Growing tomorrow`s entrepreneurs

Transcription

The magazine of Nottingham Business School • Spring 2014
Growing
tomorrow’s
entrepreneurs
How Nottingham Business
School fosters innovation
PLUS - scholarships and discounts
A buzz at The Hive
Thinkubator – a student’s perspective
LINK
Welcome
Professor Baback Yazdani,
Dean of Nottingham Business School
Welcome to the final edition of LINK for this academic year. As we move towards the final term of
2013/14, we can reflect on what has been a busy year for the School, with plenty more still to come.
This edition of the magazine will review and celebrate some of the activity that has taken place so far
this year, and will also keep you informed of all the other opportunities we have coming up for you to get
involved with.
We’ll also carry forwards the tradition of having a main theme, this time covering a subject that has been
paid a great deal of attention in recent years, entrepreneurship and innovation.
When we look at what entrepreneurship means, we can make many connections to the experience we are
working to provide you with, in order to turn you into desirable and highly employable graduates.
Entrepreneurship is the process of discovering new ways of combining resources, thinking outside the box,
and presenting innovative ideas to deliver within the world of business. As a school we work to ensure
that our courses provide you with a challenge, make you consider the non-traditional approach, and test
your creative thinking skills.
“The Hive, NTU’s centre
for entrepreneurship
and enterprise, has been
successfully supporting
entrepreneurs to launch
their own business
ventures since 2001.”
Entrepreneurial qualities and skills are valued more now than at any other time by existing companies,
so no matter what your plans are for the future, the development of these skills and way of thinking will
be invaluable to your success.
We hope this edition will leave you feeling inspired and motivated to achieve your very best in the final term
of the year.
ARE
YOU
FOREVER
NTU
HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY
Final year undergraduates, tell the world how you feel. Make your views on the NTU
experience count in the National Student Survey.
It will only take five minutes to complete the survey and, as a thank you, we’ll give you £5
printing credit. The survey closes at the end of April.
To check if you are eligible and to complete the survey visit www.ntu.ac.uk/forever
02
LINK
Contributors
Contents
Nottingham Business School Staff
Welcome
Business bits
Karen Slater
Melanie Currie
Alex Hiller
Postgraduate scholarships
Accreditation spotlight: EPAS
Events calendar
Roulla Hagen
Christophe Crabot
Harry Barton
Alison Smith
Angela Scott
Lizzy Hustler-Wraight
Kostas Galankis
Ugo Nwokoro
Rhiannon Thomas
Cover story –
Creating a buzz:
What’s happening
at The Hive?
Inspirational Alumnus
Lynsey Blackburn
2
4
6
8
9
10
12
Sue Alcock
International update
Corporate update
Research update
22
24
26
Further Nottingham Business School Staff
Chris Hall
Connor Fantom
Connor Baxter
Mollie Painter-Morland
Want to feature in this section?
Be a contributor
If you are a current Nottingham Business School
student, alumni or member of staff and would like to
feature in a future edition of LINK then contact the
Marketing Team on [email protected]
Become a Course Rep!
If you’re interested in being a Course Rep
please contact [email protected]
or visit www.trentstudents.org/coursereps
Postgraduate update 14
16
18
MBA: NBS MBA distinctiveness the whole MBA experience is
more than the sum of its parts
20
Thinkubator 2013
Undergraduate update
03
LINK
BUSINESS BITS
Business bits
Important news in bite-sized pieces
Students get trading
at Nottingham
Business School
NBS students help local
companies reduce their
carbon footprint
By Connor Fantom,
President of Investment Society and
Economics student
By Angela Scott,
Project Coordinator, Future Factory
The Virtual Hedge Fund (VHF) at Nottingham
Business School started as a project of the
Investment Society in the academic year 2012/13.
It is has now fully come to fruition as a business
venture for two of NBS’ undergraduate students.
The basic concept is to bridge the gap between
financial theory and practice by using a simulated
hedge fund environment.
Students are initially interviewed for the project
and then placed into one of four teams, trading
under different strategies. Alongside this, students
also have the chance to be a part of the senior
management, accounting or legal and compliance
departments.
Students also get a chance to build their
professionalism and business acumen as they
attend a formal board meeting at the end of each
month, presenting their strategy and progress to
an industry professional. These results are also
published online, so students can show potential
employers their track record with ease.
The project is strictly extra-curricular for now, and
includes a series of lectures delivered by industry
professionals as well as support for students via
email and phone. If you would like to know more,
or get involved in the project, please contact
Connor at: [email protected]
The University experience is all about learning new skills and
preparing yourself for the workplace, but academic work is just
part of the way in which to achieve this knowledge. Sometimes it’s
necessary to get real-life experience and find out about the kinds of
problems the business community faces and learn by doing.
NBS students on site visit to the Russell Press
Getting a juicy challenge to sink your teeth into is not always easy,
however, nor is it easy to find suitable project work that also makes a real difference to society in a broader
sense. It’s for this reason that Nottingham Business School has joined forces with NTU’s sustainability
project, Future Factory, to help students secure and manage a real-life consultancy project as part of their
business studies, and one that has a real benefit attached for the client.
Future Factory, which is part funded by Nottingham Trent University, regularly offers support to local
businesses to help them become more environmentally sustainable. It was for this reason that NBS
academic, Petra Molthan-Hill, approached the project for support. “It’s important that we can give
students projects that identify challenges we have in our society,” she said. “We want to turn these in to
projects that our students can solve. This helps students develop important skills but also means they can
contribute to society.”
In 2013, 180 undergraduate students taking part in the Leadership and Employability module at
Nottingham Business School gained real-life consultancy experience in just this way, together helping
over 30 organisations with a real-life issue. The students involved had to look at ways the company could
reduce their carbon emissions, meaning they had a genuine business challenge to tackle and one that had
a potential real-life impact on the business’ carbon emissions and their finances.
In addition to signposting clients to the scheme, Future Factory arranged for all 180 students to receive
additional expert support from a local energy consultant, Nottingham Energy Partnership Energy Service,
therefore also giving students an insight into professional practice in the field.
Students reporting back said they found the work often challenging, sometimes surprising, but also
enjoyable and rewarding. Coordinating a team, arranging and holding company visits with senior staff,
time management and the delivery of a final presentation were all necessary skills to practise, but seeing
the results, and a satisfied client, always made the effort worthwhile.
Organisations taking part were genuinely happy. Companies committed to change don’t always have
time to do the right research for themselves. “We’re a busy organisation” said Gail Aldridge, speaking
from Nottingham-based company, Print Revolution. “We’ve made lots of changes to become more green
ourselves already, however, the issue we had with our heating wasn’t something we could solve ourselves,
we needed advice and support.”
The student group who undertook the project for Print Revolution studied the problem, and drew up a
comprehensive report making various recommendations for better carbon efficiency measures across
the premises. “I was impressed by their professional approach, they were very organised,” said Gail. “The
group gave us some really practical solutions to our heating and cooling problems across our buildings,
even getting quotes for us. Our organisation is planning to introduce these changes as soon as it can.”
Future Factory Project Coordinator, Angela Scott, said, “we’re pleased to be involved in this module. It’s
been great watching student groups evolve from the hesitant early stages of wondering what they can do
for a client, to seeing them deliver a really confident presentation.”
Future Factory is a project part funded by ERDF and
Nottingham Trent University. For more information visit
www.ntu.ac.uk/future_factory or call 0115 848 8675.
04
BUSINESS BITS LINK
IBM UBC: International
Business team through
to the semi-finals
By Fiona Winfield
We are pleased to announce that a team of three
International Business students have progressed
to the semi-finals of the IBM Universities Business
Challenge (UBC). The team comprises Lena
Bharania, Russell Laughton and Shivali Pabari,
who are all final year students.
set the price of their products, whether to bid for
new contracts, invest in new equipment, take out
loans or buy in market research. Thereby bringing
together all the different strands of their degree.
The group of students were successful in reaching
the semi-finals in early March, which was held at
Jaguar Land Rover. Although they were leading
in the first trading period, they were not successful
in reaching the final. From the 300 plus that
started out, they made it to the final 100.
Well done to all involved!
14 in 2014 – NBS
lecturer takes on
charity ultra-running
marathon challenge
For further information on the IBM Universities
Business Challenge please visit
www.ubcworldwide.com
UBC is an annual competition for undergraduates,
where the teams act out running a company over
six weeks; each week representing six months in the
life of that company. They start off in the same
position as each other and compete in leagues
of eight teams (each from a different university).
Each week they need to decide at what level to
CEO of CMI tells
Nottingham
Business School why
management needs
a makeover
The CEO of CMI, Ann Francke, gave the latest
Business Leaders’ Lecture at Nottingham Business
School on 29 January 2014. Ann began her
presentation with a bold claim: “We need to stop
managing, and start achieving”. The audience
of students, staff and local business people
immediately took notice, trying to process this
seemingly illogical statement.
She went on to explain this fascinating premise by
arguing that current management is in dire need
of a makeover.
Read the full story at
www.ntu.ac.uk/cmiannfrancke
NBS Spotted: on the
News at Ten!
Earlier in the year the School received some great
press coverage on the BBC News at Ten, following
a topical guest lecture from the Bank of England
Policy Maker, Ian McCafferty.
Ian is one of the country’s most influential
economists, and told the packed lecture theatre
in Newton that business investment has been
“feeble” and won’t pick up until the end of the year,
underlining the case for officials to keep their key
interest rate at a record low.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that the
jobless rate had fallen to 7.1% in the three months
from November, which is just above the threshold
officials originally set as a point to review its
benchmark rate. Ian stated though that the Bank
of England sees no “immediate rush” to increase
borrowing costs, even when unemployment falls
to 7%.
Graham Pitcher, senior lecturer in the Accounting
and Finance division, is running 14 ultra-marathons
in 2014 in aid of YoungMinds – the voice for young
peoples’ mental health and well-being (charity
number 1016968).
