franchise" is a fascinating story in itself, but it is a story that can be woven into all the other Harry Potter stories, and that is what Brown does here – stories about Joanne Rowling, stories about the readers, stories about the sceptics. This book unpicks the various narrative strands that make up the Harry Potter story, and provides a fascinating insight into how Harry Potter became one of the world’s most recognised brands in an extraordinarily short time period.

COMPETITION For your chance to win a copy of the book visit: www.agora.org.uk/agoranews and follow the competition links.

Closing date: 30 October 2010

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CLASS NOTES

TIM CARPENTER FULL-TIME MBA 1988 I’m working as a consultant providing programme and project management services to large organisations. In recent years this included a variety of sectors including Oil and Gas and Pharmaceuticals. My current assignment is providing a big brand food manufacturer with programme management services designed to provide assurance of business growth despite current economic conditions.

On a personal note I’ve an adventure planned in Sulawesi this summer – some diving and R&R in the north followed by trekking in the rainforest among the mountains in the centre, finishing up in the south of the country.

HEATHER ROBINSON (NEE MCDOWALL) AND NICK ROBINSON BA BUSINESS FINANCE 2003–06 Nick (Robinson) and I met on our first day at Durham University. We began dating and in January 2008 Nick proposed via a treasure trail of personalised clues which culminated with an engagement ring. We married at the spectacular Culzean Castle in Scotland and spent our honeymoon in the Maldives. Friends from the Business Finance cohort played a huge role at the wedding, Tony Teece was our best man, Rebecca Brophy read for us and James Monro attended as part of our guest list.

TONY NEWTON CURRENT DBA STUDENT I won first prize in the 2010 Durham University Research Poster Competition.

My doctoral research focuses on trying to determine just what makes some people much more effective networkers than others. In my working life, I run workshops to a range of clients who want to improve their staff’s networking effectiveness. I am pictured here receiving congratulations from Durham University’s Professor Tom McLeish, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research).

OLAMEILEKAN PAUL KAYODE CURRENT GLOBAL MBA STUDENT Before beginning the Durham MBA I headed up the Investment and Portfolio Unit of Fresh Trust Investment Ltd, a company whose core activities involve the stock market. Durham Business School has certainly added value to my intellectual thinking and it is a privilege to be a DBS student.

Since December 2009 I have been working with Global Tides Energy Services Ltd as Finance and Administration Manager.

NISHANT PANDEY FULL-TIME MA 2009–10 In August I started at the London Wall JP Morgan offices and soon jet off to New York for their (in)famous training programme for nine weeks. Upon my return, over the three year analyst period, I will be rotated around three different areas of the business eg mergers and acquisitions, corporate, specialities etc. I am fortunate enough to live in London with other Durham postgraduate students who work at RBS and Accenture.

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ALLY WICKHAM EXECUTIVE MBA 2005–07 After ten years at Sage I am now the B2B/Depth Marketing lead for the Developer Platform and Evangelism Group at Microsoft UK, getting to grips with a truly global corporate structure and a dizzying array of new technologies.

LUCY WINSKELL EXECUTIVE MBA 2004–06 I completed my Executive MBA course at Durham in 2006. At that time I was a partner at Sintons LLP – one of North East England’s leading law firms.

Following my MBA I have combined my professional legal practice with nonexecutive directorships and governance roles in public and private organisations.

These have included the Government Office North East, Business Enterprise North East, Darlington Building Society and the regional investment and development company ING. I am now Pro Vice-Chancellor (Region, Engagement and Partnerships) and I lead the development of Northumbria University’s relationships with government and public bodies, shaping its contribution to regional economic and social development, and further strengthening its links with schools, businesses and the professions.

ANURAG DHAWAN AND MITSU THAKORE FULL-TIME MBA 2006–07 Our ‘Big Fat Indian Wedding’ took place three years after we graduated from the Business School. It started with innocent walks around the cobbled streets of Durham, late nights at Fisher House and group studies in the MBA library. Mitsu and I married on 23 August 2009 in Jaipur amongst close family and friends in a traditional Indian wedding. Classmates from Durham who attended the wedding made it even more memorable for us. We now live in New Delhi, India; married for almost a year, we both are proud to have our Durham degrees, friends across the globe, memories for a lifetime and, more importantly, each other.

BARB KRAL-HASTY FULL-TIME MBA 2008–09 Firstly, I greatly miss Durham!

I cherished my time there and I cannot believe that it was one year ago when we were frantically finishing dissertations. I am living in my hometown of Kansas City and have changed sectors in my professional career. Today I am working in healthcare full-time. I also have part-time jobs in child care, writing and editing, apparel retail, teaching children how to play the piano, and providing translation services (translating documents from Spanish to English). I have been in contact with many students from my cohort as we continue to stay closely in touch, even though we are spread across the globe now and congregation in January provided the opportunity to see many of them.

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1 Tim Carpenter 2. Tony Newton 3. Nishant Pandey 4. Lucy Winskell 5. Anurag Dhawan and Mitsu Thakore 6. Barb Kral-Hasty

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news news news news news news news news School News FD ELLIS SCHOLARSHIP The winner of the 2010 FD Ellis Scholarship is Daniel Crouch. Currently working as an English teacher in Korea, he will be taking up his place on the fulltime MBA programme in September this year. To earn his full fee scholarship place Daniel had to explain in 500 words how he would apply the learning gained on the programme to his own career.

This is the second year that the FD Ellis Scholarship has been awarded. It is funded through the generosity of Dr David Ellis and his family, and named in memory of his late father.

AMBA STUDENT OF THE YEAR AWARD 2010 Current full-time MBA student Chinyere Udechukwu was successful against top-notch competition to make it to the short list of this year’s prestigious AMBA Student of the Year Award. This annual award is fast becoming established as the ultimate accolade for MBA students from accredited business schools.

