The Biz

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theBIZAshcroft International Business School Magazine|issue 2

gettingcue’d upINNOVATION | page 15

10052401

www.anglia.ac.uk/aibs

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Deans UpdateWelcome to the latest edition of ‘The Biz’. Many thanks for all thestories that have come forward and to Christine Durrant and teamfor all their efforts in pulling things together against a busy and tightschedule. There are lots of things going on within the School andalso within our broad student community both on and off campus –so please keep those stories flowing.

This is a busy time for all staff and students as we move towards theimportant assessment period. The end of an academic year alwaysbrings mixed emotions for our students. Those students about tograduate in the summer will of course be leaving us and move on tothe next stage of their career. All that hard work over the duration ofyour course suddenly comes into focus and your next career stepbeckons. All the staff within the Business School wish you well forthe future and please keep in touch through our Alumni Office.

Those students completing their first year of study will no doubthave made some big adjustments throughout the year as you got togrips with university life. We hope it has been a stimulating andchallenging year academically and that it has built up yourconfidence to approach the remainder of your course.

You will see stories in this issue from students at different stages oftheir course and what you soon realise is all the other things thatyou get involved with as part of your student life. Your successesare an important part of what it is to be at university and you are tobe congratulated on your contributions to making a vibrant studentcommunity.

As we look forward to a new academic year we know that theHigher Education sector faces considerable challenges and all staffwithin the School deserve considerable praise and credit for thegreat things that are going on in difficult times. It is these staffsuccesses that will help make the difference for Anglia Ruskin in theperiod of change that we face. Staff success comes in many forms –the design and delivery of new courses, research papers andsuccessful conference presentations, helping deliver an innovativestudent experience and winning external income and grants. Greatefforts – well done.

I hope you find this editionan easy and enjoyable read –of course there is much moregoing on and we rely ongetting more and more newscaptured in these pages forfuture editions. So keep thestories and news flowing toChristine and her team.

Martin ReynoldsProfessor Vice Chancellorand Dean

Editorial

Welcome to ‘The Biz’ the Ashcroft International Business School’sstaff and student magazine aimed at keeping you abreast ofdevelopments and opportunities in our Faculty. We hope you enjoyreading it.

The magazine will be produced four times a year and distributedvia issuu.com. Alternatively you can access copies of this andprevious issues on our website: www.anglia.ac.uk/aibs

Contact us:

Thank you to those of you who have submitted articles for thisissue, please keep the good news stories coming. If you would liketo offer us your news or ideas to us please [email protected]. We look forward to hearing fromyou. Topics of interest could include those related to:

o Good news storieso Personal and academic achievementso Eventso Researcho International visitso Diary dates, etc.…… or anything else you think may be of interest to your fellowstudents and/or colleagues.

We would also welcome your feedback on the magazine,particularly on ways of improving it.

Contents2 AIBS’ website has a new face3 Launch of MBA Alumni Network3 £5.5m of grant funding ring-fenced for low carbon research

and developmentSTUDENT NEWS4 IBM Universities Business Challenge 2009-20105 Anglia Ruskin University compete at FLUX 500 Competition6 Summer Courses – Polish language opportunity6 Stand out from the graduate crowd7 Business@Ashcroft Student Society hosts ‘Meeting the

Professionals’8 Limkokwing’s Anglia Ruskin Students in awe of Bako

National Park9 Monkey Business: Excursion to Colchester Zoo9 ‘Cheap as Chips’ cookery demoEVENTS10 Ventures Academy – Where ideas come to life11 Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 – ‘Two for the price of none’12 Anglia Ruskin Entrepreneurs – Leading biotech company

gives talkACADEMIC EXCELLENCE13 New MA in Corporate Governance to be launched13 The current and future role of Business Schools14 Deputy Dean wins INSPIRE’s 2009 Competition15 Nashville Best Workshop AwardINNOVATION15 Getting cue’d up to help Business School studentsBUSINESS ENGAGEMENT16 Virgin money success16 Ridgeons employees welcomed to Rivermead17 UPS and Anglia Ruskin University launch work-based

leadership degree programmeSUCCESS STORIES18 International appointment18 MBA Alumnus Success19 Management graduate secures research post with world’s

largest offshore wind farm project20 New members of staff20 Diary Dates

Professor Martin Reynolds

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AIBS’ website

has a new face!

After many months ofrestructuring, updating, tweakingand jazzing up work, AshcroftInternational Business School’snew website has finally gone live.

It is now easier to navigate between the links than ever beforewithout having to compromise on the content. In addition, thewebsite has been enhanced with many photos of our very ownstudents and campuses which make the pages very attractiveto look at…but you can also find images of many AIBS facultyand support staff.

You will still find the usual (and more!) information on ourdepartments, locations, student support, course provision,research, collaborative partnerships and clients. You can alsokeep up to date with AIBS’ latest news and events and find thelatest issues of ‘The Biz’, our school magazine, as well as ofInterconnections, our research journal, for download on ourwebsite.

However, improvement works on the website are by no meansfinished! We are planning to make the AIBS’ new website moreinteractive. How are we going to do this? We will includepodcasts with student testimonials about our courses andcampus life in Cambridge and Chelmsford, ‘live chats’ with ourStudent Experience Co-ordinators and research staff and muchmore.

If you have any ideas and suggestions for future improvementsof the website, some news you would like to communicate tothe school or would like to advertise your event, please get intouch with our Communications, Marketing and External liaisonteam ([email protected]).

Bianca Schottstedt

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Launch of MBA Alumni

Network

We have been told many times ofthe enjoyable time students hadwhen working towards completingtheir MBA and the value it hasadded to their working life.

