The Biz by Christine Durrant

BIZ

the

Lord Ashcroft International Business School Magazine|issue 6

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Beanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; thinking about trade Some Fairtrade products sold at ARU | page 15 www.anglia.ac.uk/laibs

Deans Update

Contents

Welcome to this latest edition of The Biz. I hope, like me, you find much inside to enjoy. It is, as ever, a great delight to present to you some of the achievements and contributions of our community.

We are moving!

LAIBS portfolio extended to South Western Africa

The long arm of the law in evidence at LAIBS

NEWS

‘Talent Management’ address to Ghana

As you will know, the landscape of UK higher education is set to change radically over the next few years and to this end, I hope you will enjoy reading about some of the opportunities and events that are going on within LAIBS that we believe make this such a great place to study.

National Student Survey

LAIBS and the Faculty of Science and Technology in joint venture

Lord Tomlinson takes the reins as Chair of the Board of Governors

We are particularly 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.

New online course in conjunction with Excelsior College in the US

Who’s got time for Global Responsibility?

I hope both colleagues and our students have an enjoyable summer. With all best wishes,

STUDENT NEWS 6

A time of phenomenal change and opportunity

Tourism Management students – networking for jobs!

PhD student gets involved

LAIBS students visit Britvic

Employee Mentoring Scheme

10 Entente cordiale Dr Trevor Bolton Dean, Lord Ashcroft International Business School

11 Exploring the nature of responsibility in Higher Education EVENTS 12 Kate Barker warns of risks facing UK economic outlook

Editorial Welcome to The Biz, Lord Ashcroft International Business School’s staff and student magazine aimed at keeping you abreast of developments and opportunities in our Faculty. We hope you enjoy reading it. The magazine is produced four times a year and distributed via issuu.com. Alternatively you can access copies of this and previous issues on the News and Events page of our website: www.anglia.ac.uk/laibs

13 ‘Become an Ashcroft Professional’ event 14 University Forum for Human Resource Development (UFHRD) 15 ‘Bean’ thinking about trade – successful event held over Fairtrade Fortnight 16 LAIBS students win prize for ‘Best Management Team’ in Charity Business Challenge 17 Recruitment Fairs are just the job! INNOVATION

Contact us: Thank you to those of you who have submitted articles for this issue, please keep the good news stories coming. If you would like to offer us your news or ideas to us please contact christine.durrant@anglia.ac.uk. We look forward to hearing from you. Topics of interest could include those related to: o Good news stories o Personal and academic achievements o Events o Research o International visits o Diary dates, etc. …… or anything else you think may be of interest to your fellow students and/or colleagues. We would also welcome your feedback on the magazine, particularly on ways of improving it.

18 Learning to build the ‘Big Society’ BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT 19 Online Foundation degree for Timberland SUCCESS STORIES 14 Amity Global Business School, Singapore employes MBA graduate 20 Studying Smart – KBU student gains First Class Honours degree ALUMNI NEWS 21 From MA/Grad ICSA in Corporate Governance graduate to Assistant Company Secretary at Britvic

Work in progress â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 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 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 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.

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 ABMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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 LAIBSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 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.)

The long arm of the law in evidence at LAIBS The international perspective of policing was being embraced in LAIBS recently when Sergeant Ginger Charles, PhD from the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Arvada Police Department in Colorado gave an open lecture to all staff and students. Sergeant Charles has worked within the police environment in America for over 20 years and has been researching and testing ways in which police officers cope with the extremely challenging nature of their role. She argues that many of the challenges faced by leaders generally are quite similar to the challenges experienced by police officers. Within the policing role however the speaker argues that these challenges are more pronounced and easier to see than they can be in other leadership positions. This lecture explored some of the challenges experienced by police officers, looked at how they cope with these, and then drew lessons from these experiences for wider leadership roles. The lecture was particularly relevant at this challenging time for leaders with redundancies, closures, funding cuts and all the people issues associated with these. Sergeant Charles has been working with Dr Jonathan Smith from LAIBS for a number of years now, researching the relevance of spirituality in policing. Their current research includes interviews with over 30 police officers in America and the UK and EEG tests to examine levels of brain integration of respondents. They presented the findings from their latest research at an international conference focused on spirituality that took place in Prague in March. This conference was interdisciplinary and discussed the relevance of spirituality

in business, leadership, health and education. If you would like more details please contact: E: jonathan.smith@anglia.ac.uk T: 0845 196 2069

‘Talent Management’ address to Ghana Dr Penny Hood of LAIBS recently visited Ghana and gave an address on ‘Talent Management’ to the Ghana Employers’ Association. Representatives at the meeting included Government, the Civil Aviation Authority, The Ghana Armed Services, DHL, the National Health Insurance Association and the Forestry Commission.

Allison Beaumont and Hannah Myatt, our Student Experience Co-ordinators, would like to thank all LAIBS colleagues who supported them by encouraging our final year undergraduate students to complete the National Student Survey.

During the visit to Ghana Dr Hood also had the opportunity to visit several colleges and to meet with the West Africa Examinations Council to discuss issues of quality assurance.

Of course, many thanks also go to all those students who completed the survey which resulted in our Faculty achieving 71.6%, the highest percentage of eligible respondents out of all the faculties.

E: penelope.hood@anglia.ac.uk T: 0845 196 6876

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 The Labour peer was the MP for Meriden (1974–79), during which time he 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. 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. Lord Tomlinson, Chair of the Board of Governors

“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.”

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.

