DUBS Alumni News Magazine Issue 26 Autumn 2014

NEWS

DUBS

ALUMNI

IN THIS ISSUE: 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS//SHORT-TERM VS. LONG-TERM IMPACT OF MANAGERS//WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES

“ Although China has moved towards a market economy, unions have been slower to adapt. There are no independent unions – they are explicitly forbidden.”

The impacts of unionisation on China’s economic evolution (see pages 16-18)

Alumni Magazine for Durham University Business School

Autumn 2014 Issue 26

1965 – 2015

50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION WEEKEND SATURDAY 11 APRIL 2015

FIFTY YEARS OF WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

COME BACK TO DURHAM AND HELP US COMMEMORATE 50 YEARS SINCE DURHAM UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL WAS FOUNDED. In addition to a number of international events taking place throughout the year, the School will host a day of celebrations in Durham.

This will be a great opportunity to reconnect with classmates and we encourage you to arrange a reunion for the same weekend. The Alumni Relations Team will gladly assist you, whether it is a first, fifth, tenth or twenty-fifth reunion!

SCHEDULE 9.30 – 10.00am: Registration and coffee 10.00 – 10.30am: Dean’s welcome and brief address by founding members of the School, Professor John Machin and Professor Robin Smith.

10.30 – 11.30am: Master-class A – Corporate Governance (Dr Rebecca Stratling); or

11.50am – 12.50pm: Master-class C – Business Ethics (Professor Geoff Moore); or

Master-class B – Trust in Uncertain Times (Dr Graham Dietz); or

Master-class D – Toxic Management (Dr Robert McMurray); or

Tour of the School.

Tour of the School.

11.30 – 11.45am: Coffee break

12.50 – 2.00pm: Lunch

2.00 – 6.00pm: Free time – visit www.thisisdurham.com for a list of Durham attractions.

7.00 – 11.00pm: Formal dinner at Durham Castle* * There is limited availability at Durham Castle for the formal dinner. If you wish to host a table for a reunion, we suggest you book together to avoid disappointment.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BOOK YOUR PLACE VISIT

WWW.DURHAM.AC.UK/BUSINESS/ALUMNINETWORK PLEASE CONTACT THE ALUMNI RELATIONS TEAM IF YOU HAVE ANY QUERIES TEL: +44 (0)191 334 5277 EMAIL: BUSINESS.ALUMNI@DURHAM.AC.UK

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CONTENTS IN THIS ISSUE... news

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As plans for celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the School build momentum, we are looking forward to celebrating with you, our alumni, students, staff, both past and present, and indeed all our stakeholders. The programme of activities for our celebration weekend in April 2015 is now confirmed and we are anticipating welcoming a large number of supporters and friends; you can read more on page 2. A small online archive of historical photographs supplied by past staff and alumni is also being compiled. If you have any photographs or other archive contributions that you would be willing to share please contact the Alumni Relations team.

We were commended on the quality of our research and core faculty, the commitment of our professional staff, and the integration of the collegiate and academic systems providing a very high quality student experience. I’d like to thank all alumni who supported the School during this visit.

We continue to make important, and ongoing, investment in our staff.

This not only supports our accreditation submissions, but also the expansion of our core faculty, reducing our staff student ratio and enhancing our students’ experience during their studies. For example, over the summer we appointed six new members of economics faculty.

You may recall that in the last issue of this magazine the School was awaiting the outcome of the EQUIS accreditation visit which took place in March. I am delighted to confirm that, in addition to our re-accreditation, the EQUIS Peer Review Team highlighted progress made since their last visit in 2010.

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In tandem with the 50th anniversary we will be encouraging our alumni to consider giving back to the School by supporting our Fundraising for the Future campaign (pages 8-9).

Last year Professor Paula Hyde joined us from Manchester Business School, where she co-founded the Health Workforce Research Network in the Institute of Health Sciences. You can read more on Paula and her work in the ‘Introducing’ feature on page 19. Also in this issue are contributions by several other members of the School’s faculty, including highlights of recently conducted research by Drs Mat and Paul Hughes: ‘The short-term versus long-term impact of managers’ (pages 10-12), ‘The impacts of unionisation on China’s economic evolution’

by Professor Ed Snape (pages 16-18), and ‘Willingness to pay for environmental resources in the Chilean Patagonia’ by Juan-Pedro Garces-Voisenat (pages 24-25).

If you would like to find out more about this project or other ways to support the School philanthropically, please make contact with Dr Anne Allen, Major Gifts Officer, via the Alumni Relations team.

NEW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP May saw the launch of the new Organising Care Special Interest Group (OCSIG).

Founded by Dr Robert McMurray and Professor Paula Hyde (pictured below), the group is joint-funded by the University’s Wolfson Institute and Durham University Business School. Plans are underway for an event this autumn which will focus on ‘Failures in care’.

In September the School was proud to host the Money, Macro and Finance Conference – the 46th annual conference of the Money, Macro and Finance Research Group. In addition to invited speakers: Douglas Gale (Imperial College London), Seppo Honkapohja (Bank of Finland) and Rafael Wouters (National Bank of Belgium), special policy sessions were held on topics including ‘The Scottish Independence Referendum’, ‘Human Capital and Growth’ and ‘UK Macro Models’. The conference drew academics from around the globe.

UNIVERSITY NEWS UK, with the vast majority in the top five.

Durham students in every Department benefit from having excellent teaching delivered by some of the world’s finest researchers across arts and humanities, the sciences and social sciences.”

Best wishes Professor Rob Dixon Dean

DURHAM RECOGNISED FOR ITS SPACE SCIENTISTS THE COMPLETE UNIVERSITY GUIDE

The University has been named as Europe’s leading university for highly-cited researchers in astronomy and cosmology.

The Thomson-Reuters list of the ‘World’s most influential scientific minds 2014’ also saw Durham ranked sixth in the world for the influence of its space science researchers. Durham was the only UK University to feature in the world top ten, ranking above prestigious institutions including NASA, The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany, and the Harvard Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in the USA.

HONORARY DEGREE AWARDS The University honoured several national and international figures as part of its Summer Congregation celebrations.

Honorary degrees were awarded to the following prominent figures in geology, music, archaeology, business and the wine industry: • Professor Jane Buikstra – renowned anthropologist and bio-archaeologist • Tony and Barbara Laithwaite – founders and owners of the world’s foremost home delivery wine company • James Lancelot – one of Britain’s most distinguished organists • Professor Mosobalaje Oyawoye – the first African Professor of Geology • Bob Young – successful entrepreneur and North East businessman.

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Following feedback from the alumni survey last year, we listened to comments about improving the alumni website and have made changes to the design and some of the functionality. Hopefully you will have noticed the look and feel is much more modern and in keeping with the Business School’s main website.

The benefits page on the website has been recently updated too. As an international business school with a network of international alumni, it seems appropriate to expand the DUBS Alumni Network benefits package to feature some travel offers. The most recent offer to be added to the website includes discounts with Intercontinental Hotels.

As Professor Dixon mentions in the Dean’s message, the School is counting down to its 50th anniversary celebration event on 11 April 2015. We have received overwhelming interest from a number of classes, as well as individuals, and we look forward to this being the biggest and best event of our history to date. If you are hoping to attend please ensure you book early to avoid disappointment, as many of the activities, not least the formal dinner at Durham Castle, have limited spaces.

For those of you wishing to stay overnight at the Castle we have a limited number of en-suite bedrooms reserved for the event; these can be booked directly by calling +44 (0)191 334 4106 and quoting ‘DUBS 50th anniversary weekend’.

As part of the 50th anniversary the School has a number of ambassadorial initiatives for alumni to get involved with.

We are looking for supporters to give their time and money towards projects that will enhance the ‘Durham experience’ for our students. Opportunities include being a business ‘Angel’ or a ‘Dragon’. Angels are needed to help enterprising students to realise their business concepts and Dragons can mentor students through the development of their entrepreneurial ideas. Dr Anne Allen, the School’s Major Gift Officer, shares more detail on such projects on pages 8-9.

In this issue, current chair of the student Investment Club, Adrees Nazir (MSc Economics and Finance 2013/14) talks about how alumni can get involved to help students achieve their ambitious plans (page 7), and Brad Atkinson (DBA 2002/06) reviews River of Dreams, a book set in Durham, authored by MBA alumnus Tom Mullen (page 30). In addition to the usual contributions from alumni in the form of Local Association news, class notes and alumni Q&A, we also have some features on alumni business ventures; Sam Stroot (MBA 2011/12) on page 15 and Steven Zwane (MBA 2006/07) on pages 22-23.

Please do share any comments and suggestions about this magazine, or on the alumni network offering in general via business.alumni@durham.ac.uk For those of you who are not aware I will shortly be commencing maternity leave.

I therefore leave you in the capable hands of my colleague, Alumni Coordinator, Katharine Aspey (pictured above), and Roderick Lewis, my temporary replacement who will join the team from ISCTE Business School in Portugal. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with so many of you for the past six years and look forward to returning in 2015 to pick up where I left off.

Best wishes Alexandra McNinch Alumni Relations Manager

SHOR ERM ERSUS ONG ERM MPAC O MANAGERS E DENCE ROM HE OO BA NDUS R 17

Nevertheless, although China has moved towards a market economy, unions have been slower to adapt. There are no independent unions – they are explicitly forbidden – and existing union representation is under the auspices of the state-organised All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). This umbrella organisation is, however, becoming increasingly aware of the need to represent the interests of workers, not least because labour conflict has become a key concern.

THE IMPACTS OF UNIONISATION ON CHINA’S ECONOMIC EVOLUTION The rapid development of China’s economy has proved a remarkable feature of the past few decades. And in many ways industrial change brings social change in its wake.

It is this aspect of China’s economic evolution that provides the focus for a team of academics including Durham University Business School’s Professor of Management, Ed Snape as they embarked upon a closer look at the nature of enterprise unions in foreign-invested enterprises.

Professor Snape and his colleagues set out to examine the part that the so-called enterprise unions, set up under the auspices of the ACFTU, play in relation to both employers and employees.

THE FRAMEWORK FOR CHINA’S TRADE UNIONS Increasing numbers of labour disputes have prompted growing unionisation in China’s foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs).

Currently, there is a requirement that any business employing 25 or more workers should have a union; the employer need not initiate the establishment of such a body, but they must not obstruct.

In practice, the initiative for establishing a union tends to come from the local ACFTU, usually without direct input from the workforce, who often resolve their

grievances simply by quitting and finding another job. Traditionally, enterprise unions have been dominated by management, even to the extent of the union chair being a manager. In the last few years, however, there has been a shift to increasingly open and representative elections for enterprise union committees.

As China’s market reforms have led to a reduced role for the state, there has been neglect of legal rights of workers on the part of employers, leading to calls for stronger collective representation. Existing research provides diverging views on the extent to which Chinese enterprise unions can represent the interests of their members. Snape and his colleagues refer to “pessimistic” and “optimistic” views on this question. On the one hand it is argued that the ACTFU is a body whose interests are primarily those of the state rather than the workers, resulting in a situation where the union is at best ineffective and at worst works against the labour force and in favour of employer and state interests.

A more optimistic assessment is one which views unions as increasingly representing the interests of workers. Some researchers have argued that unions are beginning to deliver improved pay and conditions, and better enforcement of workers’ legal rights, especially as workers become more aware of their potential bargaining power, and we are beginning to see the emergence of econometric evidence of a positive link between unions and pay and conditions.

EVALUATING THE UNIONS: THE STUDY METHOD Rather than seeking to provide evidence of union effects across China (the econometric studies are already doing

The methodology involved visits to the companies in question, observing their operations and reviewing company literature. Detailed semi-structured interviews were held with senior managers and union officials in each company, along with focus groups with workers and, in 10 of the 12 companies, a voluntary self-completion survey of 50 workers per company. The team also conducted interviews with ACFTU officials, government officials, and members of pro-labour NGOs, to help contextualise the findings.

UNION ORGANISATION IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA Generally speaking, the presence of unions was viewed as a response to the requirement laid down by the Chinese government, and the initiative for unionisation tended to come from the local ACFTU. It appears that FIEs in the Pearl River Delta were being unionised largely in response to the ACFTU’s organising campaign.

concepts therefore provide the much needed skills that bridge the gap and position the next generation of South Africans for success in any paths they choose to follow: academic, selfemployment and employment.

A UMN UPDA E S UDEN

It is enabled by expert speakers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to tap into young people’s potential of leadership, intra-personal and entrepreneurial skills. Delivered through interactive workshops focusing on life skills, leadership, entrepreneurship and career development workshops, the six-month programme has already benefitted well over 5,000 learners from more than 50 schools in Gauteng, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape.

YLED is an aspirational youth skills development programme that runs over a period of 26 weeks and gives selected young people (in and out of school) in South Africa the opportunity to hone their interpersonal, leadership, career and entrepreneurship to aid their chances of success in life.

The programme is designed to provide the learners with much needed skills to enhance the learners’ chances in life, preparing them for the challenges and opportunities beyond their schooling.

This is a much needed intervention in a country where unemployment is well over 25%, 50% of whom are young people between the ages of 18 and 25. Some of the young people that do graduate from high school are considered unemployable because they lack the desired life skills to cope with the demands of the working environment, self-confidence and attitude to lead meaningful lives. The YLED

The life skills workshop creates a platform that facilitates the learning of life skills to build a good foundation for self-development, inter-personal skills and preparation for the work environment.

This workshop focuses on communication skills, problem solving skills and financial literacy. This is followed by the leadership workshop which focuses on creating teams, understanding team dynamics and building trust among each other.