Our new network is aimed at further enhancing this value byhelping MBA Alumni keep in contact with their classmates,share news and gossip, but also develop contacts with thosefrom other groups and keep up to date on developments inbusiness training, education and philosophy.

We have MBA presentations based in Cambridge, Chelmsford,Berlin and Trinidad and alumni spread across the globe, sowhatever their location, interest or needs there should be afriendly face for them to contact.

The Network is being launched at a dinner on the evening ofthe 4 August 2010 at the Royal Overseas League in London,already oversubscribed. Additional events are already in theplanning and will be publicised via the Alumni Office and theMBA Alumni Newsletter ‘MBA Connect.’

We will also be inviting ideas and contributions on what MBAalumni want from the network and if the demand is there wewill meet it.

www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni

£5.5m of grant funding

ring-fenced for low

carbon research and

development

Do you need funding for aresearch or development project?If so, grant funding could be youranswer.

The East of England Development Agency’s (EEDA) extensivegrant funding programme includes £5.5m from the EuropeanRegional Development Fund (ERDF) that is ring-fenced toinvest in the Research and Development (R & D) oftechnology-led solutions for a low carbon future.

As with the core programme, grants range from £5,000 to£250,000 and are awarded to entrepreneurs or companieswishing to develop a prototype or investigate the feasibility ofan innovative technology.

EEDA’s green grants panel meets every fortnight to evaluateapplications, and they’ve already approved £1m of funding sofar this year. So don’t delay. For more information and todownload a pre-application form, please go tohttp://www.bizmapeast.co.uk/low_carbon.aspx

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IBM Universities

Business Challenge

2009 – 2010

1400 students in 280 UKuniversity teams from 75 facultiescompeted in the IBM UBC Round1 heats, starting in October 2009and running through to December.

Each week a new challenge was sent from the organisers,Learning Dynamics Ltd, and each week the teams had toprepare their responses and enter their figures online. 45Anglia Ruskin students were recruited and competed in 11teams.

The top 72 teams from this first round went through to theRound 2 semi-finals which were run over one day at 9different venues around the UK. 6 Anglia Ruskin teams wentthrough to this round.

These semi-finals gave participating students the opportunityto meet fellow competitors from other universities, meetgraduate employers and hear presentations on internships,placements and graduate schemes from the UBC sponsoringcompanies - and above all to demonstrate their talent anddevelop their employability skills. The UBC is highly valued bysponsoring corporate employers as it is an important part oftheir graduate recruitment strategy.

Although we had no winning teams this year, the feedbackfrom our students was very positive. They had enjoyed theentire competition from October onwards. Participation in theIBM UBC has significantly added to the great studentexperience at Anglia Ruskin.

Robert Jones, Field Leader International Business at theAshcroft International Business School, consoled the teamswith the motto from his old school in Malta:Ludum praeter palmam amareLove the game above the prize – it’s the taking part thatmatters.

We will compete again in 2010/2011 and aim to enhancethe student experience – and possibly win as we did in 2008.

E: [email protected]: 0845 196 2549

STUDENT NEWS

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Anglia Ruskin University

Compete at FLUX 500

Competition

Six enterprising students fromAnglia Ruskin University took partin the Grand Finals of FLUX - anintense business challenge -which saw them compete inagainst 33 teams from universitiesacross the UK.

Developed by The Working Knowledge Group, nationallyaward winning experts in enterprise education, FLUX is afantastic, fast-paced and fun competition for universitystudents on any degree course, undergraduate orpostgraduate, and of any age; indeed over 60% of studentsthat take part in FLUX are studying subjects completelyunrelated to business FLUX is now in its fifth year and is thelargest enterprise competition in UK higher education.

The students competing for Anglia Ruskin University were:Andrew Curtis , Efrain Quiros, Francesca Rust, MarcusFornell, Toni Mahler and Vassil Richter. The team wasorganised and championed by Allison Beaumont.

As part of the fast-paced, two-day competition, student teamsused the enterprise tool XING to create a new division forRemploy, the national provider of employment to peopleexperiencing barriers to work. Over 40 business experts, fromcompanies such as KPMG, Experian, Backup Direct and arange of other large and small organisations, were on hand toguide the students.

Business expert Siobhan Bales MD of Bgroup creative agencysaid “it has been invigorating to be amongst some greatenterprising students as well as bright, challenging experts”

The University of Bedfordshire made it through the heats andfinals to come out as eventual winners and were crownedFLUX 2010 National Champions throwing their £3000 prizemoney into the air in celebration.

Phil Cotter, Managing Director Credit Services UK&I , Experiansaid:

“The courage, quality of thinking, enthusiasm and energydemonstrated by the students I have met today, makes mefeel positive about the future.”

The final day of FLUX included the ‘Expo’ - a careers fair forstudents to meet with the organisations behind the experts,many of whom had spent the previous days spotting talent forspecific roles. Students were also able to reflect on theprevious few days in workshops and mentor sessions whilstconsidering what direction they might take beyond University.

This year’s event was hosted by Nottingham Trent University'senterprise development unit, The Hive, and sponsored byExperian and The Greater Nottingham Partnership withBackup Direct, NCGE, and the Nottinghamshire City & CountyEmployment and Skills Board.

For information about the Working Knowledge Group andFLUX visit www.twkg.net, www.FLUX500.com

STUDENT NEWS

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Polish Language

Opportunity

The VARIA Centre of PolishLanguage would like to invitethe students for a studyprogramme called PolishVariations on Your Vacations,which combines an intensivePolish course, attractive culturalactivities and accommodation incomfortable apartments inKrakow, Poland.