LAIBS and the Faculty of Science and Technology in joint venture Lord Ashcroft International Business School has now added Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, London campus, to its delivery. A final year ‘top up’ to the BA (Hons) Business Management will be offered.

LAIBS welcomed Limkokwing colleagues to a one day Induction held at LAIBS in Chelmsford on the 11th April. Material from this event has been developed as a training package for new partner staff, both academic and administrative. This pilot is now being expanded to induct all new partners prior to delivery of ARU programmes, thereby enhancing quality assurance and support given to new partners.

Initially, 30 students are expected from Cyberjaya, Malaysia and numbers will increase in 2012. The Business School is joined in this venture by the Faculty of Science and Technology who are delivering the top up of their Business Information Systems degree.

New online BA (Hons) Business Management Practice course provided in conjunction with Excelsior College in the US Anglia Ruskin University and Excelsior College, in the United States, have forged a strategic partnership to create two innovative online degree programmes. One of the courses is the new BA Hons in Business Management Practice to be delivered by LAIBS and designed to equip graduates with the skills and the competitive edge to succeed in today’s global marketplace. On completion, successful students will obtain both a UK degree from Lord Ashcroft International Business School and a US degree from Excelsior College, enhancing a graduate’s CV in an increasingly competitive market.

studies course, with topics covered including cross-cultural communications, project management, entrepreneurship and business leadership. Because of its flexibility, the course can easily be slotted into students’ professional and personal lives. The first start date was 2 May 2011.

Excelsior College was founded in 1971 in New York State and is well-known for its flexible, non-resident degree programmes. (Excelsior is Latin for “ever upward,” and is the motto of New York State.) Today, Excelsior College has more than 30,000 students enrolled in a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

The distance learning BA Hons Business Management Practice will be offered on a part-time and full-time basis, with no fixed starting date or duration. It is an advanced business

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

A time of phenomenal change and opportunity Student survival kit for the future

Fourthly, investigate the companies and sectors that you are applying for so that you become an ‘expert’ in the field. Do you need other qualifications before you can work in that industry? For example, an old student of mine wanted to become a trader in the City. In the summer after his second year, he attended courses and sat the exams so he gained regulatory sign off to trade. When he then graduated he was head and shoulders above his fellow graduates going for similar jobs as he could be employed and trade straight away.

For those who have recently graduated, and who are about to graduate, this is a period of great uncertainty and worry. The world economy is undergoing a large power shift and rebalancing following on from the fallout of the global financial crisis. As a result businesses are not offering as many graduate positions. The public sector austerity cuts have also seen such positions in that sector put on hold or decline.

Finally, to read widely and keep up to date with current affairs. When I worked in the City for one of the top ranked graduate employers, I had to interview many applicants who had made it through to the interview process. These were superbly qualified people yet many could not answer questions about some of the key variables and people that concerned our clients – such as what the base rate is or the name of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Yet all of this negative news must be put into perspective by students when planning their future career. Attending university is one of the biggest investments that people will ever make – in terms of both money and time. As a result it should be treated like any other investment. Those that do so will position themselves better to succeed in their future career paths. So what can students do to increase their chances of success? Firstly, make use of the time that you have away from university. Plan well ahead for those summer months and try to gain an internship or similar experience with a blue chip company. Such experience will really enhance a CV and make you stand out from the rest of the crowd in the competition for post degree employment. Also, if you succeed in your internship not only will you gain some excellent references you may also be offered a permanent role after graduation. The company will know you and how you perform making it a cheaper low risk option to offer a role rather than advertise it later.

These are just a few things that you can do to help add to the academic side of your life. Most of us are very poor at envisaging and planning for the future. By doing such things you are not guaranteed success, but your chances against the majority whom do not do such things are significantly enhanced. Never forget, in terms of money and time, your degree is one of the biggest investments that you will ever make. Treat it as such and like all investments if you manage the risks well and position yourself correctly, the rewards can be phenomenal even in the worst of downturns.

Secondly, you need to network. The red brick universities are already very good at offering their students such opportunities. However anyone can do it, and I do not mean just being on Facebook. For example, if you wish to move into investment banking find out when the top players in the industry are speaking. Many events are open to the public, attend them and talk to others there. What often impresses people is enthusiasm for a subject and you will find that most people are very open to talk about their ideas and what they do.

Dr Robin Gowers is a senior lecturer at Lord Ashcroft International Business School, Anglia Ruskin University. He worked for four years with PricewaterhouseCoopers, based in the City of London. His time there included work with their Strategic Risk Services group whom helped senior executives identify, understand, assess and manage the business risks they faced across their whole enterprise. He is keen to enhance the employability of his students with a focus in his lectures of applying the academic theory to reality.

Thirdly, utilise your institutions alumni network. Such groups are of increasing importance to all universities thanks to the severe cuts being imposed on the sector. A well run alumni association will have details of past students going back many years together with what they are now doing. A number will be working in sectors of interest and many are happy to be contacted by the alumni office to be asked to provide advice about what to do to gain that desired position.