“It started off by entering races that I wanted to
attempt and finished up at 14. There are three
big events within the 14 ultras. The Marathon des
Sables in April is a self-supported race across the
Sahara over six days covering 156 miles; a 50-mile
Alpine ultra in July which takes in the highest
marathon course in Europe, starting and ending in
Davos, Switzerland; and a 125-mile run along the
Chiltern Way in August, with other iconic races such
as the Classic Quarter (Lizard Point to Land’s end)
and Round the Rock (Jersey) along the way.”
You can follow Graham’s journey at
www.virginmoneygiving.com/GrahamPitcher
Good luck Graham!
Pssssttt… make sure
you check this
link out…
www.careersnbs.wordpress.com
A great blog for students and graduates of
Nottingham Business School, providing great
insight, advice and guidance on boosting your
career after university!
Anne Francke with Vice Chancellor Neil Gorman, and Head of
Executive Education and Corporate Relations Alison Smith
Ian McCafferty,
Bank of England
planning for your future
05
LINK
POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS
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a
r
g
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e
aft
taying
s
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b
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lo
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Boost your em
r an MSc!
fo
y
d
tu
s
d
n
a
s
u
with
Save 2
0%
on
your fe
es!
(Or inc
rea
with a se this to 50%
scholar
ship.)
If you are an existing NTU
undergraduate student
studying at the City site,
Clifton campus or Brackenhurst
campus and you choose to
progress directly onto any of
the full-time master’s courses
within Nottingham Business
School, you will automatically
receive a 20% reduction off
your course fee.
06
POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS
LINK
•MSc Economics
On this course you will use and evaluate the
economics toolkit as a resource for informing
decision-making in various organisational
contexts. It is designed for students with some
successful study experience of undergraduate
economics.
•MSc Finance
(Available in September and January)
Points to remember
Choosing your subject...
•You do not need to apply for the discount as it
will automatically be deducted from your fee
before enrolment.
We’ve got a range of exciting and innovative courses
for you to choose from. Whether you want to
specialise in marketing or economics; experience
life overseas or gain some experience in industry,
we have a course to suit your needs. Take a look
for yourself.
•You can also apply for a master’s scholarship,
however the total maximum award will not exceed
half the total course fee.
•The scheme is not applicable to sponsored
students (either partially or fully) and applies to
2014 entry only.
•The scheme applies only to those students who
progress onto a master’s course in the 2014/15
academic year (i.e. students who graduate in
summer 2014 must start their course in autumn
2014 or January 2015 to qualify for the
progression discount).
Add to this with a scholarship - get up to 50% off
As a School we are able to offer a number of
scholarships to students starting on a full-time
master’s course in either September or January.
The scheme is competitive, and open to UK, EU and
international students.
Please note: these scholarships are only available to
students who have been offered a place to study on
their chosen master’s course within the School.
Also, if you are awarded a progression discount
and scholarship, the total maximum award will not
exceed half the total course fee.
For further information on entry criteria and how to
apply visit www.ntu.ac.uk/nbsscholarships
Don’t miss the deadlines...
But don’t panic just yet, there are still plenty to come.
To apply for a scholarship for a course that starts in
September 2014, the following deadlines apply:
•30 March 2014 – UK, EU and International Students
•30 April 2014 – UK, EU and International Students
•30 May 2014 – UK, EU and International Students
•30 June 2014 – International Students only
•30 July 2014 – UK and EU Students only
Take a little time first and start early 2015
For courses that start in January 2015, the deadline
dates are as follows:
• 30 October 2014
• 28 November 2014
Tick tock! Tick tock! You need to get your
application in before 4 pm GMT on each date.
•MSc Management
I deal for those with a good degree but little
experience of business and management; it will
provide future managers with a grounding in all key
functional areas. The course also offers a number
of specialist routes, giving students the opportunity
to study an area of interest alongside core business
and management modules.
• MSc Management and Entrepreneurship
•M
Sc Management and Human Resource
Management
•M
Sc Management and International Business
•M
Sc Management and Finance
• MSc Management and Marketing
• M
Sc Management and Global Supply
Chain Management
Our MSc Management courses have a Dual
Award with the Chartered Management Institute
(CMI). This means you will graduate with an
MSc and a CMI Level 7 diploma in Management
and Leadership.
• MSc Marketing
T
his course is aimed at students who are
interested in a general career in marketing,
for example as a marketing manager and may
not want to specialise in one specific area.
• MSc Marketing
(Advertising and Communications)
D
esigned for ambitious individuals seeking a
career in finance, this course will give you a
wide-ranging theoretical background and equip
you with practical skills for active interaction in
the world of finance.
•MSc Accounting and Finance
ccounting and finance is a core function of
A
any business, and this course enables you to
become a critical member of an organisation’s
strategic management team.
•MSc International Business
T
his course will enable you to study business whilst
providing an insight into cultural and international
impacts. You will develop a greater cultural
awareness and have the opportunity to see
industry on an international scale by completing a
two-week study tour overseas.
•MSc Human Resource Management
T
his Master’s has been developed to produce
graduates capable of making a difference in
the HR arena. The programme is approved
by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development (CIPD), meaning that the content
of this programme is contemporary and highly
valued by employers.
•MSc Global Business and Management
(Dual Award)
I f you want to work in an international arena, this
innovative and exciting course is for you. You’ll
study in Nottingham and with a partner institution
overseas. You’ll also complete a short internship.
As it is a dual degree, you will graduate with two
MSc awards.
•MSc Trading in Global Financial Markets
D
esigned for ambitious individuals who wish
to pursue a career in trading in global financial
markets; this innovative course combines practical
and theoretical experience and learning, and
includes a three-month placement on a City
trading floor.
For full details on all our courses please visit
www.ntu.ac.uk/nbspg
T
his course is aimed at students with a particular
interest in marketing communications and who
are aiming for a career in advertising or brand
management. You will benefit from exposure
to leading-edge marketing thinking, tools
and techniques.
Both courses are accredited by the Chartered
Institute of Marketing (CIM), meaning you will
have exemption from two modules from the CIM’s
Professional Certificate or Diploma.
07
LINK
ACCREDITATION SPOTLIGHT: EPAS
Accreditation spotlight: EPAS
Following an EPAS accreditation visit last year, our BA (Hons) International Business programme,
and related dual award programmes, were accredited for a period of five years - the maximum possible.
This is a significant achievement for the School and the course team. But what does it actually mean?
Here we provide a quick guide on what EPAS accreditation is, and what it means for the School.
What is EPAS?
EPAS is an international programme accreditation system operated by EFMD (European Foundation
for Management Development). It aims to evaluate the quality of any business and/or management
programme that has an international perspective and, where of an appropriately high quality, to accredit it.
What’s involved?
The accreditation process involves a review of individual programmes through international comparison
and benchmarking. The process considers a wide range of programme aspects including:
Professor Baback Yazdani, Dean of Nottingham Business School
• The market positioning of the programme nationally and internationally.
• The strategic position of the programme within its institution.
• The design process including assessment of stakeholder requirements – particularly students and
employers.
• The programme objectives and intended learning outcomes.
• The curriculum content and delivery system.
• The extent to which the programme has an international focus and a balance between academic and
managerial dimensions.
• The depth and rigour of the assessment processes (relative to the degree level of the programme).
• The quality of the student body and of the programme’s graduates.
•The institution’s resources allocated to support the programme.
•The appropriateness of the faculty that deliver the programme.
•The quality of the alumni and their career progression.
The end result
Nottingham Business School now joins a group of just 21 institutions worldwide that have EPAS
accreditation for a programme for a five-year period.
Professor Simon Mercado,
Associate Dean of Nottingham Business School
Professor Baback Yazdani, Dean of Nottingham Business School, said:
“The process of EPAS accreditation has been extremely valuable to the School as a whole and we are
delighted to have achieved the five-year accreditation which provides an excellent platform for us to build
upon. Nottingham Business School is going from strength to strength due to the excellence of our work in
education, research and deep business engagement.”
Professor Simon Mercado, Associate Dean of Nottingham Business School, said:
“This is a great accolade for a course that has been operating successfully for over a decade now, placing
students and graduates in international companies and university business schools around the world.
Its success provides evidence of the quality of our undergraduate provision, our teaching, students and
partnerships.”
Melanie Currie, Head of Undergraduate Programmes, said:
“This is a fantastic achievement for the International Business course team as the accreditation confirms
this is a truly international programme in terms of content, delivery and international opportunities for the
students on this excellent suite of courses.”
To find out more information on the EFMD and EPAS Accreditation visit www.efmd.org
Melanie Currie, Head of Undergraduate Programmes
Who are the EFMD?
The European Foundation for Management
Development is an international membership
organisation, based in Brussels, Belgium.
The organisation has over 800 member
organisations from across education, business,
public service and consultancy in 81 countries.
The organisation provides its members with
08
a unique forum for information, research,
networking and debate on innovation and
best practice in management development.
They are recognised globally as an accreditation
body of quality in management education with
established accreditation services for business
schools and business school programmes,
corporate universities and technology-enhanced
learning programmes.
EVENTS CALENDAR LINK
Events Calendar
Upcoming key events for your diary. These dates are not to be missed!
2014
March
22
Executive MBA and
Executive Education
Open Event
26
Nottingham Business
School Postgraduate
and Professional Open
Evening
26
Postgraduate
Information
Session for current
NTU students
28
International Summer
Schools application
deadline
April
July
23
Launch of the MSc
Applied Consultancy
Projects
7-13
MSc International
Business International
Study Tour
29
Guest speaker - Ray
Poynter, Director at
Vision Critical
21
Graduation ceremony
(January 2012/13
cohort)
30
NTU Summer
Recruitment Fair
November
June
11
Nottingham Business
School Postgraduate
and Professional
Open Evening
29
Graduation ceremony
(September 2013/14
cohort)
For further information on all our events please visit www.ntu.ac.uk/nbsevents
09
LINK
COVER STORY
C hr
is M
oss
s
Kaw
ar M
ia h
Jon
Dan
ie l H
Pro
ud
il l
Creating a buzz:
What’s happening at The Hive?