The VARIA Centre of Polish Language organizes two-weekintensive Polish courses in Krakow. These areaccompanied by a wide range of cultural events for ourstudents to take part in. The participants areaccommodated with Polish people (mostly students ofKrakow universities), which enables a direct contact withthe Polish language after the Polish lessons in our Centre.We welcome both individual people and larger groups.Also, for organised groups we can change the dates of thetrips.

Our course offer is part of an international programmesupported by numerous universities and internationalinstitutes all over the world, as well as the ErasmusStudent Network. Every year our programme provideseducation and entertainment to more and more studentswho are willing not only to learn Polish but also to find outmore about Polish culture, meet new people, see the mostinteresting sites in southern Poland and spend twounforgettable weeks in the magical city of Krakow.

For more information visit: www.varia-course.com

Or contact:

Katarzyna Hoffmann, VARIA Center of Polish LanguagePhone.: +48/12 633 58 71, Mobile: +48/501 584 623

Stand out from the

graduate crowd

Internships can help graduatesstand out from the crowd, gainconfidence and satisfaction frommaking a real difference to alocal business

Graduates and final year students can now apply for AngliaRuskin University’s Graduate Internship Programme, whichhas over 50 companies registered and waiting forenthusiastic graduates to start work. Internship projects lasttwelve weeks and the graduate is paid a wage of £250 perweek with no tax or NI to pay.

Danica Smith, who graduated with a first class degree inMarketing from Anglia Ruskin University and lives inChelmsford, did an internship at Rose of Colchester. Shesaid: ‘I have found the internship to be more beneficial thanmy actual degree as it has given me the experience,knowledge, responsibilities and understanding I need to besuccessful in the workplace, no matter what industry Idecide to pursue.’

Lynsey McCulloch, Business Administration Manager inAnglia Ruskin University’s Graduate Internship Office, said:‘I know from experience how frustrating it is to miss out onjobs because you don’t have the relevant experience andthese days it’s even tougher. We want to see as manygraduates as possible getting into graduate-levelemployment and this scheme will help improve theirchances.’

To apply for an internship, email your CV [email protected] or call 0845 196 3177. Visit thewebsite www.anglia.ac.uk/internships to view currentopportunities (click on ‘Graduates’ and ‘Find an Internship’).

The programme is open to anyone who has graduated froma UK university in 2008, 2009 or 2010, lives in the East ofEngland (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex,Hertfordshire, Norfolk or Suffolk) and is eligible to work inthe UK.

Business @ Ashcroft

Student Society hosts

‘Meeting the

Professionals’

After the success of the Business@ Ashcroft student society’s pubquiz, the committee startedplanning its second event.

It was agreed that the society would hold an event withrepresentatives from professional bodies and employers togive information and talk about their experiences in practiceto be aimed at business school students. We agreed to callthe event ‘Meeting the Professionals’ and set the date as 8thFebruary for it to take place.

The committee and I soon drew up a ‘wish list’ ofprofessional bodies and employers who we wanted to

approach to come to the event. We were lucky enough tohave representatives from CMI, ACCA, IFA, ICSA, CIMA,CIPFA, in addition to many others, who all agreed to comealong.

At least 200 students attended the event which was awonderful result. Watching them as they went from stand tostand, I noticed that they were all listening intently to whateach representative had to say. The varied and interestingmix of representatives gave the students a taster of thedifferent careers paths available and access to a range ofinteresting insights and opinions.

After the event I spoke to a few of the representatives whohad given up their time to join us. Lindsay Heath from ICSAtold me that she had found the event really useful: ‘We had agood number of enquiries and were really pleased with howit went, so yes do bear us in mind for anything similar in thefuture!’

Debbie Thomas from the CMI also had a similar comment tomake: ‘We are proud to be a support for the Business Schooland it was great to see a large number of students at thestalls’.

The Business @ Ashcroft student society committee and Iwould like to thank all those who supported the event andhelped make it a success.

If anyone would like to join the society or if you requirefurther information, please email the president, UnathiSicwebu at [email protected].

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Limkokwing’s Anglia

Ruskin Students in Awe

of Bako National Park

Anglia Ruskin students studying atLimkokwing were greeted by thesun, sea and greenery as theyarrived at Bako National Park aspart of their orientationprogramme.

For some of them, this was their first experience of takinglongboats out to the sea and for many others, this was theirfirst visit to one of many national parks in Sarawak.

With its rainforest, abundant wildlife, jungle streams,waterfalls, interesting plant life, secluded beaches andtrekking trails, Bako offered Limkokwing students an excellentintroduction to the rainforest of Borneo.

The new intake of students, consisting of 100 local andinternational students, were in awe of the magnificent landand seascape of Bako as they stepped on the beach and tookin the astounding sights before being ushered for a briefing byboth the staff of Limkokwing Borneo and the Park Rangers.

Lead by Anglia Ruskin programmes Academic Co-ordinator,Mohd Salleh, the students listened attentively as the ParkRangers briefed the students of the Park rules and regulations.

During their two-nights three-day trip, the students alsoparticipated in the various activities and challenges set by theLimkokwing Borneo staff team with one goal in mind;becoming the champion team of the orientation programme.

The students also challenged their mental and physicalstamina as they went on a jungle trek with their groupmembers, and learnt to rely on each other for support as theybraved the slippery grounds, winding paths and steepinclines.