The expected outcomes of the programme include: • Empowered young people who take charge of their future and are capable of navigating through life challenges • Future leaders who understand the importance of crafting a vision of self and others; the value of mentoring and coaching as well as the importance of giving back

• Young people who understand the business world; its structure and possibilities that link to their future ambitions • Young people who know what it means to start and run a small business and have developed the required entrepreneurial awareness / spirit.

The YLED programme recognises the fact that many problems confronting teenagers stem from the search for the self, the gap between ideas and reality, between parents’ expectations and their aspirations.

Inspired by the impact the programmes have had on participants, YLED has an ambitious plan to train up to one million young people within the next three years.

With finite resources, however, this can only materialise with the help of those who share the dream to help others achieve their potential.

Invest in a YLED proven model • Adopt YLED as part of your corporate social responsibility programme.

Donations • Computer hardware to enable the imparting of computer literacy skills • Raise funds for YLED • Partner with YLED for a wider reach and impact.

Volunteer time and skills at YLED • Mentor • Coach

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On Thursday 15 May the Southern UK Local Association held a get-together event at the Devonshire Terrace near Liverpool Street Station. The event attracted 20 alumni and global students and was hosted by Alumni Relations Manager, Alexandra McNinch and Recruiter Relations Manager, Georgia Backhouse. To find out about future events please contact the Association Leader, Ugo Isiadinso (ugo.isiadinso@ bargateadvisory.com).

2. FRANKFURT The Frankfurt Local Association met on Thursday 7 August in the Sachsenhausen area of Frankfurt as part of their monthly get-together events. The group sat outside and enjoyed both each other’s company and the summer sun whilst discussing their latest news and sharing tales of their time at Durham. Durham University Business School’s Major Gifts Officer, Dr Anne Allen was also in attendance, giving those present the chance to catch up on the most recent Business School developments. To find out more about the Frankfurt alumni group please contact Association Leaders, Frank Wege (fwege74@gmail.com) and Christoph Maixner (christoph@maixner.de).

3. AZERBAIJAN The Azerbaijan Local Association recently held their inaugural get-together event at the Sketch Restaurant and Lounge in Baku. The event was held jointly with the Azerbaijan UK-Alumni Association (AUKAA) and included alumni from several different Universities including Warwick, Bristol and Imperial College.

There were around 40 alumni in attendance with the event proving a great opportunity for networking and to share their tales of their time in the UK.

4. JORDAN

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If you wish to learn more about the operations of the Investment Club please contact Dr Thomas Renstrom at t.i.renstrom@durham.ac.uk.

If you are interested in supporting the Investment Club in any way, including sponsorship opportunities please contact Anne Allen at anne.allen2@durham.ac.uk.

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Visiting Professor Ian Marchant (BA Economics 1980/83), former CEO of Scottish and Southern Energy gave a rousing address to over 250 alumni at the Business School’s reception in the House of Lords on 26 June.

A group of alumni based in Jordan played host to a delegation of staff from Durham University Business School on Tuesday 27 May. Professor Rob Dixon and Dr Christos Tsinopoulos attended a dinner at the Tannourin restaurant organised by alumnus, Local Association Leader and Dean of the University of Jordan Business

As regards complying with the law on unions, there was a general view that FIEs are especially likely to follow such legal requirements, not least because compliance can be associated with corporate social responsibility, and may actually be expected by customers.

Some enterprises had initially been reluctant to accept an enterprise union, but once established, unions were mainly regarded as a positive influence in the workplace, even if their existence might initially have been considered little more than a public relations exercise.

THE ROLE OF UNIONS IN THE WORKPLACE The traditional expectations of a workplace union are summarised as “providing for employee welfare, facilitating employeemanagement communication, resolving disputes, and negotiating over employee benefits, terms and conditions”. But to what extent do the unions in the Pearl River Delta companies fulfil them?

The findings suggested that some are dealt with more fully than others. In terms of employee welfare, there is a sense in which this role is delegated by the company to the union, rather than being a union initiative. In one case (where an ineffective so-called ‘paper union’ was in place) a paternalistic management decided to retain the welfare function, effectively denying the union a role in the workplace.

In terms of communication the unions functioned more as a “bridge” between workers and management, providing for the upward and downward flow of information. A common theme in the

Ian joins a growing panel of successful business leaders who make a vital contribution to Durham University Business School in time, expertise and money.

The campaign which will run to the end of the 50th anniversary year includes establishing an endowment fund to support student scholarships, prizes and bursaries, help for students setting up new business enterprises and support for student-led initiatives.

management interviews was that they often used the union as a way of “selling” a decision to the workforce. As a union committee member explained: “Occasionally, our factory will have some large orders and this requires our employees to have more flexible shifts and working time. What we will do is let the union chairman talk to the employees first and let them prepare for the adjustment. …

This works better, especially when there is a tense relationship between workers and the boss.”

In recent years, there has been considerable debate within China about the potential for unions to deal with labour disputes. The interviews suggested that enterprise unions were in many cases playing a significant role, but that their role was primarily that of a mediator.

One union chairman explained the typical approach very well: “We are a middleman between the company and the workers, and our job is to avoid conflict between them. Sometimes we are more inclined to the interests of employees, for instance, to ask for the basic welfare for the workers. Sometimes we incline to the company’s side. For example, if the worker asks for RMB 1500 per month, and this is not what he/she deserves, then we need to stay with the interest of the company.

This is very important. Nowadays, many factories ignore this and the conflicts between employer and employees are deteriorating, which can result in huge loss and social instability, and needs the intervention of local government. I have been working as union leader for a few years and my biggest goal is to keep stability and harmony”.

Unions have often been preoccupied with trying to ensure that workers receive their basic legal rights. There was evidence in our case studies, however, that some unions are beginning to bargain actively with their employer to win improved terms and conditions, in many cases well beyond the legal minimum, and the evidence suggests that this may be associated with the signing of a collective contract between company and union.

OVERALL IMPACTS OF UNION ACTIVITY Participants, management, union committee members and workers reported a generally positive view of union activity, although the benefits which it brings were occasionally perceived as being limited, sometimes because the union was recently formed.

No-one felt that there was no benefit accruing. In the majority of cases the main positive function of unions was seen in terms of employee welfare, improved work schedules and communications rather than pay. And for managers, the key benefit was in the avoidance of disputes and in some cases reduced staff turnover.

Despite the shifts in the overall pattern of Chinese union activity identified in the background literature review, the study indicated that the traditional ‘top-down’ organising method persisted, although once a union was in place management were increasingly accepting of its role. In the new China it seems that enterprise unions are often valued by management as partners rather than feared as opponents.

To find out more about this study please contact Ed Snape on edward.snape@durham.ac.uk.

School, Zu’bi Al-Zu’bi. It proved a great success with the alumni in attendance being given the chance to network with their peers and reminisce on their experiences at Durham. To find out more please contact the Association Leader, Zu’bi Al-Zu’bi (zoz55jo@yahoo.com).

5. PAKISTAN On Saturday 28 June the Pakistan Local Association met up for their first get-together event in Karachi. The group enjoyed a high-tea with Local Association Leader, Muhammad Aly, commenting that it was “an excellent event and provided an opportunity for all of us to get to know each other”. To find out more about the Pakistan alumni group please contact Association Leader, Muhammad Aly (muhammad-aly@live.com).

6. INDIA In May, Professor Kiran Fernandes visited India and led an interesting D8 masterclass in both Mumbai and New Delhi on ‘big data’. Those in attendance commented on the excellent topic content and how relevant it was to the current business themes in India.

7. ALMATY The Almaty Local Association held their first get-together event in the peaceful settings of McCarTea Bar in Almaty on Friday 23 May. Alumni enjoyed an evening of informal drinks with the event providing the perfect opportunity for attendees to network with fellow alumni based in the region and catch up on Business School news. To find out more about the Association please contact the Association’s leader, Gauhar Khasenova (gkhas@hotmail.com).

8. CHENGDU The newly formed Chengdu chapter held their first get-together event in Ms Bamboo Loft on Friday 2 May. The 20 alumni who attended fondly relived their memories of Durham and the Business School over a buffet dinner. The group plan to hold events on a quarterly basis with the next panel event likely to take place in early autumn. To find out more please contact Association Leader YingYing Fu (amber.fyy@gmail.com).

9. BEIJING Dr Robert McMurray led an engaging and interactive D8 master-class on the topic of ‘toxic management’ in Beijing (and Shanghai) to a mix of both Durham alumni and current students attending the MBA study tour trip in Beijing on Thursday 10 April. All in attendance greatly enjoyed the event with alumni commenting that it was a great opportunity to re-connect with the Business School.

In 2013 Paula Hyde joined Durham University Business School. She spent the first 10 years of her career working as an occupational therapist in mental health services in England before taking an academic appointment in the Faculty of Health at the University of Salford. Following that she joined Manchester Business School in 2003 where she co-founded the Health Workforce Research Network in the Institute of Health Sciences as well as leading several research projects in the NHS using ethnographic methods to examine the realities of working life for managers and staff in different types of health service organisation. Paula’s main research interests operate at the intersection of disciplinary fields; organisation studies, social psychology and human resource management. Through extensive research at the front-line of health service organisations, she has been able to contribute and shape academic thinking about health workforce, service organisation and delivery.

What are the most challenging parts of your job?

What drives you?

Since joining Durham University Business School last summer I have been really enjoying getting to know everyone and settling in, making new contacts and continuing with my health services research on managing change.

A Ford Mondeo Estate with a faded Stockport County F.C. sticker in the back. Up the County!

My work is very varied and I have lots of choice about how and when I do things. I find it most challenging to co-ordinate all these different activities and seem to spend a lot of time apologising for being a little bit late with everything. My approach evolved from the ‘ just in time’ management system into a ‘not quite in time’ arrangement.

Most of my friends are still laughing about me having a job with ‘organisation’ in the title.

What do you want to achieve?

I’d like to make a difference to the way NHS health care is organised and delivered. The NHS is made up of a complex system of diverse organisations. There has been a long-standing Governmental obsession with reorganisation and marketisation of UK health and social care. I examine the effects of these changes on the quality of care. Often these large scale projects lead to little change at the front end of services and sometimes there are some positives but at other times care quality can be adversely affected and the results can be serious. My work is concerned with identifying how and why things go wrong (and right) at the front end as a result of policy initiatives with a view to long-term prevention of harm.

What are you currently working on at Durham University Business School?

My current work examines the evolution of institutional abuse in residential care and health settings. I have just set up a special interest group (SIG) with Dr Robert McMurray called ‘Organising Care’ funded by Durham University Business School and the Wolfson Institute. The aim of the SIG is to encourage critical consideration of the effects of organising on care – how the act of organising people, professions, services, resources, regulation, ideas, procedures and processes fundamentally affects experiences of caring, and being cared for, in health, social and related sectors. If you are interested to hear more please let me know: paula.hyde@durham.ac.uk.

You can read more about Paula’s work and interests on the Academic Faculty section of the Business School website: www.durham.ac.uk/business

Energy, that great necessity of our modern age, comes at a cost. With increasing pressure from environmental groups for clean, green power, energy policy is more complex than ever as governments strive to balance the tangible and intangible costs of supplying enough energy for development and growth.

Available options vary from country to country, according to geographical resources and a willingness – or ability – to pay for them. In developing countries a typical pattern of energy production is one where traditional and relatively cheap – but often environmentally-damaging – methods dominate, with smaller, greener approaches forming a much smaller proportion of energy generation, often on grounds of cost.

FOCUS ON CHILE: A CHANGING ENERGY ENVIRONMENT The South American country of Chile, diverse in climate and geography, offers an interesting case study. In recent years its energy sources have shifted from hydroelectricity to coal and gas.

These alternative sources are now also encountering problems, with declining local coal supply – but Chile’s need for energy continues.

It seems unlikely that Chile’s future energy will come from fossil fuels, even though they are, at the moment at least, relatively cheap (a unit cost of roughly 8-10 cents).

One solution is a return to hydroelectricity, with five large schemes proposed for southern Patagonia. The cost of the electricity which would be generated by these projects is broadly similar to those of fossil fuels at around 9-10 cents per unit.

These projects throw the balance between economics and environment into focus. Patagonia is a wilderness area, remote and sparsely inhabited with a high perceived environmental value, aesthetically and in terms of its flora and fauna. It is perhaps unsurprising that the proposals have generated objections;

opinion polls suggest opposition not just among those immediately affected by the construction and transmission, but among the general population.

Can you quantify the strength of opposition? How do you place a price on an ecosystem? How do you value it against an economically quantifiable commodity – electricity? Garces-Voisenat and Mukherjee set out not just to contribute to the debate on environmental valuation but also to identify policy guidelines for future energy development, especially in developing countries.

They addressed three key questions: whether there are any alternatives to the dams as energy sources; what the value of the wilderness (the natural capital) might be to those who would pay for the electricity; and, assuming that the value is high, whether people would be willing to pay enough for alternative sources of energy to allow for that natural capital to be protected.

EVALUATING THE WILLINGNESS TO PAY Estimating WTP has been much discussed in academic literature and there is an established methodology, known as the contingent valuation method (CVM),

CLASS NOTES

The key question was: “How much extra money do you think your household would be willing to pay in your monthly electricity bill in order to protect Patagonia (that is, no construction of dams)?” Other questions related mainly to demographics but also considered economic factors (such as current electricity bills) and political views.

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS FOR CHILE? The first research question related to alternative energy sources available to Chileans. Not all possible sources are currently well developed although the country has key potential reserves. (At this point it is worth noting that hydroelectricity need not be completely ruled out and that the main issue with the proposals is their scale and location; smaller projects are less environmentally damaging.)