By Chris Hall, Hive Business Manager
The Hive, NTU’s centre for entrepreneurship
and enterprise, has been successfully supporting
entrepreneurs to launch their own business
ventures since 2001.
By providing business support, training, mentoring
and advice, The Hive has supported more than
300 new businesses start-ups. Almost 70% of
them are still trading today, employing more
than 350 people and turning over around £8m
per annum.
That success is tribute to the wide- ranging
business approach and expertise at The Hive.
Between them, Hive staff boast more than
180 years’ commercial and business experience,
a significant proportion of which has been helping
new start-ups.
The key to success has been the provision of
face-to-face, continued support. Rather than a
short-term training programme or an online
advice service, The Hive offer long-term personal
support and tailored advice, usually over three
years or more. From exploring the business
potential of emerging ideas, through to helping
develop and grow those ideas into successful,
sustainable business ventures.
10
From social enterprise to shopping
While there have always been people with an
entrepreneurial spirit, there has been a definite
increase in the number of graduates considering
self-employment as an alternative to traditional
employment in recent years. As this interest has
increased, so has demand for the services offered
by The Hive.
A significant area of growth in recent times has
been Social Enterprise. The Hive has responded
to this by offering more support in these areas.
With support from UnLtd, in the form of both
expertise and funding, The Hive has helped
almost 30 students, staff and recent NTU
graduates test out their social enterprise ideas
and projects over the past 15 months.
Another key growth area is retail incubation.
In the run-up to Christmas 2013, the Nottingham
City-led ‘Creative Quarter’ initiative set up a popup shop in central Nottingham. The project gave
some 25-30 businesses the space to display and
sell their products and services. More than a third
of these were Hive-supported ventures.
The boost gained by businesses involved in the
pop-up shop was particularly pleasing to The
Hive, given their existing plans to develop their
own retail space. Spring 2014 will see the opening
of The Hive’s retail incubator at Cobden Chambers
on Pelham Street, in the centre of Nottingham.
This outlet will showcase and sell products from
several different Hive businesses as well as
providing a number of opportunities for
student projects over the year.
Measuring success
The Hive are increasingly recognised as one of
the leaders in enterprise education, particularly
within the HE sector. They are responsible for
helping to embed enterprise into the curriculum
across the whole University as well as sharing their
knowledge to a wider audience through blogs
in The Guardian and The Huffington Post and
comments on BBC Radio.
However, when asked, Hive Business Manager Chris
Hall had no doubt on how he measures success.
Chris said: “The real story of The Hive’s success
is the successes of those enterprising students
and graduates that have taken the leap of faith
to pursue their own dreams and create their own
business ventures.”
COVER STORY LINK
Here are just a few of the successes achieved by some of the graduates
from Nottingham Business School, with support from The Hive.
Chris Scarth and David Francis founded
education software business, Prime Principle Ltd.
The core of the business is Classroom Monitor,
an online interactive mark-book for teachers.
Based in Nottingham’s Lace Market they now
employ almost 30 people including over ten NTU
graduates, and are a market leader in their field.
Inspired by his own poor experiences as a student
travelling abroad to work, Josh Danan founded
Student Mundial. The company helps international
students coming to the UK to study. Josh now
employs an international team to support and
make students overseas stay as good as possible.
Jon Proud, founder of gum shield business Titan
Mouthguards, teamed up with the historic Leicester
Tigers Rugby Union Club last year to put their
own Tigerguard brand on his products. Jon now
works in partnership with a dental laboratory and,
in partnership with another colleague, is already
developing a second business - Spin4.
Kawsar Miah’s wholesale electronics company,
Digicom Solutions Ltd started during his placement
and has continued to grow. Kawsar has now
started a second venture, D&G Services Ltd, and
is involved in a third business, a part share in a
successful steakhouse restaurant.
Daniel Hill started his business Pulse Trading
Company immediately after graduating.
His business has gone from strength to strength,
and he now has a growing portfolio of business
ventures including property, student clothing,
events and now media services. Daniel won the
Midlands Business Awards Young Entrepreneur of
the Year in 2013.
Chris Moss founded ‘The University Paper’ in 2012
and now has a circulation of around 20,000 each
month. Chris employs several NTU students as
part-time journalists and artists, and is now looking
to expand beyond Nottingham.
Do you have a great business idea? It doesn’t
matter whether you are a student or recent
graduate, or if you have spent a few years
working for someone else. If you have a great
business idea, The Hive can help.
Find out how at www.ntu.ac.uk/hive
11
LINK COVER STORY
{
{
Question time with an inspirational alumnus
Daniel Hill is a serial entrepreneur. Since graduating from Nottingham Business School in 2009 he has seen his business go
from strength to strength, branched out into various industries, and won a couple of awards along the way.
Daniel started at NTU in 2005 and specialised in strategic entrepreneurship, which is his passion. A week after graduating in 2009,
Daniel joined The Hive, where his career as an entrepreneur really took flight. The Hive have been essential in the development
and continued growth of the business, providing an environment to access the essential support, experience and facilities required
to fast track their progress. In the last five years Daniel’s business ventures have experienced aggressive growth, and the trading
group now has a portfolio of over £4.2 million.
12
COVER STORY
LINK
His business, Pulse Trading Group, now comprises of the following companies:
•Pulse Disco: Professional mobile disco service.
•Pulse Student Clothing: High-quality branded and personalised clothing
for educational institutions.
•Pulse Property Network: Offers a range of property and accommodation services
covering the areas of relocation, investment, building services and financial services.
•Pulse Student Graduation: Sells a range of products focused on supporting
students to celebrate their momentous achievements.
•Pulse Student Network: A comprehensive range of products and services,
offered to students, universities and colleges around the world.
• Pulse Studios: Digital Marketing and Design company based in Vancouver, Canada.
• Multi-Let Limited: Specialist Lettings Agency supplying Professional Houseshares
across the Midlands.
For further information on the individual businesses please visit:
www.pulsetradinggroup.co.uk
The interview
Daniel defines himself as a “Creator”
(wealthdynamics.com); an individual that
adds the most value when they are free to create.
Not someone who is detail orientated, but can see
the bigger picture, and will rely on intuition more
than the hard facts. We spoke to Daniel about his
entrepreneurial journey, his route to success, his
inspirations and aspirations, and the drive that
has got him to where he is today.
NBS: “When did you decide you wanted to run
your business?”
DH: “I started my own business at an early age,
setting up Pulse Discos at just 15. This gave me
a taste for self-employment. I then spent the
next four years working on building sites, basically
shovelling sand for a living. I was self-employed
though, so found that the harder I worked the
more I could earn; the more I put in, the more
I got out.”
NBS: “How much did your time at NTU enhance
your decision to move into entrepreneurship?”
DH: “My time at NTU gave me so much in terms
of experience. In addition to the academic side
of things, I spent the first two years experiencing
growing up… living away from home, learning
to organise myself, my work, my finances.
Every aspect was a new learning curve and
contributed towards my development.
I also spent a year out on placement in industry.
The year taught me so much about how a business
works, but also about myself and the kind of
person I was. I felt restricted in the environment
with what I could and couldn’t do. I wanted to be
able to put my own ideas and initiatives in place.
The experience secured my decision that I wanted
to be my own boss.”
NBS: “When and how did your business ideas come
to you?”
DH: “When I returned to NTU to complete my
final year, I knew that I wanted to set up my own
business, and set myself the target of having
a sustainable business by the time I reached
graduation. So I started my final year looking for
an opportunity.
University hoodies were really popular at the
time, and after doing some initial research, looked
like they offered a good profit margin. I decided
to go down the route of School hoodies, and
started with Nottingham Business School. I got the
School’s permission to use the logo, and bought
300 hoodies when my student loan came in.
I then stood outside Byron House (the old SU) to
sell them. We completely sold out before lunch
time. I knew at that moment that it could be a
profitable venture.”
NBS: “What has been the biggest moment for
you to date in developing the business?”
DH: “For me personally, the most rewarding aspect
of my journey has been building a team around
me. To be able to find individuals and put them
into a position where they can excel at what they
are good at has been phenomenal. Buying my
own house was a pretty big moment as well!”
NBS: “What has been your biggest challenge to
date, and how did you overcome it?”
DH: “Not in contradiction to what I’ve just said
above, but I’d say that building a team has
been one of the biggest challenges. It wasn’t just
about building a team, it was about building the
right team. Finding individuals that were just as
passionate about what they do as I am.
I’m responsible for them, for developing their
skills and educating them, for giving them the
opportunity to grow, and also providing them with
an income. It’s not an easy task, but is by far the
most rewarding.”
NBS: “Have you ever felt like giving up? If so, what
got you past that feeling?”
DH: “Anyone can start up their own business, but
I think to be an entrepreneur, to start things that
grow to success, you have to be a certain kind of
person. For me it’s not about the ability, it’s about
your drive, your dedication, your focus and your
passion. The whole journey is like a rollercoaster,
you can be walking to work with your head in the
clouds, and then 15 minutes later be concerned
about something major going wrong. You have
to believe though that every decision you make
is on sound reasoning, and also follow your
own intuition.”
NBS: “Can you tell us anything about your plans
for the business in the future? What’s the vision?”
DH: “We’ve set up another two businesses this year,
a design agency and a letting agency. The plan
is to make both of these sustainable. We already
have three offices for the letting agency, and are
trading right across the Midlands. The next step
is to take that aspect of the business national.
The long-term plan is to create a brand to be
proud of, and ultimately avoid having to get
a job that suffocates my skills and creativity.”
NBS: “What advice would you give to graduates
looking to start up their own business?
