Julie McKeown.

Aberystwyth University’s School of Management and Business (SMB) has been awarded accreditation as a Study Centre for The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) to teach their globally recognised professional qualifications in marketing.

From the spring of 2012, businesses in Wales and beyond will be able to gain these qualifications face-to-face at Aberystwyth University. On offer will be introductory courses, as well as the Professional Certificate, Professional Diploma and two specialist Diplomas in Hospitality and Tourism Marketing, and Digital Marketing,

The teaching will be undertaken by specialists in their field, with a wealth of business and academic experience. Modules will be taught at intensive weekends or weekly evening classes, in order to appeal to as wide a cross-section of businesses as possible.

“This is really exciting for us and we hope that many businesses will study for their CIM qualifications so as to help them compete on a more level playing field. Our students already vote us as the best place to study in Wales so we feel that we have a lot to offer business delegates also.” says Julie McKeown, Course Director.  

Richard Houdmont, the Director for Wales at The Chartered Institute for Marketing added “One of the qualities of a professional marketer is that they are appropriately qualified. In the education sector, we ensure that our qualifications can only be offered by institutions which meet our high standards and I am delighted that Aberystwyth University has become a CIM Accredited Study Centre”

The first courses are planned for the spring of next year (2012) and further information can be obtained from Julie McKeown at jum1@aber.ac.uk.

AU24111

School of Management and Business.

Chartered Institute of Marketing.

On the 2nd December, The Biz hosted Aber’s Den, a Dragons’ Den-style business competition, from which a pair of lucky winners won a free trip to Barcelona. The Dragons were Steve McGuire, Julie McKeown, Tony Orme and Victoria Kearney from Electrical Estimates, a local entrepreneur. 

Six teams presented their business pitches to the panel of judges and each team was given £75,000 to invest in a commercial property in Aberystwyth town centre. In their presentations, the teams had to demonstrate profitability, creativity, marketing and presentation style.

The teams were scored against the required criteria which resulted in a winning team called ‘The Morning After’.

Kieren Allen and Charlie Burman, both SMB students, won the prize of a free trip to Barcelona and are delighted with their success.

All teams displayed huge efforts with their presentations and it was interesting to see what students thought was needed in the town centre.

For more information about The Biz, email club14@aber.ac.uk.

‌Congratulations to Adrian Doerr, Stacey Borel, Jessica Adams, Sophie Simic and Kinnery Patel who have reached the semi-finals of the Universities Business Challenge to be held early next year.  Well done to you all and we wish you the best of luck.  This is an exacting competition open to all UK universities where students are exposed to many business challenges and have the opportunity to meet representatives from many large companies once they reach the semi finals and finals.  From a starting number of many hundreds of student teams, only the top teams from each group go through.  It is great to see a team from Aberystwyth amongst them.

On both Monday 4th November and Tuesday 5th November the School hosted an Employability Event, specifically for SMB students, in the common room of the Rheidol Building. Present at the event to offer advice on their services to students were the Careers Advisory Service, Go Wales, the Crisalis Enterprise Network, and The Biz departmental student society. All SMB students were invited to take part in the SMB Employability Quiz which could be handed in at the event. By taking part in the quiz students were able to learn about the different career opportunities available to them, and there was also the possibility for one entrant to win an Ipad Mini. The winning student was Loki Brown who is a first year Accounting and Finance with Statistics student. Loki is pictured receiving his prize from Director of SMB, Professor Steve McGuire.

A Unique opportunity to enhance your employability, Teach First are a charity that believes that all children should have a decent education – graduates are integral to delivering this.  It need not be something you are studying now but can be a subject that you studied at school.  Teaching is done at primary and secondary level. 

What you gain from this is:

•  A PGCert in teaching
•  A masters accredited Leadership certificate
•  Working with Teach First partners (see below for list)
•  Pay and benefits (salaries start at around £18K)
•  A sense of achievement in helping others
•  A jampacked CV and opportunities to fast track through the education industry (should you wish to remain in this)
•  Opportunities to showcase your talents with partners and have careers with them

More information can be found at www.teachfirst.org

UPDATE: Here is a photographs of this years successful event

From 1999 to 2004 twenty-four students completed their Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship through the medium of Welsh at the School of management and Business at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. These entrepreneurial students will now be coming together to meet up to celebrate the success of the degree programme. Some have gone on to start their own business and some have gone to teach or to support entrepreneurship at universities and other institutions in Wales. They will be making a short presentation at the conference to outline what they learnt from the programme and how they are using this knowledge today.

The conference has an interesting programme starting with a reception in the National Library of Wales where Elin Jones, Assembly Member, will be giving a talk about the importance of Entrepreneurship in Rural Wales.  Meibion y Mynydd will be providing the entertainment during the evening. During the day on Friday the conference will be opened by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor April McMahon and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Dr. Rhodri Llwyd Morgan who is responsible for the Welsh language at Aberystwyth University. There will be several presentations during the day including Professor Dylan Jones-Evans who will be giving a talk about Entrepreneurship in Wales.

The aim of this conference is to bring a focus on entrepreneurship and business in the Universities and higher education sector in Wales.  The intention is to build on the success of the MSc Entrepreneurship programme by creating a network of people working in this field in Wales. The hope is that this conference will create an interest in this subject area and lead to an increase in the Welsh medium provision in entrepreneurship in the future.

On 27.09.13 Aberystwyth University had the privilege of hosting a visit by a group of 35 university delegates (from the China Association for Non-Government Education) with an intention to build up more international links and establish a wide network of collaborations with partner universities from China.

This visit has been organised by our agent in Beijing, for the China Association for Non-Government Education, all university members in the association are non-government universities, the deputy chair of the association is Professor Lin Liu, who is also the president of Beijing City University, one of our very active university partners in China.

The association selected delegates from its members to visit overseas university partners with an intention to build up more international links, the visit on the 27/09 was a good opportunity to showcase our university and our programme offerings, also getting to know these universities, and create future recruitment opportunities.

 The feedback the University received from the event organiser and the individual schools from China have been very positive, a few universities have extended their invitation for us to visit them in China and introduce AU to their students.

27/09 Chinese VIP visit

On 8th October, Professor Brian Garrod gave a well-received keynote speech at the 2nd Annual Conference of WAVA, the Welsh Association of Visitor Attractions. His speech, on the future of Welsh tourism, examined the implications for the visitor attractions sector of the recently published Welsh Government tourism strategy, “Partnership for Growth”. As well as identifying a number of concerns about the direction of the strategy, particularly its focus on instrumental rather than truly sustainable growth, as well as the contradictions evident in the strategy in respect of whether its targets for the growth of tourism can realistically be achieved through an emphasis on high-end, luxury forms of tourism The speech then explored a number of options for stimulating new investment in major “flagship” visitor attractions in Wales. The conference took place in the Dan yr Ogof Show Caves, located in the Brecon Beacons National Park, and included a buffet lunch in one of its deepest underground caves. Set in the grounds, the dinosaur park, complete with ominous sound effects, made an enjoyable diversion for delegates during the break.

