MBACONNECT Lord Ashcroft International Business School Magazine|issue 5
www.anglia.ac.uk/aibs www.anglia.ac.uk
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Welcome to the latest issue of MBAConnect, the e-newsletter just for our MBA graduates. This is a great way to keep in touch with your University, and through your LinkedIn group you can also keep in touch with other Anglia Ruskin MBA graduates. Just sign up to join the discussions by going to http://uk.linkedin.com/in/angliaalumni. This is just for our MBA graduates, so please make good use of it. These are turbulent times for universities, with the reduction in government funding and the introduction of a higher fee structure. However, we are continuing to invest in a state-ofthe-art learning environment to benefit our current and future students. Those of you who studied with us some time ago will be amazed at the changes on campus that make your old place of study almost unrecognizable. We have undertaken an ambitious building programme which has transformed our Chelmsford Rivermead campus – our latest new building is the PMI (Postgraduate Medical Institute) which opened this spring. And the redesign of our Cambridge campus is almost completed, with a new Business School and other facilities opening by the end of the summer. If you are ever visiting either Chelmsford or Cambridge, take some time to look around the campus and see all the new buildings. There is still time to sign up for our annual MBA Network dinner at the Royal Over Seas League in London, just behind the Ritz. The dinner will be on Wednesday 3rd August 2011 starting at 6.30pm. We again have an exciting programme for the evening. Pre-dinner drinks will be held in the gardens, weather permitting, before dinner at 7pm prompt. We will have speaker from our Ashcroft International Business School and the CMI Greenwood Prize will also be presented during the evening. The highlight will be our headline speaker and we have invited Mike Southon – known as the ‘Beermat Entrepreneur’ – check out his website: www.mikesouthon.com to see what a fascinating chap he is. Ticket price is £20, which is great value for a drinks reception, dinner and first class speaker in the West End of London. If you would like to join us just go to the alumni website at www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni, click on MBA Network and there will be a link to the online store where you can book your ticket. Lastly, as always, there’s a plea from about you MBA friends who do not receive communications from us. This means we don’t have their email address, so please encourage them to email us so they can be included in future mailings. That’s all for now, so enjoy the articles and hope to meet many of you at the dinner. Kind regards
Sue Jacobs Head of Alumni Relations
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We are moving! New Business School facility nearing completion
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Who’s got time for Global Responsibility?
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Amity Global Business School, Singapore, employs MBA graduate
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Kate Barker warns of risks facing UK economic outlook
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LAIBS portfolio extended to South Western Africa
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Exploring the nature of responsibility in Higher Education
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‘Bean’ thinking about trade
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Lord Tomlinson takes the reins as Chair of the Board of Governors
Work in progress – the courtyard showing a roof planted with five varieties of Sedum
We are moving! New Business School facility nearing completion We are delighted that our new Business School facility in Cambridge is nearing completion and we will be moving in over the summer in readiness for the start of the new academic year in September 2011.
The new building will provide the latest learning technologies, equipment and environment for any budding entrepreneur or business student. This will be a showpiece building to rival its award-winning counterpart on our Chelmsford Campus. Lord Ashcroft, the Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, generously donated ÂŁ5 million to Lord Ashcroft International Business School to assist in developing this landmark building for business and commerce within the East of England.
This new development will wrap around the centre of the campus; expanding and re-vamping our estate to create a totally new student experience. An inspiring, flexible, yet sustainable environment, this state of the art development will include a fantastic library, new lecture theatres, modern teaching facilities, comfortable meeting places and bright new rehearsal spaces – a really great place to study and work.
We are proud to be a part of the beautiful city of Cambridge and its cosmopolitan community, and look forward to hosting and supporting local and community events in our fabulous new facilities.
