Newcastle University Business School Magazine | Www.ncl.Ac.uk/Nubs

8/14/2019 Newcastle University Business School Magazine | Www.ncl.Ac.uk/Nubs

1/17

Newcastle University Business School Magazine | www.ncl.ac.uk/nubs Issue 05: Autumn/Winter 07

In this issue:New Goldman Proessor

Fiona Cruickshank shares her

ormula or success. p9

NCL to NYC

Putting classroom theory into practice.p13

Bringing Business Skillsto the Charity SectorWhy the charity sector needs more

Business graduates. p21

From theSouth Pole tothe North PoleAnother Marketing andManagement graduate sets

out to conquer the Polep17


2/17

A pharmacist at the head o a multi-million pound drug manuacturing

business is the latest high prole

entrepreneur to become the

Goldman Visiting Proessor

o Business Innovation.

New GoldmanProessor SharesHer Formula orSuccess p9

INTRODUCTION

01 NUBUSINESS MAGAZINE AUTUMN/WINTER 2007 NUBUSINESS MAGAZINE AUTUMN/WINTER 2007 02

CONTENTS

From the Directors Desk

The PoPs HaveArrived: ADierent Kindo Proessorp7

NCL to NYC p13

Full contents:

News .....................................................03

The PoPs Have Arrived:

A Dierent Kind o Proessor ..............07

New Goldman Proessor Shares Her

Formula or Success .............................09

Bringing Business Skills

to t he Charity Sector ............................11

NCL to NYC..........................................13

The Rise oMetaverses p24

Welcome to the fth issue o

NUBusiness. Since our last issue

there have been some changes in

the Business School. Ater seven

years as Director o the School,

Proessor Ian McLoughlin has

taken a year-long research leave.

In his absence, I have taken over as

Acting Director o the School, and

Dr. Hugh Metcal as Acting DeputyDirector.

Proessor John Leopold

Acting Director NUBS

As a school we have been re-working

and reormulating our vision and wehave now encapsulated it in the

phrase: To be regionally rooted,

nationally infuential and globally

respected.

Our inspiration or this has come

rom the Angel o The North.Beneath the steel superstructure are

thousands o tons o concrete which

root the statue in place. Recently the

British Culture Secretary named it

as one o the UKs top ten culturalicons, and obviously it now has world

wide recognition.

At the Business School we seek to

emulate this achievement by also

being regionally rooted, nationally

infuential and globally respected.

A Word rom the Editor

Sharmishta Chatterjee-Banerjee

NUBusiness Editor

As is always the case, it is dicult

to t all thats been happening at

the Business School in one issue! Ouralumni around the world are making

a name or themselves, and it doesnt

get any better or Brian Douds who

has just returned rom a trip to the

North Pole or David Locke who ismaking a world o dierence by

working or one o the oldest

charities in the UK.

Hi everyone and welcome to the

fth issue o NUBusiness. I hope

you like the new layout or the

magazine.

We have introduced a new discussion series with

this issue, the rst o which is about the Universitys

International Summer School. We also bring you

highlights o the Executive MBA trip to New York,news on the appointment o the th Goldman Visiting

Proessor and advice rom alumnus David Rankin on

online human resources management. And, as always,

we have updates on research ocus, NUBusiness

briengs and our ever popular alumni archive.

Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts,contributed articles and helped me put this,

our second anniversary issue, together.

Please continue to send in your suggestions

and contributions to [email protected].

Enjoy the issue!

Win a Digi MemoNotepad!p30

COVER STORY

Newcastle University is committedto become a university open or

business or Newcastle Science City.

Human ResourcesManagement IsJust a Click Awayp19

You may have a great business

idea, but have you any experiencein managing people?

Following on rom similar

consultancy trips in Europe,

students rom the Executive MBA

undertook a consultancy projectwith Thomson Financial.

A Round TableDiscussion p21

Is the International Summer School

meeting expectations?

Are three dimensional worlds

the next generation web?

From the South Pole

to the North Pole ..................................17

Love Newcastle LIVE Newcastle! ...... 18

Human Resources Management

Is Just a Click Away..............................19

A Round Table Discussion ...................21

Prole: Making the MOST

or the Region.......................................23

Research Focus:

The Rise o Metaverses ........................24

Alumni Archive ....................................25

Alumni Events ......................................27

Book Review:

The Tiger That Isnt .............................28

NUBusiness Briengs ..........................29

Competition Page .................................30

Credits and Thanks

Many thanks to BMS World Mission,

National Geographic Traveller Magazine,

Shalinee Chatterjee, Kristen Bradeld,

Mick Warwicker, Dan Howarth, Stuart

Garratt. Gwilym Mumord, Aarushi Nigam

and Nick Pitsiladis.

Special thanks to the Editorial Board,

Karol Marketing and our hardworking

team at SUMO.

Cover photograph courtesy Daniel R.

Westergren, Senior Photo Editor or

National Geographic Traveller Magazine,

One-North, Singapore.

Regional roots are demonstrated by the connections we

have with many local organisations through the

Executive MBA programme. Graduates rom this

programme exercise the leadership and management

skills they have developed by helping the organisationsthat they work or to grow and develop. We are also

linked in to the Newcastle Science City vision to translate

scientically-based intellectual capital into economic and

social benet or the North East o England. We have now

appointed our Proessors o Practice (PoPs), one or each

o the Science City theme areas. These PoPs are peop lewho have been able to combine scientic research with

entrepreneurship and now have the task o connecting

science to business and business to science. You can read

more about this on pages 7 and 8 o this issue.

One example o many where we are able to infuencepolicy decisions o government and business at national

level is Proessor Mike Jones-Lees position as specialist

adviser to the House o Lords Select Committee on

Economic Aairs, which is conducting an inquiry into

Government Policy on the Management o Risk. Anothercolleague rom the ESHER research group, Proessor

Sue Chilton, has been a policy adviser to DEFRA on the

health benets o reduced air pollution.

Together with Dr. Hugh Metcal, Proessors Jones-Lee

and Chilton are also now part o the Norwegian

Government research centre into risk management.This shows how we can expand out rom national to

international signicance and infuence.

Many o the other activities reported on in thi s issue are

related to this vision, which will be the inspiration or our

uture work.

From theSouth Pole tothe North Pole p17

Another Marketing and Managementgraduate sets out to conquer the Pole.


3/17

Newcastle University has a new Vice-

Chancellor. He is South-Arican born

mathematician Proessor Chris Brink,

who became the universitys executive

and academic head on 1 August.

Proessor Brink was ormerly Rector

and Vice-Chancellor at Stellenbosch

University in South Arica, where he

led a transormation agenda which

resulted in Stellenbosch emerging as

one o the countrys leading research

universities and gaining a reputation

or promoting equality o opportunity

by attracting more black students

into higher education.

Proessor Brink said that while in

South Arica, he became aware o the

reputation o Newcastle Universityor excellence and relevance. He

aims to build on this commitment by

applying teaching and research to the

benet o people and businesses.

It was the vision o this university

that brought me here, said Proessor

Brink. I am enthused by the idea o a

marriage between excellence and

relevance, and committed to the ideal

o a university that is a driver or

development and economic growth

through the internationally

recognised quality o its research

and teaching.

Proessor Brink is successor to

Proessor Christopher Edwards, who

retired ater six-and-a-hal-years as

Vice-Chancellor. The University has

achieved sustained growth under

Proessor Edwards leadership.

Olivia Grant, Chairman o Newcastle

Universitys governing body, Council,

said: Chris Brink is a renowned

academic with an international

reputation in higher education who

has demonstrated outstanding

leadership at Stellenbosch. The

Council believes he shares our

commitment to the crucial regional

and local role o the University whilst

strengthening our international

excellence and diversity.

Proessor Brink was born and raised

in a small rural town at the southern

edge o the Kalahari Desert. At the

age o 18 he moved to Johannesburg,

where he gained a rst degree in

mathematics and computer science.