UNIVERSITY SEMINAR

Signaling Environmental Stewardship in the Shadow of Weak Governance: The Global Diffusion of ISO 14001

Presented by: Aseem Prakash – University of Washington, Seattle

9.45am on Wednesday 4^th September, West Room at the Department of International Politics

Refreshments will be provided

The University is delighted to announce a seminar on this important topic. The seminar will be given by Aseem Prakash who is Professor of Political Science and the Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle.

The seminar will highlight how the quality of domestic regulatory institutions shapes the role of global economic networks in the cross-national diffusion of private or voluntary programs embodying environmental norms and practices. A specific focus of the seminar will be placed upon ISO 14001, which is the most widely adopted voluntary environmental program in the world. The seminar will investigate the conditions that motivate firms to signal environmental stewardship, and join programs such as ISO 14001. 

‌After graduating with an Accounting and Finance degree this year, Stephanie Wright has been offered a full –time position with Dyke Yaxley Chartered Accountants, after participating in the University’s Year in Employment Scheme (YES).  She will be working with their Corporate Team who are looking forwards to developing Stephanie’s skills, experience and knowledge. SMB would like to wish Stephanie success in her new job and are proud of her achievements.

You can read the full article by Dyke Yaxley here.

The School of Management and Business (SMB) continues to be amongst the country’s leading performers for providing an outstanding student experience. The latest release of the National Student Survey (August 2013) rated the Aberystwyth SMB Marketing degree scheme as second best of all Marketing programmes within the UK. An equally impressive rating was achieved by  Accounting & Finance which was ranked third best in the UK.  On top of that, students reported a stirring overall student satisfaction rate of 97% in both departments!

Commenting on the School’s success, Professor Steven McGuire, Head of SMB, said: “This is indeed a remarkable result for both programmes and the whole School. Students from all over the world have found SMB an inspiring place to study, socialise and develop ever since the NSS Survey has been running. I believe that new students in particular have always appreciated our friendly and innovative atmosphere which allows you to immediately feel at home and at ease.

In short, our staffs’ doors have always been open for every single student in our department and this continues to result in outstanding student satisfaction levels and academic performances.”

Come and see for yourselves, we are ready for your applications!

The School of Management and Business will deliver an ERASMUS Intensive Program on Advanced Methods in Regional Analysis from Sept. 9 to Sept. 20, 2013. The methodology that will be taught in the program lies at the intersection of several disciplines, notably: economics, geography, statistics, sociology and urban and regional planning. Main activities will be lectures, practical sessions on the computer, group work on assignments and a research project.

One of the aims of the program is to bring together teachers and students from different European countries with different educational traditions and practices. Participants will spend time together attending intensive classes, working on projects and participating in cultural activities forming ties and enable the formation a research network to promote future scientific collaboration.

What is the real value of the great Welsh cultural institution of the Eisteddfod? That is the question SMB researchers Dr Brian Garrod and Dr David Dowell will be investigating over the next six months. Their research, which has received funding from the prestigious Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) under their Cultural Values Programme, will attempt to uncover the true value of the Eisteddfod: not just as a powerhouse of local economic development and a bastion of the Welsh language but also as a source of cultural values, traditions, community development and cohesion, national pride and the international promotion of Wales. The intended output is a broader understanding of the value of culture, its generation, its communication and its movement. The project will look not only at the national Eisteddfod, which is in Denbigh this year, but also the Llangollen International Eisteddfod and the many county and local-level Eisteddfodau that take place around Wales every year.

Congratulations to Dr Nazrul Islam who has received the Aberystwyth University's prestigious Teaching Excellence Award for his outstanding contributions to teaching and learning in the School of Management and Business. Professor April McMahon, Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University has presented this award at the Graduation Ceremony on the 11^th of July 2013. 

Dr Islam is a very student focused teacher who has adopted a variety of new technologies to enhance his teaching and help students engage with the material in his lectures. His approach to teaching has been well received by the student body and is also focussed on employability in that his lectures consist of both theoretical and applied topics and issues. He requires students to emphasise practical solutions to problems and organises his classes to achieve this result. He follows this up by leading industrial visits to overseas establishments and incorporates the material gleaned by students in tests and quizzes. His background gives him the ability to talk easily with engineers and managers and as a result the students receive excellent insights into the application of the class material. Dr Islam has been a highly valued member of the School’s L&T committee and has initiated and led discussions and debates to improve the School’s teaching practices.

Dr Carl Cater opened the annual Tourism Society Conference on the 3^rd of July 2013 at Cardiff City Hall with a presentation to ‘inspire’ delegates ahead of sessions on competing, regenerating and winning business. In the first annual conference to be held outside of London, Dr Cater discussed his work with Tourism Society Wales on professional development and the niche tourism sectors in Wales. During the day an audience of esteemed tourism professionals listened to presentations from directors of major tourism attractions and national tourism bodies. The Tourism Society is the professional membership body for people working in all sectors of the visitor economy. The Society was founded in 1977 with the aim of driving up standards of professionalism in a fast-growing global industry which can have major social, economic and environmental impacts on communities and nations. (Photograph: Dr Cater is joined on the panel by Jonathan Jones CBE, Director Wales Government Office, London, Liz Phillips, Director of Resourcing and Employee relations, Mitchells and Butlers, and Dr Roger Carter MBE, Director of TEAM consulting).

‌‌At the start of June Dr Carl Cater attended presented at the ATLAS Africa conference 2013; African Tourism in Global Society: Central or Peripheral? in Kigali, Rwanda, hosted by the Rwanda Tourism University College. Carl presented a paper on mediating the wildlife tourism experience, based on his work with colleague Dr Brian Garrod. This research is especially relevant to Rwanda as it recovers from its t‌roubled past, as its major tourism attraction is the mountain gorilla. As well as visiting the Gorillas, Carl was interviewed by France TV5 at the Iby’Iwacu Cultural village about the importance of community based tourism.

http://www.atlas-euro.org/

‌

Mandy is currently in the third year of a full time PhD focussing on ‘Farm Diversification into Tourism in Wales’ in SMB.  She has undertaken various teaching roles including‘Tourism Management modules.

During this, she has been keen to focus on student centred learning.  An example of this is the development of a coursework assignment where small groups of students had to create wikis on the tourism development strategies being followed in given tourist destinations and compare these with approaches being taken elsewhere.  This provided students with a new format for group work (creating a wiki together), greater opportunities for interaction with each other’s work (both within their own group and between other groups) and improved IT skills.  Overall the exercise resulted in a higher standard of student work (as perceived by students and based on coursework scores) and had a positive impact on students’ academic and employability skills. 