The one and half hour trek to Telok Pandan kecil is one ofbako's most popular. It ascends the forested hills overlookingTelok assam, reaching the plateau covered in scrub vegetationand continues along a sandy path lined with carnivorouspitcher plants before reaching a cliff top with stunning view ofthe secluded bay below the famous sea stack just offshore.

‘We wanted to introduce our students to the teamwork cultureat Limkokwing Borneo, and it was amazing seeing all ourlocal and international students working together and trulyenjoying themselves as they went through the variouschallenges together,’ he added.

The main charm of Bako for the students was the serenesurroundings and the occasional sightings of wildlife, whichincluded lizards, monkeys and families of bearded pigs asthey wandered about the hostels.

‘This is definitely an eye-opener for me as I have never seenmonkeys, bearded pigs and snakes chilling and doing theirown thing amongst people,” said Areeb Siddiqui, a Pakistanistudent undergoing the Anglia Ruskin Business Managementdegree.

The finale of the trip was the mass clean-up competition,whereby the teams had to compete against each other to seewhich group could accumulate the most litter on the beach.Students were told to first clean up the areas that they hadoccupied throughout their stay at Bako, before moving on andclearing out as much rubbish as possible from all the otherareas.

The students were all in praise for the hard work put in byLimkokwing staff. ‘I’d like to thank all our lecturers and staffmembers at Limkokwing Borneo for making this trip possiblefor us,’ said Mohammad Syazwan, an Anglia Ruskin Student.

The orientation programme to Bako National Park, which wassubsidized by Limkokwing is just one of several events held towelcome students to Limkokwing and to provide usefulinformation and help them settle in and allow them to meetother new students.

The first group of students and staff that reached the clifftop with stunning view of the secluded bay below

Students and staff posing for a pictureafter the briefing by park rangers

STUDENT NEWS

Monkey Business:

Excursion to

Colchester Zoo

On 13th of March 2010 theBusiness @ Ashcroft StudentSociety organised a day-trip toColchester Zoo, which is the mostpopular zoo in Great Britain.As a result around 15 students from Europe to Asia exploredall kinds of animals from ants to elephants.“We were reallyimpressed with the white tiger and the sea lion show, wherewe had the chance to feed these entertaining animals”.“After lunch we practiced scrambling on a rope like a monkey.To be honest… no one passed the test. There seems to belittle differences between human beings and monkeysthough...”

“All in all we had a really good time! We got the chance bothto see animals from all over the world and to get to knowdifferent cultures.”

Thanks for the experience! Nina Hentschel, visiting studentfrom Germany Tharanga Senanyake, 1st year businessmanagement student.

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“Cheap as Chips”

cookery demo

Student life can be stressful when you come to realise you arean independent young adult. No more depending on parentsto cook for you. For many people food will be way down thelist of priorities for the allocation of precious funds. Howevereveryone needs to eat, and failing to set aside enough moneyfor food can be a false economy.

“Cheap as Chips” was a free cookery demo programme set ata good time after lectures. It guaranteed you a free meal fromstarter, main course and even desert. It also welcomed allstudents to interact and join, and what better way to interactthan to bring all your friends along and learn new ways ofbudgeting money for food.

I thoroughly enjoyed every demo because it opened my eyesto new ingredients and foods that I did not know of especiallywhen they started the Curry Classes by Sandhya Oza whowas excellent and I loved her dishes. What was beneficialwas that all recipes made were printed for you for everysession for you to try on your own, with also practical handson experience and free prizes. What I liked about “Cheap asChips” was they used very affordable ingredients and showedyou many products and ingredients your never knew you

could use and afford. This programme even taught you howto prepare ingredients the right way, my favourite was beingtaught how to cut an onion without getting any tears!The “SORTED” crew who launched the BBC’s Grub Club alsocame to launch a cookery demonstration. They provided uswith simple and fast recipes using basic kitchen appliances. Ireally learnt from them as they were also students living on abudget, and having gone through all the mistakes, they werehere to help our student life to make it hassle free and lessstressful.

Jessica Zifodya, 1styear- Accounting andFinance student

i-Teams scores university

hat-trick as scheme

expands

A scheme which provides buddingentrepreneurs with a real-lifeexperience of turning ideas intobusiness opportunities isexpanding to other universities.

Cambridge University’s i-Teams was set up in Cambridge in2006 by Amy Mokady, a local entrepreneur and businessangel, and is a collaboration between the Institute forManufacturing (IfM) and the Cambridge University Technologyand Enterprise Club.

Now the project has just completed its first ever inter-university course. The latest taster course was a jointpresentation between the University of Cambridge and AngliaRuskin University and marked the first time i-Teams wasdelivered at another institution.

As well as students from the University of Cambridge thecourse also attracted participants from Anglia RuskinUniversity and the University of East Anglia. They joinedforces to help analyse the commercial potential of emerging,breakthrough technologies.

Amy Mokady, i-Teams Director said the collaboration was abreakthrough for the business programme: “It is very rare forstudents from different universities to work together on thesame projects in this way, so for us to attract students fromtwo other universities demonstrates how i-Teams is growing."

“Earlier this year we had our first non-Cambridge project andnow we are beginning to attract business-minded studentsfrom beyond our traditional base.

“The other exciting development was the number of non-science based students. We had participants with a widerange of backgrounds including film studies, management,computing and publishing. It really emphasised the multi-disciplinary nature of the scheme.

“We’ve come a long way in just four years, but it highlightsthe power of the programme.”

Professor Terry Mughan, of Anglia Ruskin’s AshcroftInternational Business School, was delighted with theoutcome of the project; “This gave our students the chance totackle a real-life business problem and work in partnershipwith students from other universities and experiencedbusiness mentors.