He continued his postgraduate study

in mathematics and philosophy at

Rhodes University, Grahamstown,

South Arica, beore being awarded a

prestigious scholarship to

Cambridge, where he completed a

PhD in Algebraic Logic in 1978.

His career since then has divided

between academic and management

positions in South Arica and

Australia, with requent contacts

in Britain and Europe.

In 1998, he was appointed Pro-

Vice-Chancellor (Research) at

the University o Wollongong in

Australia, where he restructured the

Universitys activities in research,

innovation and commercialisation.

Following the decline o the steel

industry, the University was key to

the rebirth o Wollongong as a

knowledge-based city.

He was appointed Rector and Vice-

Chancellor o Stellenbosch University

in South Arica in 2002, which he hasled through a transormation agenda

while at the same time increasing its

research and academic prole

nationally and internationally.

Proessor Brink himsel is a logician

with a strong commitment to

interdisciplinary work who has

published widely in the elds o

mathematics, logic, philosophy and

computer science. He is a Fellow o

the Royal Society o South Arica,

a ormer President o the South

Arican Mathematical Society and a

Founder Member o the Academy o

Science o South Arica.

He is married with two daughters

and a son.

New Vice-Chancellor Takes theHelm at Newcastle University


News News

Let:Proessor

Chris Brink,

Vice-Chancellor o

Newcastle University

Business SchoolsNew Research

Seminar Series

Joanna Berry, Academic Director o

the Executive MBA Programme, has

become the rst successul applicant

rom the University or a North East

Higher Level Skills Pathnder grant o

15,000. This will be used to deliver a

series o short courses to practitioners

in the cultural and creative industries,

to provide them with the business

skills and knowledge which will

support this critical sector o the

UK economy.

The Sector Skills Council recognises

that over hal a million people work

in these industries, which contribute

23.5bn annually to the UK economy,

but businesses in this sector suer

rom a very high ailure rate due to

an identied lack o administrative

and management skills.

The short course theories will be

known as Jigsaw in order to allow

or its development into an industry-

specic, fexible ormat with a

common core o subjects. As well

as using the Universitys internal

teaching resources, practitioners rom

within and outside the sector will be

providing up to date and inormed

advice and commentary

on these and other subjects.

Pathnder Grantor Lecturer

School Advises Third Sector

The Business School is buzzing with

research activity, which is refected in

the seminar series planned or this

academic year.

The seminars are or both Business

School sta and invited speakers

rom the UK and overseas to present

their current work well ahead o

publication. They are thereore an

opportunity to keep abreast o the

most recent developments in

academic thought.

This year, the seminars in the broad

management subject area have been

coordinated into a single series to

encourage participation and acilitate

dissemination o ideas. Externalspeakers or the October seminar

series included Proessor Ted Fuller,

Proessor o Entrepreneurship and

Strategic Foresight, Teesside; Dr.

Steanie Reissner, Lecturer in

Management, University o

Sunderland; Colin Herron, One

NorthEast; and Wayne Delaorce,

Assistant Director, Development

School o Humanities and Human

Services, Queensland University o

Technology, Australia.

The seminar series will be run during

term-time with seminars taking place

almost every Wednesday, rom 4 p.m.

to 5 p.m. The details o all seminars

(including venues) will be made available on the School

website: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/nubs/research/

researchseminars.htm

All students, alumni, partners and riends

o the Business School are cordially invited!

Upcoming Seminars:

November 12th

Dr Lorraine Warren, Senior Lecturer,

School o Management, Southampton University

Topic: Academic Entrepreneurship: career

transormation through the practice o

entrepreneurial identity

November 28th

Dr Graham Dietz, Lecturer in Human Resource

Management, Durham Business School

Topic: Trust repair ater an organisational ailure

The School is always interested to hear rom people

who would like to appear as one o our speakers.

For more inormation on the seminars please contact

Kasia Zdunczyk at [email protected].

Business School Lecturer Rob

Wilson, who is also the leader o

the Social and Business Inormatics

research group which sits in the

Schools Centre or Knowledge

Innovation Technology and

Enterprise (KITE), was recently the

keynote presenter at two national

conerences aimed at the voluntary

and charity sectors.

The title o his keynote speech was

Balancing the Mission with Funding

Priorities. His talk outlined the

challenges acing the third sector, in

particular the problem o surviving

in the organisational aquarium o

public sector service delivery, where

ongoing issues or third sector

organisations include sustainability,

mission drit and nding the balance

between competition and networking

activity.

These conerence events have

coincided with the launch o a new

research project where the Business

Schools KITE research centre is a

partner with Age Concern,

Nottingham Trent University and

Manchester Metropolitan University.

The ESRC unded project is titled Delivering Public

Services in the Mixed Economy o Welare: Putting

Research into Practice.

Some o the materials will be piloted in two regional

training workshops in the East Midlands and the North

East. The North East event will take place at Newcastle

University on January 24th, 2008.

For more inormation see the project website

at www.socialwelareservicedelivery.org.uk.

For more inormation on KITE

please visit www.ncl.ac.uk/kite/.


4/17

Sowing the Seeds or the NextGeneration o Business Leaders

Newcastle University Business School

alumna Kate Partridge has been given

a leadership role by her employers.

Kate is a amiliar ace on the

networking scene in the North East in

her role as business manager at The

Bridge Club and has helped hundreds

o fedgling North East rms make

new contacts over the past two years.

Now she will have the opportunity to

tackle the tougher aspects o running

a company ater being appointed as a

director o The Bridge Club,

networking specialists or early-stage

businesses. The move will enable the

twenty-our year old to put in topractice much o the business advice

she has learnt rom many o the North

Easts most successul entrepreneurs,

who have graced the couch or the

popular In Conversation With

events that The Bridge Club is

renowned or hosting. The most

recent event saw Greggs managing

director Sir Mike Darrington cover

the challenges and successes o a

career spanning our decades.

Other high fyers to take to the Bridge

Club stage include Jocelyn Maxeld o

Toms Companies, Simon Heptinstall

o Storey Carpets, Paul Callaghan o

the Leighton Group, Alan Timothy o

Rocket Science and Lisa Hart o

Acritas Research.

Caroline Theobald, Bridge Club

ounder, said: The North East has

set itsel a target o nding 20,000

new business leaders over the next

decade and this newly created role is

one small step towards that. It is a big

step or my company and or Kate,

who has proven over the past two

years that she is an incredible

employee and team player who has

the potential to be an even more

incredible leader.

Kate graduated rom Newcastle

University Business School in 2005

with a degree in International

Business Management, during which

time she spent a study year abroad in

Germany. Kate worked throughout

her time at university in various

roles, including running her own

domestic cleaning company in her

home town o Harrogate.

During her nal year at University,

Kate took on an Enterprise

Internship with the Universitys

Enterprise Centre. Here she was

responsible or developing an interest

in enterprise and entrepreneurship

amongst the student body. It was

during her internship that she met

Caroline and set about securing a job

or hersel post-graduation.

Keen to stay in the North East, Kate

actively sought potential employment

opportunities away rom run o the

mill graduate schemes. Kate has

always taken an interest in the topic

o leadership. The 2000 Fulcrum

Challenge oered her the chance to

go on an expedition to China and

Mongolia as well as an intense

personal development course during

her A-levels. She is also a ounding

member o JCI North East England

and a member o the CBI YoungLeaders Council.

Kate said: This is a tremendous

opportunity to become a company

director. The Bridge Club has been

on an upward spiral and these are

extremely exciting times to be

involved. I look orward to having a

major impact on the uture success

o the business.


News

Newcastle UniversitysForum or BusinessEthics Launched

In recognition o an increased

demand or guidance and input on

ethical issues, the Business Ethics

Network will oer a orum or

discussion o subjects around

organisational ethics.

The orum, essentially a series o

participative lectures, will have a

virtual centre at Newcastle

University, and it will aim to act as a

catalyst to attract external people

with an interest in organisationalethics to the University. The lectures/

seminars will be as inclusive as

possible, oering a regional best in

class resource.