But cost is not the only problem and although overall the cost of generating energy from a mix of these renewable sources is likely to be lower than current prices, the shift from one energy mix to another involves capital costs, technological advance – and political will.

SO HOW MUCH ARE CHILEANS PREPARED TO PAY? And so to the results of the survey, the answer to the key question

Although one source, nuclear power, was definitely excluded in the wake of the Fukushima disaster (bearing in mind that Chile is not just highly vulnerable to earthquakes), the earth processes which rule out nuclear energy provide an alternative in the shape of geothermal power. Hot springs are tapped in many countries (most notably Iceland) and Chile’s resources are vast and undeveloped; the unit cost is in the region of 10 cents.

With high levels of sunshine and vast available space (in the Atacama desert) the country is particularly suited to solar energy. Although abundant, it is more expensive than traditional methods at 10-14 cents per unit. And at a smaller scale there is potential for the development of both wind power and biomass.

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10. SHANGHAI The China International Committee continues to support recent graduates’ careers and their latest event was the second alumni expert panel event of the year. The ‘Secrets behind great sales’ event took place on Saturday 12 July and saw senior alumni share their insights and knowledge on sales and how to empower your influence level. As ever, the event proved invaluable to those younger alumni in attendance who used the event as an opportunity to network and pose questions to experienced panel members.

Local Associations are the perfect way to keep in touch with other Durham University Business School alumni in your area. The next Global get-together date is Thursday 4 December 2014.

As usual this is just a guide. If it is more convenient for your group to meet at another date and time please do so.

If you are interested in joining these or any other groups throughout the world – in your location or perhaps in an area you frequent on business – please email us and we will put you in touch with a Local Association Leader. Alternatively, if there is not yet a Local Association in your area, contact the Alumni Relations Team and we can investigate setting one up.

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

If you require any help in arranging a get-together please do get in touch – business.alumni@durham.ac.uk.

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SUMMER GRADUA ON 2014

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OCA ASSOC A ON NEWS

It’s not research until it’s been published so whatever you do keep writing.

What advice would you offer to someone thinking of an academic career?

In this particular case, the survey addressed the second research question (relating to value of the wilderness) and fed into the third (the affordability of alternative sources). An online survey, it included 334 respondents over the age of 18, all of whom were living in Chile at the time of the survey but only 5% of whom lived in Patagonia, the area at risk.

BOOK RE EW DA ES OR HE D AR

R

> Durham University Electric Motorsport – World Solar Car Challenge Fund > Durham University Business School 50th Anniversary Scholarships Endowment Fund.

m

BE ER BUS NESS H NK NG US GO EAS ER E WAS E REC C NG

What was the best career advice you were given?

for evaluating environmental quality. CVM is survey-based and has been extensively used in the past to attach a monetary value to environmental assets such as clean water or reduced pollution.

> Entrepreneurship scholarships to establish new student enterprises

UNDRA S NG OR HE U URE

SUMMER GRADUAT ON 2014

20

• Making a financial gift, a social investment in Durham University students:

For more information on supporting the School please contact Dr Anne Allen via anne.allen2@durham.ac.uk.

Try not to do too many things at once (see above) and keep writing the paragraph that describes your area of expertise.

Also, try to focus on subjects that really interest you even if they seem out of fashion just now.

HE MPAC S O UN ON SA ON ON CH NA S ECONOM C E O U ON CON NUED… N RODUC NG

• Business speakers to support student learning through guest lectures and participation in boardroom exercises and careers insights.

The Solar Car Challenge.

W

14

• Alumni angels and dragons to mentor pre-start, start-up and early stage businesses set up

by Durham students.

• Corporate partners to take advantage of opportunities to develop shared programmes, business projects, internships, events and sponsorship opportunities.

The School’s fundraiser, Dr Anne Allen talks about how the support of our alumni can really make a difference: “Gifts and support in kind from alumni make a real difference to our students.

Philanthropic income transforms the student experience.”

08

Over the coming 12 months we will be contacting alumni to seek your support for the campaign in one of the following ways:

• Advisors and advocates to help to shape the future curriculum and strategy of the Business School or supporting Business School students through mentoring.

Top left: Professor Rob Dixon, Dean. Top right: Professor Dixon, The Rt Hon Lord Henley (History 1972/75), Professor

24

24

Professor Ian Marchant

“The Solar Car Challenge is a good example.

A group of engineering and business students came to me asking for help to raise £40,000 to design and build a solar car to compete in the next World Solar Challenge in Australia in 2015. It is the most prestigious event of its kind. The students undertake this project outside of their coursework. They are a talented and innovative group – who are actively developing and testing new technology and who have an ambition to succeed.”

The event marked the launch of the School’s ‘Fundraising for the Future’ campaign. Ian encouraged alumni who benefitted from a ‘free education’ to give back to help students today who do not have the same privilege.

Chris Higgins (Durham University Vice Chancellor) and Professor Ian Marchant. Bottom: A view from the reception.

N ES MEN C UB

“I really enjoyed my three years at Durham and the education and learning I received has served me so well in my career. I benefitted enormously from a free education, in fact I would not have even been able to consider going if fees had been payable. I am now in the fortunate position to be able to help today’s generation of students and I find that incredibly rewarding as well.”

19

While the policy issues are much discussed, one significant area has previously been little studied – how much, or how little, the consumer would be willing to pay for environmentally sustainable energy sources. With this in mind, Durham University Business School’s Juan-Pedro Garces-Voisenat and Zinnia Mukherjee of Simmons College undertook a study of the public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for such energy in Chile.

• Facilitate.

Should you wish to find out more about Steven’s work and the YLED please contact Steven Zwane via steven@yled.org.za.

1. LONDON

DUBS Alumni Global Network

BUILDING THE LEGACY FOR FUTURE MEMBERS Although the year has been successful in many ways, the members feel that the MSc Investment Club could be used in a powerful way to further enhance the reputation of the Business School and the MSc programme. The ethos of the Club is not only to allow its members to gain a practical insight into portfolio management but to also benefit our peers, in order to maximise their experience of studying at Durham.

Paula Hyde – Professor of Organisation Studies

Dr Juan-Pedro Garces-Voisenat started his career as a civil servant in his native Chile, where he held some advisory and economic analysis roles in the Ministries of Finance and Planning, participating in the elaboration of public policies. Juan-Pedro moved into academia in 1994 working at Universities in the USA and Chile before taking up his post as Teaching Fellow in Economics at Durham University Business School in 2014. Here we review the study he and Dr Zinnia Mukherjee (Simmons College, Boston) conducted in Patagonia looking at society’s inclination to pay for alternative energy sources.

YLED needs alumni and other institutions to partner with us through any material funding to make this a reality. We would welcome your generous involvement in the organisation:

28

local association news

SEEKING ALUMNI SUPPORT Another key aspect of progression which the Chair is passionate about is bringing in sponsorship from key firms within the financial industry. This will allow the Investment Club to benefit the wider cohort of students, not only the postgraduates, but also the undergraduates as well.

Through forming relations with firms within the industry, the Investment Club will be able to deliver networking events, educational talks and in essence provide a network in which like-minded students can work together and help each other.

18

How alumni can help

MANDE A SCHO AR NSP R NG A R CAN EADERS O OMORROW

Top row, from left: Frankfurt, Azerbaijan, Jordan. Middle row: Pakistan, New Delhi, Almaty. Bottom row, from left: Beijing, Shanghai.

In carrying out the investments, the members are each allocated a sector of the FTSE 100 to research. Each member is then given responsibility to look at the available firms within the sector, and if it is seen to be feasible, the members produce a stock report and pitch their stock to the rest of the club. Once the pitch has been presented, the members discuss the possibility of carrying out the investment based on the fundamental analysis provided. Thereafter a vote is conducted by the Chair to determine the outcome on whether to invest or not.

The end of year investment report will give a detailed analysis of the portfolio and the reasons as to why the investments were carried out. It will give a breakdown of each holding, along with a prediction by the analyst giving a suggestion where the stock is heading. The report also intends to include short articles from academics and industry professionals which will allow for the Investment Club to be seen as a prominent establishment within the Business School. This report will help inform the next cohort of students who will take our baton in 2014/15.

SHOR ERM ERSUS ONG ERM MPAC O MANAGERS CON NUED Q&A

Willingness to pay for environmental resources in the Chilean Patagonia

“Inspired by the impact the programmes has had on participants, YLED has an ambitious plan to train up to one million young people within the next three years.”

To empower the learners with critical business skills, they are also taken through the entrepreneurship workshop, which provides an understanding of business organisations by giving the learners real and practical experience in running small businesses of their own for a period of 13 weeks. The students are also taken through career development workshops to provide them with the necessary tools to make sound career decisions, develop their CV writing and interview skills.

12

18 23

Fuelled by his life-long mission to help others reach their full potential, Steven Zwane founded Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development (YLED) in 2004. In March 2014 YLED was registered as a non-profit organisation, and Steven serves as its Chairperson.

At the beginning of each academic year, members of the Club are selected via an application process by Programme Director, Dr Thomas Renstrom, allowing the Club to start investing immediately. The Club has a nominated Chair who is required to deal with its smooth operation and is the main point of contact with other departments within the Business School and University.

The fund is then passed on to the new group of members each autumn.

“Once established, the unions were mainly regarded as a positive influence in the workplace, even if their existence might initially have been considered little more than a public relations exercise.”

that), the team adopted a detailed case study approach looking at the operation of enterprise unions. They chose to focus on FIEs in the Pearl River Delta, an area selected because of its economic significance. Whilst they visited around 50 companies in total, in this paper they focus on in-depth case studies in 12 companies, all in the manufacturing sector. With a mix of foreign ownership, employing between 130 and 15,000 people, and with more recently established and more mature companies, the cases show a mix of structure and maturity in terms of union representation.

22

This is the story of Steven Zwane (previously Mavundla), a Nelson Mandela Scholarship recipient who holds an MBA from Durham University Business School (2006/07). A seasoned business leader, Steven is currently the Head of Business Support at Absa’s Business Banking, where he is responsible for channel optimisation, business enablement and business performance management.

WHAT IS THE INVESTMENT CLUB? The MSc Investment Club provides a platform for students to bridge the gap between the theoretical foundations of finance and the practical aspect of it.

The Club consists of nine students from the 2013/14 MSc Finance cohort, and it gives students an opportunity to apply portfolio theory taught within the course and manage an active investment fund.

It enables students to get a hands-on feel as to how portfolio management works, requiring students to thoroughly analyse stocks, calculate the risk appetite of the fund and successfully execute trades at the appropriate time.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB? The members of the Investment Club usually meet on a monthly basis to discuss the position of the fund and any other possible investments that the members see as viable to make. In order to mitigate risk the Business School has only allowed for investments to be made in the FTSE 100, and no complex derivatives or leverage positions are permitted to be taken. The Club and its members also act in line with the code of ethics Durham University upholds, ensuring there are no conflicts of interest.

introducing...

“Economic growth and development, not least the shift from wholly state-owned industry towards increasing private – and foreign – ownership and management, have inevitably altered the way in which unions operate.”

HE MPAC S O UN ON SA ON ON CH NA S ECONOM C E O U ON

Mandela Scholar inspiring African leaders of tomorrow

STUDENT INVESTMENT CLUB SEEKS ALUMNI SUPPORTERS Following the popularity of the stock trade exercise that has been running on the MSc Finance programme for many years, the School established a genuine investment club with the help of a £5,000 donation from alumnus Sir George Russell CBE (Economics 1955/58).

Here, the current Student Chair, Adrees Nazir (MSc Economics and Finance 2013/14) explains how the Club has evolved and how the alumni network might be well placed to take them to the next level.

8

Fundraising for the Future

Q&A

CHANGE IN CHINA: THE UNION ROLE Economic growth and development, not least the shift from wholly state-owned industry towards increasing private – and foreign – ownership and management, have altered the way in which unions operate. Government policy, in tandem with labour shortages and the consequent power the latter confer on the workforce, has altered the balance of this dual role.

28

Welcome to another jam-packed edition of the alumni magazine.

M

Traditionally, unions in China have played a dual role, not just representing the interests of their members but also serving those of management and, ultimately, the state, through improving productivity and maintaining workplace harmony. This contrasts with the typical unions in Western countries, where the interests of the workers are pre-eminent and the union is often in a position of conflict with the employer.

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7

ALUMNI – UPDATE

06

DEAN S WE COME NEWS

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For those of you who haven’t visited our site you may be interested to take a tour of the Career Gateway and Knowledge Portal. The Career Gateway houses all the resources that the School provides to help you make the most of your chosen career path, or indeed aid your decision about which next steps to take. Resources include a webinar library, eBooks, videos, an international jobs board, and details of career consultations for alumni.

The Knowledge Portal provides access to various databases, e-journals and recorded audio-visual lectures, and is a valuable source of materials for your continuing professional development.

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16

5

DOCTORAL NEWS The Business School has been accepted as a member of the European Doctoral Programme Association in Management and Business Administration (EDAMBA).

EDAMBA membership will help the School to further enhance its doctoral programme by supporting its commitment to developing doctoral students of the highest quality.

CONFERENCE NEWS BUILDING LANDS LABC AWARD The School’s Mill Hill Lane development won the ‘Best Educational Building’ category at the recent Northern region Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Awards and will now go forward to the national awards taking place in November.

The accolade follows successes in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) awards, the North East Constructing Excellence (CENE) Awards, as well as being shortlisted for an Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC) Green Gown Award.

All of Durham University’s courses are ranked in the UK’s top ten according to The 2015 Complete University Guide.