“We are pleased that our students, who came from a range offaculties, had the opportunity to work on emergingtechnologies and I think they brought a fresh perspective tothe project.”

Liz Wallace, studying for a Masters in Publishing at AngliaRuskin, commented, “i-Teams has given me, as a Humanitiesstudent, an excellent opportunity to work on a technologybusiness project. The experience of working with studentsfrom the University of Cambridge, many of whom have comefrom different countries and cultures, has been stimulatingand enjoyable. As a team we have all been able to bringsomething unique to the project and I am delighted to havebeen part of the process.”

The programme, based on the successful programme createdin the US at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, usesmulti-disciplinary teams of students to evaluate the bestopportunities for breakthrough technologies.

The projects the students from the three institutions tackledincluded:

• A method to cost-effectively capture andsequester CO2 from fossil fuel powergeneration which would lock CO2 awaypermanently from the atmosphere without riskof dangerous release.

• Exploring possible markets for new low-costcomputer box design, to ensure the greatestpossible success.

• A new technique to enable rapid and directdetection of bacteria using an all-electronicdevice.

Amy said: “We think i-Teams offers something unique to hi-tech start-ups and we are hopeful that this initialinter-university effort will just be the start.”

For more details on i-Teams see www.iteamsonline.org i-Teams is funded from a number of sources, including theHauser Forum IdeaSpace, the EPSRC, the CIKC and Marks &Clerk.


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EVENTS

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EVENTSFairtrade Fortnight 2010

As part of Fairtrade Fortnight thatran from 22nd February to 7thMarch there were a number ofactivities that took place at boththe Chelmsford and Cambridgecampus to promote Fairtrade toboth staff, students and visitors.

On Wednesday 24th February a ‘Let’s talk Fairtrade’ eveningwas held at Kings College in Cambridge by CambridgeFairtrade Town Group. John Rayment and Margaret O’Quigleyboth lecturers from AIBS in Chelmsford started the eveningwith a debate on the arguments for and against Fairtrade.Margaret, although not wanting to appear to be ‘coming to adinner party and criticising the food’ spoke against theFairtrade movement and put forward the arguments of freetrade. She was particularly thrilled to be speaking on aplatform next to a statue of her greatest hero (apart from JeffAstle) John Maynard Keynes. John then took the argumentforward talking about globally fit leadership and the GlobalFitness Framework stating how we need a global approach tohelping humanity. We were then joined by Diane from BomartFarms Ltd, a Fairtrade pineapple producer from Ghana. Shespoke of her experiences on a Fairtrade farm and the benefitsthat going Fairtrade have bought to her family and the localcommunity. Bomart became fairtrade as the company wantedto do more than just pay fair wages for their farmers andlabourers and bring long term benefits to the surroundingcommunities. Bomart’s have helped build community toilets,

schools and canteens in addition to a maternity unit. Dianeshowed that the benefits go far beyond the boundaries youmay think of and are shared to all, even if other members ofthe community that are not Fairtrade certified. Although thecertification can be challenging Diane showed it has certainlyhelped benefit her community. The evening was extremelyinformative and ended with a presentation to Cambridge City’sFairtrade employer, Ridgeons Ltd and a thank you form theMayor.

‘Two for the price of none’A similar event then took place throughout the day inChelmsford led by the Ashcroft International Business Schooland the Environment Team. The day started with ChelmsfordFairtrade Town Campaign and the Environment Team holdingstalls with a Fairtrade raffle, Fairtrade information, a Fairtradequiz with participants being given a free Fairtrade 4 fingerKitKat. At 3pm John Rayment held a screening of the ‘PigBusiness: The Film’. The feature documentary made byMarchioness Tracy Worcester reveals the shocking details youwon’t see on the label of supermarket pork: how the methodsused by factory farms to produce over a million tonnes of pigmeat consumed in the UK cause needless animal suffering,threatening human health, the global environment and thelivelihoods of UK pig farmers. The screening resulted in a longand interesting debate highlighting to students the ethicalissues associated with meat production and trade. Thediscussion was followed by a Fairtrade wine and cheesereception before the second part of the evening the ‘Two forthe price of none’ debate. The evening started with Margarethighlighting the issues surrounding free and fair trade. On thisoccasion there was no statue of Keynes but there was theopportunity to explain more fully the economics of fair trade.Tom Taylor, from Learning Development Services, then gave atalk relating his experiences of his year living and workingwith fairtrade and non fairtrade coffee producers inGuatemala. It was an insight into the barriers to trade thatfarmers face in developing countries such as languageproblems, violence, lack of education, lack of technicalknowledge and of course lack of access to money.

Katy Wheeler, asociology PHD studentfrom Essex Universitykindly gave her time todiscuss the findings ofher thesis ‘We’re allFairtrade consumersnow!’, Her researchinvestigated themeanings, moralitiesand politics of Fairtradeconsumption. Theevening ended withquestions and answersled by the chair of theevent, John Rayment.All who attendedenjoyed the evening, itwas a huge success anda big thank you to allwho made the eventpossible.

Margaret O’Quigley, Marchioness Tracey Worcester, John Rayment, Tom Taylor and Katy Wheeler

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EVENTSAnglia Ruskin

Entrepreneurs

Leading biotechcompany gives talk

Henry Li, student on our MA International Business course,has created a student-run society - Anglia RuskinEntrepreneurs http://www.cambridgeentrepreneurs.org.uk/

Krysia Brown, (Administrator, AIBS) and Henry invited a well-known Cambridge entrepreneur to talk about the creation ofhis world-leading biotech company Abcam plc.