The sessions will be acilitated by an

invited guest speaker and subjects or

discussion sessions will be arranged

around themes in ethics rather than

by sector, i.e. transparency and

probity in governance or measuring

stakeholder impacts rather than

ethics in the public sector.

The erstwhile Sunderland Centre or

Business Ethics which regularly

attracted 30-40 people, the success o

a recent Corporate Social

Responsibility strategy day held at

Newcastle University and a pilot

Business Ethics Network seminar

held in April this year have all

signalled the importance placed on

ethical issues by local organisations.

It is anticipated that regular

attendees will comprise local (to the

North East) corporates, proessionalservices, SMEs, public sector, third

sector, education and HE people.

The frst o the quarterly seminars

will take place in Autumn 07.

To register your interest, please

email [email protected]

or call: 0191 222 8745.

Girls Preer Pink Or At Least a RedderShade o Blue

A new study by scientists rom

Newcastle University gives substance

to the old adage Pink or a girl,

blue or a boy.

Evolution may have driven womens

preerence or pink, according to the

study published recently.

The explanation might date back to

humans hunter-gatherer days, when

women were the primary gatherers

and would have beneted rom an

ability to hone in on ripe, red ruits.

Culture may exploit and compound

this natural emale preerence, says

Anya Hurlbert, Proessor o Visual

Neuroscience at Newcastle University.

The study, published in Current

Biology, provides new scienticevidence in support o the long-held

notion that men and women dier

when it comes to their avourite

colours.

Although we expected to nd gender

dierences, we were surprised at how

robust they were, given the simplicity

o our test, says Proessor Hurlbert.

The study is the rst to show that

colour preerence can be broken down

into two elements: red-greenness and

blue-yellowness. These are the

biological mechanisms that underlie

colour. Girls and boys dier in the

emphasis they give to these two

undamental components.

In the test, young adult men and

women were asked to select, as rapidly

as possible, their preerred colour rom

each o a series o paired, coloured

rectangles. While the test revealed that

the universal avourite colour appears

to be blue, the researchers ound that

emales had a preerence or the red

end o the red-green axis.

This shits their colour preerence

slightly away rom blue towards red,

which tends to make pinks and lilacs

the most preerred colours in

comparison with others, says

Proessor Hurlbert, who carried out

the study along with research associate

Dr Yazhu Ling.

The test included a small group o

Chinese people among the other 171

British Caucasian study participants to

establish whether gender dierences

in colour preerence depend more on

biology or culture. According to

Proessor Hurlbert, the results among

the Chinese participants were similar,

strengthening the idea that the gender

dierences might be biological.

Overall, the dierences between menand women were substantial enoughthat the seasoned researchers can nowusually predict the sex o a participant

based on their avourite colourprole. The researchers plan to modiythe colour-choice test or inants tourther test the nature versusnurture theory.

News

PhotoreproducedcourtesyofTheJournal,NewcastleuponTyne

Kate Partridge (right)

pictured with Caroline

Theobald (let)


5/17

Dr Harry Bradbury is ounder

and Chie Executive o Intelligent

Energy, a company in uel cell

technology and hydrogengeneration technologies. Harry

ounded the company in August

2001 and personally raised

around 30 million in equity

nancing or technology

development and corporate

growth. He has ten years

experience in teaching and

research in universities in the

UK and USA, and has worked

in more than ty countries

worldwide or and on behal o

local companies and global

corporations, including Shell,

LOral, Rolls Royce and Suez.

Harry has also acted as advisor

to ten national governments

including that o the UK.

Harry

Bradbury


The PoPs Have Arrived:A Dierent Kind o ProessorEstelle Chatard and Feng Li

When Newcastle University got involved in Newcastle Science City, itcommitted to become a university open or business. One o the manysigns that transormation is happening is the recent appointment o ourProessors o Practice.

Over the past decade, the title

Proessor o Practice has been

adopted at a number o leading

research universities. This title,

traditionally adopted in proessional

schools or colleges in elds such as

architecture, design or business,is now used in other disciplines

such as arts or science. American

universities are using Proessors

o Practice to urther enhance the

quality o teaching and put real

world practitioners in ront o

students. These Proessors are also

seen as an ecient bridge between

academia and industry, giving

access to talent or companies and

placement opportunities or students.

At Newcastle University, the

Proessor o Practice (PoP) concept

has been taken to a new level.

Newcastle Science City has been

the catalyst or the ormation o an

unprecedented partnership between

Newcastle University, One North

East, Newcastle City Council and

industry leaders. This Triple Helix

between academia, industry andgovernment is set to accelerate the

transormation o Newcastle and

North East England as a vibrant

location or state-o-the-art research

and high-tech businesses or the

benet o everyone. As part o this,

the University is undergoing one o

the biggest changes in its history.

Not only is it embracing its new

mission o economic and social

development, it is also setting

the pace to transorm the way it

interacts with industry through

translational research and

commercialisation programmes.

The Proessors o Practice are

one o the enablers or this change.

They are scientist entrepreneurs

with strong academic credentials

and research interests whose

expertise can help strengthen both

the research as well as technologytranser capabilities o the university.

These Proessors integrate business

and academic roles and collapse the

university-industry divide, turning a

confict o interest into a confuence

o interest. PoPs are employed part-

time, allowing them to maintain

dual careers in business and

academia. And as agents o change,

they will oster new industrial

networks, develop translational

research programmes, identiy

commercialisation opportunities

and act as role models or sta

and students.

Dr David Leahy has over 20 years

scientic experience in the

bio-inormatics and chemo-

inormatics applied to drug

discovery. Ater working or world

leaders such as AstraZeneca,

David went on to orm Cyprotex

to pursue his ideas or improved

technology or drug discovery.

Under Davids leadership

Cyprotex grew and was eventually

foated on the London Stock

Exchange. David is now working

with universities and commercial

organisations throughout Europe

and the USA on developing new

research programmes.

David Leahy Dr Andrew Lyddiatt has over

30 years scientic experience in

biochemical engineering and has

a PhD in molecular and cellular

biology rom Durham University.

He pursued his interests in

postdoctoral research on microbial,animal and human proteins at

Trinity College Dublin, Imperial

College and in the commercial

environment o Cambridge Lie

Sciences. He established the

Biochemical Recovery Group at

the University o Birmingham in

1985, and as Proessor o Process

Biotechnology subsequently

directed the Birmingham

Centre or Bioprocess Engineering.

In February 2003, he joined

Millipore Biopharmaceutical

Division in county Durham

and managed 25 research

& development personnel

in the UK and USA.

AndrewLyddiatt

The Proessors o Practice have been appointed in the

Universitys strategic research elds in science and

technology and are hosted by the Business School. They

are working very closely with the scientists, Business

School aculties and Newcastle Science City to develop

new commercialisation opportun ities or the University.

These appointments represent a key milestone in thetransormation o Newcastle University, which will lead

to a culture that not only encourages but also actua lly

rewards academic entrepreneurs.

Peter Gore has an Engineering

Design Masters degree rom

Loughborough University and

has over 25 years experience inmedical product design. In 1990

he became the Director o R&D

and Quality or the BOC Group in

Atlanta. In 1993, he ounded and

became the Managing Director o

Cane & Able Ltd that specialised

in assistive technology. In 2002,

he ounded ADL Smartcare Ltd

to match people and technological

solutions currently available.

Peter GoreThe Proessors integratebusiness and academic rolesand collapse the university-industry divide, turning aconfict o interest into aconfuence o interest.

Features Features


6/17

New Goldman Proessor SharesHer Formula or SuccessTeam NUBusiness

A pharmacist at the head o a multi-million pound drug manuacturing business is the latesthigh profle entrepreneur to become the Goldman Visiting Proessor o Business Innovation.

As a ounder o the only North East

company to break into The Times

Fast Track 100 a list o Br itains

astest growing private companies

Fiona Cruickshank is urging budding

entrepreneurs to lose their ear and

launch the business o their dreams.