This secures Durham’s position as one of the finest all-round universities in the country, delivering excellence in education and research across all its disciplines.

Vice Chancellor, Professor Chris Higgins, commented: “This is excellent news for the University. We are enormously proud to have every single course we offer at Durham ranked within the top ten in the

04

news

SCHOOL NEWS

DEAN’S WELCOME

C ASS NO ES

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DEAN’S WELCOME We were commended on the quality of our research and core faculty, the commitment of our professional staff, and the integration of the collegiate and academic systems providing a very high quality student experience. I’d like to thank all alumni who supported the School during this visit.

We continue to make important, and ongoing, investment in our staff.

This not only supports our accreditation submissions, but also the expansion of our core faculty, reducing our staff student ratio and enhancing our students’ experience during their studies. For example, over the summer we appointed six new members of economics faculty.

You may recall that in the last issue of this magazine the School was awaiting the outcome of the EQUIS accreditation visit which took place in March. I am delighted to confirm that, in addition to our re-accreditation, the EQUIS Peer Review Team highlighted progress made since their last visit in 2010.

Last year Professor Paula Hyde joined us from Manchester Business School, where she co-founded the Health Workforce Research Network in the Institute of Health Sciences. You can read more on Paula and her work in the ‘Introducing’ feature on page 19. Also in this issue are contributions by several other members of the School’s faculty, including highlights of recently conducted research by Drs Mat and Paul Hughes: ‘The short-term versus long-term impact of managers’ (pages 10-12), ‘The impacts of unionisation on China’s economic evolution’

by Professor Ed Snape (pages 16-18), and ‘Willingness to pay for environmental resources in the Chilean Patagonia’ by Juan-Pedro Garces-Voisenat (pages 24-25).

As plans for celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the School build momentum, we are looking forward to celebrating with you, our alumni, students, staff, both past and present, and indeed all our stakeholders. The programme of activities for our celebration weekend in April 2015 is now confirmed and we are anticipating welcoming a large number of supporters and friends; you can read more on page 2. A small online archive of historical photographs supplied by past staff and alumni is also being compiled. If you have any photographs or other archive contributions that you would be willing to share please contact the Alumni Relations team.

In tandem with the 50th anniversary we will be encouraging our alumni to consider giving back to the School by supporting our Fundraising for the Future campaign (pages 8-9).

If you would like to find out more about this project or other ways to support the School philanthropically, please make contact with Dr Anne Allen, Major Gifts Officer, via the Alumni Relations team.

Best wishes Professor Rob Dixon Dean

news

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SCHOOL NEWS DOCTORAL NEWS

NEW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

The Business School has been accepted as a member of the European Doctoral Programme Association in Management and Business Administration (EDAMBA).

EDAMBA membership will help the School to further enhance its doctoral programme by supporting its commitment to developing doctoral students of the highest quality.

May saw the launch of the new Organising Care Special Interest Group (OCSIG).

Founded by Dr Robert McMurray and Professor Paula Hyde (pictured below), the group is joint-funded by the University’s Wolfson Institute and Durham University Business School. Plans are underway for an event this autumn which will focus on ‘Failures in care’.

CONFERENCE NEWS BUILDING LANDS LABC AWARD The School’s Mill Hill Lane development won the ‘Best Educational Building’ category at the recent Northern region Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Awards and will now go forward to the national awards taking place in November.

The accolade follows successes in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) awards, the North East Constructing Excellence (CENE) Awards, as well as being shortlisted for an Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC) Green Gown Award.

In September the School was proud to host the Money, Macro and Finance Conference – the 46th annual conference of the Money, Macro and Finance Research Group. In addition to invited speakers: Douglas Gale (Imperial College London), Seppo Honkapohja (Bank of Finland) and Rafael Wouters (National Bank of Belgium), special policy sessions were held on topics including ‘The Scottish Independence Referendum’, ‘Human Capital and Growth’ and ‘UK Macro Models’. The conference drew academics from around the globe.

UNIVERSITY NEWS UK, with the vast majority in the top five.

Durham students in every Department benefit from having excellent teaching delivered by some of the world’s finest researchers across arts and humanities, the sciences and social sciences.”

DURHAM RECOGNISED FOR ITS SPACE SCIENTISTS THE COMPLETE UNIVERSITY GUIDE All of Durham University’s courses are ranked in the UK’s top ten according to The 2015 Complete University Guide.

This secures Durham’s position as one of the finest all-round universities in the country, delivering excellence in education and research across all its disciplines.

Vice Chancellor, Professor Chris Higgins, commented: “This is excellent news for the University. We are enormously proud to have every single course we offer at Durham ranked within the top ten in the

The University has been named as Europe’s leading university for highly-cited researchers in astronomy and cosmology.

The Thomson-Reuters list of the ‘World’s most influential scientific minds 2014’ also saw Durham ranked sixth in the world for the influence of its space science researchers. Durham was the only UK University to feature in the world top ten, ranking above prestigious institutions including NASA, The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany, and the Harvard Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in the USA.

HONORARY DEGREE AWARDS The University honoured several national and international figures as part of its Summer Congregation celebrations.

Honorary degrees were awarded to the following prominent figures in geology, music, archaeology, business and the wine industry: • Professor Jane Buikstra – renowned anthropologist and bio-archaeologist • Tony and Barbara Laithwaite – founders and owners of the world’s foremost home delivery wine company • James Lancelot – one of Britain’s most distinguished organists • Professor Mosobalaje Oyawoye – the first African Professor of Geology • Bob Young – successful entrepreneur and North East businessman.

6

ALUMNI – UPDATE Welcome to another jam-packed edition of the alumni magazine.

Following feedback from the alumni survey last year, we listened to comments about improving the alumni website and have made changes to the design and some of the functionality. Hopefully you will have noticed the look and feel is much more modern and in keeping with the Business School’s main website.

For those of you who haven’t visited our site you may be interested to take a tour of the Career Gateway and Knowledge Portal. The Career Gateway houses all the resources that the School provides to help you make the most of your chosen career path, or indeed aid your decision about which next steps to take. Resources include a webinar library, eBooks, videos, an international jobs board, and details of career consultations for alumni.

The Knowledge Portal provides access to various databases, e-journals and recorded audio-visual lectures, and is a valuable source of materials for your continuing professional development.

The benefits page on the website has been recently updated too. As an international business school with a network of international alumni, it seems appropriate to expand the DUBS Alumni Network benefits package to feature some travel offers. The most recent offer to be added to the website includes discounts with Intercontinental Hotels.

As Professor Dixon mentions in the Dean’s message, the School is counting down to its 50th anniversary celebration event on 11 April 2015. We have received overwhelming interest from a number of classes, as well as individuals, and we look forward to this being the biggest and best event of our history to date. If you are hoping to attend please ensure you book early to avoid disappointment, as many of the activities, not least the formal dinner at Durham Castle, have limited spaces.

For those of you wishing to stay overnight at the Castle we have a limited number of en-suite bedrooms reserved for the event; these can be booked directly by calling +44 (0)191 334 4106 and quoting ‘DUBS 50th anniversary weekend’.

As part of the 50th anniversary the School has a number of ambassadorial initiatives for alumni to get involved with.

We are looking for supporters to give their time and money towards projects that will enhance the ‘Durham experience’ for our students. Opportunities include being a business ‘Angel’ or a ‘Dragon’. Angels are needed to help enterprising students to realise their business concepts and Dragons can mentor students through the development of their entrepreneurial ideas. Dr Anne Allen, the School’s Major Gift Officer, shares more detail on such projects on pages 8-9.

In this issue, current chair of the student Investment Club, Adrees Nazir (MSc Economics and Finance 2013/14) talks about how alumni can get involved to help students achieve their ambitious plans (page 7), and Brad Atkinson (DBA 2002/06) reviews River of Dreams, a book set in Durham, authored by MBA alumnus Tom Mullen (page 30). In addition to the usual contributions from alumni in the form of Local Association news, class notes and alumni Q&A, we also have some features on alumni business ventures; Sam Stroot (MBA 2011/12) on page 15 and Steven Zwane (MBA 2006/07) on pages 22-23.

Please do share any comments and suggestions about this magazine, or on the alumni network offering in general via business.alumni@durham.ac.uk For those of you who are not aware I will shortly be commencing maternity leave.

I therefore leave you in the capable hands of my colleague, Alumni Coordinator, Katharine Aspey (pictured above), and Roderick Lewis, my temporary replacement who will join the team from ISCTE Business School in Portugal. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with so many of you for the past six years and look forward to returning in 2015 to pick up where I left off.

Best wishes Alexandra McNinch Alumni Relations Manager

7

STUDENT INVESTMENT CLUB SEEKS ALUMNI SUPPORTERS Following the popularity of the stock trade exercise that has been running on the MSc Finance programme for many years, the School established a genuine investment club with the help of a ÂŁ5,000 donation from alumnus Sir George Russell CBE (Economics 1955/58).

Here, the current Student Chair, Adrees Nazir (MSc Economics and Finance 2013/14) explains how the Club has evolved and how the alumni network might be well placed to take them to the next level.

WHAT IS THE INVESTMENT CLUB? The MSc Investment Club provides a platform for students to bridge the gap between the theoretical foundations of finance and the practical aspect of it.

The Club consists of nine students from the 2013/14 MSc Finance cohort, and it gives students an opportunity to apply portfolio theory taught within the course and manage an active investment fund.

It enables students to get a hands-on feel as to how portfolio management works, requiring students to thoroughly analyse stocks, calculate the risk appetite of the fund and successfully execute trades at the appropriate time.

At the beginning of each academic year, members of the Club are selected via an application process by Programme Director, Dr Thomas Renstrom, allowing the Club to start investing immediately. The Club has a nominated Chair who is required to deal with its smooth operation and is the main point of contact with other departments within the Business School and University.

The fund is then passed on to the new group of members each autumn.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB? The members of the Investment Club usually meet on a monthly basis to discuss the position of the fund and any other possible investments that the members see as viable to make. In order to mitigate risk the Business School has only allowed for investments to be made in the FTSE 100, and no complex derivatives or leverage positions are permitted to be taken. The Club and its members also act in line with the code of ethics Durham University upholds, ensuring there are no conflicts of interest.

In carrying out the investments, the members are each allocated a sector of the FTSE 100 to research. Each member is then given responsibility to look at the available firms within the sector, and if it is seen to be feasible, the members produce a stock report and pitch their stock to the rest of the club. Once the pitch has been presented, the members discuss the possibility of carrying out the investment based on the fundamental analysis provided. Thereafter a vote is conducted by the Chair to determine the outcome on whether to invest or not.

BUILDING THE LEGACY FOR FUTURE MEMBERS Although the year has been successful in many ways, the members feel that the MSc Investment Club could be used in a powerful way to further enhance the reputation of the Business School and the MSc programme. The ethos of the Club is not only to allow its members to gain a practical insight into portfolio management but to also benefit our peers, in order to maximise their experience of studying at Durham.

The end of year investment report will give a detailed analysis of the portfolio and the reasons as to why the investments were carried out. It will give a breakdown of each holding, along with a prediction by the analyst giving a suggestion where the stock is heading. The report also intends to include short articles from academics and industry professionals which will allow for the Investment Club to be seen as a prominent establishment within the Business School. This report will help inform the next cohort of students who will take our baton in 2014/15.

SEEKING ALUMNI SUPPORT Another key aspect of progression which the Chair is passionate about is bringing in sponsorship from key firms within the financial industry. This will allow the Investment Club to benefit the wider cohort of students, not only the postgraduates, but also the undergraduates as well.

Through forming relations with firms within the industry, the Investment Club will be able to deliver networking events, educational talks and in essence provide a network in which like-minded students can work together and help each other.

If you wish to learn more about the operations of the Investment Club please contact Dr Thomas Renstrom at t.i.renstrom@durham.ac.uk.

If you are interested in supporting the Investment Club in any way, including sponsorship opportunities please contact Anne Allen at anne.allen2@durham.ac.uk.

8

Fundraising for the Future Visiting Professor Ian Marchant (BA Economics 1980/83), former CEO of Scottish and Southern Energy gave a rousing address to over 250 alumni at the Business School’s reception in the House of Lords on 26 June.

The event marked the launch of the School’s ‘Fundraising for the Future’ campaign. Ian encouraged alumni who benefitted from a ‘free education’ to give back to help students today who do not have the same privilege.

Ian joins a growing panel of successful business leaders who make a vital contribution to Durham University Business School in time, expertise and money.

The campaign which will run to the end of the 50th anniversary year includes establishing an endowment fund to support student scholarships, prizes and bursaries, help for students setting up new business enterprises and support for student-led initiatives.

The School’s fundraiser, Dr Anne Allen talks about how the support of our alumni can really make a difference: “Gifts and support in kind from alumni make a real difference to our students.

Philanthropic income transforms the student experience.”

Top left: Professor Rob Dixon, Dean. Top right: Professor Dixon, The Rt Hon Lord Henley (History 1972/75), Professor Chris Higgins (Durham University Vice Chancellor) and Professor Ian Marchant. Bottom: A view from the reception.

9

“I really enjoyed my three years at Durham and the education and learning I received has served me so well in my career. I benefitted enormously from a free education, in fact I would not have even been able to consider going if fees had been payable. I am now in the fortunate position to be able to help today’s generation of students and I find that incredibly rewarding as well.”

Professor Ian Marchant

“The Solar Car Challenge is a good example.

A group of engineering and business students came to me asking for help to raise £40,000 to design and build a solar car to compete in the next World Solar Challenge in Australia in 2015. It is the most prestigious event of its kind. The students undertake this project outside of their coursework. They are a talented and innovative group – who are actively developing and testing new technology and who have an ambition to succeed.”