The learning from this wiki experience has been shared at a Brown Bag talk at AU in Feb 2013 and at The Association of Tourism in Higher Education’s Annual  2012 Conference: ‘Reinvigorating the Tourism Curriculum.’  Based on the wiki experience Mandy is also contributing a book chapter to the “Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Hospitality Education” (planned for 2014) focussing on student-led planning in tourism education.

Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship: strategies for improving efficiency and reducing the environmental footprint of egg production

This fully-funded scholarship leads to a Masters’ degree by research, and involves working directly with businesses involved in the egg supply chain to gain strategic business and environmental management experience. The project involves collaboration between the School of Management and Business, the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, and Wynnstay Ltd, and provides the opportunity to work with Professors Peter Midmore and Nigel Scollan. Applicants must be resident, and able to take up a job after graduation, in the West Wales and Valleys Convergence Area.

Further details and application procedures

KESS Advert - Wynstay

Kess Advert- Wynstay (cymraeg)

We’ve today (31/05/13) confirmed our participation in the UK-Indonesia DIKTI Scholarship scheme.

Under the scheme a total of 750 new scholarships will be available over five years (from 1 June 2013), for up to 150 new students per year. To be eligible for a scholarship, candidates must be permanent or prospective faculty members at an Indonesian university, or administrative staff in DIKTI or an Indonesian state university.

The majority of scholarships will be at PhD-level; a smaller number of fully-funded scholarships at Master’s-degree level may also be part of the Programme.

Further Information on the DKTI Scholarship scheme

Aberystwyth University Funding and Scholarship Calculator

Congratulations to Dr Brian Garrod, Reader in Tourism Management within the School, who has recently been elected Fellow of the Tourism Society, the professional membership body for those working in tourism in all sectors on the economy. Established in 1977 with approximately 1,000 members from the UK and overseas, the aim of the Society is to drive up standards of professionalism in this fast-growing, global industry sector. Fellows are recognised leaders and senior professionals in the field who can demonstrate a significant contribution in one or more sectors of tourism or leisure. Fellowships are limited, so it is a considerable accolade for the School to have one such Fellow in our midst.

From James Bond to the boardroom: What the Royal Navy can teach leaders

Click here for the full article

Marc Bolland, CEO of M&S has recruited Belinda Earl, and alumna of SMB and former CEO of Jaeger to work with him and M&S colleague John Dixon to turn around the M&S clothing department which has been recently underperforming.

Read more

Brian Garrod, Reader in Tourism Management within the School, has just published his seventh book, the third in the ‘Contemporary Cases’ series of which he is founding Co-Editor-in Chief. The book begins with three introductory chapters, all written by Dr Garrod and his colleague, Prof Alan Fyall from the University of Central Florida, which focus on how to develop and use case studies effectively in the classroom. Nine in-depth cases then follow, including cases on Little India in Singapore, Viking heritage as living history, managing religious heritage attractions in Jerusalem, the role of Edinburgh World Heritage in managing a World Heritage city, Maori tourism, heritage as a development resource in China, heritage management of megalithic sites in England, heritage tourist trails in Northern Ireland, industrial heritage tourism at Big Pit, and more. Written by established experts in the field, the volume comprises substantial, detailed case studies, written with specific learning objectives in mind. Furthermore, each case is fully referenced in academic style and accompanied by a wealth of supplementary material including discussion questions, further reading and links to websites. Teaching notes, slides, essay questions, exam questions with guide answers and links to further resources are also available from the publisher’s website (www.goodfellowpublishers.com).

Congratulations to who has been “highly commended for Employability Impact” for the second year running in the Student Led Teaching Awards run by the Student Guild.

These awards, now in their second year, are based on Aberystwyth student nominations. The award for employability is in recognition of the hard work Julie has put in to ensure that students get the careers that they want rather than the jobs that they can get. The award was presented at a dinner hosted by the Students and in the presence of the VC on Tuesday night.

The Tourism Management degrees at Aberystwyth have again fared well in the recently published Complete University Guide, coming sixth in the UK and first in Wales.

Dr Brian Garrod, Reader in Tourism Management, said “This marks the fourth year in a row that Aberystwyth has come in the top six of the sixty or so Universities across the UK that offer tourism, hospitality, leisure and recreation courses. As such, it represents a major accolade for the School of Management and Business, where our tourism management courses are based.”

The Complete University Guide is compiled by Mayfield University Consultants , who between 1996 and 2006 compiled the university league tables for The Times Good University Guide. Mayfield has been publishing The Complete University Guide online since 2007 and rank courses at UK Universities according to nine separate criteria.

On April the 17^th 2013 Dr Carl Cater addressed the Annual Welsh Road Safety Convention in Llandrindod Wells concerning his recent research on motorcycle tourism in Mid Wales. Dr Caters research, which was funded by the Tourism Society Wales, discovered that motorcyclists were worth at least £70 million to the rural welsh economy per year, and that bikers themselves were keen to engage with safer riding initiatives. Councils and police have a number of initiatives to assist with biker safety, including signage, outreach and ‘biker down’ courses. Moving forward we are looking at how tourism channels can be used to further increase the safety message to motorcyclists.

Editor:

, School of Management and Business, Aberystwyth University, UK                                                             

Call for Chapters:

Chapter Abstracts Submission Deadline: April 15, 2013
Full Chapters Due: June 15, 2013
Revised Chapters Submission Date: July 15, 2013

Objective of the book

This project will assemble an edited collection of chapters on Nanotechnologies, technological trends, innovation, emerging issues and future directions. The objective of the book is to provide comprehensive evidence of research, case studies, practical and theoretical papers, and review articles on the issues surrounding nanotechnologies. The book will serve as a valuable resource on emerging and future technologies, innovation, policies and management.

Target Audience

This book will be a useful reference for academics, students, policy-makers and professionals in the fields of Nanotechnologies – current technological trends, emerging innovation, adaptation to this technology and society, impediments to technology commercialization, technology management, and systems of nano-innovation.

Submission Information

Academics, researchers, policymakers and practitioners are invited to submit, on or before 15 April 2013, a one page abstract detailing the background, motivations and structure of the proposed chapter by clearly explaining the mission and concerns of their chapter.

Contributors are encouraged to submit chapters ranging from 4,000-20,000 words (unless Expert Commentaries or Short Communications). Should your schedule not allow a full contribution at this time, we would welcome either a Commentary or Short Communication of 1,000-4,000 words. Longer, more extensive contributions are encouraged.

Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by 30 April 2013 on the status of their proposals and sent chapter organizational guidelines.

Full chapters are due by 15 June 2013. All submitted chapters will be peer-reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by Nova Science Publishers, NY, USA. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.novapublishers.com.

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document):

Dr. Nazrul Islam
Lecturer in Innovation and Operations Management

Programme Leader for Postgraduate Research

School of Management and Business
Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
+44 (0) 1970 622520 (phone)
+44 (0) 1970 622409 (fax)
Email: mni@aber.ac.uk or drnazrul201@gmail.com
http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/smb/staff/mni/

Academics at the School of Management and Business at Aberystwyth University have devised a new function that will help Welsh famers measure the efficiency of their business.