As managing director o

pharmaceutical business

The Specials Laboratory,

Northumberland, Fiona has been

selected by the Business School to be

our incoming Goldman Visiting

Proessor o Business Innovation

this year. She says she will use this

position as a platorm to encourage

others to take the plunge and set up

on their own.

The role o Visiting Goldman

Proessor involves working within

the School to provide leadership and

mentoring to our students and

aculty, as well as delivering the

David Goldman Business Schoollecture at the annual event which

will take place on November 8th

at 6pm at the Research Beehive,

Newcastle University.

Fiona says: I have been there; I have

put my money where my mouth is

and I know the North East is a great

region or launching science and

technology businesses. I am thrilled

to join the Business School and eel

my knowledge o what its like to

build a business in the real world

would inspire more people to do the

same themselves. You should not put

barriers up between you and your

dreams, i you have an idea or have

spotted an opportunity just get on

and do it.

She adds: As an active supporter o

the local knowledge e conomy, I eel

it is very important to invest in the

uture and also a privilege to play a

role in the educational development

o young people.

Originally rom Newcastle, Fiona

graduated in pharmacy rom

London University in 1987.

I was desperate to work in

industry, she says, and I managed

to secure one o the six industrial

placements available at the time

with the Wellcome Foundation.

Starting in sterile products

manuacturing at their Dar tord

site I gained experience o quality

control, development laboratories,

tableting and packaging.

Having spent ten years working

across the UK in community

pharmacie s, hospitals and in

industry, Fiona moved back to the

North East to set up her business.

Ater an unsuccessul attempt to

buy-out the Specials Laboratory

a pharmaceutical manuacturing

acility where she worked at the

Newcastle Royal Victoria Inrmary -

she decided to set up on her own.

She says: I elt that ater ailing

to buy the business, the marketopportunity or niche medicines

was too good to miss and decided to

start rom scratch. Her ather who

had been in business all his lie said:

Why dont you just start up on your

own? It is this move that has

catapulted her to prominence

amongst the regions business

community.

The Specials Laboratory began

with our sta in 1999 but has

grown dramatically with expected

sales this year o 11m, an increase

o 40% on last year and now

employs about 150 sta.

It has more than 5,000 o the UKs 12,000 independent

high street chemi sts on its books and more than 120

NHS Trusts.

Fiona Cruickshank is the th holder o the post o

Visiting Proessor, which is oered to high prole and

successul entrepreneurs in the region.


The Goldman Endowment

David Goldman took a company o his own creation

rom extremely modest begi nnings and built one o

the most successul companie s in the North East o

England. This year Newcastle University celebrates

the 5th Goldman Visiting Proessor and the Goldman

amily making the decision to give a git to the

Business School i n his memory. It was done in the

hope that it might inspire other entrepreneurs to do

as David did and establish opportunities or thoseliving i n the region where David was born and began

his working lie.

The Sage Group Plc, as it i s now known, was the

result o David joining orces with Graham Wylie,

then an undergraduate rom Newcastle Universit ys

computing department, to devise an integrated

hardware and sotware package thus lead to the

launch o the Sage brand.

Ater hi s death, it was Davids belie in business,

branding, marketi ng and entrepreneurs which led his

sons Daniel and Andrew and his wie Cynthi a to

establish a permanent memorial to him in the North

East. A deep responsibility to remain involved in the

social development o the North East was also a

strong driving orce behind Cynthi a, and her amily,

in making the gi t to Newcastle University Business

School.

Through their git, the Goldman amily have

established a permanent memorial to David through

the David Goldman Chair o Business Innovation,

the David Goldman Visiting Proessor/Fellow o

Business Innovation and the David Goldman

Doctoral Studentship.

I have put my money where mymouth is and I know the North Eastis a great region or launchingscience and technology businesses.

Features Features

TheSpecialsLabratory

TheSpecialsLabratory


7/17

This one project alonenow means that over10% o the Nepalesepopulation have accessto electricity.

11 NUBUSINESS MAGAZINE AUTUMN/WINTER 2007

Bringing Business Skillsto the Charity SectorDavid Locke

Business School alumnus David Locke explains whythe charity sector needs more Business graduates.

NUBUSINESS MAGAZINE AUTUMN/WINTER 2007 12

Within two months o arriving at

BMS I ound mysel en route to

Nepal and visiting one o our

Engineers (Ex Shell) who was

leading a $200m hydroelectricity

dam project. This one project alone

means that over 10% o the Nepalese

population now have access to

electricity. I you cant imagine the

impact on peoples lives, then wait

until you get home tonight and try

to live without anything poweredby electricity.

As a urther result a clinic was set

up which means that instead o a

50 mile journey to the nearest town

(by which time even a simple bone

racture could have developed atal

complications), the local citizens now

have somewhere to turn to or

essential medical treatment. When

you see hope in a persons eyes rather

than despair that is denitely worth

more than a bigger company car!

While working in a Proessional

Accounting rm I had developed

deep levels o technical ability in one

specic area (in my case IT security).

However, working in the charity

sector required much more than just

technical expertise. Here one needs

to bring and apply a ull width o

business acumen, insights,

entrepreneurial zeal and techniques.

Above all one has to be prepared to

learn quickly.

I thus ound mysel using skill sets

that read more like an MBA course

outline. Working with a small

Director team in the rst two years

o my time at BMS we completed

a corporate re-branding review,

developed a new website and

implemented a new database

development, agreed a ve-year

strategy with the Trustees and

developed a new 2m training centre

in the Midlands. The list goes on

There is a buzz when one closes a

new sales deal in the business world

in the charity sector the buzz is

about helping people in need who

might otherwise have suered much

more severely. You will recall the

tragic consequences o the Boxing

Day tsunami in 2004. The incident

was tragic but the response rom our

team and supporters was enormous.

Because o the new web technology

and database structures that we had

implemented only a ew years earlier

we were able to get our emergency

appeal out in double quick time.

And it is at this point that one starts

to see the result o applying theknowledge and skills that have been

attained over the years in developing

the correct strategy.

So what about the MBA? Well an

interesting development in the

charity sector is that many o the top

UK Charities have Chie Executives

and Directors who have an MBA.

My colleague, Mark Craig,

Communications Director, has an

MBA. Our Chie Executive, Rev

Doctor Alistair Brown, studied or

an MBA ater he got the job and has

testied that without it he would not

have elt able to lead the organisation

to take the decisive strategic steps

that it needed to take at that time.

My next step Well it wont surprise

you that Im talking with Alistair

about doing an MBA as part o my

on-going personal development. In

both my current role or as a CEO in

the uture an MBA looks the best

route to urther enhance my skill sets.

My challenge to you: i you are going

to use an MBA in business, then be

outstanding; make lots o money and

give it away! But, i you are asking

some undamental questions about

what you do with the lie you have,

then think about using your MBA or

the service o those in need you

may not nd yoursel waking up a

millionaire but you may nd yoursel

intellectually challenged and

incredibly ullled.

So what shall I do with this lie? A bit o a dramatic

opening line but it is one o the questions we are all

aced with.

In 1999 I ound mysel asking a ew questions about

what direction to take in my lieto quote the amous

David Byrne song And you may ask yoursel how do

I work this? And you may ask yoursel, where is that

large automobile? I ound mysel as a graduate rom

Newcastle, a senior manager with Ernst & Young, a

Chartered Accountant and qualied in IT security,

asking some o the big questions.

You can have the car, the house and all that goes with

it, but or some olks this doesnt scratch the itch and

you want to do something with the skills and abilities

that you have or the benet o your ellow man.

So instead o opting or a career

ladder move to work in the United

States I opted to work or one o the

oldest charities in the UK: BMS

World Mission. BMS is a Christian

charity working with the poor and

needy in over 30 countries around

the world.

Originally I went into my new role

as Finance Director with a level o

arrogance. This was based on my

preconceived idea that I had lots o

superior knowledge to bring rom the

business world to the poor cousin

known as the charity sector.