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Who’s got time for Global Responsibility? Dr Jonathan Smith and John Rayment were in Westminster recently meeting Zac Goldsmith MP, Conservative MP for Richmond Park & North Kingston. Zac is a key campaigner for Government action on climate change and the need for global responsibility (see http://www.zacgoldsmith.com/ default.asp?contentID=22). Jon and John were keen to learn more about his activities, share their ideas as detailed in their new book entitled Misleadership, discuss what is taking place at Anglia Ruskin University and offer him support and encouragement to do more to raise the profile of this important and urgent area within Government and business. Zac is very committed to this area and was very interested in the work LAIBS are doing. Although incredibly busy on numerous projects, he is keen to maintain contact and see how things develop in the future. One of the areas he will be watching with interest is the special issue of the journal of global responsibility that Jon is co-guest editor for. He is also interested in the ESRC application that is being submitted to further explore the nature of responsibility in HE. E: john.rayment@anglia.ac.uk E: jonathan.smith@anglia.ac.uk
Zac Goldsmith MP
Amity Global Business School, Singapore employs MBA graduate Having successfully completed his MBA with high grades at Amity Global Business School in Singapore at the end of the last academic year, Prateek Nayak is now working as the Marketing Manager for Amity, a position which he very much enjoys! Prateek commented: "The Anglia Ruskin University MBA programme, delivered at the Amity Global Business School, Singapore, equipped me with the skill set and management knowledge necessary to carve out a niche for myself as a successful manager. I believe that the course provided me with the necessary knowledge to enhance and develop my capabilities.
Dr Penelope Hood with Prateek Naya, Marketing Manager at Amity Global Business School, Singapore
“Thanks to the rigorous training, assignments, reports, presentations, and group projects, all of which gave me the necessary abilities to handle real-life business situations, the course has turned me from just another professional to a bona-fide leader.
Al-Kilani, Programme Leader, Anglia Ruskin University for their constant motivation and support!” Dr Penelope Hood Director of International Partnerships (Chelmsford) E: Penelope.hood@anglia.ac.uk T: 0845 196 6876
“I would like to offer my special thanks to Dr Easwaramoorthy Rangaswamy, Director, Amity, Singapore and Dr Mahmoud
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Kate Barker warns of risks facing UK economic outlook Former MPC member makes speech during Anglia Ruskin’s financial crisis lecture Kate Barker, a member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee at the height of the financial crisis, spoke during an evening of lectures on the financial crisis at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford recently. Kate warned that the UK economy still faces an uncertain future, stating: “We haven’t yet quite laid to rest all the risks in the financial system.” She added: “If you were thinking of the crisis as a game of football, we’re in about the 60th minute. Things are still going reasonably well, but there’s always a chance of some sneaky goals from the opposition.
Left to right: Kate Barker (former Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member), Matthew Bullock (Norwich & Peterborough Building Society Chief Executive), Jerome Booth (Head of Research at the Ashmore Group) and our Vice Chancellor, Professor Michael Thorne.
“There remain worries about sovereign debt in the Euro area. I don’t think anyone’s under any illusions that the issues in countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal have completely gone away. “The period of economic stability in the late 1990s and early 2000s may have been somewhat unhelpful. The longer it continued the more people bet on it continuing, so that it became apparent if something went wrong then the cost could be quite high, as if people believe there is not going to be another downturn, they won’t be positioned for that risk.
Eurozone we need clear fiscal discipline – and we’re getting there. We need contingent lines of finance for sovereigns and we’ve got that. We need stronger bail-out funds for banks and credible fiscal rules.
“We’ve still got problems in the financial system as bank lending remains very weak. Banks still have their own capital to be concerned about, and so are lending less to small and medium sized companies.
“My main worry is that we will meet all these criteria this year and we attempt some restructuring, but we’re in denial of the scale of the problem.
“But, overall it’s more important what is happening with large companies, which have been raising finance. These large companies should have money to invest when they think conditions are right.
“In the UK we have a dead body in the kitchen and it’s an enormous mess, but we’re trying to clear it up. In the Eurozone they know it’s there but they have just put a sheet over it and will deal with it later, while in the US they’ve put the dead body in a chair, given it a cup of coffee and are attempting to have a conversation with it. The denial is far, far worse in the US because their problem is far worse. The US put a trillion dollars into the system but it hasn’t worked as they didn’t nationalise the banks so they can’t dictate where the money goes.”
“It is easier to identify risks than opportunities. Over the next few years we may have rather sluggish growth and the lack of a feelgood factor. Rising import prices are squeezing incomes and a weaker housing market could also make people feel rather depressed. We might expect a period like the mid 1990s, from which of course we eventually recovered with a strengthening in exports.”