Over the coming 12 months we will be contacting alumni to seek your support for the campaign in one of the following ways: • Alumni angels and dragons to mentor pre-start, start-up and early stage businesses set up

by Durham students.

• Business speakers to support student learning through guest lectures and participation in boardroom exercises and careers insights.

• Advisors and advocates to help to shape the future curriculum and strategy of the Business School or supporting Business School students through mentoring.

• Making a financial gift, a social investment in Durham University students: > Entrepreneurship scholarships to establish new student enterprises >D urham University Electric Motorsport – World Solar Car Challenge Fund > Durham University Business School 50th Anniversary Scholarships Endowment Fund.

• Corporate partners to take advantage of opportunities to develop shared programmes, business projects, internships, events and sponsorship opportunities.

The Solar Car Challenge.

For more information on supporting the School please contact Dr Anne Allen via anne.allen2@durham.ac.uk.

10

SHORT-TERM VERSUS LONG-TERM IMPACT OF MANAGERS: EVIDENCE FROM THE FOOTBALL INDUSTRY Ah, the manager debate. Should he stay or should he go? He hasn’t been here long but the team aren’t performing for him. Maybe he was the wrong man for the job; or perhaps we should let him settle in, give him a chance…

Dr Mat Hughes is Reader in Entrepreneurial Management at Durham University Business School and the Director of the PhD Programme (Dr Mat Hughes is pictured on the right with Dr Paul Hughes).

Mat joined the School in 2012 following a stint at Nottingham University Business School as Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship & Innovation. He is a currently-serving member of the editorial board for Journal of Management Studies and International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, and is a member of the Strategic Management Society and the Academy of Management. His work here with peers Dr Paul Hughes (Durham University Business School); Professor Kamel Mellahi (Loughborough University); and Professor Cherif Guermat (University of Sheffield) concentrates on how changes in management can shape organisation, or in this case, team performance.

Football fans have been having this debate for decades and in fact the soccer situation is a microcosm of a serious area for discussion and research in the field of business management. In light of this a team of academics, led by Mat Hughes of Durham University Business School, have used managerial performance in football as a case study to look at the long- and short-term effects of managerial change – and their conclusions make interesting reading, not just for the business student but for the long-suffering fan.

THE MANAGEMENT BACKGROUND Academic literature can be divided broadly into three different theories on the subject of the effectiveness or otherwise of managerial change – scapegoating; vicious circle; and tenure/life cycle. Dr Mat Hughes and his team use the example of football to examine them in more detail.

Scapegoating theory is largely selfexplanatory. It proposes that manager change does not materially affect performance but is a ritual undertaken to demonstrate to the fans (or, more generally, stakeholders such as actual or potential investors) that the board is in control and able to take decisive action; but because the manager may not be responsible for poor performance, replacing him or her may not solve the problem.

Vicious circle theory argues that managerial change can actually be damaging because it disrupts an existing situation, introduces instability and increases tension. This is on top of the loss of company-specific knowledge which an experienced manager will have acquired during his tenure. The result is that, rather than improvement, decline accelerates further.

Tenure and life cycle theories propose that new managers introduce new processes to ‘freshen up’ the business, but that over time that freshness will inevitably become stale and the problems will recur.

CONFLICTS: LONG- AND SHORT-TERM VIEWS These theories clearly conflict and, in order to try and resolve some of the differences between them, the team reviewed management performance in both the long and the short term. From this they constructed four key questions which they addressed through a study of footballing performance. Does short-term performance improve after manager change? If no improvement occurs, is there evidence of a vicious circle of perpetual change and underperformance?

Does tenure deteriorate performance over time? And in the long term, does performance increase dramatically to justify manager change?

CASE STUDY: THE BEAUTIFUL GAME Football lends itself admirably to an examination of these questions. Managers can be considered as equivalent to senior operating officers, working at a level below the strategists but dealing directly with the employees (the players), taking

11

decisions on a day-to-day basis (they pick the team) and representing a public face of the business (they talk to the media). They take the credit for success or carry the can for failure.

Football managers can be considered as equivalent to senior operating officers, working at a level below the strategists but dealing directly with the employees

Furthermore, the game is built upon numbers and statistics. Points are awarded for games won and lost and, though this may not necessarily be an accurate measure of performance (teams often play well and lose, or badly and win) the system is easily understood and is a key measure by which the success of the business is judged.

There are clear examples of the way in which the crossover between football in particular and business in general operate.

The researchers cite the example of how Guus Hiddink’s management approach was held up as an example to business by the South Korean government when he managed the country’s national side.

More recently Sir Alex Ferguson, arguably the most successful manager in football history, has taken up a post lecturing in executive education at Harvard University.

(It is worth noting that both Hiddink and Ferguson experienced difficult starts to their managerial stints and that Ferguson, in particular, came close to losing his job.)

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The average tenure of a manager in Premier League football is short at less than two years and has declined since the start of the Premier League, when it was over three.

Previous research into sporting management has suggested that managerial change leads to short-term decline followed by recovery. On the day a good team can be outperformed by a bad one and longer tenure allows a manager to get more out of a talented squad – leading to the hypothesis that “longer manager tenure is positively related to performance”.

Although change might be expected to reinvigorate, scapegoating theory suggests that this is not the case if problems are deep-rooted. So the researchers hypothesised that “manager change is negatively related to short-term (10-game) performance” and, on the flip side, that “[it] is positively related to long-term (30-game) performance”.

TESTING THE HYPOTHESES: THE STUDY METHODOLOGY Football, a sport in which vast sums of money depend upon a side winning, suits this type of assessment. The criteria for success or otherwise are, by and large, homogeneous and measurable, although of course they involve some simplification.

(They do not, for example, take account of success in other competitions when many a manager has compensated for a poor league performance with a face-saving cup win; or of the level of expectations given that success for one team might be considered failure at another).

But data for assessment are readily available. The researchers looked at performances by teams in the top tier of English football, the Premier League, from its inception in 1992 until the end of the 2003/04 season; their key figures included points accrued, goals scored and league position from over 5,000 matches.

but it fails to address the root of The average tenure of a manager in Premier the problem. In the wider context of League football is short at less than two management theory, the findings of the years and has declined since the start of the Premier League, when it was over three. study support the scapegoating and vicious circle theories. As the researchers remark: To examine and contrast performance over “The driver of manager change should the long and short term, the researchers be managers’ ineffectiveness in tackling broke down the managers’ tenure into organisational weaknesses; otherwise short-term (up to 10 games) and long-term change is simply an act of scapegoating and (over 30) and also included the 10 games could result in a vicious circle developing”. preceding appointment for comparison.

THE RESULTS FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE… Using several layers of statistical analysis to allow for managerial change and for those teams which were not present throughout the whole period, the researchers found that their results showed a strong association between management change and team performance, with a suggestion that an increase in the former can lead to a decline in the latter. Conversely, more frequent change was associated with volatile performance on the field. This association was more obvious among the top performing teams. Most teams showed a fall in performance prior to manager change, but this was not always the case.

SO SHOULD WE SACK THE MANAGER? If, as the results of the analysis seem to suggest, lower rates of manager change lead to higher levels of performance in terms of points on the board, sacking the manager would appear to be a high-risk action, especially given that there is no strong evidence for disruption and weakening in the longer term of a manager’s tenure – although the eventual recurrence of underlying problems cannot be ruled out.

The implication is that reactive sacking does not solve a football club’s problems; disruptions may temporarily halt a decline

Like many others, the study has limitations.

The situation in football may not be directly applicable in other areas of management, for example; and the quantitative identification of manager change makes no allowance for the qualitative element – for example, if the new manager is an internal appointment there will be no loss of ‘insider knowledge’ and the transition may well run more smoothly. Nor does it account for other factors which may affect performance, such as the quality and attitude of the players or whether or not a new manager is given resources to buy in new players.

Nevertheless, football provides an illustration of the problems which can arise from too-rapid managerial change and makes a key contribution to the literature in identifying how the consequences of such change create illusions of performance.

Dr Mat Hughes and his team recommend that further research should be undertaken to clarify the detail of this.

In the meantime, it seems that the manager’s job is safe, at least until the dreaded vote of confidence from the board…

To find out more about this study please contact Dr Mat Hughes on mat.hughes@durham.ac.uk.

Q&A Q. What is your current role?

A. I am the Managing Partner at Lardi & Partner Consulting and a masters programme lecturer at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). I am also frequently invited to speak at notable events as an expert in the field of digital, social media and enterprise collaboration.

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

A. Being a management consultant I am able to work closely with my clients to develop solutions that meet their business needs. Over the years, I have consulted with, and implemented, digital projects for many global companies. Often it involves getting to know the people and building a good understanding for what the company needs, as well as how to develop feasible solutions. Since 2007 I have been actively working in the area of digital strategies. I am very passionate about these topics and enjoy working with companies to understand the impact of new technologies and how it could be applied for sustainable business returns.

Q. W hat would you describe as your main strengths and how have these led you to where you are today?

A. People would certainly describe me as a determined and hard working person. These qualities have enabled me to achieve success in a wide range of things. I am also a structured and analytical thinker, which helps create clarity and direction in any work that I do.

I am also driven and believe that we can achieve anything we put our minds to.

Q. W hat are your fondest memories of your time in Durham?

A. Studying at the Business School was one of the best times of my life.

I had the opportunity to meet people from different countries around the world and learn new perspectives.

Additionally, I met my husband there.

Q. Do you feel that your Durham degree and connections have helped your career?

A. Before joining the MBA programme at Durham, I had already worked for a number of years as a Management Consultant in Accenture. The MBA helped solidify a lot of the experiences that I had already gathered over the years. Additionally, I found the course to be pragmatic, covering key topics that are relevant to the real business world. Sharing classes and dorms with people from around the world also helped me gain a better understanding for different cultures and prepared me for work in Europe.

Q. W hat is the most exciting thing you have done since graduating?

A. Firstly, moving to Switzerland and working in Europe for the past 10 years has certainly been an exciting change in my life. Two years ago, I started my own consulting business, which has been challenging and wonderful at the same time. In 2013, I started lecturing at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and wrote my first business book.

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Kamales Lardi (MBA 2003/04) is currently working as a Managing Partner at Lardi & Partner Consulting and lectures on postgraduate programmes at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

Here she shares her career wisdom and post-Durham experiences with the DUBS Alumni Network.

On top of all this I became a mother in 2010, which has contributed to a lot of positive changes in my life.

I believe that my experience in Durham has equipped me to take on all these exciting experiences.

Q. If you were to offer some advice to current students, what would it be?

A. Enjoy the experience thoroughly, not only the education but also the culture at Durham, which is quite unique. Try to get to know the people around you who bring a wide range of experiences and knowledge. Durham will be the best time of your life, memories which you will treasure for a lifetime.

Q. W hat about your plans for the future?

A. At the moment I am busy building up my own business and enjoying family life. For the future, I hope to further establish myself as a recognised expert in digital strategies.

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BETTER BUSINESS THINKING JUST GOT EASIER Do you ever think ‘I’m too busy to read everything I should’?

It was this question that led Peter Allen and Durham alumnus Graham Forrest to create Durham University Business School Kn@wledge – a free to download app currently being piloted that will allow you to listen to the latest news, in-depth analysis and thought leadership from the Business School on your smartphone, tablet or mp3 player, wherever you are, whatever you are doing.

Peter teaches strategic management at the Business School and leads the boardroom exercise across the School’s MBA programmes. His work has made him familiar with the breadth and depth of research and knowledge resource available across Durham. Entrepreneur Graham (BA Economics 1980/83) qualified as an accountant before going on to build a series of successful companies. He currently chairs the digital company that created the technologies that underpin Kn@wledge.

For most busy professionals and managers, keeping up to date can be a challenge.

The day-to-day demands of most jobs leave little time to read about the latest developments and current thinking. At the same time, the proliferation of mobile devices has created many opportunities to listen to the things that interest us whilst doing other things. The app combines the latest technology with Durham’s wealth of knowledge to create a convenient way to keep up to date.

Commenting on the development of the app, Peter said: “Much of what is available on Kn@wledge can be found elsewhere, but it needs to be dug out and you are tied to a computer whilst you do it.

“Sometimes I find it is the chance hearing of a brief article on the radio during my commute to work that stimulates a new thought or insight that is really valuable. That’s what we have tried to create with Kn@wledge.”

Information becomes something more useful when it is available in one place, easy to assimilate, is relevant to what you need and simple to find out more. And, sometimes I find it is the chance hearing of a brief article on the radio during my commute to work that stimulates a new thought or insight that is really valuable. That’s what we have tried to create with Kn@wledge.”

The app pilot features audio stories on the latest research, comment and scholarship from across the Business School and further afield. The content can be filtered to ensure you get only the material most relevant to your needs. In addition, you can search audio abstracts of articles written by Durham academics and download chosen articles for follow-up

reading. You can also watch video lectures and interviews on key topics. If you hear anything that you think is particularly relevant it can be shared quickly with friends and colleagues via social media or email.

For a brief video explaining Durham University Business School Kn@wledge and to try out the pilot, follow the link on the alumni website: www.durham.ac.uk/ business/alumninetwork

If you have any comments or suggestions on the app, you can contact Peter at p.j.allen@durham.ac.uk.

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E-Waste recycling: Reducing footprints one step at a time Following the completion of his MBA, Sam Stroot (2011/12) returned to the States with one of his classmates, now wife, Isabel Velasco. The pair, who were voted ‘Couple of the Year 2012’ by their cohort, married in September 2013 in Memphis, Tennessee. Originally from Chicago, Sam’s first role after his MBA was as Business Development Manager for a machinery repair and warranty business.