DH: “Just give it a go. You have very few
responsibilities when you graduate, little to lose.
If you have that feeling there and don’t try it then
you’ll never know what you could’ve achieved.
It’s much riskier to address that feeling in later life
when other priorities take over.”
NBS: “What would you say to students that
haven’t yet considered the option?”
DH: “I’d say to remember that it’s not for everyone.
You need to be sure that it’s what you want to do.
If you have the dedication then it can be such a
rewarding opportunity.”
Awards and recognition
Daniel’s business has received a number of
awards and points of recognition in the last few
years, which recognise the sheer scale of the
organisations success. These include:
•Property Mastermind 2013 award for
Pulse Property Network.
•Daniel was named as Midlands Young
Entrepreneur of the year at the 2013
Midlands Business awards.
•He was also chosen to be part of a unique
enterprise community of 100, high-potential
start-ups and aspirant entrepreneurs, on
the Intuit 100up scheme.
13
LINK THINKUBATOR 2013
Thinkubator
2013
The student’s
perspective
By Connor Baxter, MSc Marketing
(Advertising and Communications)
14
THINKUBATOR 2013 LINK
and training more efficient staff, so there was plenty
to keep the Thinkubator Challenge teams busy.
Wednesday 27 November 2013 saw
Nottingham Business School put on
hold its usual operations to make
way for Thinkubator Challenge a ground-breaking event that
provided access to free expertise
in order to help support the growth
of UK and international businesses.
The event was developed at NTU and involved
over 1000 current students and faculty staff
from Nottingham Business School, making it
the biggest event of its kind to be held in Europe.
Both local and national businesses were asked to
submit an issue and over 60 were submitted.
The queries covered were far reaching, from
securing finance and attracting investment,
cracking new and foreign markets, to recruiting
As well as Nottingham Business School’s
postgraduate, undergraduate, MBA and doctoral
students, current faculty staff and leading
academics were invited to take part in the event.
All involved were split into Thinkubator ‘Hubs’,
ensuring that relevant skillsets were spread evenly
amongst each hub. Each ‘hub’ was given a specific
issue out of the 60 submitted to focus on.
With the full weight of Nottingham Business
Schools’ resources available to help them, the
hubs were asked to attempt to resolve their
challenge in two hours.
Eliza, who is currently studying her MSc Marketing
degree at Nottingham Business School, took part
in both the morning and afternoon sessions.
Speaking of her experience she said:
“I did two challenges, morning and afternoon.
I would say they were totally different in approach
and experience. In the morning we had to help
a company to basically set up from scratch an
extension of their actual company. From selling
furniture they wanted to sell flowers. The teachers
gave us guidelines but then left us to do the job.
It was really useful as each of us contributed,
thanks to different backgrounds and skillsets.
The results were really good and the guidance
teacher seemed satisfied. We had fun and
practised at the same time which is great
experience for future job roles.”
Bill, who has undergone both his undergraduate
and postgraduate studies with Nottingham
Business School, added: “The Thinkubator
Challenge was a great idea… I had a great time
and I look forward to getting feedback from a real
business as to how much we helped them. I hope
that next time even more people get involved so
we can offer an even greater depth of expertise
and help our local businesses in any way we can.”
With the dust settled on Thinkubator Challenge
and the feedback presented to the 60 businesses
that took part, it is definitive to say that the
event, although not without its difficulties, was a
resounding success. The enthusiasm to be involved
in such an event from not only local businesses
but the staff and students was palpable.
The students involved at both postgraduate and
undergraduate level rushed to show their support
for the event by posting on twitter using the
hashtag ‘#Thinkubator’, and are keen for further
events in the near future.
Professor Yazdani, Dean of Nottingham Business
School, said: “Institutions like Nottingham Business
School possess a wealth of expertise and talent
and we are delighted to be the first business school
in the UK, and indeed Europe, to put into action
such a hands-on initiative. All challenges were
dealt with on the same day – a magnificent
effort by all concerned.”
15
LINK UNDERGRADUATE
Entrepreneurship challenge set for NBS students
A team of students from NBS will have their entrepreneurial skills and talent tested next month when they
take part in the largest student business competition in the UK, FLUX.
The prestigious event is the higher education sector’s largest annual competition to encourage
entrepreneurship and bridge the gap between education and work. The team of six students includes:
David Turofsky - BA (Hons) International Business, Magdalena (Maggie) Laurikova - BA (Hons) International
Business Administration, Oluwaseyi (Seyi) Agboola - BA (Hons) Marketing Design & Communications, Rebecca
Carter - BA (Hons) International Business with French – dual award, Corron Hubbard - BA (Hons) Accounting
& Finance, Barbie Nash - BA (Hons) Business Management and Entrepreneurship, Axel Bennani - BA (Hons)
Business Management and Economics. The team of students will travel to Lancaster University on 1 and 2
April, to compete against student teams from across the country.
The competition aims to provide appropriate challenges and enable the students taking part to test a
variety of skills they will need when entering the business world. Each team has to develop, plan and
present their strategy to a panel of business experts who will pick the winners of the £500 prize, sponsored
by IBM.
The competing students will also be able to network with, and have access to advice from, experts from
up to 40 businesses and organisations - including those from Lancaster University Management School,
as well as from entrepreneurs who have established their own companies within the special business colocation facilities in the Lancaster Environment Centre and InfoLab21.
Good luck team NBS!
Undergraduate update
Melanie Currie,
Head of Undergraduate Programmes
Welcome back to the final term of your studies and
for some of you the conclusion of your degrees and
your time with us at NBS. We hope that the last
two terms have been challenging and rewarding
and we are delighted that so many of you have
been participating in the work of the School, your
course and the University. This edition of the Link
magazine has an entrepreneurial focus, highlighting
some of the key achievements of our undergraduate
students, events that have taken place, as well
as the continued development of an active and
participatory student community. We are very
proud of our students and the work that they do
and together we are creating a School that we
can be proud of.
Our work in the School continues to be focused
on further enhancing the undergraduate
student academic experience and ensuring that
undergraduate students are at the heart of what
we do. We continue to listen to your feedback and
I would like to take the opportunity to thank you
for taking part in our EvaSys evaluation, the National
Student Survey, course committees and social media.
Your feedback matters and helps us further
improve how we deliver and how we support you.
What matters to you matters to us.
On behalf of all the undergraduate course team
we would like to wish you well in all your upcoming
assessments and particularly the final years as you
take your final set of assessments. We look forward
to seeing you cross the stage in July at graduation
and celebrating your successes in the future.
Follow Melanie on Twitter @NBS_headofug
16
Student project tests innovation within
local organisations By Karen Slater
Year Three students on the ‘Managing Innovation and Design’ module have recently embarked on a
project to conduct either a design or innovation capability audit within an organisation of their choice.
Both product and service companies are used as the focus. The majority of student groups gain
access to small local businesses, with organisations from previous years including Cookie Shake, Cow
Vintage, and Devine Cakes. Students audit a variety of design or innovation-related activity within the
organisation.
60 seconds with...
Karen Slater
Course Leader for BA (Hons)
Business Management
and Entrepreneurship
Length of time at NTU:
Over 20 years.
Tell us a little about your role at NBS:
In addition to my role as course leader I am also
the Module Leader for the Level 2 Enterprise
Project Opportunity in The Hive and the Level
3 Managing Creativity Innovation and Design
module. My role involves course development,
teaching, supervising research projects and
academic mentoring.
What is your favourite overseas destination
and why?
Vermont in the autumn– the colours of the trees
are incredible.
Tell us one thing that Nottingham Business
School students won’t know about you.
I am passionate about dancing. I started
dancing at the age of four and run my own
dancing school, teaching Ballroom, Latin
American and Disco freestyle dancing for all
ages. We enter competitions and organize social
events to raise money for local charities.
What is your favourite brand and why?
Pixar for their amazing creativity.
For your business dream team, who would be
around the boardroom table (dead or alive)?
Besides helping at a dancing school I worked
in a pork pie factory to fund university.
Fred Astaire for his passion and pure artistry,
JK Rowling for her drive, Richard Branson for his
vision and Miranda Hart for her perseverance
and dedication.
What did you always want to be when you
‘grew up’?
What is the most important thing you’ve
learned in life?
A fire-fighter because I wanted to help others.
Don’t give up.
What was your first ever job?
UNDERGRADUATE LINK
Family connections brings Group Director of HR
at Rolls-Royce to NBS!
Students and staff of Nottingham Business School were left inspired last month, following a guest lecture
from Kath Durrant, Group Director of HR at Rolls-Royce Plc.
Her lecture was on the theme of ‘developing culture and employee engagement in large organisations’,
and clearly impressed the students watching, with one tweeting;
‘Great lecture by Kath Durrant at @NBS_NTU on Culture & Employee Engagement. Hall was packed.
Some very interesting points raised. #HR’
Kath has previously held a variety of senior positions, most recently as Vice President, HR &
Communications for the Research and Development division of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Prior to AstraZeneca Kath spent a short time with GUS plc, and eleven years at GlaxoSmithKline plc,
having started her career at the London Stock Exchange as a graduate trainee.
Her daughter, Holly Durrant, is currently studying in her second year of BA (Hons) Business here at
Nottingham Business School.
Why are so few
graduates working in
SMEs within the UK?
itself, and businesses being unaware of what
different qualifications are actually worth.
By Fiona Winfield
Other points arising from the study suggested that
connecting with SMEs may also be at the heart of
the issue, as SMEs like to meet other companies
outside of core office hours, and that networking
events and careers fairs used to promote graduate
employment are normally held at inconvenient
times for SMEs (i.e. during work hours).
Earlier this year, a group of final year students on
the BA (Hons) Management course developed a
research paper in relation to the lack of graduate
employment within small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs). The paper was developed and
presented at the course’s annual ’Contemporary
Issues in Management’ conference.