This new lamb efficiency calculator, produced by the University for Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC - Welsh Meet Promotions), will help Welsh famers evaluate the performance of their flock and compare it against other Welsh sheep enterprises.

Last year, HCC and the University announced that they had devised a new online calculator to help famers decide how and when to achieve the best prices for their lambs.

This has been developed thanks to the research of Dr Nishikant Mishra, Lecturer in Supply Chain Management at the School of Management and Business, and the expertise of Wyn Morris, Teaching Fellow in Management at the University.

Mr Morris explains, “We are not asking farmers to make major changes to their production systems. This calculator aims to raise awareness and assist farms with on farm decisions. Minor alterations to a production system can make significant impacts to farm profitability and improve enterprise efficiency.”

This latest addition is one of seven calculators available on the HCC website which also includes calculators for cost of lamb and beef production, winter forage and calving to help farmers evaluate their business performance.

Dr Mishra’s research focuses on mathematical modelling, and developing heuristics and algorithms for manufacturing, planning and scheduling problems. Wyn Morris was a researcher at IBERS before joining the School of Management and Business and also runs his own farm. The calculator was the result of world-class research and an in-depth understanding of the farm economy.

The calculator was produced by the School of Management and Business for HCC through funding received from the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007 - 2013. The calculator can be found at HCC’s website: http://hccmpw.org.uk/farming/online_benchmarking/lamb_efficiency_calculator/

Following the release of the 2011 census data, the Western Mail, the national newspaper of Wales, has run a series of articles investigating the changing demographics of the country.  In one of these articles investigating migration to Wales, Dr Benjamin Hopkins was asked to comment on what these changes mean both for Wales and for migrants themselves.  He explained “Despite high levels of formal education, many A8 migrants (from Central and Eastern Europe) have ended up in lower skilled and short term roles, particularly through an employment agency.  Importantly, issues with English language proficiency have prevented many migrants from taking roles that utilise their wider skill sets.”

Dr Hopkins has a longstanding research interest in migration, and has conducted research projects investigating migration in Europe following the A8 expansion of 2004, and also investigating the effects of migration of Mexican workers to California.  The Western Mail article, published in print on Friday 8th February 2013, is available online here

Article by Andrew St George

Britain’s Royal Navy is a disciplined command-and-control organization that moves across 140 million square miles of the world’s oceans. Although few environments are tougher than a ship or submarine, I’ve been struck, while conducting research on the Royal Navy, by the extent to which these engines of war run on “soft” leadership skills. For officers leading small teams in constrained quarters, there’s no substitute for cheerfulness and effective storytelling. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that naval training is predicated on the notion that when two groups with equal resources attempt the same thing, the successful group will be the one whose leaders better understand how to use the softer skills to maintain effort and motivate.

I believe that the same principle holds true for business. In this article, I hope to translate for business leaders—like the ones I’ve gotten to know throughout my career as a business-school professor and communications adviser—some of what I learned while writing the Royal Navy’s first new leadership handbook since 1963. That handbook,1 published last year, is based on research of unprecedented length and breadth, as well as my own direct observation of officer training and life at sea.

Read the rest of this article here

Academics at the School of Management and Business at Aberystwyth University have devised a new function that will help Welsh famers decide how and when to achieve the best prices for their lambs.

This new online calculator, produced by Aberystwyth University for Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC), will help Welsh famers make more informed decisions about their livestock. This has been developed thanks to the research of Dr. Nishikant Mishra, Lecturer in Supply Chain Management (SMB), and the expertise of Wyn Morris, Teaching Fellow in Management at the University.  

Mr Morris explains, “The calculator allows farmers to consider the best time to lamb given their individual circumstances and resources, this could mean a slight change in lambing time may result in a significant change in enterprise profitability and resource efficiency.

“We are now in the process of developing further informed decision making tools for farmers and the whole agri-supply chain. We are thankful to HCC for their collaboration with the project and hope that further collaboration will occur in the future. ”

Dr. Mishra’s research focuses on mathematical modelling, and developing heuristics and algorithms for manufacturing, planning and scheduling problems.  Wyn Morris was a researcher at IBERS before joining SMB and also operates his own farm.  The calculator was the result of world-class research and an in-depth understanding of the farm economy.

“Creep feeding lambs early in the season to target sales and achieve peak lamb prices can be beneficial and economical - provided the increased gain exceeds the costs associated with the system,” said HCC Project Executive Dewi Hughes.

“If lambs are not sold at the correct time, however, creep feeding can prove to be an expensive option. HCC has developed a lamb feed calculator on our website so that sheep farmers can decide if it would be financially viable to creep feed their lambs or not.”

“The price shown on the calculator is based on 2011 lamb prices. Although it does not take into account costs associated with the two systems such as labour, vet and medicine and depreciation on specialist feeding equipment, we believe it will prove to be an extremely useful new tool for sheep farmers,” said Mr Hughes.

The calculator was produced by the School of Management and Business for HCC through funding received from the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007 - 2013. The calculator can be found at HCC’s website: http://hccmpw.org.uk/news_and_events/news/archive/story/new_online_calculator_helps_farmers_achieve_top

 Dr Brian Garrod’s latest book, entitled “Contemporary Cases in Sport” has just been published. The book is part of the Contemporary Cases Series, of which Dr Garrod is co-editor, and examines nine international cases under the sections of policy and development, impacts and legacy, and identity and experiences. The subject of the cases includes the economics of international sports events, sport and corporate social responsibility, leveraging benefits from sports events, resident impacts of sports events, youth sporting identities, and nostalgia and sport, and more. The book will also be available as an e-book, on Kindle and Kobo, and each of the cases will be separately downloadable from the publisher’s website. The cases are richly illustrates with photographs, tables and diagrams, and the downloadable cases are fully hyperlinked, so that readers can simply click through to the resource material. The next book in the series, entitled “Contemporary Cases in Heritage” and also edited by Dr Garrod, is nearing completion and will be published in the summer.

The Complete University Guide has recently published its 2013 results. The league tables are compiled using data on student satisfaction, entry standards, research assessment and graduate prospects across the different subject areas offered by the 116 Universities in the UK.
 
Aberystwyth’s tourism management schemes have again made an exceptionally good showing, being ranked in fifth place in the UK and the best in Wales. This compares with our standing of 18th in 2010 and 6th in 2012.
 
Aberystwyth also fared very well in terms of our Welsh study schemes, which claimed third spot on the league table of Universities offering subjects in the area of Celtic Studies. As a whole, Aberystwyth University obtained a very creditable position of 58th place.
 
The Complete University Guide is compiled by Mayfield University Consultants , who between 1996 and 2006 compiled the university league tables for The Times Good University Guide. Since 2007, Mayfield has been publishing The Complete University Guide online.