This belie was soon negated when

I ound that in reality, the charity

sector has many exceptionally

talented, gited and modest

individuals with business

qualications, who share a

common passion to help those in

need. As a result, I ound that on

one hand while my training and

experience helped me to contribute

to the team, on the other, the

experience o working with some

o my colleagues helped steer my

own learning curve in a strong

upwards direction.

David at the Khimti

hydroelectric project

in Nepal

Father at the Khimti

Clinic happy to

see his daughter

recovering well

Features Features

Helping ght hunger

in Uganda

Below: Fishermen in

India get new nets

ater the tsunami


8/17

NCL to NYCAlly Robson

Following on rom similar consultancy trips in Europe to Krakow, Gdansk andCork, students rom the Executive MBA undertook a consultancy project with

Thomson Financial this year, thus marking the courses frst link with anAmerican institution. The students remit was to produce a report on staperceptions o the impact on the culture and communications o ThomsonFinancial ollowing the recently announced merger with Reuters. The report wasbased on ocus group sessions with sta members, which the students ran.

One o the students, Ally Robson, gives his account o turning classroom theoryinto practice.


The First Twenty Four Hours

It is 2am and my alarm is ringing.

This signals that I have less than

an hour to get rom my house to

Citywall, the Business Schools new

headquarters where a coach will take

the group to Edinburgh airport or

our eight-hour fight to New York

City. This was our rst taste o the

harsh side o lie as consultants.Ater the amazing eat o getting to

the coach in time I was met by the

rest o the course. To onlookers we

must have looked like a group o

extras rom Shaun o the Dead, but

with excess amounts o luggage.

We landed in Newark airport and

were now only unctioning on the

large amounts o coee supplied to

us on the fight. However we still had

to get to our accommodation.

This part o the journey ended up

being the most dangerous part o the

trip as it i nvolved travelling with

Death, otherwise known as a New

York City Cab.

Just beore you die, you are meant to

see your whole lie fash beore your

eyes. This is exactly what the cab ride

rom the airport was like although

instead o your lie fashing beore

you at great speed it was the amous

New York City skyline.

Grateul to be alive, we arrived

at the Columbia University hallso residence almost seconds ater

leaving the airport. By this point

all illusions o consultancy involving

business class fights and chaueur

driven cars had been very much

blown out o the water.

However, through all o this everyone

was still excited and eager to get

started on the project. We would

have to wait until the morning beore

we could start so, in a bid to blend

into the New York City culture, we

got changed and headed into the

centre o the Big Apple.

Day One

Ater a subway ride and quick coee

stop in one o New Yorks thousand

coee shops we arrived at Thomson

Financials headquarters at 195

Broadway to begin our consultancy

project. It was an amazing eeling to

think we were there to oer support

to a multinational company.

We went straight up to one o theirboardrooms, where we waited to

meet members o the senior

executive team. It still didnt eel real,

more like we were pretending to be

consultants rather than actually

being them.

This eeling didnt last much longer

however, as ater what elt like only a

short brieng, it was into the rst set

o ocus groups. There was no doubt

about it, we were here to work and a

lot was being expected o us, it was

time to get stuck into it, which is

exactly what everyone did.

By the end o the rst day we had

run our ocus groups, two looking

at culture and two looking at

communication. In each session we

would either be taking notes on what

individuals were saying or actually

leading one o the sessions. This

involved asking the sta a series

o open-ended questions.

You would not expect sitting in a

room asking people questions to beso exhausting but it is, and by the

end o the rst day we were all tired

(partly due to jet lag) but sheer

adrenaline had got us through until

6.00pm. So in a true proessional

style it was an early night or the

group, with only a ew nightcaps

in the local bar near our

accommodation.

Day Two Focus Groups

The second day at Thomson

Financia l involved another series

o ocus groups, ollowed by a

meeting with the Chie Executive

o the Organisation Sharon

Rowlands, an alumna o

Newcastle University. Sharon

taking time out o her day to see

us showed how important theproject was to Thomson Financia l.

When we met with Sharon we

already had some key themes

which we could share with her.

It was a slightly surrea l experience

as in the space o a ew days we

had gone rom learning about

consultancy to real lie

implementation, with all the

responsibili ties that come with it.

Without a doubt this truly was

turning out to be an experience

none o us would ever orget.

The second day marked the end o

the normal working week, but not

or a group o high powered

consultants like us! We had to

prepare a presentation and report

or Monday. The decision was

taken by the group to enjoy Friday

night and Saturday i n New York

and to get back to work on Sunday.

Needless to say we made sure we

all lived it up on Friday night and

celebrated all the work we hadalready done. The details o this,

like all work nights out, are best

kept vague; however this evening

did involve a search or some cups,

a trip to the village and a bizarre

incident involving a snake and

a parrot!


This is exactly what the cab ridewas like although instead o yourlie fashing beore you it was theamous New York City skyline.

Features Features

Right: The thrills

o New York City

EMBA students at Thomson F inancial with Sharon Rowlands, CEO;

Kimberly A. Bates McCarl, VP Individual Eectiveness and

Sarah Dunn, EVP Human Resources and Organisational Development.


9/17

NUBUSINESS MAGAZINE AUTUMN/WINTER 2007 1615 NUBUSINESS MAGAZINE AUTUMN/WINTER 2007

Christian, Jack

and Steve deep

in discussion

Day Three Day o Rest

and Sight Seeing

It would have been a crime to come

all this way and not see any o the

sights, or in the case o the girls on

the trip, the department stores.

For the group I was with there were

two important lessons that were

learnt on Saturday.

Number 1: Central Park is massiveand is ull o kites and ultimate

risbee players.

Number 2: It is very eas y to end up

in Harlem, especially when you

dont know where you are!

Day Four The Gay Pride March

and a Night in the Oce

Our extra day in the oce happened

to coincide with the annual Gay

Pride March i n New York City. As

we all made our way to Thomson

Financia ls main oce we were able

to get to see another side to New

York. And this was denitely not just

another typical day in the oce!

We started early and ended up

working until late, putting together

the nal touches to our presentation

and the bulk o the report. But as

the true proessionals we had

already shown ourselves to be,

we were all set or the presentation

on Monday morning.

Day Five The Final Day at

Thomson Financial

We presented our ndings and

recommendations to senior

management in the executive

boardroom. Thi s was where all the

hard work everyone had put into

the trip paid o. The report was

well received by the management

and was seen to be crucial in the

uture success o the mergerbetween the two organisations.

In the space o a ew days we, as

a group, had not only produced

a piece o work which exceeded

Thomson Financials expectations,

we had proven our abilities as a

group and earned the right to call

ourselves consultants.

In appreciation or our work,

Thomson Financial arranged or

a feet o private cars (with blacked

out windows) to take us to the

airpor t. I nothing else this proved

we were now truly consultants

and was a ar cry rom the original

taxi ride. I only they had also

oered to bump us all up to

business class on the way back,

but then, there is always next time

In a space o a ewdays we had provenour abilities as agroup and earned theright to call ourselvesconsultants.

Relaxing ater a

hard day

Below: Sharon

Rowlands answers

students questions

It would have been a crime to comeall this way and not see any o thesights, or in the case o the girls onthe trip, the department stores.

Features Features

Taxi to Columbia

University


10/17

Students gather

or an international

experience

Cast your mind back to NUBusiness

issue 02, summer 2006, you may

remember reading about Oli

Pattenden, a ormer Marketing and

Management graduate winning a

priceless trip to the South Pole by

entering a web-based competition

run by local organisation Aspire.

Now another graduate rom the

same programme has just returned

rom a challenging expedition to the

North Pole which was sponsored by

Stagecoach, Arriva, Nexus, North

Sea Logistics, Northumberland

Strategic Partnership and HoughtonInternational Electrical Services.