Students Emily Ward and Amy Simmons and
the rest of their team had all worked in smaller
companies on their year-long placement and felt
they had reaped the benefits. They were therefore
keen to explore why graduates seem less likely to
opt for smaller companies.
It was also highlighted a real need for graduates
to raise employers demands for their skills, as there
are no vacancies with requirements specifically for
graduate applicants.
The report summarises that a lack of understanding
and appreciation for the value that graduates can
bring to SMEs is evident. The limited profile of SMEs
is a factor preventing graduates recognising the
potential opportunities available. A combination
of university support, Government intervention and
SME involvement can rectify the unawareness of
graduates’ potential.
To read Emily and Amy’s full article (and references)
visit www.ntu.ac.uk/graduatesmereport
planning for your future
The final report highlights that the number of
graduates leaving their first degree and looking
for productive work has increased from 89.9% in
2008 to 90.8% in 2012 according to the Higher
Education Statistics Agency (2012). However,
despite the rise in graduates looking for jobs,
the employment opportunities have not
increased relatively.
The report also highlighted that SMEs are the
driving force towards the recovery of the economy
as they account for 99% of UK businesses.
Taking both these points into consideration, the key
findings to emerge from their research emphasised
the view that graduates are under-represented in
SMEs. Evidence to support this showed a lack of
knowledge regarding graduates in the SME sector
Why not explore the options – on 30 April 2014,
NTU will be hosting its summer recruitment fair.
Come and talk to some of the smaller employers
and see what’s on offer.
VW Group talks
NBS and the
Chocolate Factory
By Fiona Winfield
Late last month, International Business students
(top-up, undergraduate and postgraduate) headed
up to Thorntons Chocolates’ Head Office at
Alfreton, near Nottingham.
Peter Lawson, Head of International, firstly gave
a talk about the company’s history and was
very frank about the ways it had dabbled with
internationalisation and not always been so
successful. The main problem seemed to be that it
had always viewed itself as a confectionery retailer,
rather than supplier. And while Belgian chocolates
might have seemed exotic in the UK, that was not
going to be the case in France, for example.
This was followed by a tour of the factory, where
there were some interesting and delicious smells,
sights and tastes. The amount of flexibility on the
production lines was interesting to see, as was the
use of robotics. In some areas it was explained
that using humans was better than trying to
mechanise a procedure.
The visit ended with a trip to the on-site shop
where visitors are allowed staff discount.
The School have been invited to go back next
year and would recommend this to colleagues
and students as a really informative half day trip.
Thanks to Angelo Bisignano for organising this.
We welcomed representatives from VW through
our doors, to speak with undergraduates about
their graduate schemes. Student feedback was
very positive about the session, with many
students planning to apply to the VW Group
graduate scheme this year. Three lucky students
also won hospitality tickets with Skoda to the
Goodwood Festival of Speed. As a result of the
session more activities are hopefully being planned
with the VW Group for next year.
17
LINK POSTGRADUATE
Postgraduate update
Innovation in the collaborative economy:
MSc Management student success in the Drucker
Video Competition and Drucker Forum in Vienna
Ugo Nwokoro graduated from MSc Management and Entrepreneurial E-Business in November 2013.
Whilst studying with us Ugo won fifth prize in the International Drucker Video Contest. He was the
top-ranked UK entry (and the only UK entrant in the top 20). Ugo’s prize was a trip to the Annual Drucker
Forum in Vienna. He is now working in the UK as a Commercial Manager for BigChange Apps. You can
watch Ugo’s video at: www.video.druckerchallenge.org/innovation-in-the-collaborative-economy
Here he gives us his account of the experience.
Alex Hiller,
Head of MSc Programmes
Welcome to another edition of Link. I hope you enjoy
reading about our events and student successes.
Nottingham Business School has a reputation for
business engagement and a long history of working
with the professions, and I am very pleased to
announce a new partnership with the Chartered
Management Institute (CMI) which will include
the Dual Accreditation of our MSc Management
by the CMI. This means that our master’s courses
in Management, Marketing and HRM are now all
accredited by the relevant professional bodies.
Undergraduates considering studying at master’s
level may be interested in the findings of the Sutton
Trust’s recent report, which acknowledged the
higher wage premium commanded by master’s
graduates (around £5500 per year on average)
and that the numbers of graduates with
postgraduate degrees are growing; in the UK
currently 11% of people aged 26-60 in work have
a degree at this level.
“As the time to graduate loomed closer and closer I was on the search for beneficial additions to my
CV. I was getting involved in societies more, taking training and internship opportunities and actively
networking. The opportunity for the Drucker Essay contest came when I received information about it
sent out to students in the Business School. I figured it was a golden opportunity. I had written so many
essays already for assessments so I felt it wouldn’t be a problem to write another one with the possibility
of winning an award for it. However, on beginning my research into the Drucker Society and the history of
the contest, I began to realise it was so much more than a simple CV decoration. It was an opportunity
to write about a topic I was passionate about and express my opinions as a young scholar to seasoned
academics and professionals in business. It was a chance to get involved with a prestigious organisation
and meet like-minded people.
“I chose to write about the concept of ‘collaborative consumption’ – an idea that had become a
commonly discussed trend and an area of debate in the business world. Many entrepreneurs had
adopted the idea and created unique business models in attempts to monetise it. Some had been
successful and some had failed but it was still too early to tell whether it was a failed concept or a
profitable opportunity. My essay was aimed at discussing the creative possibilities that could arise in
a more collaborative world. It stretched as far as discussing how managers could adopt aspects of
the ‘collaborative consumption’ concept in their businesses to maximise productivity. I was able to
provide links between the teachings of Peter Drucker and the development of this rising trend. I also
presented my ideas in a three-minute video for The Drucker Video Contest as it provided an opportunity
to summarise the contents of my essay in a creative and exciting way. The video resonated very well with
the voting audience, and I was able to secure a winning position at the end of the contest.
Indeed, the MSc programmes are an important
part of NBS’ provision, and we have grown the
number of courses and opportunities covering all
areas of business, management and economics.
All of our courses feature a consultancy project.
Our innovative Dual MSc in Global Business and
Management will allow you to study with us and
one of our European partners, gain some work
experience and graduate with two degrees in
15 months. The MSc Trading in Global Financial
Markets includes a three-month placement on a
City trading floor.
We have a number of competitive scholarships for
all of our full-time MSc courses for up to 50% of
the fees. If you are interested in finding out more,
come and visit our information session and open
event on 26 March; details are on the website, or
contact me at the email address below.
As always, if you have any queries, concerns or
feedback, or if you would like to contribute to future
editions of this magazine please do not hesitate to
contact me, or visit me during my weekly drop-in
session on Tuesdays 1pm-2pm in the Link Lounge.
Contact Alex: [email protected]
Follow Alex on Twitter @NBS_MSc
18
“I was more than excited when I received an email saying I was a winner and would be receiving a free
ticket to attend the 5th Annual Drucker Forum in Vienna. The University was very supportive and gladly
funded my expenses and accommodation for the trip. As I’d expected, the conference was exceptional.
I got to meet all the other winning contestants from both the essay and video contests. To my surprise
many of them weren’t even students; winners ranged from young entrepreneurs to experienced
professionals and even some thought leaders. The introductory ceremony alone was an eye-opener to
how big and prestigious the Drucker society was. Being at the conference allowed young scholars like
me to meet and mingle with highly successful business leaders on a face-to-face basis. I had interesting
discussions with Tim Brown of IDEO and shared casual drinks with Petri Rahja of Scoopshot.com.
I enjoyed inspirational speeches from Rick Goings of Tupperware and Peter Drucker’s wife. I also had the
opportunity to speak in front of an audience about my ideas and aspirations during the staged winners’
panel coordinated by Hamel Prahalad’s daughter, Deepa Prahalad. We benefitted from constructive
feedback given by intelligent listeners in the audience. The winners’ awards were handed out during a
beautiful Gala dinner at the classic Odeon Theatre in central Vienna.
“In totality, it was a very worthwhile experience. I was able to learn a great deal about business and
innovative management thinking from simply discussing with the intelligent individuals that were in
attendance. I still keep in touch with many of them today and am looking to collaborate with some
in the near future. Along with the ceremony tickets, I won a year’s membership to the Drucker society
and a subscription to the Harvard Business Review – a publication that keeps readers at the forefront of
business issues. Looking back, I’m glad I took the opportunity and will surely be doing it again in 2014.”
For further information on the Drucker Society please visit www.druckerforum.org
POSTGRADUATE LINK
MSc study tour success
By Kostas Galanakis
INTERNATIONAL LINK
New entrepreneurial route introduced to
MSc Management suite
By Kostas Galanakis
Nottingham Business School is delighted to announce the launch of a new MSc Management route.
MSc Management and Entrepreneurship, starting in September this year, draws upon a variety of disciplines
to prepare students with the knowledge and skills required to develop or support new ventures, but also to
spread the idea of entrepreneurship as an alternative career.
Entrepreneurial qualities and skills are valued more than ever by companies who wish to hire highly
motivated individuals that are able to lead change and innovation in order to compete in the global
environment. Through this route, your entrepreneurial experience will be enriched by participating in an
international entrepreneurship ‘boot-camp’, generating seeds for starting your own venture or advising
other early-stage entrepreneurs.
This course has been designed to develop students’ managerial skills and in parallel nurture the ‘soft’ skills
including personal perseverance, self-efficacy and superior social skills. With a ‘learning by doing’ approach,
learning is tightly connected with the actual exploration of students’ ideas, skills and knowledge.
Through the Innovation and Enterprise Hub students will have the opportunity to set up and establish their
own enterprise and be mentored by experts in the field, or develop ideas for a family business that they may
already be involved in.
The International Business Consultancy Project
that is offered during term three on the MSc
International Business has become a great
success and differentiation factor for our
postgraduate offer and our students.