Robin Gowers Senior Lecturer, LAIBS E: robin.gowers@anglia.ac.uk T: 0845 196 6853

Tourism Management students – networking for jobs! The Employment Bureau recently organised for BA (Hons) Tourism Management students from Lord Ashcroft International Business School in Chelmsford to attend the Tourism and Leisure Show held at Five Lakes Resort in Maldon, Essex. The trip was organised with a view to the students networking with exhibitors to secure potential employment opportunities and start building a personal “career contacts network” with professionals already working in their chosen industry. Most vacancies in the UK are not advertised so building personal networks like this is crucial for securing life-long career opportunities.

delighted to have had the opportunity of working with our university. “Anglia Ruskin University took part in the annual Tourism & Leisure Show for the first time this year. The event is the perfect showcase for what Essex has to offer, and it was fantastic to have the University on board and be part of this prestigious County event. I’m sure the students benefited from interacting with the tourism businesses not just from Essex, but all over the East of England”. As well as helping the students to network directly with employers at the event, the Employment Bureau team of Sarah White, Sarah Kempster and Verity Hyett worked with Hannah Myatt from LAIBS to host an exhibition space for Anglia Ruskin University promoting the Tourism Management course to visitors and organisations. Sarah White commented, “As a result of our attendance at this event, the Radisson Blu at Stansted has agreed to offer a “behind the scenes” tour for the Tourism Management students, Essex & Suffolk Water are supporting a student with her dissertation next year and the Five Lakes Resort itself is in discussion with the Employment Bureau about a range of work opportunities for both students and graduates, with a particular interest in our international students”.

The annual event, organised by Visit Essex, was another hugely successful show. Over 100 organisations operating in the tourism industry were exhibiting and 2011 saw more than 1000 visitors through the doors, the largest number recorded in the 16 years that the event has been running. Carol Jolly, Membership & Business Tourism Manager, at Visit Essex is

Sarah White added, “We worked in close collaboration with LAIBS to bring this event together, and particular thanks go to Simon Evans, Pathway Leader, Tourism Management, and Hannah Myatt, Student Experience Co-Ordinator: their help was invaluable organising our presence at the show and supporting the students who attended”. The Employment Bureau team are keen to support all faculties with this type of employability skills support for their students. Please contact Sarah if you would like to discuss how our team can work with your students: sarah.white@anglia.ac.uk.

Tourism and Leisure Show held at Five Lakes Resort, Maldon, Essex

PhD Student gets involved Accurate Business in the Cure & Care Market (CURA B) is a research project in LAIBS which improves efficiency in the healthcare sector by lowering costs and meeting the needs of the customers/patients.

It was such a great experience and a valuable opportunity to get involved and to communicate with these professional people. These two days meeting and discussion were extremely well organised, accurate and very efficient from my point of view. I strongly believe in LAIBS which provides the best support to its PhD students. I am also grateful to be part of the research team. If anyone would like to know the detail of the project and the trip, please feel free to contact me.

I am one of the research students under the supervision of Prof. Terry Mughan, Professor of International Management at LAIBS, and I had the chance to join the team to go to Brussels for the CURA-B kick off meeting between 28 February and 1 March. The schedules were tight but very interesting. The lead partner introduced the project’s aims and objectives to the group of 23 people from 10 different organisations on the 1st day. I participated in the field trip on the second day with the whole consortium. We also discussed the project plan, financial plan and other important issues to the project.

“I strongly believe in LAIBS which provides the best support to its PhD students.” Saeed Sadighi, PhD student at LAIBS Saeed Sadighi PhD Researcher & Associate Lecturer, LAIBS E: saeed.sadighi@anglia.ac.uk T: 0845 196 2476

Students outside Britvic’s bottling plant in Becton, London

LAIBS students visit Britvic In early April the Employment Bureau in Chelmsford arranged for a group of students from Lord Ashcroft International Business School to attend a site visit to Britvic’s bottling and distribution plant in Becton. The students were accompanied by Herman Rapp, Ross Kemble and Hannah Myatt from LAIBS and Sarah Kempster who represented the Employment Bureau.

fortunate to gain an insight into the creative marketing and branding projects Britvic are famous for; such as their Robinsons drinks at the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Herman Rapp, Senior Lecturer, commented, “There were a range of interesting perspectives for our students to consider e.g. Marketing, Operations Management and Organisational Behaviour, and the question and answer session was especially well moderated. As my own interest is Operations Management, I could see lots of ‘anchors’ for concepts and theories which are relevant for both practice and academic teaching.”

Britvic plc has a long history in Chelmsford. It was established as a business in 1938 by James McPherson, a chemist in Tindal Street, as The British Vitamin Products Company and has operated in Chelmsford ever since. Britvic is now one of Europe’s leading soft drinks companies, with an enviable portfolio of market leading brands, such as Robinsons, J2O, Fruit Shoot, Tango and drench. They also have exclusive bottling agreements with PepsiCo in the UK and Ireland for global brands such as Pepsi and 7Up. Including their international operations, Britvic employs 3500 people and sell 1.9 billion litres of soft drinks annually.

The students enjoyed the experience too. Cedric Deur, studying with LAIBS for the MSc Marketing Management Practice, told Sarah, “This event was a fantastic opportunity to see how an international company who specialise in soft drinks operates. The tour was very interesting and made us realise the organisation that is needed to operate a global business. Also, the questioning time at the end linked directly our studies. I’m very happy that my University gave us the opportunity to learn directly what happens in the workplace.”

The trip was organised to offer students the opportunity to see first-hand the ‘behind the scenes’ operations of a major international organisation. Britvic’s Learning Zone Manager, Tania Hall, co-ordinated the tour which, after a welcome talk, started with a quiz about the history, structure and operations of Britvic. The tour around the site demonstrated the complete bottling and labelling process, from the point of a small test tube size bottle being blown to 2 litre capacity and filled with branded soft drink to the distribution and transportation operations which ensures the product reaches supermarket shelves when required by the retailer. The students were also

“This event was a fantastic opportunity to see how an international company who specialise in soft drinks operates. The tour was very interesting and made us realise the organisation that is needed to operate a global business.” Cedric Deur, MSc Marketing Management Practice

Employee Mentoring Scheme The Mentee’s perspective

This was all made possible through the mentoring scheme. The pairing with Birgit Stach was great, she was professional in everything she did to help point me in the right directions, put so much of her time and effort to making this experience the best it could be. Our time together has taught me how to hold a professional acquaintance with someone, which I have never had before and will hold me in good stead for my working life. I really would suggest the mentoring scheme to as many who can make the time requirements to get involved in this external effort to ensure you get the best career starting.