Jerome, who is also the majority shareholder of CBC UK Limited, an independent Lloyd’s insurance broker in London, said: “Risk is everywhere. All countries are risky but in emerging markets the risk is priced in. Emerging markets contribute about 50% of economic activity on the planet, they have the bulk of industrial production and the bulk of energy consumption.
Jerome Booth, Head of Research at the Ashmore Group, delivered a talk entitled “Impacts and opportunities from the crisis for the emerging markets”. The Anglia Ruskin University honorary painted a gloomy outlook when he said: “This problem is big; it’s multi country and larger than anything since 1930s. Are we through this crisis – absolutely not. Most of the deleveraging hasn’t happened yet. The biggest capital market in the US is the housing market and it’s still being bailed out as it has been since 1991.
“We have core-periphery disease. The perception of risk is the biggest problem. For several hundred years the US and Europe have dominated and the core believed that they can affect the periphery, but that is no longer the case. The emerging markets are the healthy bit, the solution and we have to be nice to these guys and export to them.”
“Basically the best case scenario is five year’s of sub-par growth and there’s about a 35% chance that we will get some sort of catastrophe. That could take the form of depression and there’s the potential of another round of financial crises through failed or botched restructuring of sovereign debt in the Eurozone.
“If you were thinking of the crisis as a game of football, we’re in about the 60th minute. Things are still going reasonably well, but there’s always a chance of some sneaky goals from the opposition.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind that Greece and Ireland will have to restructure their debt because the level of debt is unsustainable. What I really worry about is a false sense of optimism. In the
Kate Barker
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LAIBS portfolio extended to South Western Africa The opening of ABM University College in Gaborone was a double celebration since it coincided with the successful validation event of ABM’s second campus in Francistown, the Gaborone campus having been previously approved in July. The Botswana Acting Vice President Mr. Ponatshego Kikilikilwe said that the new building represented a major breakthrough in the development of higher education in Botswana. The new college, which has two laboratories, 18 lecture rooms and a 160 capacity auditorium, will be running final year BA and BSc (Hons) top up programmes for LAIBS in Business Management, Marketing, Human Resource Management, Tourism Management as well as Accounting and Finance. The same range of programmes will also be offered in Francistown. The college mission to be a centre of entrepreneurship and innovation echoes that of LAIBS. Together with the Acting Vice President and Minister of Energy, Minerals and Water Resources, and Lyndon Jones Founder Chairman of the Association of Business Executives Minister for Labour, the ARU Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Lesley Dobree, was guest of honour at the opening where she gave a speech recognising the importance of the relationship between Anglia Ruskin University, the Association of Business Executives and ABM University College. LAIBS staff are delighted to extend the LAIBS’ portfolio to include South Western Africa.
Left to right: Dr Penelope Hood, LAIBS, Peter Worker, Deputy Head of Quality Assurance, ARU, Professor Lesley Dobree, Deputy Vice Chancellor, ARU and Mrs Daisy Molefhi, ABM Executive Director. (The coat of arms of Botswana features zebras, which explains their significance in the image, taken in the grounds of ABM University College, Gaborone.)
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Exploring the nature of responsibility in Higher Education Mishanka Kaul The topic undertaken by me for my master’s dissertation, with immense guidance and support from my supervisor Dr Jonathan Smith was ‘Exploring the nature of responsibility in Higher Education’.
themes, these values will then be contagiously infused in the employees and the problems that world is being faced with that threaten to make the future unsustainable, such as global warming, ever increasing population, profligate utilisation of natural resources, etc., are likely to eventually be controlled in a more sustainable manner.
The world today is faced with several urgent global issues that require immediate addressing and everyone to acknowledge, take responsibility for and act on them in unison. Equally, several disasters in the past have revealed how irresponsible leadership or irresponsible employees, or both, are capable of negatively impacting business and in certain cases, of completely destroying it. History reveals how disastrous eventualities, ranging from mishaps such as the sinking of the Titanic, to ruinous episodes such as the ENRON disaster, have accentuated the supreme importance of leadership to act responsibly. There have been recent illustrations such as the floods in Pakistan, where the primary leader of a country has revealed his Machiavellian intentions by going abroad to launch his son’s political career at a time when the entire flood inflicted nation he was responsible for, suffered abandoned. Another recent example would be the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. There were several warning signs prior to the disaster and good leadership would have acted promptly on these. In certain cases where leadership has acted responsibly, the employees have demonstrated irresponsible practice. Desolately, in the end, it is the business that is impacted and has had to bear the brunt of it all. While pondering upon this irresponsible aspect of business and leadership, several times, the concern that surfaces is not solely limited to the disastrous effects of it all to the existence of business – a giant leap beyond this smaller picture, is the not so visible yet so evident global concern, it brings along.