The consultancy teams are the face of our School to
the business world and represent the quality of our
teaching and practices. In parallel, often they are
the first real business experience that our master’s
students may have, fostering their confidence and
developing their professional profile.
During the last two years we have managed to
organise fourteen consultancy projects in the
region of Veneto, Italy (September 2012 cohort)
and Canaries Islands, Spain (January 2013
cohort). This allowed our students to apply their
skills and knowledge to real business problems and
experience the day-to-day activities of a smallmedium enterprise and the issues that they face.
During the final part of the course students’ professional and business networks will be enriched by an
international group project in an entrepreneurial firm, experiencing directly the entrepreneurial journey.
The project will be completed by participation in an international entrepreneurship study tour, meeting
a diverse mix of early-stage entrepreneurs, successful young entrepreneurs, business angels and venture
capitalists from across Europe.
To find out more please visit www.ntu.ac.uk/nbspg
60 seconds with...
Dr Kostas Galanakis
Principal Lecturer
in the subjects of
Entrepreneurship,
International Business and
Innovation Management
Five years.
The feedback from these projects was very
positive. In a couple of cases the firms actually
offered internships to our students to work with
them further. Moreover, firms that employed
professional consultants to investigate similar issues
were impressed with the quality and the proposals
from our teams which were comparative to the
professional reports and often much more relevant.
Tell us a little about your role at Nottingham
Business School:
The MSc International Business academic team
continues to develop this activity further, creating
new partnerships across Europe and identifying
new challenges for our students to foster their
skills and professional profile.
and why?
I use my dual background as a business strategist
and academic to develop relevant courses and
modules.
Summer job assembling computers.
For summer holiday, Santorini, Greece. For everyday
living, I thought London but then visited
Barcelona, Spain. Culture, architecture, food, music,
style, and charm with Mediterranean weather.
Tell us one thing that Nottingham Business
School students won’t know about you?
As a university student I was the coordinator of
parties. Up to 250 students were waiting for me to
organise a party in one of the most conservative
campuses in the UK.
There is no dream team. Any person given the
right social environment and the appropriate
education can achieve great things.
What is the most important thing you’ve
learned in life
Fight for your ideas and your opinion.
19
LINK MBA
NBS MBA distinctiveness - the whole MBA experience is more
than the sum of its parts
Professor Roulla Hagen, Head of MBA Programmes
What is distinctive about the NBS MBA?
Borrowing from Aristotle, it is that the whole
NBS experience is more than the sum of its
parts. What do I mean by this? It is the
difference between complicated and complex.
A complicated system, let us use the example of
a clock, if it were dismantled and reassembled it
would work in the same way. Some curriculums
take the ‘complicated system’ approach. The
NBS MBA experience, I would argue, is a complex
system: the interaction of the students with each
other, with the interwoven MBA curriculum, with
the MBA teaching staff and with all the University
has to offer, cannot be predicted, because a
complex system has the ability to transform,
to adapt, to learn. It is transdisciplinary. The NBS
MBA class is a complex adaptive system;
the blend, the challenge, the interactions with the
external environment and what happens on the
programme, which is to interrogate, to adapt, to
disrupt and to transform, is generative education.
The NBS MBA
Experience
• Inspiring
• Innovating
• Sense-making
• Co-creating
In a world which is experiencing global shift,
to use Peter Dicken’s term, of shifting markets,
emerging economies, sense-making is a key
leadership capability as Deborah Ancona and
others have observed.
The NBS MBA is distinctive because it aspires to
develop this leadership in an age of unknowing
and uncertainty. Sense-making is, to use Ancona
again, “a plausible understanding, a map, of
a shifting world, testing this map with others,
through data collection, action and conversation,
then refining or abandoning the map depending
on how credible it is. It can mean figuring out
why a previously successful business model is
no longer working.
“Sense-making often involves moving from
the simple to the complex and back again.
The move to the complex occurs as new information
is collected and new actions are taken. Then as
patterns are identified and new information is labeled
and categorised, the complex becomes simple once
again, albeit with a higher level of understanding.”
20
We aim for a higher level of understanding on the
NBS MBA.
The MBA is constantly updating, taking on new
emerging ideas, developing. In the last month the
new diagram of the MBA Programme illustrates
the developments and bringing in new ideas.
The contribution to this section by Professor
Mollie Painter-Morland on repositioning the MBA
workshops on ethics and sustainability to a Core
Module is an example of this development.
The new diagram of the MBA
Programme illustrates the
developments and bringing in
new ideas.
Professor Mollie Painter-Morland, Professor of
Business Ethics, contributes in this edition on
the new addition of a core MBA module on
Responsible and Sustainable Business.
“Many still debate the best strategy for
integrating ethics and sustainability into
the MBA curriculum. Some argue for the
incorporation of such content into the core
disciplines in the form of case studies and best
practices, as it allows students to consider these
issues as part of business as usual. Others argue
that this strategy suffers from serious defects,
and leads to schools paying mere lip-service
to the importance of these issues. It is also a
devilishly difficult strategy to implement.
“Many still debate the best strategy for
integrating ethics and sustainability
into the MBA curriculum.”
“The other strategy is to develop a stand-alone
module as one of the core MBA modules, carrying
the same weight and being rigorously assessed.
Though many advocate this strategy as the only
way to signal the importance of responsible and
sustainable business practice, its danger is that
normative issues are seen as an add-on to the
main concerns of business, rather than as a set
of insights that infuses all business operations.”
That said, the value of such a separate core
module is that students have sufficient time and
exposure to come to see normative criteria, critical
thinking, and a concern for the long-term interests
of all stakeholders, as the bedrock of successful
business practice.
“At NBS, we have recently opted for this second
strategy, but with strong resolve to address
the gap that sometimes exists between an
ethics and sustainability module and the other
core disciplines. The module will therefore
run alongside the core modules as a kind
of spine that challenges students to consider
the ethical and sustainability-related concerns
of their finance, economics, strategy, marketing,
operations, organisational behaviour, HR and
research modules while they are taking these
modules.
“The new module will address the factors that
influence the behavioural dimension of ethics in
organisations, such as personal and professional
values, moral imagination, contextual influences,
stakeholder engagement and the management
of diversity. Students will be advised on how
to manage ethical risks in specific operational
areas, such as marketing practices, supply chain
dynamics, reputation management, and IT
and knowledge. The focus will be on systemic
approaches to creating ethical and sustainable
business cultures, sustainable compliance
and the embedding of sustainability and
ethics across different functional areas within
organisations. Significant attention will be
paid to developing responsible leadership and
teamwork practices.”
All this may seem quite ambitious, but
Nottingham Business School is in an excellent
position to cover all these topics, due to the
recruitment of a strong team of professors with
expertise in this area over the past year. Prof.
Mollie Painter-Morland and Prof. Paul Klumpes
will be sharing the bulk of the responsibility for
teaching the module, with inputs from Prof.
Christian Herzig, Prof. Peter Lund-Thompsen,
and Prof. Marius van Dijk. This new MBA module
is yet another indication that Nottingham
Business School’s motto of being “The Business
School for Business”, is increasingly being
deepened by our commitment to be “The
Business School for responsible Business”.
“The new module will address the
factors that influence the behavioural
dimension of ethics in organisations,
such as personal and professional
values, moral imagination, contextual
influences, stakeholder engagement
and the management of diversity.”
MBA LINK
MBA programme diagram
The 2013 winner of the Dean’s Prize for MBA Excellence
Anh Luong Buu Hoang has two BA degrees, the first in German Linguistics
and Literature, the second in International Economic Relations and Law
from Vietnam, and an MBA, from which she graduated with a distinction.
She had six years’ experience as a trade advisor working for the UKTI in
Vietnam helping companies identify international opportunities and assisting
international enterprises to position themselves in emerging countries,
particularly working with SMEs in Italy and the UK and building up extensive
client contacts in Vietnam, the Asia Pacific region and the EU. Commenting
on why she decided to study for an MBA Anh said:
“Since my career goal is to be a professional consultant in strategy and global
business, I am interested in obtaining broader understanding of business
functions in international contexts so that I can deal with issues which have
an impact on the entire organisation during their globalisation. The course
and its modules have shown me how real global business is running and
realised my passion in strategy and consulting.
“It is an honour for me to win the Dean’s Prize for MBA Excellence… the prize
is not only the recognition for my hard work and achievement on the course,
but also the evidence that my decision to pursue the MBA is one of the best
decisions I have made.”
Nottingham Business School Dean, Professor Baback Yazdani presenting Anh Luong Buu Hoang with her prize.
21
LINK INTERNATIONAL
International update
By Chris Crabot,
Head of International Affairs
Lisbon, home of ISCTE
Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham
Business School are innovative in offering new
opportunities and extra support to make you a
“Global Citizen”. We all know that going away for
a whole year or a semester may not be possible
for a variety of reasons; therefore we are able to
offer a number of summer schools hosted by our
international partners for you to participate in.
The selection will be communicated to you by
the Heads of Undergraduate and Postgraduate
programmes.
Summer Schools are an ideal opportunity to
internationalise your curriculum, through immersing
yourself into a new culture in a more relaxed way
and giving you the ability to gain the intercultural
skills that are essential to make a difference in the
job market. This is a great opportunity to take
classes that are outside the remit of your degree
and to stretch yourself to different dimensions.
For example, why not visit ISCTE Business School
in Portugal and take part in their Summer School
Lisbon programme which takes place in July.
The programme has a mix of academic and
cultural activities for you to take part in.
“The Tsinghua University Summer
Camp of 2012 was the best
experience of my life. I enjoyed
learning about the Chinese culture,
their traditions/customs/values/
food and general life. Most of all
though, going to the summer camp
built my confidence, made me more
independent and allowed me to
pursue singing again.”
Kirin Birdi, BA Business Management and HRM. Attended
the Tsinghua Summer School 2012.
If you cannot go abroad, then NBS will bring the
world to you through an innovative summer school
which will take place in Nottingham this summer.