Professor Steve McGuire from SMB was recently interviewed on US radio about the unique relationship that Boeing has with Japanese Companies.  Click here to hear what he has to say.

The Economics of International Business, co-authored by SMB Director Professor Nicholas Perdikis and Professor William. A. Kerr of the University of the University of Saskatchewan and published by the Estey Centre for Law and Economics in International Trade has been translated into Vietnamese by the Foreign Trade University of Hanoi.

The background to this is that the Conference Board of Canada was engaged in a multi-year project under the auspices of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) agreement, the APEC Economic Integration Project (EIP) to deliver trade related technical assistance and WTO capacity building  in six South East Asian countries – Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The Economics of International Business was selected as the foundation text for participants in the capacity building training modules of the program and was therefore used in all these countries. The book was translated into Vietnamese so that it could be adopted as a standard text throughout Vietnamese universities.

Dr Brian Garrod, Reader in Tourism Management in the School of Management and Business, was called upon to judge the best paper by a doctoral student at the Destination Branding & Management IV Conference, held in Cardiff in December 2012. The prize was sponsored by the Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, of which Brian is Co-editor. There were a number of excellent papers to judge and, after much deliberation, the prize was awarded to Marta Plumed Lasarte from the University of Zaragoza, Spain. Marta’s paper examined city values from the residents’ perspective, using the city brand of Zaragoza as a case study. The argument set out in the paper is that while the perceptions of a city’s brand image by visitors is important, it is vital not to neglect how the image is perceived by the city’s residents, whose perceptions can affect the global image of the city and hence its development. The paper then used data collected through an online questionnaire of 450 Zaragoza residents to undertake an explanatory factor analysis, which detected a lack of congruency between the modern values projected by the city brand and that more traditional values held of the city by its residents. One of the recommendations of the paper, therefore, is that city branding needs to convey a mix of existing and desired values, so that residents will identify with the city brand while at the same time being persuaded of the potential of the city to develop in other ways. Dr Garrod commented that “this paper makes an important contribution to our understanding of city brand values and should be commended for its rigorous, empirical approach to the subject”.

Marta Plumed Lasarte (See picture) received her prize for best doctoral student paper from Dr Bran Garrod, Reader in Tourism Management at the School of Management and Business, Aberystwyth University, and Co-Editor of the Journal of Destination Marketing and Management.

Conference on Entrepreneurship and Business in Higher Education, Aberystwyth, Wales, 1 November 2013

The School of Management and Business at Aberystwyth University invites submissions of abstracts to our Conference Entrepreneurship and Small Business from individuals, organisations and institutions in academia, researchers/postgraduate students, entrepreneurs, business strategists and enterprise agencies / local government.

Small businesses are very important in the economy in Wales and particularly in rural Wales. The aim of this conference is to enhance the provision that exists in entrepreneurship and business at Aberystwyth University and other universities in Wales. It will build on the MSc Entrepreneurship that ran for several years at Aberystwyth University, by creating a network in the field in Welsh universities and the business world. It is hoped that the conference will generate interest in the topic and will lead to greater provision in the subject of Entrepreneurship and Small Business management in the future. In addition, the conference will include participants from business, who will demonstrate the importance of bilingual skills in the business world and thus encourage them to choose the Welsh medium study options available to them in their organizations.  It will also issue a special issue of Gwerddon from the papers submitted at the conference.

Prospective authors are invited to submit abstracts for papers and posters in the research areas of interest to the conference. These include:

• Entrepreneurship and small business
• Gender perspectives in small firms
• Learning styles in small businesses
• Entrepreneurial learning and social capital
• Knowledge transfer through networking
• Social networking in small business
• Motivation for starting a business
• Social entrepreneurship
• Innovation and creativity in small firms
• Developing international business in small businesses
• Business growth
• Developing Welsh medium materials for entrepreneurship and business
• Teaching entrepreneurship and business through the medium of Welsh
• Other related topics are also welcome

Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and should be submitted by e-mail to Wynn Morris dmm@aber.ac.uk (clearly stating if the abstract is for a paper, or poster presentation).

Deadline for abstracts:  31 January 2013

Deadline for completed papers: 31 August 2013

Prize - Award to be presented to the author(s) of the best poster presentation

Selected papers will be published as a special issue of Gwerddon

On 4 December Andrew St George, representing the Business School, visited 10 Downing St to meet directors of the GREAT Campaign which has adopted work by SMB.

 The Campaign aims to promote and enhance UK reputation abroad. It was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in New York on 21 September 2011, and supports the marketing and public diplomacy efforts of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), Visit Britain, the British Council, the Foreign Office and other government departments overseas.

 All partners in the campaign will use GREAT to ensure the whole of Government speaks with one voice.

The GREAT campaign invites to the world to take a fresh look at everything Britain has to offer. It centres on areas of British excellence focusing on reasons to invest in and visit the UK: These include Technology and Innovation, Creativity, Knowledge, Green, Heritage, Sport, Shopping, Music and Countryside.

The Great Campaign has adopted Royal Navy Way of Leadership (Random House 2012) written by Andrew St George, as part of its Knowledge initiative: “I am delighted to be able to bring SMB research to a wider community through the Great Campaign, and to have an impact on the working lives not only of 33,000 Royal Navy personnel, but on other organizations and on the commercial sector. It is good for us to be part of Great.”

The Government wishes to see links between universities and enterprise, helping to turn great research into commercial opportunities; the Knowledge initiative is part of that programme and Royal Navy Way of Leadership a practical example of applied knowledge.

The Great Campaign sends out the clear message that Britain is one of the very best places in the world to visit, live, work, study, invest and do business.

Dr. Benjamin Hopkins, Lecturer in Human Resource Management at the School of Management and Business, has secured a tender from the Trades Union Congress to study the crisis of youth unemployment in the UK. The research, which will be carried out in conjunction with researchers at the University of Warwick and led by Dr. Melanie Simms, is funded by UnionLearn and will take place between now and Spring 2013. It will result in a series of policy recommendations about how to make transitions between education and work easier and more effective for young people. The project team is interested in hearing from employers, young people and employment engagement officers who would like to participate in this research.  Further information and contact details can be found at Union Learn Project

The School of Management and Business hosted a Welsh Economics Colloquium at Gregynog Hall, near Newtown, Powys on May 8^th-10^th. This was the latest in a long series of conferences traditionally held at Gregynog since the mid 1960s, and the School’s hosting of this year’s event is particularly apt as 2012 marks the centenary of Economics at Aberystwyth.

As well as attendees from the main HE institutions in Wales, the delegate list also contained academics from other UK universities as well as North America together with representatives from the policy making and practitioner sectors. Importantly, the event continued to encourage the development of links between academics and policymakers within Wales, with presentations made by representatives of the ONS and the Welsh Government.  

Read the full story at

June 2012

Three of SMB’s Teaching Fellows were nominated for the new Student Led Teaching Awards this year.  John Follett (Marketing) was nominated for innovation in teaching whilst Megan Williams (Accounting and Finance) and Julie McKeown (Marketing) were nominated for employability transferability.  Carolyn Parry from the Careers Service won this latter award.