However, his true aspirations lay elsewhere and earlier this year he came across an opportunity to realise his ambition as a budding entrepreneur in Colorado. Here he talks about his experience.

Entrepreneurship has seemingly always been something that has been ingrained into my family over the last few decades – from my grandfather who ran his own business in the 1950s, to my father who is doing it today, and now recently with me.

On 1 June 2014 I entered into a business partnership with a colleague of mine to acquire a unique type of business.

This business is in the electronic waste recycling industry. The company is called E-Waste Recyclers of Colorado (EWRC) and we are based on the beautiful western slope of the Rocky Mountains in Grand Junction, Colorado, USA. Prior to the acquisition, I spent the majority of my career in sales management and business development. Interestingly enough, the MBA experience at Durham was the game changer in my life that has allowed me to be in the position I am today.

“ I am currently receiving strong support from some of my MBA colleagues throughout the world.”

As well as the value I received from the course which has completely prepared me to run this company, the MBA was such a culturally diverse experience that allowed me to open my horizons on an international front and also make life long relationships with colleagues from countries all over the world.

However, I never thought I would be running a business that processes waste.

Before jumping into this venture I did not know how one would be able to make money on electronic waste. Surprisingly, it was more straightforward than I thought.

E-waste Recyclers of Colorado is a R2 certified e-waste recycling company that offers services to the public, business entities, and government municipalities to recycle their electronics in a responsible process. The services that we offer include; data destruction, electronic recycling, reuse and resale, and asset

management. We currently operate in the western part of the United States of America servicing Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico.

Our main objective at the moment is to expand our operations to the international realm. We are launching a international brand called “GREENTH!NK ELECTRONIC RECYCLING”. This entity will be targeting developing countries with the intention to help reduce some of the massive amounts of e-waste that has become such an ongoing problem over the last 20 years in places such as Africa and Asia.

Nonetheless, the journey so far has been thrilling and educational. It has been so nice to be part of an organisation that is providing a socially responsible service.

We look forward to the future ahead at EWRC and all the challenges we might face when fighting the e-waste issue.

I definitely would not have been in the spot I am today without the education and experience that Durham University Business School offered me. I am currently receiving strong support from some of my MBA colleagues throughout the world as well as some other people associated with Durham University Business School to help continue the movement to reduce the e-waste footprint one step at a time.

If you wish to find out more about E-Waste or Greenthink Electronic Recycling you can contact Sam via sam@ewasteofco.com or visit the website www.ewasterecyclersofcolorado.com

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THE IMPACTS OF UNIONISATION ON CHINA’S ECONOMIC EVOLUTION The rapid development of China’s economy has proved a remarkable feature of the past few decades. And in many ways industrial change brings social change in its wake.

It is this aspect of China’s economic evolution that provides the focus for a team of academics including Durham University Business School’s Professor of Management, Ed Snape as they embarked upon a closer look at the nature of enterprise unions in foreign-invested enterprises.

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Traditionally, unions in China have played a dual role, not just representing the interests of their members but also serving those of management and, ultimately, the state, through improving productivity and maintaining workplace harmony. This contrasts with the typical unions in Western countries, where the interests of the workers are pre-eminent and the union is often in a position of conflict with the employer.

CHANGE IN CHINA: THE UNION ROLE Economic growth and development, not least the shift from wholly state-owned industry towards increasing private – and foreign – ownership and management, have altered the way in which unions operate. Government policy, in tandem with labour shortages and the consequent power the latter confer on the workforce, has altered the balance of this dual role.

Nevertheless, although China has moved towards a market economy, unions have been slower to adapt. There are no independent unions – they are explicitly forbidden – and existing union representation is under the auspices of the state-organised All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). This umbrella organisation is, however, becoming increasingly aware of the need to represent the interests of workers, not least because labour conflict has become a key concern.

Professor Snape and his colleagues set out to examine the part that the so-called enterprise unions, set up under the auspices of the ACFTU, play in relation to both employers and employees.

THE FRAMEWORK FOR CHINA’S TRADE UNIONS Increasing numbers of labour disputes have prompted growing unionisation in China’s foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs).

Currently, there is a requirement that any business employing 25 or more workers should have a union; the employer need not initiate the establishment of such a body, but they must not obstruct.

In practice, the initiative for establishing a union tends to come from the local ACFTU, usually without direct input from the workforce, who often resolve their

“Economic growth and development, not least the shift from wholly state-owned industry towards increasing private – and foreign – ownership and management, have inevitably altered the way in which unions operate.”

grievances simply by quitting and finding another job. Traditionally, enterprise unions have been dominated by management, even to the extent of the union chair being a manager. In the last few years, however, there has been a shift to increasingly open and representative elections for enterprise union committees.

As China’s market reforms have led to a reduced role for the state, there has been neglect of legal rights of workers on the part of employers, leading to calls for stronger collective representation. Existing research provides diverging views on the extent to which Chinese enterprise unions can represent the interests of their members. Snape and his colleagues refer to “pessimistic” and “optimistic” views on this question. On the one hand it is argued that the ACTFU is a body whose interests are primarily those of the state rather than the workers, resulting in a situation where the union is at best ineffective and at worst works against the labour force and in favour of employer and state interests.

A more optimistic assessment is one which views unions as increasingly representing the interests of workers. Some researchers have argued that unions are beginning to deliver improved pay and conditions, and better enforcement of workers’ legal rights, especially as workers become more aware of their potential bargaining power, and we are beginning to see the emergence of econometric evidence of a positive link between unions and pay and conditions.

EVALUATING THE UNIONS: THE STUDY METHOD Rather than seeking to provide evidence of union effects across China (the econometric studies are already doing

that), the team adopted a detailed case study approach looking at the operation of enterprise unions. They chose to focus on FIEs in the Pearl River Delta, an area selected because of its economic significance. Whilst they visited around 50 companies in total, in this paper they focus on in-depth case studies in 12 companies, all in the manufacturing sector. With a mix of foreign ownership, employing between 130 and 15,000 people, and with more recently established and more mature companies, the cases show a mix of structure and maturity in terms of union representation.

The methodology involved visits to the companies in question, observing their operations and reviewing company literature. Detailed semi-structured interviews were held with senior managers and union officials in each company, along with focus groups with workers and, in 10 of the 12 companies, a voluntary self-completion survey of 50 workers per company. The team also conducted interviews with ACFTU officials, government officials, and members of pro-labour NGOs, to help contextualise the findings.

UNION ORGANISATION IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA Generally speaking, the presence of unions was viewed as a response to the requirement laid down by the Chinese government, and the initiative for unionisation tended to come from the local ACFTU. It appears that FIEs in the Pearl River Delta were being unionised largely in response to the ACFTU’s organising campaign.

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“ Once established, the unions were mainly regarded as a positive influence in the workplace, even if their existence might initially have been considered little more than a public relations exercise.”

As regards complying with the law on unions, there was a general view that FIEs are especially likely to follow such legal requirements, not least because compliance can be associated with corporate social responsibility, and may actually be expected by customers.

Some enterprises had initially been reluctant to accept an enterprise union, but once established, unions were mainly regarded as a positive influence in the workplace, even if their existence might initially have been considered little more than a public relations exercise.

THE ROLE OF UNIONS IN THE WORKPLACE The traditional expectations of a workplace union are summarised as “providing for employee welfare, facilitating employeemanagement communication, resolving disputes, and negotiating over employee benefits, terms and conditions”. But to what extent do the unions in the Pearl River Delta companies fulfil them?

The findings suggested that some are dealt with more fully than others. In terms of employee welfare, there is a sense in which this role is delegated by the company to the union, rather than being a union initiative. In one case (where an ineffective so-called ‘paper union’ was in place) a paternalistic management decided to retain the welfare function, effectively denying the union a role in the workplace.

In terms of communication the unions functioned more as a “bridge” between workers and management, providing for the upward and downward flow of information. A common theme in the

management interviews was that they often used the union as a way of “selling” a decision to the workforce. As a union committee member explained: “Occasionally, our factory will have some large orders and this requires our employees to have more flexible shifts and working time. What we will do is let the union chairman talk to the employees first and let them prepare for the adjustment. …

This works better, especially when there is a tense relationship between workers and the boss.”

In recent years, there has been considerable debate within China about the potential for unions to deal with labour disputes. The interviews suggested that enterprise unions were in many cases playing a significant role, but that their role was primarily that of a mediator.

One union chairman explained the typical approach very well: “We are a middleman between the company and the workers, and our job is to avoid conflict between them. Sometimes we are more inclined to the interests of employees, for instance, to ask for the basic welfare for the workers. Sometimes we incline to the company’s side. For example, if the worker asks for RMB 1500 per month, and this is not what he/she deserves, then we need to stay with the interest of the company.

This is very important. Nowadays, many factories ignore this and the conflicts between employer and employees are deteriorating, which can result in huge loss and social instability, and needs the intervention of local government. I have been working as union leader for a few years and my biggest goal is to keep stability and harmony”.

Unions have often been preoccupied with trying to ensure that workers receive their basic legal rights. There was evidence in our case studies, however, that some unions are beginning to bargain actively with their employer to win improved terms and conditions, in many cases well beyond the legal minimum, and the evidence suggests that this may be associated with the signing of a collective contract between company and union.

OVERALL IMPACTS OF UNION ACTIVITY Participants, management, union committee members and workers reported a generally positive view of union activity, although the benefits which it brings were occasionally perceived as being limited, sometimes because the union was recently formed.

No-one felt that there was no benefit accruing. In the majority of cases the main positive function of unions was seen in terms of employee welfare, improved work schedules and communications rather than pay. And for managers, the key benefit was in the avoidance of disputes and in some cases reduced staff turnover.

Despite the shifts in the overall pattern of Chinese union activity identified in the background literature review, the study indicated that the traditional ‘top-down’ organising method persisted, although once a union was in place management were increasingly accepting of its role. In the new China it seems that enterprise unions are often valued by management as partners rather than feared as opponents.

To find out more about this study please contact Ed Snape on edward.snape@durham.ac.uk.

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introducing...

Paula Hyde – Professor of Organisation Studies In 2013 Paula Hyde joined Durham University Business School. She spent the first 10 years of her career working as an occupational therapist in mental health services in England before taking an academic appointment in the Faculty of Health at the University of Salford. Following that she joined Manchester Business School in 2003 where she co-founded the Health Workforce Research Network in the Institute of Health Sciences as well as leading several research projects in the NHS using ethnographic methods to examine the realities of working life for managers and staff in different types of health service organisation. Paula’s main research interests operate at the intersection of disciplinary fields; organisation studies, social psychology and human resource management. Through extensive research at the front-line of health service organisations, she has been able to contribute and shape academic thinking about health workforce, service organisation and delivery.

What are the most challenging parts of your job?

What drives you?

Since joining Durham University Business School last summer I have been really enjoying getting to know everyone and settling in, making new contacts and continuing with my health services research on managing change.

A Ford Mondeo Estate with a faded Stockport County F.C. sticker in the back. Up the County!

My work is very varied and I have lots of choice about how and when I do things. I find it most challenging to co-ordinate all these different activities and seem to spend a lot of time apologising for being a little bit late with everything. My approach evolved from the ‘ just in time’ management system into a ‘not quite in time’ arrangement.

Most of my friends are still laughing about me having a job with ‘organisation’ in the title.

What do you want to achieve?

I’d like to make a difference to the way NHS health care is organised and delivered. The NHS is made up of a complex system of diverse organisations. There has been a long-standing Governmental obsession with reorganisation and marketisation of UK health and social care. I examine the effects of these changes on the quality of care. Often these large scale projects lead to little change at the front end of services and sometimes there are some positives but at other times care quality can be adversely affected and the results can be serious. My work is concerned with identifying how and why things go wrong (and right) at the front end as a result of policy initiatives with a view to long-term prevention of harm.

What was the best career advice you were given?

It’s not research until it’s been published so whatever you do keep writing.

What advice would you offer to someone thinking of an academic career?

Try not to do too many things at once (see above) and keep writing the paragraph that describes your area of expertise.

Also, try to focus on subjects that really interest you even if they seem out of fashion just now.

What are you currently working on at Durham University Business School?

My current work examines the evolution of institutional abuse in residential care and health settings. I have just set up a special interest group (SIG) with Dr Robert McMurray called ‘Organising Care’ funded by Durham University Business School and the Wolfson Institute. The aim of the SIG is to encourage critical consideration of the effects of organising on care – how the act of organising people, professions, services, resources, regulation, ideas, procedures and processes fundamentally affects experiences of caring, and being cared for, in health, social and related sectors. If you are interested to hear more please let me know: paula.hyde@durham.ac.uk.

You can read more about Paula’s work and interests on the Academic Faculty section of the Business School website: www.durham.ac.uk/business

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SUMMER GRADUATION 2014 This summer, congregation at Durham Cathedral was officiated by the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Chris Higgins on Thursday 3 July.

Following the formal proceedings, Durham University Business School hosted a celebratory drinks reception and BBQ for all its graduands and their families.

Over 250 people attended the first graduation event on the School’s newly built garden terrace – luckily the weather stayed dry for the occasion. A cohort of Global and Executive MBA and Masters, as well as DBA and PhD students were greeted by Professor Geoff Moore, Deputy Dean before awards were presented by each of the respective Programme Directors.