In partnership with the School of Art and Design,
NBS will launch its first Summer School in Design
Thinking. This will be a very innovative three-week
course (30 June – 18 July) aimed at Business and
Marketing students from all over the world who
“The summer school was a really
good opportunity to improve my
CV and to learn about a new culture
and language. Whilst there I went
swimming with dolphins, went on
a number of beach excursions,
barbeques, surf classes, and took trips
to smaller Portuguese cities.”
Mireia Llinares, BA International Business. Studied at
ISCTE Business School, on the Persuasion and Consumer
Behaviour programme 2013.
Beijing, home to Tsinghua University (Haidian District)
22
want to enhance their creativity by combining
techniques from the design and marketing
professions to generate new innovative ideas
and solutions within the constraints of a business
environment. This will be a unique opportunity to
share your views and experience and learn to
work with students coming from the other side
of the world. You will find more information
about this programme at
www.ntu.ac.uk/designthinkingsummer
If you are an entrepreneur and would like to
spend a semester abroad, then we have identified
courses that will match your expectations at
three of our international partners universities;
NEOMA Business School in France, Stockholm
University in Sweden and WU Vienna in Austria.
If you are interested in these opportunities in
particular or in studying abroad in general
you can contact Rhiannon Thomas by email:
[email protected] or drop in at one
of her open sessions in the Link Lounge, held
every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from
12.30 – 1.30pm. So, no longer wait to seize these
life-changing opportunities, contact your NBS
International team today!
INTERNATIONAL LINK
Introducing our partners…
In true LINK magazine tradition, we’d like to introduce you to three of our overseas partners, all of which offer opportunities to become
involved in entrepreneurial learning and activity.
Stockholm University School of Business
Vienna University of Economics & Business
NOEMA Business School
•Belongs to the top Swedish HE institutions with
over 3,500 students and 70 full-time members
of academic staff.
•The University belongs to the top higher
education institutions in Austria and is
EQUIS accredited.
•The School attracts researchers and lecturers
from all over the world in order to create
a platform for meaningful exchange of
knowledge and innovative ideas.
• With over 24,000 students, it is one of the
largest higher education institutions for
business and economics, business law, and
social sciences in the entire EU Region.
•The NEOMA Business School has been born out
of merger of the two prestigious French business
schools: Rouen Business School and Reims
Management School.
•The School of Business is located in the
traditional Kräftriket campus area, near the
picturesque Brunnsviken Lake. The area is within
walking distance of Stockholm city centre and
is easily accessible by public transport.
• The University will open its new campus in
2013/14 that is located in the 2nd Vienna
district between the two subway stations.
•According to Eduniversal ranking for master’s
and MBAs the School is 30th across 154
countries around the world;
•As a student of NBS you have a unique
opportunity to be admitted onto one of the
master’s programmes offered by our Swedish
partner that are focused on innovation and
entrepreneurship. You can also participate
in international business plan competitions,
seminars, networking and other activities for
alumni.
For further information on Stockholm School of
Business visit: www.fek.su.se/en
Stockholm
• NEOMA’s ambition is to train a new generation
of leaders and entrepreneurs therefore
its programme curriculum is focused on
entrepreneurship and innovation programmes.
• The School is a triple-crown accredited HE
institution (EQUIS AACSB and AMBA).
• According to Eduniversal the organisation’s
Global Executive MBA delivered by Executive
Academy is ranked among the top 15, and
among the top five in the German-speaking world.
• The School has recruited academics from across
the World, including Canada, USA, South Korea,
Brazil, Australia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and
other European countries.
• The institution is a truly international university
with 230 international partners, and offers
more than 2,000 courses per semester of which
around 150 courses are taught in English.
• There is also a very diverse international student
community at all campuses, that include a huge
number of exchange, dual and double degree
students on Bachelor and Master programmes.
• They offer many courses focused on
entrepreneurship and innovation that are
taught in English (for example Entrepreneurial
Marketing, Innovation and Strategy).
• As an exchange student from NBS you can go
for one semester exchange to either to Rouen
Campus or Reims Campus and study a range
of modules that focus on entrepreneurship and
innovation.
For further information on Vienna University
of Economics & Business visit: www.vvz.wu.ac.at
Vienna
For further information on NEOMA Business
School please visit: www.neoma-bs.com
Rouen
60 seconds with...
Rhiannon Thomas
NBS Student Exchange
Coordinator
at NTU, and all incoming exchange students who
study at NBS for one semester or the full year.
What did you always want to be when
you ‘grew up’?
I also look after the summer school opportunities
that are available to students.
When I was younger I wanted to be a fashion
designer, as I’ve grown up I’ve come to terms
with the realisation that I’m terrible at drawing.
Length of time at NTU: One year, six months
Tell us a little about your role at NBS.
I am the coordinator for all NBS students who study
abroad at a partner university during their degree
I worked as a Christmas temp in River Island and
then went on to spend a few years working in
Topshop, whilst I was in college.
and why?
Of all the places I’ve visited so far, Italy is by far
my favourite, especially Verona, but I would love
to see more of the world and I’m sure there’s an
array of destinations that are just as beautiful.
23
LINK CORPORATE
Corporate update
Alison Smith, Head of Executive Education and Corporate Relations
2014 looks to be a busy year for Executive
Education and Corporate Relations. We are
delighted that we have been able to build upon
the success of our programmes for managers
and leaders and shall shortly be welcoming new
cohorts from Boots, Ecco and BP to Nottingham
Business School. It is testament to the dedication
of our Course Leaders that we continue to
develop and deepen our relationships with these
important clients.
Towards the end of 2013 we held our first
graduation for managers from Kentz who
travelled from all over the world to take part in
a special ceremony held at NBS in November.
Eleven students graduated with an MSc in
Management and Leadership and one graduated
with a Diploma award – these are the trailblazers
for subsequent cohorts now studying with us
in far flung places such as Boston, Dubai and
Johannesburg. These managers combine their
study with full-time demanding jobs, as well as
NBS continue growing
a strong relationship
in Azerbaijan
Dave Doughty, Director of International HR
Developments, was invited to join a panel of
experts to discuss developments in Azerbaijan at
a Country briefing event at 1 Whitehall, London.
Other panel members included The Ambassador
(probably equally demanding!) families. It was
a real pleasure to be able to congratulate them
on their success.
Turning to undergraduate matters, also at the
end of the year, we held our first Thinkubator
Challenge where more than 1,000 business
academics, researchers and students joined
forces to solve problems sourced from businesses.
Newton was a sea of coloured t-shirts as teams
of students worked on real issues presented
by a range of businesses. We were very lucky
to have the support of Association of Business
Schools (ABS) CEO, Paul Marshal, and Chartered
Management Institute (CMI) CEO, Ann Francke,
to launch this inaugural event which, not only
had a real ‘buzz’ but also benefitted businesses.
I think everyone was both surprised and delighted
by what could be achieved in a short, focussed
problem solving session. This event has also had
additional benefits in creating greater awareness
of what support NBS can provide for business and
of Azerbaijan, The Rt Hon Charles Hendry, the
Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy, Michael Essex Head
of Central Asia & South Caucasus UKTI, Alex Nice,
Editor of The Economist’s Economic Intelligence
Unit and Michael Thomas founder of The British
Azerbaijan Business Council.
NBS has a long association with Azerbaijan and
has played a prominent part in the development
of many senior managers both in the public and
private sector. This nurturing of the country’s
has created a number of spin-out activities and a
‘Thinkubator Club’. Plans are already underway
for Thinkubator 2 – this November.
“The outcomes of Thinkubator were
really great. They opened our eyes
to a couple problems that we missed
and reinforced problems / issues that
we have or are currently addressing.”
Director of Agora Food & Beverages
Our engagement with business is key to
everything we do. From placements, to
Thinkubator, to Business Leaders lectures and
guest speakers, NBS students have a wealth of
opportunities for self-development and career
enhancement. We look forward to welcoming
more of you to these events in the future.
human talent is something that NBS can feel
proud of and many accolades from graduates
of programmes that have been run in Azerbaijan
have been received.
It is hoped that this strong relationship will lead to
more work for NBS in Azerbaijan and it is a great
example of how relationships grow over time. This all
started 20 years and +100 visits ago when Dave was
approached to deliver a one-off team building event!
60 seconds with...
Sue Alcock
Course Leader for BA
(Hons) Management
and Leadership
This is my fourth year at NTU (and as a lecturer!)
Tell us a little about your role at NBS:
I am course leader for the sponsored degree BA
(Hons) Management and Leadership, working
with Rolls-Royce and Experian.
24
First full-time job was working for a small coach
tour company as a tours assistant - mainly admin
work but yes occasionally I did have to stand at
the front of the coach and explain all the sights...
Tell us one thing that NBS students won’t
know about you:
I’m a bit of a petrol-head (at various times have
owned and ridden/driven a sports bike and a rally car).
What is your favourite brand and why?
It has to be Carling - who can’t be proud of
having worked for the number one lager brand.
Katherine Graham (her memoirs “Personal
History” are a must-read) - in 1974 she said
“To love what you do and feel that it matters how could anything be more fun?” which has
been my motto throughout my working life.
CORPORATE LINK
In-company degree students exercise their entrepreneurial flair
The first year students on the BA (Hons)
Management and Leadership course are
undertaking a business enterprise project funded
by the Prince’s Trust Million Makers Challenge.
They secured £1,500 of funding after successfully
presenting their business plan to a panel made up
of four East Midlands’ experts.
The challenge requires the students, using their
entrepreneurial skills, to turn the £1,500 into
£10,000 for the Prince’s Trust by the end of the
project in June 2014. The team have named
themselves ‘Rollsperian’ and will be organising the
design, development and distribution of World Cup
themed car air fresheners.
Sue Alcock, course leader said, “The benefits to the
students of developing and managing a big project
in their first year are huge, and the students have
already learnt a lot from this first stage. I am really
looking forward to seeing how much they raise in
total for the Prince’s Trust.”