The awards were presented at a lovely dinner and it goes without saying that all the SMB Teaching Fellows were surprised and very pleased to be nominated by their students.  These nominations and awards mean a great deal to us all – so thank you to those who took the time and trouble to put our names forward.

Posted July 2012

Dr Brian Garrod, Dr Alan Fyall and Dr Youcheng Wang are delighted to announce the forthcoming launch of Elsevier’s new Journal of Destination Marketing & Management (JDMM), which aims to be the leading international journal for the study of tourist destinations by providing a critical understanding of all aspects of their marketing and management, as situated in their particular policy, planning, economic, geographical and historical contexts.

The objective of JDMM is to publish up-to-date, high-quality and original research papers  alongside relevant and insightful reviews. As such, the journal aspires to be vibrant, engaging and accessible, and at the same time integrative and challenging. Those involved in the interdisciplinary approach of marketing and management, economic development and planning, geography, sociology, psychology, anthropology, retailing, policy maki ng and public administration of tourist destinations will find the journal of particular interest.

Dr Garrod said: “I am very excited to be part of this innovative new journal. As the first new Elsevier journal in the area of tourism studies for more than 30 years, JDMM will be a stable mate of Annals of Tourism Research and Tourism Management, two of the best-respected journals in the field. We are aiming to emulate this success, although we know there will be a lot of hard work for all involved. We have already had a large number of emails of support for colleagues and we anticipate receiving some high-quality submissions for the first few editions, to get things off on the right footing.”

 Journal submissions: http://ees.elsevier.com/jdmm/

Aberystwyth University School of Management and Business are now accredited with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) to teach a range of their courses.  We are launching with two globally recognised professional marketing qualifications – CIM Professional Diploma, and CIM Professional Certificate. See www.aber.ac.uk/training

Posted on 22nd November 2012

The accounting and finance group (A&F) in SMB hosted the 2012 South West Regional Conference of the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) in Aberystwyth on September 6^th-7^th. The conference was significantly bigger this year than it has been over the last couple of years at other universities; and attracted delegates from a larger number of institutions. The conference programme covered topics from across the accounting and finance field; and included themed sessions on pensions/annuities and on governance/responsibility. The conference opened with an address from Professor Richard Macve entitled ‘Accounting and auditing from ancient Mesopotamia to modern China - a “reduced” history’. Professor Macve is an eminent accounting scholar of international repute, extensively published in leading journals, and extensively consulted in academic and professional debate. He is a former Professor of Accounting at Aberystwyth, Professor Emeritus at LSE, and Visiting/Honorary Professor at a number of universities internationally. Amongst its delegates, the conference counted three current or former REF/RAE panellists and five further professors; and supported the attendance of a number of PhD students and junior academics. A&F is delighted that a number of delegates have made a point of saying how much they enjoyed not only the conference programme but also visiting Aberystwyth University.

 BAFA is the nationwide, and increasingly international, learned society for accounting and finance. Professor Richard Jackson, who re-joined Aberystwyth at the beginning of 2011 to lead A&F, is presently serving as BAFA’s General Secretary and one of its Trustees. Richard and his A&F colleagues are now looking forward to the group organising and hosting the Welsh Universities’ Accounting and Finance Colloquium at Greynog Hall in May 2013. The Gregynog colloquium is a popular and long-standing annual event, attracting participants from across Wales and, increasingly, further afield. A&F hopes to be augmented in time for the colloquium by two new members of academic staff, advertisement for whom was recently agreed by the Vice Chancellor and University Exec.

Nanotechnology Systems of Innovation: Convergence and Innovation Trend

Exploring the Dynamics of Technology Evolution and the Attributes of Technology Convergence and Innovation Trajectory

A new book has been launched on January 5, 2012, authored by Dr Nazrul Islam, Lecturer of Innovation and Operations Management. The book is published by Lambert: Saarbrücken, Germany; ISBN-13: 978-3-8465-1662-1, ISBN-10: 3846516627; 196 pages; price 68.00 €.

In this book, the author explores the macro level study of nano-scientific evolution; analyses the actors’ structures, their roles and linkages; establishes nanotechnology convergence pattern, and identifies demand and push factors for driving technology innovation. This book seems to be unique in the study of nanotechnology systems of innovation, and is particularly important for seeking to capture the attributes related to its co-evolutionary nature. It suggests a multi-level framework of nanotechnology convergence and innovation trajectories, shows a model of nanotechnology innovation paths, and designs nanotechnology road mapping. This study confirms the importance of collaborative networks between divergent scientific fields across institutions, and suggests universities and industry be more open to non-traditional collaboration to ease technology transfer.

Disruptive Technologies, Innovation and Global Redesign: Emerging Implications
A new book was released recently, Co-edited by Dr. Nazrul Islam and Published by IGI-Global, PA, USA; 603 pages; price $180.00. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-46660-134-5; ISBN13: 9781466601345, ISBN10: 1466601345, EISBN13: 9781466601352

Disruptive innovation creates a new and usually unexpected market by anticipating the perception of customers and meeting them. This is done by applying new set of values which over time are improved to the point they can invade established markets. Though new entrants come and disrupt industries, it is rarely because of lack of technology advancement by incumbents. In emerging economies, disruptive innovations have recently been applied to a wide variety of sectors other than the consumer electronics and ICT sectors, for example, micro lending, mobile banking, portable water filters and cell phones. This book describes how disruptive innovation is playing a major role in creating new products and services and in the process of redesigning the world.
In the last few years, most parts of the world have morphed into an electronically interdependent economic unit where a disruption in one marketplace affects the others. New technologies and business models have emerged, transforming the ways we do business and, consequently affecting how we live. For example, Amazon.com simplifies e-Commerce; Dell makes things easier in PC distribution logistics by removing middlemen in its distribution process; Apple redefines the entertainment and comfort level of our lives by introducing portable digital music players, smartphones and tablets. We are increasingly experiencing simplified lifestyles with gadgets that are more portable, cheaper and easier to use.
One major goal of this book is to highlight the multifaceted issues of disruptive innovation and their relationships with the redesigning world. It is an examination of disruptive technologies, innovation, and the overall global redesign along with the emerging implications. More than forty eight experts spread in about fifteen countries with its respective understanding, perspectives and resources provide a very broad audience to accomplish that. This book will be a useful reference for academics, students, policy-makers and professionals in the field of technology economics and management with focus on innovation and resulting influences in industries and commerce.

by Sangeeta Khorana, Nicholas Perdikis, May T. Yeung and William A. Kerr published by Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2010 price £59-95

This unique book provides an assessment of the proposed EU-India free trade agreement by drawing on the theory of preferential agreements, the history of Indian-European relations and the recent developments in the Indian economy. The authors explore both a broad overview of the agreement as well as a detailed examination of sensitive sectors. The book concludes that realising the significant potential of an EU-India agreement will depend on a clear understanding of the existing barriers to trade, careful negotiations and a willingness to implement what has been agreed.