Dr Jonathan Milner, CEO of Abcam plc, presented his accountof the founding and development of this leading biotechcompany at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge on Tuesday,16th February 2010. Abcam plc is a producer and distributorof research-grade antibodies and associated productsheadquartered in Cambridge UK, with a US office located in

Cambridge Massachusetts and a Japan office located inTokyo.

Jonathan’s fascinating presentation to a full-house of AngliaRuskin business students was followed by a lively Q&A.


theBIZAshcroft International Business School Magazine|issue 2

13

New MA in

Corporate Governance

to be launched by AIBS for thisSeptember

For the academic year beginning in the autumn of 2010,AIBS will be re-launching its very successful Masters degreein Corporate Governance.

The re-launch will take the content of the degree beyond thecompliance requirements of the new qualifying scheme of theInstitute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, which isto be introduced in September this year.

The new course will include modules on Charity Governance;Public Sector Governance and International Governance,making it the most comprehensive of all the ICSA’scollaborative partner courses and one of the widest-rangingsyllabuses of any Masters-level governance course in the UK.

A feature of the course will be the continuing inclusion oflectures and workshops by prominent experts in the field ofgovernance. Events this year have included contributions from

• Philip Dunne MP• Philip Augar• Tom Bonham-Carter• David Charters• Dr Roger Barker• SOCA• FSA• Britvic• IMPACTT• Golder Associates• Transparency international

The course, to be run for both full-time and part-time students,will be complemented by a distance-learning course coveringthe same areas – a feature of the course that will furtherdistinguish it from similar courses and which is expected toappeal to a new potential catchment of students for AIBS.

Building on the successful delivery of the Masters degree inCorporate Governance – taught at AIBS for over 15 years – thenew degree will mean that students who secure the Mastersdegree will also receive the GradICSA qualification of the ICSAas now.


The Current and Future

Role of Business Schools

Points made and opinions expressed in the report are purelythose of the authors and should not be assumed to reflectthose of Anglia Ruskin University.

FocusThere has been considerable debate following the globalfinancial crisis on the role and actions of business schools.This report summarises research the authors conductedwhich examined the current and future role of businessschools.

MethodologyA qualitative paradigm was adopted and the study used semi-structured interviews backed by analysis of schoolpromotional literature, course brochures, web pages and anyother relevant information. 38 top level managers from 15business schools in Brazil, India, Germany, South Africa,Tanzania, Scotland and England took part.

FindingsBeing a relatively small scale scoping study, the research doesnot reflect all types of schools, circumstances, locations orviews. Care should therefore be taken in drawing generalisedconclusions from the study, which should rather be taken asillustrative of the range of views held.

The main finding was that none of the interviewed leadersconveyed the impression that steering business towardhelping humanity achieve a sustainable future and tacklingurgent global issues was seen by them as one of their mainroles, either current or future. This conclusion is concerninggiven the growing debate on urgent global issues and recentfinancial crisis.

None of these managers were seriously challenging thefoundations of their current programmes or changes requiredto help achieve a sustainable human presence on the planet.Those who had a global focus were looking for ways in whichtheir school could increase its international presence andoverall market share rather than how urgent global issues canbe solved through business and the role business schoolshave in encouraging such moves.

By far the most common attitude was that the role of businessschools was to provide businesses with suitably qualified andexperienced staff so as to achieve the aims of business.Relatively little attention was given to what those aims shouldbe and none of those interviewed expressed the view thatbusiness schools had a major role in leading and shapingsuch aims towards a focus on the greater benefit of humanity.

The authors are keen to establish an international cluster ofbusiness schools interested in exploring further the futureroles of business and business schools. A full report of theresearch can be obtained from the authors, John Rayment –[email protected] or Jonathan Smith [email protected]

This research was sponsored by Anglia Ruskin University under the Deputy Vice-Chancellors Research Enhancement Competition. We gratefully acknowledge and

appreciate this support.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

14

Deputy Dean wins

INSPIRE’s 2009

Competition

Deputy Dean of the business school, Dr Jenny Gilbert, haswon *INSPIRE’S 2009 Competition for the peer-reviewedpaper in Networks to gain the most outstanding reviews.

You can read Jenny’s paper ‘Responsive and RigorousApproval of Work-Based Learning: Adjusting Regulations andCodes of Practice’, in Networks at:

www.anglia.ac.uk/inspire

Jenny wins funding to attend the Annual Higher EducationAcademy Conference in June this year.

*INSPIRE is a service team responsible for supporting awide range of initiatives, activities and projects associatedwith the development of the curriculum and enhancing ourstudents’ experiences of higher education. INSPIREadditionally engages in pedagogic research and leads onestablishing innovative approaches to learning, teachingand assessment.

Nashville Best Workshop

Professor Lester Lloyd-Reasonachieved the Best WorkshopAward at the annual USASBE(United States Association forSmall Business Entrepreneurship)Conference, one of the premiergatherings of entrepreneurshipscholars and educators in theworld.

The Conference took place in downtown Nashville, within thevibrant business district. Lester’s achievement is to becongratulated as only 1 in 3 workshop proposals wereaccepted for the conference. There were over 20 workshopsrunning over the three days and Lester’s was one of threenominated for the best workshop award. The workshopswere judged by a panel of 16 academics.

The Conference is a great place to learn of best practices inentrepreneurship education and program development, withrecognition given annually to the model academic programs,pedagogy, and outreach efforts in the United States.


ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

15

INNOVATION

Getting cue’d up to help

Business School students

Further developing the uniquepilot initiative between snookerprofessional and world number 3Ali Carter, and John McCulloughfrom the Ashcroft InternationalBusiness School, the first of aseries of student-friendly actionlearning programmes has nowbeen finalised.

Linked with this is the first of a series of papers that look athow data collection and data analysis can be used to gaininsights into and help to solve real world practical problems.

The first workshops which will include ‘The Carter Challenge’,is being organised for the beginning of the next Semester andis intended to enhance student engagement and datacollection and analysis skills without driving students ‘potty’!

John has a long-established interest in the parallels betweensports and business performance and has published anumber of papers and delivered both public and corporateseminars on the subject.

For those who are looking for early clues look out for John’spaper on Creating Added-Value insights into Matters of Centre-Ball Striking: The Application of Quantitative Techniques inSnooker.


16

Virgin money success

Students to develop a marketentry strategy

Professor Lester Lloyd-Reason, Professor of InternationalEnterprise Strategy and Director of the Centre for InternationalBusiness at the Ashcroft International Business School hasbeen successful in securing a second project with VirginMoney for the BA (Hons) Enterprise and EntrepreneurialManagement students.

Virgin Money have asked to work with the same cohort ofstudents as last time and so this will involve the second yearstudents through the module ‘Being Enterprising’ led by ProfRoger Mumby-Croft. This second project is a significant step

up from the first project, which involved Pet Insurance. Thistime, the students are working in groups to develop a marketentry strategy for a real live product that Virgin Money arelaunching as part of the expansion of their financial productsportfolio. The project is absolutely confidential and all thestudents and staff involved on the programme have beenrequired to sign a Mutual Confidentiality Agreement. Thestudents working in teams will present their market entryplans to the Board of Virgin Money plus the head of VisaEurope in the Virgin Money boardroom in May.

This is an amazing coup for us to obtain such a high profileproject and represents a major vote of confidence in the BAEnterprise pathway and in Anglia Ruskin University. It isindicative of the excellent relationship we have nowsucceeded in establishing with Virgin Money at a particularlyexciting time for them as they expand their operation into thebanking sector.


Ridgeons employees

welcomed to Rivermead

Teaching starts on the

new work-based

Management Degree

Ridgeons, the region’s leading independent building andtimber merchants, has become the first organisation tosponsor a cohort of 20 staff on the Ashcroft InternationalBusiness School’s new work-based Foundation Degree inManagement (Work-based).

Ridgeons, which operates 21 branches across the East ofEngland, has developed the bespoke work-based FoundationDegree in collaboration with AIBS. This represents the latestin a number of Higher Skills @ Work initiatives with theBusiness School.

Ridgeons students and members of their management teamwere welcomed on campus for the start of teaching on 4thMarch. The 2 year programme will be delivered through acombination of online learning and face-to-face teaching atthe Rivermead campus in Chelmsford. Modules will includeManaging People, Customers & Markets; Managing Projects &Organisational Change and Business Planning & DecisionMaking.

Commenting on the development of the Foundation Degree inManagement (Work-based), Ridgeons’ Group Managing

Director Angela Rushforth said: “There has never been agreater need to equip our managers with strong skills sets toenable them, and the company to adapt to an increasinglycomplex and competitive market.

“The Foundation Degree in Management represents anexcellent and logical progression from our existingmanagement development tools. By focusing on developmentof our staff through this tailored programme, we aim to equipour staff and the company to react stronger and faster tomarket changes and create a structure that facilitates futurecompany growth.”

Professor Martin Reynolds, Dean of the AIBS, is anticipatingthat many more companies from the region will ultimatelyfollow the work-based approach adopted by Ridgeons:“The development of the Foundation Degree in Managementis an example of an organisation like Ridgeons leading theway in higher education within their specific industry.Degree-level work-based learning is now available to manyindustry sectors and we expect to see a huge rise in theseprogrammes in the future.”

BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT

17

UPS and Anglia Ruskin

University launch work-

based leadership degree

programme

UPS’s UK workforce given chanceto earn nationally-recognisedqualifications through two work-based degrees

Ashcroft International Business School (AIBS) at AngliaRuskin University has partnered with UPS, the world’s largestpackage delivery company, to launch an undergraduate andpostgraduate work-based leadership degree programme forapproximately 150 of UPS’s employees in the UK.

Through this innovative initiative, UPS managers andsupervisors will be offered the opportunity to enrol on a BA(Hons) Management and Leadership degree or an MALeadership degree. The programmes have been specificallytailored to allow UPS’s executive students to marry theirstudies with their daily work, through blended learningapproaches that combine face-to-face tutorage and onlinelearning.

The partnership with Anglia Ruskin University represents justthe latest example of UPS’s longstanding commitment to stafftraining and development. UPS has already received externalNVQ and ILM accreditation for two in-house trainingprogrammes for drivers, team leaders and supervisors in theUK. In addition to these varied programmes, UPS is alsodeveloping a ‘Skills for Life’ programme designed to helpemployees develop the competencies they themselves haveidentified as areas they would like to improve.

Roger Mays, HR manager, UPS UK and Ireland, said:“Providing people with the opportunity to expand their ownskillset through external qualifications is a core element ofUPS’s global philosophy. The launch of this programme isfurther testament to our commitment to this philosophy, andwe are proud of our track record of supporting training andskills development at every level of the organisation. Thisprogramme will help our management staff fulfil theirpersonal and professional ambitions whilst equipping themwith real-world leadership skills that will benefit ourbusiness.”