Brian Douds, a 2005 graduate rom

our BA in Marketing and

Management programme loves an

adventure. While reading or his

degree he travelled independently

throughout South East Asia and with

his surboard in tow he hitch-hiked

solo across Australia, rom the North

to the Great Ocean Road in the ar

South. Brian has tried his hand at

many adventure sports - he is a

qualied scuba diver, an

accomplished Motocross rider, in

his own words, a not so excellent

surer and is trying to master the

art o sky-diving. It is with this

passion or adventure and a dream

to succeed that at the age o twenty-

our he has just aced his greatest

challenge yet. Brian was part o an

international team that skied to the

Geographic North Pole in Apri l 2007.

The team ollowed in the ootsteps

o Nansen, Peary and Cook, trekking

over driting ice packs on the Arctic

Ocean to the Geographic North

Pole literally to the Top o

the World!

Anticipating the challenge that

awaited them, the team preparedor weeks - the actual experience

however went ar beyond their

expectations. Extreme temperatures

o -35 degrees celsius, arctic winds,

severe exhaustion, vast open water

leads, 30-oot pressure ridges and the

constant threat o a polar bear attack

were only some o the hurdles. Three

members o the team suered

rostbite and one even ell through

the ice into the 4,000m deep Arctic

Ocean. At some point the ice was

only centimetres thick and could

been seen dipping as the team

crossed it!

On his return rom the Pole, Brian

carried out school tours to inspire

and educate young North East

children about the Polar Region

and its climate, the wildlie, the

history, the landscapes, the

adventure, the uture

This tour was a huge success, and

his experience let the children in

awe o the Arctic and ready to

jump o the soa to ace new

challenges and adventures o their

own. It was an infuential

programme that has certainly let

its mark on the uture generation,helping to shape the explorers o

tomorrow. Brian who is still

carrying out talks said: This is

only the beginning I aim to take

the programme nationwide. O

course, neither the expedition nor

the education programme would

have been possible without the

support o the sponsors, who were

the lieblood o this project. Now,

the South Pole doesnt seem to be

that ar away or him.

From the South Poleto the North PoleSharmishta Chatterjee-Banerjee

Another Marketing and Management graduate sets out to conquer the Pole

Photograph Courtesy: Daniel R.Westergren, Senior Photo Editor orNational Geographic Traveler Magazine.

Love NewcastleLIVE Newcastle!Helen Fleming

International students in the city participate in theInternational Community Day and make it a success

January 2006 saw the launch o the

rst ever International Community

Day, an event run by Newcastle

University, Northumbria University

and Newcastle City Council, intended

to help international students living

in Newcastle become more involved

in the Newcastle community and way

o lie. Due to its success, the event

was held once again in January

2007, and the third International

Community Day is already plannedor late autumn this year.

The event gave international

students the opportunity to air their

queries as well as have some un.

They were able to make riends, get

involved in volunteering, talk to

university services such as careers,

accommodation and the Job Shop,

nd out whats going on in the city

and the region, and get advice on

staying in the UK ater they nish

their studies. As one o the students

rom Newcastle University said: Itwas a really nice experience and I

gained a lot o inormation. It was a

good orum to meet people rom your

home country and the international

community as well.

356 students rom both universities came to the event in

January this year and made the most o all the experts

who were on hand. Apart rom university ocials and

student societies, the stands at the International

Community Day included representatives rom the

Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, the National Trust, the

Home Oce, and many more. In addition, a series o

talks were run throughout the day to give advice and

guidance to international students to help them make

the most o their time in Newcastle.

This autumn Newcastle is looking orward to hosting the

biggest International Community Day to date which willbe open to over 7,500 international students rom both

Northumbria and Newcastle Universities, with stands

and experts rom around the North East, and a wide

range o opportunities or international students. There

will be a chance to talk to experts about what to do in

Newcastle, and valuable inormation to help students

make the most o their degrees and their li ves in

Newcastle. Student reps rom all over the world will be

available to give rst-hand advice to students to help

them eel at home in Newcastle. The Universities will also

be oering students opportunities to nd out more about

working in the North East ater they complete thei r

studies.


For more inormation about this or utureInternational Community Days please emailHelen Fleming at [email protected]


Features Features


11/17

12.34

12.34

Choose Your Team

rTeamInc

Recep

tionist

Desig

ners

AstM

Resea

rcher

Human Resources ManagementIs Just a Click AwayDavid Rankin

You may have a great business idea, a vision o where youwant to go with the idea and a passion to succeed, but haveyou any experience in managing people? Masterminding yourown business is not all black and white. Business Schoolalumnus David Rankin, Business Development Director atBusinessHR, oers his advice on turning big dreams into

realistic business plans.

Good nancialmanagement, plans orsales and marketingand or employingpeople are all obviousareas to be covered inthe creation o a viable

business plan and thedevelopment o thatplan over time.


Any business plan should show how

those key areas are going to be

managed cost eectively, quickly and

according to best practice, leaving

time not only or actually creating

revenue but or unexpected

problems, o which there will be

many in a new business.

Take the legislative side or example.

I you asked the Federation o Small

Businesses they would tell you that

SMEs are struggling to deal with the

complex nature o UK employment

legislation, as well as the sheer

volume o it. Even larger companies

nd it a mineeld with the new law

on age discrimination being a ront-

runner or creating anguish in

Human Resources (HR) departments.

The issue o managing people cost

eectively and quickly, using best

practice and staying within t he law,

may be too much eort or many

small businesses. Unortunately,

ignorance or lack o procedures is no

deence in an employment tribunal.

So how can people, who these days

know their rights more than they

ever did and are willing to exercise

those rights assertively, be managed

cost eectively, quickly and

according to best practice?

The answer is that human resource

management and guidance on

employment legislation is now

substantially provided online and

over the telephone with site visits

by seasoned human resources

specialists, as and when required

by the business owner. Given the

benets o such online and telephone

HR services in terms o not only

huge cost savings compared to

traditional sources o legal advice,

but also ease and speed o use, it is

not surprising that there are now a

number o providers o such services.

A good HR website will provide a

business owner with easy-to-use,

online guides that, step by step, will

help keep that business owner on the

right side o age, sex, equality and

race relations law and ollowing best

practice in HR. And all this is just a

mouse click away, making the whole

process immediate and thus less

arduous, risk ree and even

pleasurable.

In selecting your online HR provider

it may not be a good idea to sign up

with what turns out to be a call

centre where the person dealing

with your query has no personal

knowledge o you or the i ssues you

have raised in the past and whose

knowledge seems based just on an

interpretation o the law rather than

practical guidance on what you

actually can do. There is also helpul

advice available on many HR

websites detailing ways to develop

sta and improve perormance all

the soter aspects o managingsta which many young and

thrusting entrepreneurs may well

not have been in business long

enough to experience.

You need to choose a website that is

easy to navigate around and which

oers the opportunity to talk to an

experienced team o practitioners

who have your call history on a

screen when you call - who get to

know you over time and adopt you

as their client. You need ast advice

conrmed in an email that is legally

compliant and practical. Last but not

least this advice needs to be cost

eective.

Web-based and telephone HR

services operate at a raction o the

cost o traditional suppliers o legal

advice because their cost base is very

low. You can try out the services o

most suppliers ree o charge to see

just how good they are. Have a go at

this beore your employees do!

David Rankin studied economics

at Newcastle in the late 1960s.

Ater a long career both in

London and abroad with a major

nancial organisation he has, orthe last 10 years, been involved in

managing a range o small

companies in the IT sector. His

current interest is BusinessHR, a

web and telephone based service

which helps companies o all sizes

to manage sta cost

eectively whilst staying on the

right side o the law.

BusinessHRs clients include

Hiscox, The Institute o

Hospitality, Intellect (the trade

association or the IT industry),

Connaught plc and a nation-wide

well known rm o solicitors.

David Rankin

Features Features


12/17

Moderator: Kate, well kick o

with you what is the University

trying to achieve by running the

International Summer Schools?

Kate Morris: The University is

committed to internationalising

the campus. We want to increase

the number o international

students we get here. The

international summer school

oers students rom around the

world an alternative opportunity

to experience student lie at the

University without having to take a

ull degree or year-long programme.

Moderator: Why do you think

overseas students consider doing

summer schools?