My name is Sam Munden; I’m a second year student at Anglia Ruskin University studying BA (Hons) Business Management.

Sam Munden, BA (Hons Business Management student

Within the second year of study, you are able to participate in the employee mentoring scheme, a programme where you are paired with a business professional to aid you in work exposure. Work exposure is different from experience, exposure is more to do with being able to see how one fits into a work place, the environment, what it demands of you and what skills are required.

The Mentor’s perspective My name is Birgit Stach, I’m the Executive Business Support Manager at Basildon Borough Council and I have 20 years of experience in advising and more recently working for local authorities in Germany, New Zealand and the UK. Last year, our HR department asked managers whether we would be interested in mentoring a second year student from Anglia Ruskin University and that we could apply if our line manager would agree. As soon as my boss, the Chief Executive agreed, I applied, as I have always enjoyed managing and developing junior staff during my career and as I was keen to develop my mentoring skills and to give back the good advice and development I have received over the years from some of my managers.

I was partnered with Birgit Stach, who works in the Chief Executive’s Office of the Basildon Borough Council as the Executive Business Support Manager. This was not specifically the line of work I want to get in to, though it didn’t matter, as Birgit’s business experience could be adapted to any line of work. When we first met, we organised meetings for the months ahead and planned 3 goals we wanted to achieve to help improve my chances of employability. We looked through my CV first to see how I could restructure it and add to it to make it more competitive. Birgit suggested I look into internships in organisations similar to my desired future career path of corporate training. I did as she suggested and now have 2 internships lined up this summer in very reputable firms. She gave me the push and the reason for doing the work and putting forth the effort.

A short while after applying, Jan Haldane from Anglia Ruskin University confirmed that I had been accepted as a mentor and supplied us with a mentoring guide and dates for the mentoring induction morning and the evening meeting, where mentors and mentees meet for the first time. To cut a long story short, the mentoring induction morning was incredibly useful, as we heard from three previous mentors and three previous mentees, their experiences and their tips for “Dos and Don’ts”. I found the whole organisation and support through Jan at the University extremely helpful.

Secondly, she organised a full panel interview at the Basildon Council offices; where I was able to practice my interview skills in a real working environment facing a panel of interviewers I didn’t know. The experience was invaluable to me, as I prepared by finding good and relevant answers to 50 of the most common asked interview questions and personal presentation skills. I also received useful feedback from Birgit and the panel.

I was paired with Sam Munden, who pleasantly surprised me right at the first meeting, when he found me in a crowd of more than a 100 people in a few seconds because he had googled my name. After realising that Sam was not only very well prepared but also a very good student with very good grades, very articulate and very mature for his age, I did wonder for a moment whether there was anything that I could actually advise him on. However, Sam was clear about what he wanted to get out of the mentoring scheme and I was happy to advise him on his CV, interviewing techniques and generally improving his career chances after graduating.

Finally, we devised a mock training session that I would teach to an invited audience of business professionals who could provide constructive feedback on my current skills and abilities as a corporate trainer. Birgit supported me in developing my training seminar, including the recruitment of some attendants outside my personal network, while the university provided the venue. The mock session was a great way to help me realise what a career in corporate training may involve including personal attributes, level of work and preparation needed. Most importantly, it helped in assessing whether I would enjoy a career in this field – and I do! Doing all this before leaving university is a great opportunity.

I think I was very lucky, as a new mentor, to be paired with an excellent and motivated student like Sam, who only needed very few nudges in the right direction and some discussion time to get himself where he wanted to be. I was thoroughly impressed with Sam’s performance in the mock interview and moreover in the role of a trainer in the mock seminar. I think he is quite an exceptional student and has a very bright future ahead of him. I look forward to meeting him again professionally as a corporate trainer or a business consultant. However, I am also looking forward to my next mentoring challenge, as it may well be completely different.

The mentoring experience has been such a valuable experience, it has ultimately led me to great internships that will improve my CV therefore increase my chances of being hired. I have also had the opportunity to realise before leaving university that I will actually enjoy a career in corporate training; I gained useful feedback from professionals where I can improve to refine myself even before employment.

Entente cordiale Students from EMD Ecole de Management Marseille (EMD) accompanied by their professors Pascale Albier and Mike Shanks visited Cambridge 15th–17th February. Robert Jones organised a programme of seminars and company visits on the theme of Cambridge Means Business. MA International Business (MAIB) French students Celia Georges and Riwadi Soilihi (from EMD, studying in Cambridge) and Hadrien Baudelle were recruited as guest presenters and briefed on the ‘Cambridge Phenomenon’ and International Comparisons of Entrepreneurship’. They then presented these sessions en anglais et français to their compatriots, creating a great impression with our visitors. Terry Mughan presented his “Open Innovation” session, en français naturellement. Robert took the group to Enterprise Tuesday, a world-famous enterprise meeting organised by CUE Cambridge University Entrepreneurs. Mark Gerhard, CEO of Cambridge-based Jagex Games Studio, a world leader in innovative computer games, shared some reflections on growing his hi-tech firm.