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AWARDS AND ACCOLADES

GLOBAL MBA AWARDS: Joint best dissertation: Clare Hodgson, Justin Oran and Lee Sudlow Best overall academic performance: Benjamin Wilson GLOBAL MBA (FINANCE) AWARD: Best overall academic performance: Alexander Oguz EXECUTIVE MBA AWARDS: Best overall academic performance and best dissertation: Adrian Chapple

EXECUTIVE MA AWARDS: Joint best overall academic performance: Maged Mikhael and Constance Zierer EXECUTIVE MA MANAGEMENT AWARDS: Best overall academic performance: Elise Tourne Best dissertation: Eunah Lim PHD AWARD: Best thesis: Brett Manning

DBA AWARD: Best thesis: Tony Newton BETA GAMMA SIGMA MEMBERSHIP was awarded to the following students in recognition of their academic achievement: Global MBA: Alexander Oguz and Benjamin Wilson Executive MBA: David Beeton, Adrian Chapple, Andrew Gent and Michael Lamb

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Mandela Scholar inspiring African leaders of tomorrow This is the story of Steven Zwane (previously Mavundla), a Nelson Mandela Scholarship recipient who holds an MBA from Durham University Business School (2006/07). A seasoned business leader, Steven is currently the Head of Business Support at Absa’s Business Banking, where he is responsible for channel optimisation, business enablement and business performance management.

Fuelled by his life-long mission to help others reach their full potential, Steven Zwane founded Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development (YLED) in 2004. In March 2014 YLED was registered as a non-profit organisation, and Steven serves as its Chairperson.

YLED is an aspirational youth skills development programme that runs over a period of 26 weeks and gives selected young people (in and out of school) in South Africa the opportunity to hone their interpersonal, leadership, career and entrepreneurship to aid their chances of success in life.

The programme is designed to provide the learners with much needed skills to enhance the learners’ chances in life, preparing them for the challenges and opportunities beyond their schooling.

This is a much needed intervention in a country where unemployment is well over 25%, 50% of whom are young people between the ages of 18 and 25. Some of the young people that do graduate from high school are considered unemployable because they lack the desired life skills to cope with the demands of the working environment, self-confidence and attitude to lead meaningful lives. The YLED

concepts therefore provide the much needed skills that bridge the gap and position the next generation of South Africans for success in any paths they choose to follow: academic, selfemployment and employment.

It is enabled by expert speakers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to tap into young people’s potential of leadership, intra-personal and entrepreneurial skills. Delivered through interactive workshops focusing on life skills, leadership, entrepreneurship and career development workshops, the six-month programme has already benefitted well over 5,000 learners from more than 50 schools in Gauteng, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape.

The life skills workshop creates a platform that facilitates the learning of life skills to build a good foundation for self-development, inter-personal skills and preparation for the work environment.

This workshop focuses on communication skills, problem solving skills and financial literacy. This is followed by the leadership workshop which focuses on creating teams, understanding team dynamics and building trust among each other.

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“Inspired by the impact the programmes has had on participants, YLED has an ambitious plan to train up to one million young people within the next three years.”

To empower the learners with critical business skills, they are also taken through the entrepreneurship workshop, which provides an understanding of business organisations by giving the learners real and practical experience in running small businesses of their own for a period of 13 weeks. The students are also taken through career development workshops to provide them with the necessary tools to make sound career decisions, develop their CV writing and interview skills.

The expected outcomes of the programme include: • Empowered young people who take charge of their future and are capable of navigating through life challenges • Future leaders who understand the importance of crafting a vision of self and others; the value of mentoring and coaching as well as the importance of giving back

• Young people who understand the business world; its structure and possibilities that link to their future ambitions • Young people who know what it means to start and run a small business and have developed the required entrepreneurial awareness / spirit.

The YLED programme recognises the fact that many problems confronting teenagers stem from the search for the self, the gap between ideas and reality, between parents’ expectations and their aspirations.

Inspired by the impact the programmes have had on participants, YLED has an ambitious plan to train up to one million young people within the next three years.

With finite resources, however, this can only materialise with the help of those who share the dream to help others achieve their potential.

How alumni can help YLED needs alumni and other institutions to partner with us through any material funding to make this a reality. We would welcome your generous involvement in the organisation: Invest in a YLED proven model • Adopt YLED as part of your corporate social responsibility programme.

Donations • Computer hardware to enable the imparting of computer literacy skills • Raise funds for YLED • Partner with YLED for a wider reach and impact.

Volunteer time and skills at YLED • Mentor • Coach • Facilitate.

Should you wish to find out more about Steven’s work and the YLED please contact Steven Zwane via steven@yled.org.za.

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Willingness to pay for environmental resources in the Chilean Patagonia Dr Juan-Pedro Garces-Voisenat started his career as a civil servant in his native Chile, where he held some advisory and economic analysis roles in the Ministries of Finance and Planning, participating in the elaboration of public policies. Juan-Pedro moved into academia in 1994 working at Universities in the USA and Chile before taking up his post as Teaching Fellow in Economics at Durham University Business School in 2014. Here we review the study he and Dr Zinnia Mukherjee (Simmons College, Boston) conducted in Patagonia looking at society’s inclination to pay for alternative energy sources.

Energy, that great necessity of our modern age, comes at a cost. With increasing pressure from environmental groups for clean, green power, energy policy is more complex than ever as governments strive to balance the tangible and intangible costs of supplying enough energy for development and growth.

Available options vary from country to country, according to geographical resources and a willingness – or ability – to pay for them. In developing countries a typical pattern of energy production is one where traditional and relatively cheap – but often environmentally-damaging – methods dominate, with smaller, greener approaches forming a much smaller proportion of energy generation, often on grounds of cost.

While the policy issues are much discussed, one significant area has previously been little studied – how much, or how little, the consumer would be willing to pay for environmentally sustainable energy sources. With this in mind, Durham University Business School’s Juan-Pedro Garces-Voisenat and Zinnia Mukherjee of Simmons College undertook a study of the public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for such energy in Chile.

FOCUS ON CHILE: A CHANGING ENERGY ENVIRONMENT The South American country of Chile, diverse in climate and geography, offers an interesting case study. In recent years its energy sources have shifted from hydroelectricity to coal and gas.

These alternative sources are now also encountering problems, with declining local coal supply – but Chile’s need for energy continues.

It seems unlikely that Chile’s future energy will come from fossil fuels, even though they are, at the moment at least, relatively cheap (a unit cost of roughly 8-10 cents).

One solution is a return to hydroelectricity, with five large schemes proposed for southern Patagonia. The cost of the electricity which would be generated by these projects is broadly similar to those of fossil fuels at around 9-10 cents per unit.

These projects throw the balance between economics and environment into focus. Patagonia is a wilderness area, remote and sparsely inhabited with a high perceived environmental value, aesthetically and in terms of its flora and fauna. It is perhaps unsurprising that the proposals have generated objections;

opinion polls suggest opposition not just among those immediately affected by the construction and transmission, but among the general population.

Can you quantify the strength of opposition? How do you place a price on an ecosystem? How do you value it against an economically quantifiable commodity – electricity? Garces-Voisenat and Mukherjee set out not just to contribute to the debate on environmental valuation but also to identify policy guidelines for future energy development, especially in developing countries.

They addressed three key questions: whether there are any alternatives to the dams as energy sources; what the value of the wilderness (the natural capital) might be to those who would pay for the electricity; and, assuming that the value is high, whether people would be willing to pay enough for alternative sources of energy to allow for that natural capital to be protected.

EVALUATING THE WILLINGNESS TO PAY Estimating WTP has been much discussed in academic literature and there is an established methodology, known as the contingent valuation method (CVM),

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for evaluating environmental quality. CVM is survey-based and has been extensively used in the past to attach a monetary value to environmental assets such as clean water or reduced pollution.

In this particular case, the survey addressed the second research question (relating to value of the wilderness) and fed into the third (the affordability of alternative sources). An online survey, it included 334 respondents over the age of 18, all of whom were living in Chile at the time of the survey but only 5% of whom lived in Patagonia, the area at risk.

The key question was: “How much extra money do you think your household would be willing to pay in your monthly electricity bill in order to protect Patagonia (that is, no construction of dams)?” Other questions related mainly to demographics but also considered economic factors (such as current electricity bills) and political views.

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS FOR CHILE? The first research question related to alternative energy sources available to Chileans. Not all possible sources are currently well developed although the country has key potential reserves. (At this point it is worth noting that hydroelectricity need not be completely ruled out and that the main issue with the proposals is their scale and location; smaller projects are less environmentally damaging.)

Although one source, nuclear power, was definitely excluded in the wake of the Fukushima disaster (bearing in mind that Chile is not just highly vulnerable to earthquakes), the earth processes which rule out nuclear energy provide an alternative in the shape of geothermal power. Hot springs are tapped in many countries (most notably Iceland) and Chile’s resources are vast and undeveloped; the unit cost is in the region of 10 cents.

With high levels of sunshine and vast available space (in the Atacama desert) the country is particularly suited to solar energy. Although abundant, it is more expensive than traditional methods at 10-14 cents per unit. And at a smaller scale there is potential for the development of both wind power and biomass.

“ Patagonia is a wilderness area, remote and sparsely inhabited with a high perceived environmental value, aesthetically and in terms of its flora and fauna.”

But cost is not the only problem and although overall the cost of generating energy from a mix of these renewable sources is likely to be lower than current prices, the shift from one energy mix to another involves capital costs, technological advance – and political will.

SO HOW MUCH ARE CHILEANS PREPARED TO PAY? And so to the results of the survey, the answer to the key question: how much more, if anything, are Chileans prepared to pay for their domestic electricity in order to protect the untouched beauty of southern Patagonia? The bottom line is that, on average, each household values the protection of the wilderness at an additional $29.72 US dollars per month.

To add a little colour: when the survey was analysed according to socio-economic characteristics, the results showed some variation. Those who were older or who had a higher income were less willing to pay, as (to a lesser extent) were those with religious beliefs.

IS $29.72 ENOUGH? Having established a willingness to pay, and attached a value to that willingness, the researchers were in a position to answer the third and final research question: is this enough to fund alternative sources of energy and to provide protection for Patagonia?

Grossing up the results of the survey to apply to Chile’s approximately five million households produces a total of around $1.8 billion each year. This equates to an additional 10 cents per kilowatt hour which, after looking more closely at costs, the researchers concluded is enough to provide energy from a mix of renewable sources as an alternative to the five proposed hydroelectric schemes.

Of course the equation is not quite so simple; more work remains be done and other variables must be factored in.

Elements such as global environmental opposition or political willingness to act (or otherwise) may assist or obstruct the development of alternatives.

In general, however, the results of the research indicate that “it is not too far-fetched to think that [alternative sources] might eventually become totally competitive with hydroelectric generation over the next few years (perhaps the number of years that would take to build the dams).”

To find out more about this study please contact Dr Juan Pedro Garces-Voisenat on juan-pedro. garces-voisenat@durham.ac.uk.

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CLASS NOTES RAHUL DASGUPTA FULL-TIME MBA 2010/11

COLIN CLAPP EXECUTIVE MBA 2002/03

PETER WALLACE PHD STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT 2005/10

Congratulations to Rahul Dasgupta for being awarded the ‘Young Entrepreneur Award’ for his contribution in the field of education. His contribution was recognised by the CSR Times and Indian Achievers Forum with this award honouring outstanding achievers from all over the country and abroad who have worked incessantly in their respective field and taken the lead in the contemporary business systems, services and products through business excellence and quality achievements.

Congratulations to alumnus Colin Clapp and his wife Elly on the birth of their first child. Ayla Clapp was born on 1 December 2013 in New Zealand where the couple now live. Both parents are thoroughly enjoying parenthood.

Business School alumnus Peter Wallace announced the completion and impending release of a new model for global application in the equity release (reverse mortgage) market in July. Peter describes the advantages of this model as it “enables lenders to offer senior homeowners considerably better terms and conditions which will translate into savings of hundreds of millions of pounds in the UK alone – a win-win for both sides”.

ANTHONY GARNETT GLOBAL MBA 2002/06 Anthony Garnett featured in the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors’ July/August issue of its Internal Audit and Risk Magazine.

As Head of Audit and Counter-Fraud at the Department for International Development (DFID), he wrote an article discussing his role and why the team he manages has a unique opportunity to see how their work makes a real difference to people’s lives.

JEFFREY CHEN, FULL-TIME MBA, 2010/11 & ONISARA JINDANUPAP, LLM, 2010/11 We would like to send our best wishes to Jeffrey Chen and Onisara Jindanupap who married earlier this year in front of many of their classmates in their home city of Singapore. The happy couple met in Durham whilst studying on their respective courses during 2010/11.

JAYNE DREW GLOBAL MBA 1994/03 Jayne Drew has recently been appointed National Development Director for GiGi’s Playhouse Inc., headquartered just outside of Chicago. GiGi’s Playhouse celebrates the many achievements of individuals and their families, develops new programmes to benefit participants, and works tirelessly to change society’s out-dated perceptions about the amazing potential of individuals with Down syndrome. Speaking of her appointment Jayne said: “I’ve long been a supporter of GiGi’s mission and vision, and am now thrilled to be part of this great organisation.”

UGO ISIADINSO GLOBAL MBA 2009/13 Congratulations to Global MBA alumnus Ugo Isiadinso and his wife Nnenna on the birth of their first son, Maximilian Isiadinso. Max was born on 25 July 2014 at 12.30pm weighing 6.4lbs in the Royal Free Hampstead Hospital in London.

Peter, who has been using these methods since developing his first agent-based model and simulation for his PhD studies at Durham University Business School, says that his latest model is “a sophisticated tool that reconceptualises the equity release process and re-synthesises the rules of engagement between lender and homeowner, then uses the raw power of iterative quantification that is the trademark of ABMS”. He concedes that “the model could disrupt current practice, but not in a destructive way. It will add value.”