WELL DONE PURPLE PLATOON In July a group of more than 30 ladies from the Business School took part in the Cancer UK Race for Life in Durham.

The team, appropriately named The

University News Purple Platoon, came into being in memory of Jackie Rafferty, the School’s Marketing Officer, who died in January this year. The team raised over £2,000, a magnificent effort, congratulations everyone!

HONORARY DOCTORATE Professor David Croisdale-Appleby, a member of Durham Business School’s Advisory Board, has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Civil Law by Durham University. Professor Croisdale-Appleby is a prominent campaigner for social justice and has been a lay member of Durham’s University Council since 2001. He received his degree at a ceremony at Durham Cathedral.

BEST PAPER AWARD DBS faculty members Dr Daniel Hung, Lecturer in Finance and Dr Anurag Banerjee, Reader in Financial Econometrics have won the Best Paper Award at the 8th NTU International Conference on Economics, Finance and Accounting which took place in Taipei, Taiwan in June. Their paper was entitled The Value of Past Stock Return Information in the Formation of the Momentum Strategies.

GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATED Coinciding with Graduation week this summer, the University’s Oriental Museum has launched a major new publication to commemorate its Golden Jubilee. The book, called Treasures of the Oriental Museum, comprises short essays which offer a different view on an object from the Museum’s collections and are accompanied by all new colour photography of these stunning objects.

Copies of the book can be obtained by visiting www.durham.ac.uk/ oriental.museum/goldenjubilee DURHAM – NATIONAL GREEN GOWN AWARD WINNER Durham University has won a muchcoveted Green Gown award for “Sustainable Procurement”. The Green Gown Awards, now in their 6th year, recognise exceptional initiatives being taken by universities and colleges across the UK to become more sustainable.

With sustainability moving up the agenda, they have become established as the most prestigious recognition of best practice within the further and higher education sector. Durham representatives received the accolade in June at the annual award ceremony which was held this year at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.

DRUM RHYTHM ON SONG FOR WORLD CUP SUCCESS Peter Okeno Ong’are (pictured left), a researcher in Durham’s Music Department, has developed a new notation system for drums to overcome a modern-day problem where the family tradition of teaching African drumming is being lost. The notation method is based upon a series of universal, easyto-read and easy-to-write symbols and has been used for the first time in the composition of ‘Vuma! Unity, Harmony, Goal!’, a song promoting a ‘rhythm for success,’ intended to inspire footballers to score more goals during the recent FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

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Dates for the Diary SPEAKER EVENTS

RECRUITMENT EVENTS

PREVIEW/OPEN EVENTS

DURHAM CORPORATE FORUM

PROVISIONAL DATES AND VENUES FOR 2010 INCLUDE:

MBA PREVIEW EVENTS

27 October 2010 Durham Business School, UK DURHAM SPEAKER SERIES EQUILIBRIUM WORKSHOP WITH STEPHEN PAYNE 18 November 2010 Durham Business School, UK MARTIN WOLF, FINANCIAL TIMES 02 December 2010 Durham Business School, UK ENTREPRENEUR PANEL IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ENTREPRENEUR FORUM 03 February 2011 Durham Business School, UK MICHAEL IZZA, INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES (ICAEW)

WORLD GRAD SCHOOL TOUR Buenos Aires, Argentina 10 September Paris, France 09 October Athens, Greece 13 October Thessaloniki, Greece 14 October Berlin, Germany 19 October London, UK 23 October Warsaw, Poland 28 October Istanbul, Turkey 30 October Kuala Lumpur, 18 November Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 24 November WORLD MBA TOUR

01 September, 11.00–15.00hrs Durham Business School Durham Business School, UK DOCTORATE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (DBA) OPEN EVENTS 25 September, 12.00–14.00hrs 27 November, 12.00–14.00hrs Durham Business School, UK Contact Anne Bailey on +44 (0)191 334 5226 Please note that dates and events are subject to change.

San Francisco, USA 12 September Seattle, USA 14 September Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 15 September London, UK 23 October Madrid, Spain 26 October ACCESS MBA

10 March 2011 Durham Business School, UK

St Petersburg, Russia 11 October Almaty, Kazakhstan 14 October

25 YEAR MBA REUNION

CONNECT 1-2-1

03–05 June 2011 Durham, UK

New York, USA 20 November London, UK 27 November

DURHAM CONVENTION 03 June 2011 Durham Business School, UK SAVE THE DATES Continuing our successful speaker series, the following dates have been set for the coming academic year.

Further details will become available via the website: www.agora.org.uk 07 April 2011 13 May 2011

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP PROMOTE DBS? Prospective students, as well as the School, benefit from having alumni assist Durham academic staff with recruitment activities. If you feel able to volunteer to help in this way please visit the events page at www.agora.org.uk

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION To book places for these events, contact the person named, or the Alumni Team on: Email: dbs.events@durham.ac.uk Telephone: +44 (0)191 334 5277

agora Alumni Development Team Room 215, Durham Business School Mill Hill Lane Durham DH1 3LB UK t: f: e: w:

+44 (0)191 334 5277 +44 (0)191 334 5218 dbs.alumni@durham.ac.uk www.agora.org.uk

UK Agora Local Associations Northern Agora (based in Durham) Southern Agora (based in London) International Agora Local Associations Athens Caribbean Ghana Hungary Malaysia Norway South Africa United Arab Emirates

Beijing Denmark Gibraltar India Mexico Russia South America United States of America

Canada Frankfurt Hong Kong Japan Nigeria Shanghai Switzerland

To be put in touch with other alumni in your area contact the Alumni Team.

Business School

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