designs the microchips that power our digital products, and typically a mobile phone will contain five ARM-designed chips. The next event was a trip to the Science Park where ARU MAIB 2010 graduate Aline Faivre Pierret presented her experiences working for Cambridge bio-tech firm Abcam plc. This company, with its logo Molly the Sheep*, is another of Cambridge’s stars. It offers the world’s largest range of antibodies online. During her excellent talk at the Trinity Centre, Aline revealed that she had been “recrutée par un chasseur de tête” – recruited by a head hunter! See: http://cambridgemba.wordpress.com/emd-visit/ Robert Jones Lecturer in Entrepreneurship & Innovation Course Leader Part-time MBA Cambridge E: robert.jones@anglia.ac.uk T: 0845 196 2549

*Molly the molecular sheep – Abcam’s company "mascot" came about simply because Dolly the sheep was making headline news at the time, so they created the body out of a molecular space fill model and gave her antibody legs, and thus the molecular Dolly became Abcam’s Molly.

A company visit to ARM plc HQ at Fulbourn was hosted by Bill Parsons, Executive Vice President HR, who presented a brief history of this remarkable firm. ARM’s innovative management practices proved to be a real eye-opener for our visitors. ARM

Robert Jones with (to his right) Professor Mike Shanks and students from EMD

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’. 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. 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

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. 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. 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

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 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. “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. “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

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. “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.”

“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.” Kate Barker

‘Become an Ashcroft Professional’ event On 14th March, Lord Ashcroft International Business School held its ‘Become an Ashcroft Professional’ event on the MAB mezzanine. The event was aimed at all our Business School students and its aim was to get them to think about their future careers and find out more about how taking a professional qualification could enhance their employability once they’ve graduated. We were very lucky to have representatives from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountancy (CIPFA), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), Chartered Management Institute (CMI), the Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality, and the Chartered Institute of Marketing attend the event, in addition to Reed the Employment agency and the University Employability and Careers Service, who were able to advise students on careers and CV writing. As well as setting up a stand on the mezzanine, the CIMA and CIPFA representatives also gave presentations to our Accounting and Finance students who were interested in doing a professional accounting qualification after graduation. Over 200 students attended the event and many of them seemed to find it useful and thought-provoking. Some students told me how much they had enjoyed talking to the representatives in an informal environment and commented on how the event gave them an awareness of the opportunities available to them. After the event, Abdul Goffar from the ACCA said that he really ‘enjoyed it’ and found it was ‘really well organised and executed’. Debbie Thomas from the CMI thanked the Business School for inviting them to the event and hope they will be invited to attend something similar in the future.

Thank you to all those who attended the event and helped make it a success. We hope to be able to run a similar event for our students in the future. Hannah Myatt Departmental Student Experience Co-ordinator Lord Ashcroft International Business School E: hannah.myatt@anglia.ac.uk

LAIBS hosts UFHRD Council Meeting cooperative research initiatives, professionally-focussed qualifications and consultancy interventions. The Forum works in close partnership with other bodies, such as the Academy for HRD (based in North America) and the European Foundation for HRD (based in Brussels) amongst others in support of this mission. The Council Meeting was presided by Professors Monica Lee and Jim Stewart and representatives from universities throughout the United Kingdom.

Some of the delegates with, second left, Professor Jim Stewart and second right, Dr Diane Keeble-Ramsey, LAIBS Anglia Ruskin University took its turn in place as a member of the University Forum for Human Resource Development (UFHRD) by hosting a UFHRD Council Meeting and a research workshop on January 20 and 21, 2011 at Lord Ashcroft International Business School (LAIBS). The Forum is a nonprofit making partnership that seeks to create, develop and inform leading-edge human resource development (HRD) theories and practices through an international network of universities, individuals and organisations promoting

Dr Diane Keeble-Ramsay, a Senior Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at LAIBS welcomed the Forum on 20 January 2011, acting as Anglia’s liaison and as a member of the council, to the Rivermead campus. She also hosted a research workshop on 21st January for the wider membership focused around current research being undertaken within HRD at Anglia. This participative and reflective workshop allowed participants to consider papers presented by John Murphy, Dr Lloyd Gray, Dr Beatriz Acevedo, John Rayment and Dr Jonathan Smith. Dr Diane Keeble-Ramsay Senior Lecturer Organisational Behaviour Pathway Leader CIPD Flexible Learning E: diane.keeble-ramsey@anglia.ac.uk T: 0845 196 6844

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. “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. “I would like to offer my special thanks to Dr Easwaramoorthy Rangaswamy, Director, Amity, Singapore and Dr Mahmoud

Dr Penelope Hood with Prateek Naya, Marketing Manager at Amity Global Business School, Singapore 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

‘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. 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.

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. 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.

6th Form students from the Plume School, Maldon, receiving their prize from Linda Hollingworth, Chair of the CMI Chelmsford and Mid Essex