Exclusive use of the model will available shortly under licence in the UK and USA.

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MAURICIO ARMELLINI PHD ECONOMICS 2005/09

DR TONY NEWTON DBA 2007/14

CHRIS KENNELLY FULL-TIME MBA 2008/09

Mauricio Armellini was recently appointed as Head of the North East Region at the Bank of England. Mauricio joined the North East Local Enterprise Partnership in September last year on secondment from the Department for Work and Pensions with him having been involved in a variety of work crucial to boosting the region’s economy, including taking a leading role in setting up the LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan, designed to shape economic growth in the North East. He has also taught on both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at Durham University.

Congratulations to Dr Tony Newton who not only received his DBA but also a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice at this Summer’s Congregation Ceremony. He then went on to collect the top accolade of ‘Best DBA Thesis’ at the Business School’s Graduation Celebration event with him commenting: “It took seven years part-time to complete the doctorate, so I was relieved just to pass the finishing post. The ‘Best Thesis’ award is the icing on the cake, but the real message is that you’re never too old to learn something new or make a contribution.”

KIRAN RAMAKRISHNA FULL-TIME MBA 2011/12

DR RICHARD LEAVER BSC 1979/82, PHD 1985/88, MBA 1990/91

MBA alumnus Kiran Ramakrishna recently shared his experiences of working in a start-up company to an audience of 300+ people at the London & Partners Start-up Conference. Speaking of his experience he said: “Each start-up goes through the crawl, walk and run stages with some not making it past the first stage. I was happy to explain how, my company, Edit-place, successfully went past the initial stages and built a list of credible clientele. The audience comprised of CEOs, directors and managers who were interested to hear more on the art of business development. It was also a fantastic opportunity to reminisce about the early days of Edit-place.”

Dr Richard Leaver recently took up a new post at the UKTI as a Dealmaker on the UKTI Global Entrepreneur Programme.

This role involves locating talented, early stage overseas technology companies with outstanding IP and innovation and encouraging them to move to the UK in order to realise their potential. Richard is a serial entrepreneur and investor who has lived in Cambridge for over 20 years and works regularly in China. Alongside his new role he is also a Partner at Cambridgebased consultancy firm, The PGH Partnership LLP, and Investment Director for Boundary Capital which invests in early stage technology companies. We wish him the best of luck with this new venture.

Chris’ Newcastle-based clinical software firm recently secured deals which will see its products used by two major NHS Foundation Trusts in Nottingham and Colchester. Chris’ company, Cievert, was a spin out of the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and was set up three years ago by the former NHS radiographer who wanted to create innovative products for the health sector. Speaking of this latest deal Chris commented: “I’m delighted to have secured contracts with two large NHS Foundation Trusts. It was always my aim to create a product which would be innovative and, ultimately, beneficial to the end user – the patient. With so much pressure on the NHS currently, I truly believe that this software can make a difference. Now I aim to make sure that as many cancer patients as possible can benefit from the efficiencies that this software can bring to their treatment.”

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1. Rahul Dasgupta 2. Anthony Garnett 3. J effrey Chen and Onisara Jindanupap

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4. Colin Clapp 5. Jayne Drew 6. Ugo Isiadinso 7. Peter Wallace 8. Mauricio Armellini

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Top row, from left: Frankfurt, Azerbaijan, Jordan. Middle row: Pakistan, New Delhi, Almaty. Bottom row, from left: Beijing, Shanghai.

local association news DUBS Alumni Global Network

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1. LONDON On Thursday 15 May the Southern UK Local Association held a get-together event at the Devonshire Terrace near Liverpool Street Station. The event attracted 20 alumni and global students and was hosted by Alumni Relations Manager, Alexandra McNinch and Recruiter Relations Manager, Georgia Backhouse. To find out about future events please contact the Association Leader, Ugo Isiadinso (ugo.isiadinso@ bargateadvisory.com).

2. FRANKFURT The Frankfurt Local Association met on Thursday 7 August in the Sachsenhausen area of Frankfurt as part of their monthly get-together events. The group sat outside and enjoyed both each other’s company and the summer sun whilst discussing their latest news and sharing tales of their time at Durham. Durham University Business School’s Major Gifts Officer, Dr Anne Allen was also in attendance, giving those present the chance to catch up on the most recent Business School developments. To find out more about the Frankfurt alumni group please contact Association Leaders, Frank Wege (fwege74@gmail.com) and Christoph Maixner (christoph@maixner.de).

3. AZERBAIJAN The Azerbaijan Local Association recently held their inaugural get-together event at the Sketch Restaurant and Lounge in Baku. The event was held jointly with the Azerbaijan UK-Alumni Association (AUKAA) and included alumni from several different Universities including Warwick, Bristol and Imperial College.

There were around 40 alumni in attendance with the event proving a great opportunity for networking and to share their tales of their time in the UK.

4. JORDAN A group of alumni based in Jordan played host to a delegation of staff from Durham University Business School on Tuesday 27 May. Professor Rob Dixon and Dr Christos Tsinopoulos attended a dinner at the Tannourin restaurant organised by alumnus, Local Association Leader and Dean of the University of Jordan Business

School, Zu’bi Al-Zu’bi. It proved a great success with the alumni in attendance being given the chance to network with their peers and reminisce on their experiences at Durham. To find out more please contact the Association Leader, Zu’bi Al-Zu’bi (zoz55jo@yahoo.com).

5. PAKISTAN On Saturday 28 June the Pakistan Local Association met up for their first get-together event in Karachi. The group enjoyed a high-tea with Local Association Leader, Muhammad Aly, commenting that it was “an excellent event and provided an opportunity for all of us to get to know each other”. To find out more about the Pakistan alumni group please contact Association Leader, Muhammad Aly (muhammad-aly@live.com).

6. INDIA In May, Professor Kiran Fernandes visited India and led an interesting D8 masterclass in both Mumbai and New Delhi on ‘big data’. Those in attendance commented on the excellent topic content and how relevant it was to the current business themes in India.

7. ALMATY The Almaty Local Association held their first get-together event in the peaceful settings of McCarTea Bar in Almaty on Friday 23 May. Alumni enjoyed an evening of informal drinks with the event providing the perfect opportunity for attendees to network with fellow alumni based in the region and catch up on Business School news. To find out more about the Association please contact the Association’s leader, Gauhar Khasenova (gkhas@hotmail.com).

8. CHENGDU The newly formed Chengdu chapter held their first get-together event in Ms Bamboo Loft on Friday 2 May. The 20 alumni who attended fondly relived their memories of Durham and the Business School over a buffet dinner. The group plan to hold events on a quarterly basis with the next panel event likely to take place in early autumn. To find out more please contact Association Leader YingYing Fu (amber.fyy@gmail.com).

9. BEIJING Dr Robert McMurray led an engaging and interactive D8 master-class on the topic of ‘toxic management’ in Beijing (and Shanghai) to a mix of both Durham alumni and current students attending the MBA study tour trip in Beijing on Thursday 10 April. All in attendance greatly enjoyed the event with alumni commenting that it was a great opportunity to re-connect with the Business School.

10. SHANGHAI The China International Committee continues to support recent graduates’ careers and their latest event was the second alumni expert panel event of the year. The ‘Secrets behind great sales’ event took place on Saturday 12 July and saw senior alumni share their insights and knowledge on sales and how to empower your influence level. As ever, the event proved invaluable to those younger alumni in attendance who used the event as an opportunity to network and pose questions to experienced panel members.

Local Associations are the perfect way to keep in touch with other Durham University Business School alumni in your area. The next Global get-together date is Thursday 4 December 2014.

As usual this is just a guide. If it is more convenient for your group to meet at another date and time please do so.

If you are interested in joining these or any other groups throughout the world – in your location or perhaps in an area you frequent on business – please email us and we will put you in touch with a Local Association Leader. Alternatively, if there is not yet a Local Association in your area, contact the Alumni Relations Team and we can investigate setting one up.

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

If you require any help in arranging a get-together please do get in touch – business.alumni@durham.ac.uk.

BOOK REVIEW 30

River of Dreams by Tom Mullen

Durham University Business School’s first ever DBA graduate, Brad Atkinson (2002/06) presents his verdict on this tale of the ‘ancient and mesmerizing city of Durham’.

The book was written by fellow alumnus, Tom Mullen (MBA 2008/09).

I suppose any member of the Durham alumni community could acknowledge that in the course of their University career their time was compartmentalised into academic experiences and personal experiences negotiating with daily life within the City of Durham. I have vivid memories of walks home from evenings out; walks where if you allowed your imagination some freedom, you could find yourself considering the lives and fates of those who preceded you. Experiences where you were engaged with the River Wear, traversing over it, following a path along it, or occupying a bench beside it, as it flowed north through the City. All the while it was immersing you in a sense of time and space that you eventually realised was not uniquely your own.

It is with these memories that I read the Kindle version of the novel, ‘River Of Dreams’ by Tom Mullen, a Durham University Business School alumnus.

I found the book to be a fast read of a

story that is told through 42 vignettes that are snapshots of the fabric of life across the North East of England. The narrative starts with a modern scene familiar enough to a Durham graduate, an inadvertent encounter at a city pub that quickly escalates into a physical altercation. As the story progresses and the characters and consequences emerge, you find the paths of people and time that flow through the story.

The novel is an easy and entertaining read although it seems to exist on a few different levels. On the face of it, the book will allow you to re-experience specific locations and moods of characters across the North East. However, if you allow it, reading this book will provide you with a tardis-like experience, where the threads of time are both non-linear and bigger on the inside than they are on the outside, as you join a collection of lives that are intertwined by the waters that flow through the region and, ultimately, each of us.

‘River of Dreams’ can be purchased from Amazon in an e-book format.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the United States, Tom gained a Masters degree in Civil Engineering at Newcastle University in 1995, several years before returning to the region to complete his Durham MBA. Tom has worked in a number of varied roles including as part of a Colorado mountain rescue group, in a ski patrol and at the Wyoming-based National Outdoor Leadership School where he taught rock climbing and backcountry skills. He has since gained professional experience in management and environmental consulting whilst living in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and the United States.

Tom is currently working as an Engineering Manager for Creative Associates in Pakistan where he manages a $130 million dollar project that has improved basic infrastructure within conflict riddled tribal regions in the northwest of the country. In his spare time he is a volunteer on youth development programs within the cities of Lahore and Karachi.

DATES FOR THE DIARY 31

EVENTS

RECRUITMENT EVENTS

PREVIEW/OPEN EVENTS

DUBS BEIJING LEADING EDGE CAREER PANEL EVENT

QS WORLD GRAD SCHOOL TOUR

For a list of preview and open events, please visit the Business School website: www.durham.ac.uk/business/news-andevents/events/

Wednesday 15 October 2014, 6–10pm Crowne Plaza Beijing Wangfujing, 48 Wangfujing Avenue, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100006

DUBS SHANGHAI LEADING EDGE CAREER PANEL EVENT Saturday 18 October 2014, 1–5pm Hilton Shanghai, No. 250 Hua Shan Road, Shanghai, China, 200040

DUBS WEBINAR: ‘CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP’ Thursday 23 October 2014, 2–3pm GMT

DUBS WEBINAR: ‘EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATION SKILLS’ Thursday 20 November 2014, 2–3pm GMT

ALUMNI GLOBAL GET-TOGETHER (VARIOUS CITIES) Thursday 4 December 2014

DUBS WEBINAR: FUTURE-PROOFING YOUR CAREER Tuesday 27 January 2015 2-3pm GMT

DUBS WEBINAR: STIMULATING CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION AT WORK Tuesday 24 February 2015 2–3pm GMT

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP PROMOTE DURHAM UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL? We regularly attend recruitment events around the world and love it when we are joined by alumni. Not only does it give us the chance to catch up with you, but prospective students really value the opportunity to speak with our graduates. If you would like to volunteer to help at such an event in your country we would like to hear from you.

Saturday 4 October 2014 London, UK

QS WORLD EXECUTIVE MBA TOUR Saturday 11 October 2014 London, UK

Please note that some dates, speakers and venues are provisional or yet to be confirmed

QS WORLD MBA TOUR Thursday 23 October 2014 Munich, Germany

QS WORLD EXECUTIVE MBA TOUR Saturday 25 October 2014 Frankfurt, Germany

QS WORLD MBA TOUR Saturday 1 November 2014 Shanghai, China

QS WORLD MBA TOUR Sunday 2 November 2014 Beijing, China

QS TOP MBA CONNECT 1-2-1 Thursday 6 November 2014 Toronto, Canada

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION To book places for these events, contact the Alumni Relations Team on: E: business.alumni@durham.ac.uk T: +44 (0)191 334 5277

Alumni Relations Team Alexandra McNinch (nee Sedgwick), Alumni Relations Manager Katharine Aspey, Alumni Coordinator Alumni Relations Team Durham University Business School Mill Hill Lane Durham DH1 3LB t: +44 (0)191 334 5277 f: +44 (0)191 334 5218 e: business.alumni@durham.ac.uk UK Local Associations Southern (based in London) International Local Associations Almaty Munich Astana New Delhi Azerbaijan Nigeria Beijing Pakistan California Sao Paulo Canada Saudi Arabia Frankfurt Shanghai Ghana Singapore Gibraltar South America Hong Kong Sri Lanka Jordan Switzerland Mexico United Arab Emirates Mumbai To be put in contact with other alumni in your area, please contact the Alumni Relations Team.

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