However, ‘responsibility’ itself is a word that can mean different things to different people. The intent of this research was to probe deeply into the hitherto untrodden area of exploring the nature of responsibility within higher education, in an attempt to gain an in – depth understanding of what its constituents are. The research strategy adopted for achieving this is the case study approach, coupled with some basic elements of the grounded theory approach. Fifteen members of the university under study were interviewed to gain a qualitative insight into the existing and emerging issues, and the analysis and interpretation was done by manually analysing the data via the process of repeatedly listening to the interviews and taking notes. A number of astounding and some obvious findings were revealed in this regard and the reader provided with a rationale and justification of why they are believed to be valid and important. Additionally, recommendations were provided on what action is required to be taken and what time needs to be invested, so as to align the comprehension of responsibility amongst all stake holders and to ensure that measures are taken to address the aforementioned urgent global issues. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of engraining the seed of a ‘responsibility culture’ in the very minds of individuals to ensure they inherently emerge as responsible beings who not only take account of their own immediate responsibilities, but also their responsibility towards the aforementioned urgent global issues that have gone neglected far too long.
Conversely, it is also fairly lucid, that where leaders act responsibly and in turn, inculcate the same behaviourism as a culture in their organisation; the business grows, prospers and operates on those ethics even after the leader’s passing away or departure from the organisation. The best evidence for this scenario is that of Anita Roddick, the founder of ‘The Body Shop’. This nature of responsible behaviour becomes a major intangible asset. When a company is looked upon as responsible, there is a direct link to it being looked upon as trustworthy, by not only its customers, but at the same time by its employees; in a nutshell, by all stake holders. As is well known, business in today’s time is largely driven by trust and relationship building. Consequently, the importance of ‘responsibly’ to be inculcated in one’s behaviourism cannot be emphasised enough. Furthermore, if this nature of responsible behaviour on the part of a leader includes themes such as responsibility towards global issues and other similar important
It is of prime importance in today’s time that this issue be taken seriously as no matter how profitable stakeholders (of even a university) feel a business is now, but for responsibility, it will be unsustainable for the future and likewise for all businesses. Further, it needs to be a combined global effort because any missing links would imply the entire effort coming crashing down. After the successful completion of this research as a master’s project, plans are also being formulated at the moment for ongoing research into this area in collaboration with Leeds Metropolitan University. Mishanka Kaul MA Human Resource Management
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‘Bean’ thinking about trade Successful event held over Fairtrade Fortnight We have been a certified Fairtrade university since 2007 and are committed to supporting and promoting Fairtrade. Both ourselves and the Students Union have a Fairtrade policy and Fairtrade products are available from our restaurants, vending machines, SU shops and bar, and can be included in hospitality orders.
Ian Meredith of Ethical Addictions Limited brought a variety of coffee sourced from Africa for participants to sample and gave an insightful lecture on the ethics of coffee production. Ian believes that being ethical is more than just ‘fair trade’ and should cover an entire business and its approaches. Most of Ian’s coffee is not branded ‘Fairtrade’ as he finds there are many arguments against the practices and expectations of the Fairtrade label, particularly from the point of view of small farmers who cannot afford the registration fees. All of his single origin coffees are ‘Fair Trade’ but only one is branded to carry the Fairtrade Mark consumer label. He prefers to use the term ‘Direct Trade’ in reference to the way in which his organisation establishes a direct and long term relationship with the coffee growers, working directly with producers ‘on the ground’ and paying prices equal to or higher than ‘Fairtrade’ prices, with the understanding that this will be a direct benefit to the farmers. EA Coffee believe that Direct Trade is of much clearer and greater benefit to the farmer even though the coffee does not go through the ‘Fairtrade’ certification system. To read more about EA Coffee and the work they are doing to directly contribute to the lives of the farmers and their families in Africa visit EA’s website; www.eacoffee.co.uk.