Business executives in both Europe and India as well as officials in the EU Commission and Indian government will find this innovative book fascinating and useful in gaining insights into the issues involved.

Dr Nazrul Islam, Lecturer of Innovation Management, will give a paper presentation entitled ‘ Innovation in Nanotechnology: A Foundation of Cultural Change within Institution ’ at t he 3rd ISPIM Innovation Symposium, Québec City Convention Centre, Canada on 12-15 December, 2010 .   The presentation focuses on an issue that development of nanotechnologies signaled important changes affecting the economic paradigm as well as a deep societal transformation. The study stresses on understanding how the development of this emergent field is bringing about a whole new ensemble of structured social practices including new cultural practice within institutions .  Existing institutions put more weight and give space in the shaping of the new institutional process than ever before, as nanotechnology was the first case in history of a new technology getting such generalised and financially important institutional support for its development. This research shows that innovation in nanotechnologies is giving birth to a new form of institutional dynamics and the process is still in the making.

Dr Kobil Ruziev of the School of Management & Business, in association with the Stirling Centre for Economic Methodology (SCEME), organised a two day international conference on “Economic Methodology after the Crisis” in Aberystwyth University on 8-9 June 2011. The global financial crisis has focused attention on economics and its capacity to forecast, analyse and present policy solutions, and radical questions have been raised in public discourse about the way in which economics approaches its subject matter. In this very contemporary context the purpose of this thematic conference was to challenge the current orthodoxy and reflect on the future methodology of economics as well as the role of methodological analysis itself in light of the crisis.  The event was the 14th in the series of SCEME conferences and the first to be hosted by a Welsh higher education institution.  Papers were presented by some of the leading figures in heteredox economic thinking, with participants from Australia, Brazil, Greece and Ireland, as well as the UK, contributing to the conference proceedings. 

World Business Dialogue


Every year the University of Cologne, Germany becomes for a few days a place “where the leaders of today meet the leaders of tomorrow.” The World Business Dialogue (WBD) is the biggest student-run business convention in the world. The event is organized annually by a non-profit organization OFW. e. V. (Organisationsforums Wirtschaftkongress e.V.) and aims at bringing the brightest 300 students all around the world together with young executives and world business leaders to discuss economic and social issues. The previous Dialogues hosted presenters such as Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and Muhammad Yunus.  The Convention lasts for 5 days during which students attend a 2-day Dialogue, take part in workshops and visit Cologne.  More people applied from Aberystwyth University than from the whole of the UK.  As a result 14 students were accepted, 5 of them received sponsorship from the School of Management and Business.  The WBD International Team is also very grateful to SMB for understanding the relevance of the Dialogue and contributing toward the students’ expenses:  “Such a commitment and involvement is a rare occurrence in most of the universities especially now as they cut their costs.  It is good to see there are universities like Aberystwyth that want to invest in their students and encourage their professional and personal development” (Rosaria Palmissano, WBD International Relations).

Here are some of the comments from our delegates:

It was whilst sitting in a convention tent, listening to a keynote speech on Africa, that I realised I had changed. It just felt normal somehow; yet, to an outsider, this could easily be regarded as another world. With the son of a Swiss diplomat on my right, a Harvard Politics student to my left, and the former President of Mozambique on stage talking about the challenges confronting Africa, it was at that moment I had reached the point of no return – ‘more forwards please!’

If ever there was an event that could be regarded as being good for the soul, this most certainly was it. Never before have my eyes been as widely opened as they had been during the mesmerising week I spent in Cologne with 300 students from over 60 different countries. Wherever I looked, I saw the same thing – energised and inspirational leaders of tomorrow with a certain glint in their eyes, eagerly anticipating the next opportunity to meet another open-minded wealth of fascination.

Nathan Mears

The biggest value I got from the WBD was the opportunity to network with the other participants. It was great fun to get together with likeminded individuals and exchange ideas. There were no borders between countries but rather a cooperation. WBD is a great example of how we can be citizens of the world and how we can dialogue for a better future. It changed my perspective on what business should be all about. In the future, we must focus on collaboration with our partners and work together for a better future.

Tsvetan Tsonkov

Dr Nazrul Islam, Lecturer of Innovation and Operations Management, delivered a Keynote Speech on ‘Strategic Innovation by Disruption’ at the Conference of Innovation & Technology Management Africa, Pretoria, South Africa on 10-12 August, 2011. The keynote speech highlights Strategic Innovation Management: what makes an innovation disruptive is not just the magnitude of the advances in technology; rather is the combination of changes, for example, miniaturized technologies, revolution of information technology (IT), and the innovative changes in business models. The talk emphasizes that the key of disruptive innovation is the changes in the business models from the existing one to a new one which is more efficient and better addresses the demands or expectations of consumers. Because the disruption threatens the existing business models, those leading or profiting from the existing models are likely to oppose the innovation. 


Professor Steven McGuire was quoted in a recent story in the Financial Times (Peter Marsh 'BAE Systems Looks to Tap Knowledge Bank', Financial Times, 26 September 2001, p.21.  McGuire commented on the need for BAE Systems, the United Kingdom's largest defence contractor, to diversify its product and service lines.  With military budgets in the UK and elsewhere under severe pressure,  'This could give the company a valuable new source of revenue which it might need as governments around the world do more to prune their defence budgets.' he noted.

Chartered Institute of Marketing

Robert Peston Lecture

Robert Peston, the BBC’s award winning Business Editor, will give a lecture on “The Great Debt Shuffle” at the School of Management and Business at Aberystwyth University on Thursday 27 October 2011.

Professor Steve McGuire was convenor for an aerospace industry workshop held at the UK's leading thinktank, Chatham House, on 1st April.  Representatives from aerospace firms, including Airbus, as well as industry consultants and academics met in London to consider the economic challenges facing the industry.  Professor McGuire will be publishing the results of the study as part of Chatham House's research programme, The Changing Industrial Landscape: Emerging Global Champions http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/research/economics/current_projects/global_industry/

A draft copy of the preliminary research can be found on the Centre for International Business and Public Policy website.

SMB featured in the 'Business in Wales' supplement of the Western Mail on 9th February 2011. Please Click here to see a copy of the article.

Dr. Nazrul Islam, School of Management and Business, Aberystwyth University, UK                                                                            

Dr. Ndubuisi Ekekwe, African Institution of Technology, USA & Babcock University, Nigeria

Call for Chapters:

Proposals Submission Deadline: December 11, 2010
Full Chapters Due: March 11, 2011
Revised Chapter Submission Date: June 30, 2011

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), PA, USA publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” and “IGI Publishing” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com.