Rachael Hall and Vanessa Knowles are project leaders atAshcroft International Business School, Anglia RuskinUniversity. Rachael Hall said:

Professor Michael Thorne, Vice Chancellor of Anglia RuskinUniversity, says: “We are really pleased to be working withUPS as a strategic partner. This project demonstrates theinnovation that has gone into the design of both the degreeand masters pathways. We launch with a strong commitmentfrom UPS in terms of the number of people who will be takingthe programme, a clear signal of UPS senior management’scommitment. The development of this new partnership isanother example of our passion for practice-basedmanagement education. I am sure these programmes will besuccessful and rewarding for both the individuals and for UPSas an organisation.”

“We have worked closely withUPS towards the launch of theseinnovative degree programmes.We are excited about being ableto help UPS employees developtheir knowledge and skills. This isjust one of the recent examples ofHigher Skills @ Work bringingtangible benefits to employeesand business alike.”

BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT

18

SUCCESS STORIES

International

Appointment

Dr Jonathan Smith, senior lecturer within AIBS has recentlybeen accepted as the Chair of the international advisorypanel at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia,Canada.

Jonathan will chair an international group collaborating onways of bringing a greater focus on spirituality in theworkplace. He hopes the group will collaborate in areas suchas funding applications, research projects, academic journalarticles and conferences.

E:[email protected]: 0845 196 2069

MBA Alumnus Success

KikuSema GmbH/AB announcedthat it was named one of the ‘TOPTEN MOST INNOVATIVECOMPANIES’ at the recent RSAConference 2010 held in SanFrancisco in March.(https://www.fabularosa.com, http://www.kikusema.com)Christine Ziske is a member of the management team ofKikuSema GmbH and the Kikusema AB and is an Alumnus ofthe Anglia Ruskin University. She was awarded with theMaster of Business Administration in 2008 in GeneralManagement – Dual Award – Pathway Berlin.

The company is involved in the development and marketing ofinteractive and multilingual internet applications for largercompanies. Their innovative product is named FABULAROSAand this application is recognized for creating sufficiently longand complex passwords by visualization that are easy to make,easy to use and easy to recall.

The first day of the RSA Conference started with the InnovationSandbox Event where each finalist was given the opportunityto present their emerging technology before a panel of judgescomprised of venture capital professionals, CISOs, CTOs andindustry experts. This event presented delegates with theprospect of learning about new technological solutions that willprepare them to tackle IT security issues.

“Today’s security threats are more sophisticated than ever asevidenced by recent headlines, and RSA Conference iscommitted to bringing together some of the industry’s mostinnovative people to address these emerging challenges,” saidSandra Toms LaPedis, Area Vice President and GeneralManager of RSA Conference.

KikuSema GmbH/AB is looking for partners especially forchecking the market impact and for mathematical judgment ofthe FabulaRosa [email protected]

19

SUCCESS STORIES

Management graduatesecures research postwith world’s largest off-shore wind farm project

Business student to prove herworth with wind farm constructionproject

Postgraduate student Nathalie Kolasa who is currently study-ing for an MSc in Management at the Ashcroft InternationalBusiness School (AIBS) at Anglia Ruskin University has se-cured a research project with a difference – she is set to workwith the London Array offshore wind farm project.

Nathalie approached the London Array project and has suc-cessfully negotiated support from them to conduct the re-search assignment for her dissertation.

London Array is a joint venture between three internationalcompanies with renewable energy interests - Dong Energy ofDenmark, E.ON of Germany and the UK and Masdar fromAbu Dhabi. The wind farm will be located more than 12 milesfrom the Kent and Essex coasts and when fully constructedwill be the world’s largest wind farm.

London Array’s agreement to engage Nathalie and theAshcroft International Business School clearly demonstratesits commitment to continuing improvement and to operatingat the cutting edge of working practices. The project is look-ing to benefit from specific proposals for improvements to itsmulti-cultural, joint venture working practices as a result of re-search based on the extensive practice-based, internationalexpertise and resources available within AIBS.

Dr Jonathan Smith, Nathalie’s research supervisor at AshcroftInternational Business School said:

‘This is an excellent opportunity both for Nathalie, for LondonArray and for AIBS. For Nathalie to have negotiated access tothis research project is a tremendous success. It is a cleardemonstration of Nathalie’s abilities and of her exciting pro-posals for research.’

Nathalie’s research is focused on how the multi-cultural proj-ect organisation can develop smoother operations andprocesses with minimum waste of resources and establish acorporate culture that will reinforce their mutual way of doingthings. From a long-term perspective, it will transfer the learn-ing and experiences in connection with the current project –making it available for future collaboration between partners.

Nathalie will be working at London Array part-time betweenJuly and November as part of the research.


20

We are looking for people to get involved in thenewsletter. We would welcome your feedback onthis issue and letters/comments for futurepublication. You may even wish to test your wingsas a writer. If so, please contact:

Christine DurrantT: 0845 196 6882E: [email protected]

DATESNew Members of Staff:

We are pleased to welcome the following new colleagues tothe Business School:

CHELMSFORD

Mark Constable - Learning Technologist

John Summers – although not new to the Business SchoolJohn as been appointed to the three year rotating post ofLearning and Teaching Advisor for the faculty

CAMBRIDGE

Paulo Votino - Business Development Marketing Manager

Tom Greenwell - Business Development Marketing Manager,

Alexandra McLaughlin - Administrator

Diary Dates

15 June HR Forum, Chelmsford

24-25 June 9th ECRM Conference,

Madrid

8-10 July IFSAM Conference, Paris

Documents

The Biz