Lee Whieldon: I know that

American students look towards

doing an international degree

because it looks good on their

resum. Its vital to experience

another culture.Niek Ten Hove: I want to have

riends all over the world. It s an

educational holiday the academic

programme is serious but the social

programme i s un. You go on trips.

And get to know Newcastle.

Moderator: What types o things

should a good summer school entail?

Kate Morris:A good summer school

needs to meet the expectations o

the people who are going to come.

We try to be as clear as possible

about what students will get in all

our promotional materia l. We

deliver a strong academic

programme alongside a quality

social programme.

Moderator: Lee, as a student do you

think your experience has lived up

to the mission statement that I will

now read?

The goal o our summer school

is simple: to inspire students

rom other countries through

programmes o i ntensive learning

and teaching excellence, while

creating an exciting yet supportive

environment in which to experience

British culture and society.Lee Whieldon: I think Ive

experienced more than the mission

statement. I got a job oer rom

my placement. I have proessional

connections now. Yes, it has been

really exciting and supportive but

also it has been integral to my uture

career.

Moderator:Are there any other

wider non-academic benets?

Niek Ten Hove: I think there will be

benets rom doing it when nding a

job in the uture. Newcastle is a very

good university to have studied at. I

also think my English has improved.

Eric Cross:Yes, I think it is that

international exper ience or your

CV helps get you to interview and

then in the interview gives you a

discussion point.

Moderator: Lee, you took the

internship programme, but why

Newcastle and not London where

the music industry is stronger?

Lee Whieldon:The study abroad

advisor at Towson introduced me

to Newcastles programme. Also

when I was researching the city,

I ound that there is a lot o new

music, art and culture building up

here. Working with Lisa, I did sales,

press, radio and so many dierent

things. I I had gone to London it

probably would have been more

admin. So to get the hands on

experience as opposed to getting

a city name was one o the main

things about Newcastle.

Moderator: Lisa, what made you

take on a summer intern?

Lisa McNab:NDN is about giving

people experience to get their

careers o the ground so it ts to

be taking on an internship studentlike Lee. I thought it was great that

she was rom America. When Lee

goes back to the States I will have

a contact in America who will one

day be working in the music

industry. In America, Lee will be

targeting bands and they will be

hearing about NDN.

Moderator: So Lee sounds happy

and you do too, but what about

the academic programmes and

teaching sta?

Lee wantedsomething veryspecic in an areawhere that industryisnt ripe and theUniversity oundit or her.


Moderator: Paul Armstrong is the Marketing Manager

at Newcastle University Business School

Kate Morrisis the International SummerSchool Manager

Eric Cross is the Dean o Cultural Aairs He

promotes the University across international markets

Lee Whieldon is a student rom Towson University,

Maryland in the US. She took the 10-week internsh ip

programme that included a 7-week placement with NDN

Distribution ollowed by the 3-week academic

programme on Doing Business in Europe

Niek Ten Hoveis a student rom Holland. He tookthe three week summer school programme on

Doing Business in Europe

Tracy Scurry is the Programme Director

or Doing Business in Europe

Lisa McNab manages a small music company in the

North East called NDN

Eric Cross: Some academic sta see

the summer as their research time

so Summer School was greeted with

suspicion rom some quarters.

However, other members o sta

saw the benet immediately

its useulness or international

recruitment.

Tracy Scurry: I would add to that by

saying that it i snt on most peoples

radar unless they teach on it, which

is the most unortunate thing. Andactually getting people to commit to

teach in the summer is an absolute

nightmare. But then I think this

refects that the academic sta are

under pressure all year round with

teaching, research and third strand.

Those involved seem to really enjoy

teaching though.

Eric Cross:Yes, teaching such a

diverse group creates an interesting

mix o perspectives and this can be

ascinating or teachers as well as

or students.

Moderator: Okay, so sounds like

more internal promotion among

academic sta is needed. To wrap up

the discussion, why should students

choose Newcastle in summer 2008?

Tracy Scurry:We are a good

academic institution. On the Doing

Business in Europe programme

we oer a combination o teaching

involving academics, practitioners,

company visits and guest lectures.

We give a comprehensive businessoverview.

Lisa McNab: In terms o the

internship programme, Lee wanted

something very specic in an area

where that industry isnt ripe and

the University ound it or her. I

would imagine that other students

and companies matched with the

same kind o attention will have just

as great an experience.

Moderator: That is great everyone

thanks very much or all your

comments and or taking part.

Above: Summer

School students

at St. James Park

Below: Discussion

on in ull swing

A Round Table Discussion:Summer Schools out but has it been a success?

The University launched an International Summer School in 2006 and hasjust fnished running it or the second time. Students can choose rom ninepossible summer programmes. For this round table discussion we willocus on the 10-week internship programme and the 3-week academicprogramme on Doing Business in Europe. Paul Armstrong, MarketingManager at the Business School, thinks its time to ask some o thosewhove been involved whether or not its meeting expectations?

Kate Morris

Discussion


13/17

Making the MOST or the Region

Christian Hicks

Business Schools Research Group helps improve competitiveness within companies in the North East.


The Management o Operations, Strategy and Technology

(MOST) Research Group is a recently ormed

interdisciplinary research group within the Business School

that brings together engineers, mathematicians,

statisticians and social scientists. The overall aim i s to

conduct world-class research that helps organisations

improve their competitiveness. Our research agenda is

driven by the changing needs o companies as they seek

responses to changes in technology and the commercial,regulatory, political and economic environment.

This approach supports the Universitys strategy o

translational research, which contributes to regional

development.

One NorthEast, the North Easts regional development

agency, has ormed the North East Productivity Alliance

(NEPA), which has disseminated Lean tools and techniques

into companies in the North East o England. This initiative

will increase the competitiveness o regional companies and

sustain employment. MOST has been involved in evaluating

the NEPA initiative in collaboration with NA-Consulting,

based in Sunderland, and is about to embark upon several

new Lean projects. Our rst project will analyse the

relationship between company type, implementation issues

and perormance, while the second will investigate the role

o change agents in the implementation o Lean.

MOST has a vibrant community o approximately 20

postgraduate researchers and engages students in

industrially relevant research. Current students are

conducting research in Lean and agile manuacturing,

supply chain management, shop foor control and the

optimisation o manuacturing layout.

The last two decades have seen a massive upsurge in

globalisation with companies now subject to intense

international competition. Our response to this has been to

conduct research, relevant to the region as well as rom the

international perspective. In doing so, MOST is increasing

collaboration with other leading business schools.

An example o this is the Business Schools joint part-time

Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) with

Grenoble Ecole de Management, which is based upon a

common interest shared by both institutions in technology

management.

We have strong ties with the Faculty o Management

and Organisation at Groningen University, which has

a common interest in engineer-to-order companies and

Lean supply. Chris Hicks and Warse Klingenberg have

acted as Guest Editors or a Special Edition o the

International Journal o Technology Management. The

Business School in collaboration with One NorthEast and

other partners in Europe, is developing a proposal to

disseminate Lean expertise through

the EU unded Intereg initiative.

MOST has an international reputation

or research relating to engineer-to-

order companies that produce complex

capital goods in low volume. We have

addressed a wide range o topics in

our research which include business

process modeling, manuacturing

and business strategy, supply chain

management, computer aided

production management systems,

manuacturing layout, planning and

control. Some o our recent work has

concentrated on requirements

denition, the management o

specications and design change

control.

Mike Cox

Lecturer in Applicable

Mathematics

Research Interests

Multidimensional Scaling (MDS);

Statistical Process Control (SPC)

and the Analytic Hierarchy Process

(AHP)

Paul Braiden

Emeritus Proessor

Research Interests

Complex systems in manuacturing

and design and business processes

Kasia Zdunczyk

Lecturer in Management

Research Interests

Organisational learning and

Knowledge; Inter-organisational

collaboration

Edward Lugsden

Lecturer in Human

Resource Management

Research Interests

Human resource practices in

the National Health Service

Prole Research ocus

The Rise o Metaverses

Savvas Papagiannidis

Are three dimensional worlds the next generation web?