LAIBS students win prize for ‘Best Management Team’ in Charity Business Challenge Members of the Chartered Management Institute, guest lecturers from business and Lord Ashcroft International Business School – Anglia Ruskin University gave their time free to brief and mentor students from Lord Ashcroft International Business School and the Plume School competing in a Charity Challenge on 24th & 31st March to find the best innovative and workable solutions to the £60,000 funding crisis which has hit the local charity CHESS (Churches Homelessness Emergency Support Scheme for homeless individuals). The Challenge, held at ARU was sponsored by CMI, ARU and local & London based businesses, IFM Group, Bird Luckin & Stephen Farra & Associates ran over two days and was designed and organised by T & G Solutions. It not only had the objective of finding CHESS innovative and workable solutions to more sustainable fund raising but also to expose students to key business concepts in all aspects of enterprise and entrepreneurship. On Day 1, CMI members, LAIBS lecturers and local business managers provided talks on all aspects of running a business, mentoring and advice to the teams as they coped with the pressure of working to tight deadlines with turbulent events thrown in to make the simulation more realistic. Day 2 saw the teams briefed on how to develop their presentations for the judging panel made up of local business

leaders and members of the charity. Marks were given for creativity, understanding the market position, negotiating and marketing skills and identifying sustainable and financially viable solutions. The unanimous verdict of the judging panel at the end of the second day was that the LAIBS team, consisting of third year undergraduate business students, was clearly the ‘Best Management Team’ while the Plume School had provided the ‘Winners Take All’ best, sustainable and innovative solution. The prizes were awarded by Linda Hollingworth, Chair of CMI Chelmsford & Essex Branch and Jonathan Knowles, Director of Studies of Lord Ashcroft International Business School and a donation of £500 was given to CHESS. It was agreed by the all students that being part of the challenge had given them an exciting and rewarding introduction to being an entrepreneur. Hannah Myatt, Student Experience Co-ordinator (Chelmsford) at LAIBS and part of the judging panel during the Business Challenge, said:

“It was a great opportunity for our students to work alongside a charity such as CHESS to give something back to the community. The skills they were able to gain during the course of the challenge will help prepare them for working life.”

Recruitment Fairs are just the job! The Student Services Employment Bureau teams organised a very successful cross-campus event on Tuesday 12th April. Recruitment agencies from Chelmsford and Cambridge were invited on to campus to offer advice about employment opportunities and register students and graduates for temporary work or for permanent jobs after graduation. Over 250 students attended to meet both generalist recruitment agencies like Manpower or specialists in their field: for example, Hays Construction or Randstad Education. The recruiters were very enthusiastic about the event and the quality of our students and graduates. Alison Power, from Power Resourcing in Cambridge, commented, “Thank you so much for your kind invitation to attend the Recruitment Agency Day held today at Anglia Ruskin University. As you know, Power Resourcing specialises in graduate recruitment – across a range of sectors – and we were keen to meet a wide variety of students and graduates. We had nearly 100 visitors to our stand and were very impressed with the quality of the candidates”. In Chelmsford, Tony Dalliday, Branch Manager of the Chelmsford office of global recruitment organisation, Adecco, said “Thanks for inviting us to your recruitment agency fair. I have to say I found there to be a very high quality of candidates. I am confident we have opportunities that will be of interest to many of your students and graduates who registered today”. The students and graduates who attended were also very positive about the opportunity to engage with organisations whose specialism is recruitment. “The event was extremely helpful, completely void of any hassle, the ambience was very warm, friendly and refreshing. Thank-You to the Employment Bureau!” Sheriff Oladejo, LAIBS student. Themba, a Law graduate, commented “The Employment Bureau provided a fantastic opportunity to meet recruiters who are active in the job market. In this harsh economic climate, getting recruiters to our doorstep enables myself as a graduate to start being proactive about my job search. Thanks to the Employment Bureau who have answered our needs with this event.” Jane Murray, Assistant Director, Employability, was delighted with the strong student turnout for the events and the high profile recruiters who visited our University. "The Employment Bureau have organised two very successful events today.

Students and graduates have had the tremendous benefit of professional recruitment consultancies coming to meet them on campus to give advice about the current employment opportunities in the region, review CV’s and arrange interviews for both temporary work and permanent jobs". Nicola Sexton, Interim Manager of the Cambridge Employment Bureau, added “The Employment Bureau is committed to assisting our students in finding work exposure opportunities. We understand the importance of gaining work experience and we are passionate about providing our students with the skills needed to secure permanent work after graduation”.

“The event was extremely helpful, completely void of any hassle, the ambience was very warm, friendly and refreshing. Thank you to the Employment Bureau!” Sheriff Oladejo, LAIBS student Following the success of these first events, the Employment Bureau are planning to make these recruitment agency fairs a regular event on campus. If you would like to know more or if you have any suggestions for future events please contact Sarah White at the Chelmsford campus or Nicola Sexton at Cambridge. sarah.white@anglia.ac.uk / nicola.sexton@anglia.ac.uk

Learning to build the ‘Big Society’ 32 managers subscribe to new Cert HE in Charity and Social Enterprise Management An old joke tells how two explorers were making their way through the jungle when a lion suddenly appeared just ahead of them. “Relax, Smithers,” says one of them, “remember the book we read – if you look the beast directly in the eye and stand perfectly still, it will run away.” His companion, still somewhat uneasy, replies: “The thing is, Blenkinsop old boy, I know I’ve read the book, and I believe you’ve read the book, but I’m not so sure that the lion has read it …” Talking to colleagues in the third sector, as their organisations, colleagues, and vital services are devoured by funding cuts, one wonders just who, exactly, has read the ‘Big Society’ book. We’re pretty sure that David Cameron, Lord Wei and Francis Maude have read it. Managers of charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises sector would probably argue that they wrote it. And yet local authorities are clipping the wings of the ‘Big Society’ before it has the chance to take flight. Based on that and on feedback received by third sector professionals proving a need for a recognised third sector qualification, ‘3rd Sector Futures’ launched the new Certificate in Higher Education in Charity and Social Enterprise earlier this year. Feedback from three third sector professionals:

“We, who are spending our careers in the sector, want recognition of our knowledge and experience, and there are not enough qualifications to help show this development, let alone to mark it out as a career.” “There IS a third sector difference. While some of us welcome studying in ‘mainstream’ management programmes alongside public and private sector colleagues, for others the culture and values of our organisations need to permeate our learning experience, and that’s okay.” “You can give us theory, but let us apply it to our organisations, rather than keep us looking at madeup examples and out of date case studies. If we’re going to take time to study it needs to deliver benefits in the workplace, sooner rather than later.”