The group launched their product mid-February
and they have identified a number of places to
sell them, namely: car dealerships, car washes,
taxi firms and also at Nottingham and Derby
football stadiums.
Lauren Turner, student at Experian, praised the
project and said “It gives you a direct insight into
how to manage a team or a business as this is
what we’re ultimately going on to do in our
future careers.”
Beth Wistow, student at Rolls-Royce, commented
that the project is beneficial as “It allows
you to develop a multitude of skills such as
leadership, teamwork, time management
and communication which are some of the
constituents of a great manager”.
Prof. David Buchanan joins
NBS as a visiting professor
Nottingham Business School welcomed
Professor David Buchanan to deliver his first
session as a visiting professor to members of
the Boots Leadership Development Programme,
Postgraduate Diploma in Management and
Leadership. The session was for the Strategic
Change and Change Management Module and
asked the delegates to think about what it takes to
be an effective change leader.
Professor David Buchanan is an eminent academic
in the area of Organisational Behaviour and has
more than 30 years of experience in management
development and consulting assignments
for clients around the world, including United
Distillers, Polaroid, the Children’s Society, Volvo
Car Corporation and HM Prison Service. He is also
Emeritus Professor at Cranfield University School
of Management and works as an independent
consultant and author, specialising in change
management and organisation politics.
Alison Smith, Head of Executive Education and
Corporate Relations, said: “I am delighted that
Professor Buchanan, who is one the leading
experts on organisational behaviour, has joined
us. The outstanding contribution he has made into
organisational politics and change management
will enrich our current work and teaching. We look
forward to using his insights, experience and skills
at NBS.”
25
LINK RESEARCH
Research update
Professor Harry Barton, Head of Research
Research activity across Nottingham Business
School has increased significantly over the last
five years and 2013 marked an important step in
reflecting upon our research achievements.
students working in the area of small business and
innovation, and upon completion of their taught
courses, there are opportunities for students to
pursue PhDs in this area.
The research of entrepreneurship and innovation
within the school is broad ranging and colleagues
are encouraged to engage in cross-disciplinary
research activities. These activities are focused
through the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group,
led by Professor Clare Brindley, and form one of the
eight Research Groups which underpin the structure
of research activities across the school.
The topic of entrepreneurship is becoming
increasingly prevalent within our teaching portfolio,
with a new Entrepreneurship elective available on
our MBA course, and also a new entrepreneurship
route on our MSc Management course.
Within this group, several staff are engaged
in working with small businesses both within
the UK and internationally, as well as providing
opportunities for students and graduates to work
with local businesses through project work. Within
the School we also have a number of doctoral
From property to
people – assessing
the risks to our local
communities
A joint research project between Nottingham
Business School, and Nottingham University
Business School (NUBS), sponsored by the
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS),
picked up the top award in this year’s Fire Related
Research and Developments Conference at the
Fire Services College.
The award for research excellence, went to a
team led by Pete Murphy (NBS), who together
with Kirsten Greenhalgh (NUBS) and Craig
Parkin (NFRS), are investigating the medium
and long-term strategic risks within Nottingham
and Nottinghamshire as part of the Integrated
Risk Management Planning (IRMP) process.
This represents the latest stage in a long-term
collaboration between NFRS and the two
universities in Nottingham.
26
The research team were initially invited to
collaborate with NFRS and the Fire Authority on
the assessment of fire risk in Nottinghamshire as
part of its Fire Cover Review (FCR) project. The FCR
was carried out between 2010 and 2012 and was,
in effect, the outcome of the first comprehensive
IRMP process for the county as a whole.
Staff are actively engaged in professional bodies
within the subject, such as the Institute of Small
Business and Entrepreneurship and Enterprise
Educators. Moreover, staff that belong to the
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group regularly
produce publications for academic journals,
the media and national government bodies,
and engage in a wide variety of other activities
involving both the public and private sectors.
Further details of the Fire and Rescue Services
Research Programme can be found on the
NTU website at
www.ntu.ac.uk/FRSresearchprogramme
The new national framework clearly distinguished
the roles of the Fire and Rescue Authorities and
the Fire and Rescue Service and this has allowed
the university researchers to become an integral
and embedded part of the advice that the service
provides to the Fire and Rescue Authority. NFRS
has therefore invited the researchers to contribute
to the evidential base, the risk assessment and the
formulation of medium and long-term strategies
for service reconfiguration and the deployment
of resources. The universities are helping to
create both the evidence base and the
development of the strategy to be recommended
to the Fire Authority.
From the teams’ initial investigations it appears
that recent changes to the Planning and
Development Framework are introducing less
rather than more certainty into the future planning
process for service delivery; while the impact of
climate change is clearly evident from the recent
widespread flooding.
Research Group feature
– The Entrepreneurship
and Innovation Group
‘entrepreneurship’ are broadly defined within the
respective research, learning and practitioner
communities, enabling colleagues from a range
of subject backgrounds including marketing,
management and human resource management
to engage in research activities.
The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group
has a specific focus on the important areas
of entrepreneurship, innovation and small
business. The terms ‘innovation,’ ‘enterprise’ and
Research specialisms include: research relating
to technological innovation; open innovation;
virtual enterprise support; innovative e-hrm; policy
support and engagement; knowledge transfer
(e.g. entrepreneurial skills development); women
entrepreneurship; social enterprise; growth and
performance; and global entrepreneurship.
The Group’s focus is on the challenges faced
by individuals, organisations and policy makers
in fostering innovation and supporting and
developing enterprises. While colleagues are
engaged with emerging entrepreneurs, there is
also research being undertaken at different stages
of the SME life cycle. In addition, research also
addresses functional aspects of the management
of small and medium-size enterprises.
RESEARCH LINK
Working with us...
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) depend on individuals with
an entrepreneurial spirit - people who have new ideas, and are
willing to take the risks necessary to succeed. Yet these businesses
often struggle to access the knowledge and support they need to
help them get off the ground.
The solution can often be found at universities, where a wealth of knowledge and expertise is available.
But as universities are such large organisations it can be difficult to know who to talk to. A dedicated Business
Development Team has therefore been recruited as part of the working with you... programme, a £1.9m
scheme to generate collaborative work between NTU and small and medium businesses in the East Midlands.
The working with you... team are keen to join forces with colleagues across the University to utilise the
opportunities and resources available, including those at NBS. The team attended Nottingham Business
School’s Thinkubator Challenge event in November, where businesses were invited to pose their business
challenges to NBS staff and students. Most of these challenges came from small businesses and it was
apparent that they shared many common issues even though the businesses themselves were very different.
Lynn Oxborrow, academic lead for the working with you... project said: “The Thinkubator team recognised
that one way to help these SMEs is by delivering a series of short, intensive workshops to up-skill owner
managers and overcome the issues that limit the growth of their businesses. Our collaboration with
working with you... means these can be delivered without charge to eligible SMEs from the region.”
The programme has something to offer small and medium businesses of all sizes, and all have different
needs and challenges. For example, microbusinesses in particular can find that the transition from start-up
to growth brings unwelcome complexity. Therefore the first phase of the programme includes six events,
focusing on the key areas of management development and social media.
Pat Needham, working with you...Project Manager, said: “Business owners are very aware that employing
more people means acquiring increased responsibilities, ranging from satisfying employment law to
ensuring health and safety compliance. This can be very intimidating for employers who would otherwise
be keen to recruit additional staff. In collaboration with NBS, we will be delivering two management
workshops, the first on Employment Law & Recruitment and the second on Leadership & Delegation, to
identify the key areas SMEs need to address when they start to grow.”
One of the best ways to tackle new challenges and grow business is by bringing in new talent and fresh
ideas. working with you... has schemes to help eligible SMEs to employ a new graduate through subsidised
short or long-term placements. In some cases these can be combined with funded academic support to
deliver a collaborative project with NTU that the business could not otherwise find the resources to carry out.
To find out more about the working with you... project visit the website at: www.ntu.ac.uk/workingwithyou
Sorting the tweets
from the chat…
…is clearly important for East Midlands SMEs.
The NBS Thinkubator Challenge last November
showed East Midlands SMEs are in need of a
helping hand to understand how using social
media could benefit their businesses. The NTU
working with you... project, collaborating with
NBS, has organised a series of three free workshops
for small businesses to help them grapple with the
new challenges they face from Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn and other social media.
Their needs were greater than we anticipated
– the first SME Social interactive workshop in
January was oversubscribed in less than 48
hours! The hands-on workshop, led by NTU’s Julie
Nightingale (School of Broadcasting & Journalism
and freelance journalist) allowed delegates to try
out Twitter ‘live’, with Julie’s guidance and share
best practice and tips. Two excellent case studies
from Chris Botherway (New Media Manager –
Notts County Cricket Club) and entrepreneur,
Richard Flewitt (New Edge TV) rounded off a
lively session which received excellent feedback.
Julie said, “The share and exchange of knowledge
was invaluable... attendees interacted well with
one another and this created a real buzz!”
A follow-on event planned for 20 March,
‘Successful Selling through Social Media’ is
fully booked. The final session on 11 April is on
‘Effective Online Marketing’ – a half-day workshop
to make sure businesses understand how to
specify their online platforms and integrate social
media successfully. Given the demand for the
first workshop this may re-run later in the year, so
please contact the team if you know any SMEs
that might benefit from these events.
Contact: working with you...
T: 0115 848 8899
E: [email protected]
April Fools’ Day is
a great opportunity
to have fun with
your brand…
There will be no fools at NBS on 1 April 2014
when working with you... and NBS will deliver a
Marketing and Branding Masterclass for SMEs.
To find out more, or register for the event,
please contact James Urmston, working with
you... Business Support Coordinator, via
[email protected]
27
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6495/03/14

Growing tomorrow`s entrepreneurs

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