Dr Savvas Papagiannidis is a

Lecturer in Management and

Degree Programme Director

o the MSc in Ebusiness and

Inormation Systems.


Marketing, and more specically advertising and

promoting products and services, was one o the most

signicant areas in which electronic business was

aected rom the outset o the Internets introduction.

This started by using emails to communicate

promotional messages and web pages to display

advertising banners, and then gradual ly evolved to

a wide range o sophisticated mechanisms.

Another evolution, or as many would argue a revolution,

could be seen in the advent o three-dimensional virtual

worlds, such as that o Second Lie, which are ot en

reerred to as metaverses.Metaverses are not games.

They are extensions o our physical universe, to which

they add new dimensions or economic, social and

leisure activities to take place. Similarly to how the

Internet and more specically the web created an

electronic transacting landscape, metaverses provide a

rich context in which digital transactions can take place.

Many real world companies and organisations have

established a presence in metaverses and in particula r

in Second Lie, spanning a wide range o industries,

markets and unctions. Examples include ABN AMRO,

Adidas, American Apparel, Dell, Harvard Law School,

IBM, Microsot, Reuters, Sony Ericsson, the Swedish

Government, Toyota, and many others. In most

cases engaging with the customer is purely or

marketing purposes.

At Newcastle University Business School, our research

in this area has been primarily ocused on marketing

and entrepreneurship. We recently undertook two case

studies o real banks operating i n metaverses in order

to highlight the potential o such

worlds as business and marketing

platorms. We explored the way the

selected banks developed a business

and marketing presence in the

three-dimensional environment,

with particular emphasis on

customer relationship

management repercussions.

We also studied the potential

implications or retailers. The spatial

dimension should be taken into

consideration by retailers who

operate simultaneously in three

dierent, but intertwined spaces, i.e.

the physical, the electronic and the

metaverse. A key nding was that

retailers need to employ a holistic

and overarching approach when

devising their promotional strategies.

Other work in the rapidly expanding

research area o metaverses includes

studies o virtual music

perormances, trust and ethics in

metaverses and general business

and management implications.

The study o metaverses has been

used in our teaching, especially

in the MSc in Ebusiness and

Inormation Systems.

Our ebusiness students undertook

consultancy assignments using

Second Lie which threw up dierent

scenarios in the real world versus

the virtual one. They real ly enjoyed

it and one o them even started

his own business selling

virtual urniture.

The emergence o metaverses has

brought extra dynamism to an

evolving business landscape, in

which marketing is more and

more infuenced by technology.

Metaverses may or may not be the

next generation web, but there is

no doubt that they are here to stay.

To visit the Ebusiness@Newcastleisland go to: http://slurl.com/

secondlie/ebusiness/125/125 ater

downloading and installing theSecond Lie sotware, available at:

http://www.secondlie.com.For more inormation on MOST please

contact Proessor Christian Hicks at

[email protected].

Tom McGovern

Lecturer in Business Strategy

Research Interests

Supply chain management,

knowledge management, capital

goods and project-based industries,

company decline and ailure and

turnaround strategies, the role ochange agents, implementing Lean

Pushkar Jha

Lecturer in Strategy

Research Interests

Learning rom Strategic

Experiences; Project based

Organisational Learning; Design

Contests; Mergers and Acquisitions

(Spec: Post Merger Integration)

Chris Hicks

Proessor o Operations

Management

Research Interests

Operations Research and

Managment; Manuacturing

Systems; Planning and Control;

Layout; Simulation; Optimisation;

Supply Chain Management;

Inormation Technology; Make/

Engineer-to-order companies;

Lean Manuacturing;

Agile Manuacturing;

Oliver Heidrich

Lecturer in Waste Management

Research Interests

Industrial ecology and the

sustainable management o

businesses; Industrial and

municipal solid waste management

systems; Lie cycle assessment;

Standardised business

management systems (e.g.

ISO 9001, 14001) and Business

psychology (the human actor

on management systems)


14/17

Craig HammerBA (Hons) Management Studies

1999

Alumni Archive

Compiled by Stuart Garratt & Sharmishta Chatterjee-Banerjee

It is always interesting to see where your old classmates have gone and what they have been doing sinceyou last saw them. We got in touch with some Business School alumni to fnd out where they have been,what they have been up to and what they remember rom their time at Newcastle!

Alumni

Renata Leite BarbosaBA (Hons) Economics

2003


What are you doing now?

I live in New York City and work

or the auction house Sot hebys.

Where do you see yoursel

in 10 years time?

I want to give my best now so that I

can have a choice later to either

stay in the USA or return to Brazil.

Your most memorable

experience at Newcastle:

I remember all the riends I made

and the lecturers who helped me

throughout my course. The music

concerts in Newcastle were

also great.

Tell us something interesting

about you which other alumni

may be interested to hear about:

Ater graduating rom Newcastle

I went back to Brazil and worked

or an investment bank. I then

moved on to the music business

and now I am working in the art

world. I learnt that sometimes

you have to be persistent in order

to ull your dreams. And, you

dont have to know now what

youll be doing or the rest o

your lie at least I dont!


I am currently working as the

Head o Marketing and Strategy

or a regional motor group

in Yorkshire.

Your most memorable


There are so many the buzz o

the city on a Saturday lunchtime,

the smell o pastry emanating out

rom the Greggs bakery, the roar

o the crowd at St Jamess Park

being heard rom my window in

Castle Leazes, telling me a goal

had been scored; summer

aternoons sitting on the grass out

the ront o the union. And then

there are the less memorable ones

such as Ritzy or Maddisons on a

Wednesday night ollowed by

Maths and Stats at 9am on a

Thursday morning!Where do you see yoursel

in 10 years time?

Sitting on the deck o my private

yacht in the bay o St. Tropez

watching my own ootball club

play in the Champions League

nal on my 50in wall mounted

plasma screen.



might be interested to hear about:

I am currently trying to execute

my own multi-million pound

business acquisition.

Christine KnightBA (Hons) Economics

1983


I am working as a Senior Project

Manager or Barclays Bank.

Your most memorable


Arriving home rom a second year

Saturday night party at 11am on

Sunday and bumping into my

elderly neighbour at the ront

door, who said: Oh, have you

just been out or a Sunday

morning stroll?


in 10 years time?

On a beach in Cyprus




When I saw the Careers Ocer in

third year and did the personality

test, the outcome was that I didnt

want to work in accountancy or

computing. My rst job ater

University was as a trainee

accountant, then I worked in

IT or 15 years and now Im a

Business Project Manager so

theres a story there somewhere.

George( Sai Hong) LiuBA (Hons) Economics and

Financial Analysis 1995, MBA 1996


I am working as an Assistant

General Manager (Finance),

Greater China Region Direct

Shipping Services Group

in Hong Kong.


in 10 years time?

I hope I can be a small business

owner rather than a senior

executive in a large enterprise.

I am planning to start a small

accounting rm or a gallery

selling Chinese oil paintings in

the near uture.

Your most memorable


My most memorable experience

at Newcastle was the year when

I was studying or my MBA.

Especially the classmates, the

sta and the lecturers I met thatyear. I am still in touch with some

o the classmates even though

they are now based in dierent

parts o the world.




10 years since I got my MBA I

have discovered two things about

the real business world. First,

people create problems to whichsolutions must be ound. And

second, no organisation in the

real world is systematic - there

aremess-ups everywhere. And

to manage these, a mess-up

approach needs to be used!

Caroline Armitage (nee Horsall)

BA (Hons) Economics and Accounting

1979


Two years ago, I sold my art

gallery, photography business

and home to move to the South

o France with my partner.

We bought a beautiu l property,

set in orty acres near Hyres on

the French Riviera, which we

have split to create our holiday

apartments and a home or

ourselves. We now have a thriving

holiday rental business. I also have

my own studio and workshop on

site, so have recently recommenced

my photogra

Documents

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