The new CertHE is a two year part-time programme delivered via one day workshops (held in Cambridge) and online learning, and offers all the basic blocks of management from finance to impact. We’re also able to offer a 50% discount due to funding from the university’s Higher Skills @ Work programme – which more typically has been used to develop courses for private sector clients such as Harrods. March 24th saw the first intake of students on to the new Cert HE in Charity and Social Enterprise Management, developed by 3rd Sector Futures in collaboration with Higher Skills @ Work. Despite a very short period for marketing, the course was very well subscribed, with 32 managers signing up to the Cambridge cohort; these came from existing charities and social enterprises, and from organisations looking to set them up. An attractive price, content tailored to making impact on organisational and individual performance, and the blended learning approach were all factors in getting such an excellent response, and our contacts within the third sector made marketing the qualification a lot easier. Jan Coatham from the Red Cross said that she was taking the course so that she can “apply the knowledge gained to the Red Cross to enable them to generate their own funding through social enterprises, meaning they can take on projects that wouldn’t normally attract funds. The course appealed to the Red Cross as it ticked all of the boxes for what we were after.” After this success, we have already begun recruiting for a September start in Chelmsford – please feel free to advertise this with contacts in the third sector, and also the public sector: many local authorities and health services are now exploring social enterprise as an option. More details are available at this link: http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/prospectus/ugpt/ Charity_and_Social_Enterprise_Management.html It’s not expected that the new CertHE will transform the sector overnight, but it is aimed at helping current managers in the third sector improve their own effectiveness. We hope to continue building 3rd Sector Futures into a real asset for the School, providing high quality learning, research and consultancy for the third sector. If colleagues would like to work with us, please get in touch. Andy Brady Programme Manager, 3rd Sector Futures E: andrew.brady@anglia.ac.uk T: 0845 196 6888

Timberland recognises benefit of Anglia Ruskin degree Staff at US-based clothing giant to study online FdA in Management Timberland, the leading outdoor clothing manufacturer and retailer, has teamed up with Anglia Ruskin University to provide online training for its staff. The US-based company joins existing clients including Volvo, Barclays, UPS, Ridgeons and Harrods in recognising the benefits of the work-based degrees offered by Anglia Ruskin’s Lord Ashcroft International Business School. Initially 10 Timberland staff from across the country will this month begin studying the FdA in Management, which is a twoyear work-based online learning degree course. The degree is designed to equip managers and aspiring managers with the skills and knowledge required to succeed in today’s challenging climate. Anglia Ruskin’s online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) will connect the retail store staff – who are located across the UK – without the need for them to leave their workplace. The programme is both practical and work-based, allowing those taking part to transfer learning directly to their work environment. The course includes a comprehensive range of applied management topics such as marketing, leadership, change and project management. Students will be assigned an online tutor for each module, with additional support from a dedicated distance learning facilitator and a workplace mentor.

To help students develop the skills required for higher education, each student will complete Anglia Ruskin’s workbased learning study skills curriculum. Assessment is carried out through a mix of portfolio work, business reports, presentations, case studies and work-based projects. Jane Maher, Timberland’s HR Manager – UK Retail and Global Distributors, said: “The majority taking part are team leaders or sales associates, who either volunteered for the course or were approached to take part. What struck me was how many of our staff were willing to invest time to develop their long-term career potential.” Tony Howard, Head of Higher Skills@ Work at Anglia Ruskin University, said: “We are delighted that Timberland have chosen our online work-based management degree to up-skill staff and provide retail career progression opportunities. “The nature and delivery of our work-based courses are proving especially attractive to our clients in the retail sector because, without leaving the shop floor, students and their employers are able to enjoy the benefits of tutor supported learning, while developing their skills and abilities.” To find out more about the work-based degree courses on offer at Anglia Ruskin, phone 0845 196 5992, email higherskills@anglia.ac.uk or visit www.anglia.ac.uk/businessservices

Studying Smart KBU student gains First Class Honours degree If anyone had told me that I would achieve First Class Honours degree at the age of 21, I would have laughed in their face. However, they would have laughed back, because I did. Hence, this is my journey. My name is Jaclyn Zhen-Yi Ting, born and raised in Selangor, Jaclyn Zhen-Yi Ting Malaysia, by my grandparents. My parents divorced when I was four and I went under the care of my mother’s parents. I do not treat them as my grandparents, but as my foster parents. I may seem like a studious person to many, but I do not spend all my time studying. I always make sure that I have some time for myself and take some breaks in between studying. I enjoy reading novels, especially “chic lit”. I also love the feeling of crossing a finish line at a marathon, hence my interest in participating in marathons. It is a sense of accomplishment that I managed to run that distance, which at first just seems impossible. I love the “idiot box” but try not to get too glued to it. As a student, I never really shone in high school. Neither was I bad at my studies. I spent much of my later years in high school involved in sports and marathons. However, the results of my final high school year exam (known as SPM) shocked everyone. I, who never was the top five in class, was the top scorer in school. No one expected it, not even my grandparents. However, since then, my grandparents had high expectations for me in my further studies. I always had an affinity for numbers although I came from a science stream background. Thus, I chose to major in accounting and math-based subjects when I was completing my South Australian Matriculation (SAM). After completing the SAM, I decided to read the BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance degree from Anglia Ruskin University. However, due to financial constraints, I completed the whole degree at ARU’s partner institution, KBU International College in Malaysia. KBU International College offered me a full scholarship to complete the degree. This lightened my grandparents’ burden and lessened my worries for them as well. I have to say, taking up an honours’ degree frightened me a bit as I knew I had to complete a thesis during my third year, as well as attain good results to get a good grade. However, I told myself to take it one step at a time. Studying at KBU was a completely different environment for me compared to when I was completing the SAM. People were from different backgrounds and countries as it was an international college. Also, many students already had their own cliques as they had known each other since their foundation levels. I joined KBU as a freshman and had to start all over again. It was hard at first, but by my second year, I had two good friends though they were my juniors.