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document):

Dr. Nazrul Islam
School of Management and Business, Aberystwyth University, UK
Email: drnazrul201@gmail.com or mni@aber.ac.uk 
Or        

Dr. Ndubuisi Ekekwe
African Institution of Technology, USA & Babcock University, Nigeria
E-Mail: info@afrit.org or nekekwe1@jhu.edu  

Direct link to this Call for Chapters:
http://tinyurl.com/2bheesj

Congratulations to Nishikant!

His paper, 'Environmental Integrated Closed-Loop Logistics Model: An Artificial Bee Colony Approach' was awarded a 'High Commendation' at the recent International Conference on Supply Chain Management Systems.  The award is sponsored by Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, one of the leading journals in the field.

28th Septemper 2010 - 29th September 2010

The three Irish SLNIW business networks will travel to Wales to network with their Welsh counterparts.  As part of the SLNIW project, six business networks have been established, three (one mixed gender group, one female group and one male group) in South East Ireland and three in West Wales (one mixed gender group, one female group and one male group). This event is the first of two cross border trips that brings all of the six networks together to network, share ideas and establish new business opportunites. 

During the event, the Welsh network members will provide a showcase of their businesses for the visiting network delegation from Ireland.  In November 2010, the Welsh networks will travel to Ireland to visit the Irish network participants and the Irish entrepreneurs will have any opportunity to showcase their businesses.

"We are thrilled by this result which reflects the hard work and commitment shown by all members of staff to ensure our students are taught and supported at the very highest level, a standard we intend to maintain in the years to come" commented Nick Perdikis, Director of the School of Management and Business.

The survey also places Aberystwyth at 5th place of all Universities in the UK and top in Wales for the sixth year running for student satisfaction.

The NSS was conducted by Ipsos MORI.  Data is available for prospective students, parents and advisors and is available from the Unistats website (www.unistats.com).

Sangeeta Khorana has received one of Aberystwyth University's prestigious Teaching Excellence Awards 2010. Professor Noel Lloyd CBE, Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University presented the award at the graduation ceremony on 14^th July. The teaching technique employed the 'threshold concepts' approach through differentiation that attempted to deliver an effective learning environment through inquiry-oriented collaborative group activities for postgraduate students.

The School has a new research centre: the Centre for International Business and Public Policy (CIBaPP).

The new research centre seeks to capitalise on the growing interest in how international business and international relations affect each other. The recent banking crisis, as well as greater public awareness of climate change and the increasing scarcity of resources such as water, has fuelled interest in how geopolitics and international regulatory processes affect – and are in turn affected by – the operation of multinational companies.  CIBaPP builds on the expertise of a core of SMB academics in the areas of international trade, finance and political economy, and also draws on colleagues from International Politics, one of the premier departments of its type in the world.  Current research projects at the Centre include:  a collaborative study with Canadian colleagues of EU–Canadian economic relations; work with Japanese academics on how Japanese firms are responding to competitive pressures from China; and work on the evolution of corporate governance in Africa. 

Professor Steve McGuire will be the Centre's director.  Other SMB staff affiliated with the Centre include: Charlotte Allsopp, Sangeeta Khorana, Collins Ntim and Nick Perdikis.

Steve McGuire, Chair in Management, has been appointed to a visiting professorship at the Audencia Nantes School of Management for the 2010/11 academic year.  Professor McGuire will visit Nantes for one week in November, lecturing and presenting his current research.  Audencia Nantes is one of France's leading business schools and its research strengths in entrepreneurship and international management complement the research being done at SMB.

Employees in Wales-based small and medium-sized enterprises are eligible for funding of up to £1500 under the GO Wales scheme.

The scheme, funded by the European Social Fund, is designed to enhance the management skills of Wales' workforce. Applicants can enrol on one of SMB's postgraduate courses (MBM or MBA) or take individual modules under the scheme.

On 22^nd May Steve McGuire, Professor of Management, gave a presentation entitled ‘Trade, Technology and the Multipolar Economy’ at the College of Global Business, Rikkyo University, Tokyo.  The presentation focused on the role that the World Trade Organization (WTO) plays in facilitating technological development in emerging economies like China and India.  WTO membership had an important signalling effect to international investors that high valued-added activities like R&D facilities could be located in emerging economies.  Moreover, WTO rules on government subsidies were sufficiently loose that they allowed governments the freedom to pursue technology policies in areas like biotechnology, nanotechnology and alternative energy.  Professor McGuire was joined on the plenary panel by Steven Kobrin (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania), Jean-Marc F.  Blanchard (San Francisco State University) and Anthony D’Costa (Copenhagen Business School).

SMB Joins Major Management Development Project

The School of Management and Business has joined the Leadership and Management Wales project.  LMW is sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government and led by a team based at Cardiff Business School.  The project is intended to research the management skill needs of businesses, and then address these through networks, seminars, research publications and other educational programmes.  The SMB is responsible for the project's activities in the Ceredigion region and will be recruiting a research and network officer to support this.  The LMW project strengthens the School's position as a centre for research and teaching in the areas of learning networks and the management of small and medium-sized firms. More information about the LMW programme can be found at: http://www.lmw.org.uk/

School appoints two new lecturers

As part of its expansion the School of Management and Business is pleased to welcome Collins Ntim and Chris Dawson to the academic staff, Collins joins the Accounting and Finance group from the University of Glasgow.  He works on asset pricing and economic growth in emerging markets; his research on corporate governance has appeared in African Finance Journal.  Chris is an economist and his PhD at Swansea University was supported by scholarships from the Economic and Social Research Council and the Welsh Assembly Government.  His work on entrepreneurship strengthens an area of considerable research activity at SMB.

SMB Academics Appointed To Research Council College

Three SMB professors, Nicholas Alexander, Steve McGuire and Peter Midmore, have been appointed to the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) new Peer Review College.  The College creates a body of expert academics responsible for reviewing research funding applications and final reports of completed projects.  The ESRC has a research budget of over £200 million per year and funds a range of academic activities including research work, conferences, seminars and international networks.

Professor Alexander holds the Chair in International Marketing, directs the School's Centre for Research in Marketing and publishes extensively on international marketing, branding and the history of marketing.  Steve McGuire holds the Chair in Management and publishes in the areas of strategic management and international political economy.  Peter Midmore is Professor of Economics and Research Director at the School.  He works on regional economic development and leads the Centre for Local and Regional Enterprise.

Dr Sangeeta Khorana visits European Parliament

Dr. Sangeeta Khorana was invited to participate in a Mini-hearing on EU-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations. This was held by the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament on 5th November in Brussels. Invitees included representatives of the negotiating parties (the Commission and Indian government), business federations and distinguished international trade experts.

Dr Sajjad M Jasimuddin invited British Council, Dhaka

Dr. Sajjad M. Jasimuddin from the Aberystwyth School of Management and Business has been invited to present a keynote paper entitled "Why study Business and Management at a HEI in the UK: Challenges and Promises" at the British Council Education Exhibition which will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 8 - 9 March 2009