During this year’s Fairtrade fortnight which took place from 28 February to 13 March LAIBS, in conjunction with the Chartered Management Institute, hosted a successful event at the Chelmsford campus entitled ‘Fair Trade, Fairtrade and the Triple Bottom Line’. A broad and interested audience attended this event at our Chelmsford campus run in conjunction with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) as part of a series developing relationship between our organisations by exploring aspects of MisLeadership. John Rayment, Principal Lecturer in Lord Ashcroft International Business School, spoke on Misinformed Leadership and the need for a New Paradigm. Misinformed leadership is one of the four elements of MisLeadership covered in Jon Smith and John Rayment’s new text MisLeadership: Prevalence, Causes and Consequences. John showed how Misinformed Leadership is where the leader is attempting to do a good job but is unaware of important information, skills, techniques or consequences, misunderstands their importance, or misunderstands how to use them. The need for a new paradigm was illustrated by contrasting Newtonian and Quantum paradigms before looking at the fundamentals of the traditional market business paradigm which has dominated in the West for 250 years but may now be inapplicable.
Helena Barton from Corporate Context discussed ‘Running your Business for More Than Just Profit’, referring to the Triple Bottom Line concept of People, Planet and Profit, and Rev. Tony Cant, Anglia Ruskin’s Chaplain, explained the role of our university’s Mission Croatia in both improving the lives of the people living in the accommodation constructed and maintained, and in exposing programme participants to real world issues, consequences and solutions. The evening was completed by raffling a donated copy of the MisLeadership text, which raised £36.00 for the Japan earthquake victims.
ner n i D k r o w t e gust where N u A 3 e th MBA n o r ne l be giving A Network Din r ’, wil xt MB u e e n n e re th p e s tr is n m E t ’t a Don the ‘Beerm s a n w o n k , n Mike Southo lk. a fascinating ta /alumni k .u c .a a li g n .a now at www t e k c ti r u o y k Boo
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MBA CONNECT
Lord Tomlinson takes the reins as Chair of the Board of Governors Kate Barker stands down after 12 years on Anglia Ruskin University’s Board
MBACONNECT
Lord Tomlinson has been named as the new Chair of the Board of Governors at Anglia Ruskin University. John Tomlinson, who was made a life peer as Baron Tomlinson of Walsall in 1998, succeeds Kate Barker, who has stood down after being a member of the Board for the past 12 years. The Labour peer was the MP for Meriden (1974–79), Lord Tomlinson, Chair of during which time he the Board of Governors served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Harold Wilson, before becoming the MEP for Birmingham West (1984–99). Lord Tomlinson has been the Chair of the Advisory Committee of London School of Commerce since 2003 and the Chair of the Association of Independent Higher Education Providers since 2004.
If you have any news or information you feel would be of interest to your fellow MBA Alumni please send your copy to me. The next issue of MBAConnect is due out in September 2011 and the deadline for copy is the 31 August 2011 (good quality images to accompany your articles would be good too). Additionally, if you have any suggestions as to the type of content you would like to see in the newsletter then please let me know.
Speaking of his appointment, Lord Tomlinson said: “Taking over as a Chair of Board of Governors from Kate Barker was always going to be a challenge. To do so in the present climate in the higher education sector is even more so.”
“I know that the Board feels it could rely on full support from our students and from all the staff, both academic and administrative, in these difficult times.” Lord Tomlinson Kate Barker, the former Chair of the Board of Governors, said: “I was honoured to be asked to chair the Governors in 2007, and it has been an exciting time since then, working with Professor Michael Thorne, the Vice Chancellor, and the rest of the senior team as a clear and ambitious corporate plan was developed and implemented successfully.
E: christine.durrant@anglia.ac.uk
“This has left Anglia Ruskin in a strong financial position from which to tackle the impending major changes to fees and funding. I will miss the involvement with Anglia Ruskin greatly. But it’s very good to know that the management team and the Board of Governors are all so able and so highly committed.”
Websites: www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni www.anglia.ac.uk/aibs
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Publishing & Advertising 4881/6.11/DS
Editor: Christine Durrant (Communications, Marketing and External Relations, LAIBS)