One of the benefits of studying in KBU was that the lecturer’s room was open for students, thus students could look for the lecturers at any time. In addition, some lecturers even offered their phone numbers, especially if they were part-time lecturers. This improved the lecturer-student relationship as the lecturer showed that they are fully committed to us and allowed us to raise questions no matter the time or day. This was especially important when I had to complete my thesis in my third year as my supervisor was a part-time lecturer. Although completing the thesis was not an easy task which takes almost a year to complete, it was an experience knowing that I had completed research which would be a good addition to my resume as well. I can’t say much about studying at the ARU campus as I did my whole degree in Malaysia. However, the modules for the degree were very well suited for anyone hoping to take the accounting and finance career path. In addition, I have the benefit of getting exemptions if I were to take up an accounting professional qualification such as ACCA. In addition, the balance of assignments and examinations in the degree taught me how to balance the tasks at hand. Sometimes, it was difficult to decide whether I should focus on studying for the exams or completing my assignments, but I managed to pull through with some spare time of my own as well. To achieve first class honours was not an easy task. Of course, I had to study hard, but what I felt was most essential was to study smart. When it comes to exams, there is no point in memorising everything from the book as most of the time the exam question will test our understanding. Thus, instead of memorising the books, I did my best to understand what was taught and remember some pointers. That way, I did not have to worry about forgetting something during the exam. When it came to assignments, I made sure I set a timeline for myself in order to ensure I finish a certain part before moving to the next. By doing so, I did not get confused and I was more organised. This was important when I was doing the thesis as there are many elements to it. If you do not complete a chapter and proceed to the next, you would be confused and make mistakes. Besides working hard and studying smart, the support from my loved ones and the will of God had led me to attain first class honours in my degree and I am ever thankful for that. On the whole, I can say that ARU’s degree has given me an edge when applying for jobs. Employers are impressed when they find out I have First Class Honours and it gives me a higher chance of getting the job I want. As for my future, I hope to find a job that I love and do something I am passionate about. Thankfully, I have an accounting and finance degree which allows me to enter into any industry I choose. Although many would expect that fresh graduates from the accounting path would immediately enter an audit firm, I chose not to as I find work-life balance important. My family is very important to me as they are the ones who made me who I am today and without them, I would not have achieved a First Class Honour degree. As I know that audit firms in Malaysia cannot provide

me the work-life balance I would like, I chose to apply to commercial companies, particularly fast-moving consumer goods companies in the food industry. As a Malaysian, food is one of my many interests, thus I figured if I am working in the food industry, it would be a job I love. However, since I have not found the right one and am still waiting, I cannot guarantee that I would be in this line forever. I will definitely continue to keep looking and trying until I find a job that I love.

After all, it is better to have a job that you love although you are not good at it in the beginning rather than having a job which you are excellent at, but you hate.

“I can say that ARU’s degree has given me an edge when applying for jobs.” Jaclyn Zhen-Yi Ting

From MA/Grad ICSA in Corporate Governance graduate to Assistant Company Secretary at Britvic in Chelmsford

Anglia Ruskin’s postgraduate courses boast an excellent employment rate. According to the recent Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey, 89% of respondents who had studied a postgraduate course at Anglia Ruskin reported being in employment, compared to a national figure of 84%. One student who saw an immediate benefit of studying at Lord Ashcroft International Business School was Vanessa Lewis Camacho, who graduated with an MA/Grad ICSA in Corporate Governance and is now the Assistant Company Secretary at Britvic in Chelmsford. Vanessa said:

“I completed my course as an ICSA graduate, which meant that I was able to apply immediately for Associate Membership of the ICSA. Completion of

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my course also led to a promotion at work. I am now the Assistant Company Secretary of Britvic Plc, reporting directly to the Company Secretary.” The postgraduate information event also featured a finance talk explaining what sources of funding are available, where to look for additional sources of income while studying and tips about how to make the most of your money as a student. For further information on the MA/Grad ICSA in Corporate Governance contact: Stephen Bloomfield Director, The Corporate Governance Unit, LAIBS E: stephen.bloomfield@anglia.ac.uk T: 0845 196 6834

According to the recent Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey, 89% of respondents who had studied a postgraduate course at Anglia Ruskin reported being in employment, compared to a national figure of 84%.

Editor: Christine Durrant Marketing, Communications & External Liaison E: christine.durrant@anglia.ac.uk T: +44 (0) 1245 493131 (Ext 6882)

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On 22 March, Anglia Ruskin University ran a special event for anyone interested in postgraduate courses, vocational qualifications and research opportunities. The event was held at Anglia Ruskin’s Rivermead campus in Chelmsford and gave people the opportunity to talk to course leaders and directors from all Faculties, including Lord Ashcroft International Business School.