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U. of Glasgow Business School

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U. of Glasgow Business School
West Quadrangle
Glasgow, , G12 8QQ
United Kingdom
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Demographic Information

Number of full-time MBA students (2011): 

30

Number of part-time MBA students (2011): 

25

Total duration of full-time MBA program: 

12 months

MBA faculty (Fall 2010): 

101

Females as percent of student body: 

20%
Who Are the Students? See what percentage of the 2010-2011 graduating class came to this MBA program from the private sector, the non-profit sector and government jobs
 
Private Sector (96%)
 
Non-profit (4%)
 
Government (0%)


Description of MBA Program: 

The MBA Programme is central to delivering the mission of the University of Glasgow Business School, which is to be “internationally known and highly regarded for the integrated nature of both its research and teaching excellence; to conduct high quality research and research-led education that encourages recipients to develop independent and critical thinking, acquire career-enhancing professional skills; and to contribute to business developments and public policy debates concerned with improving economic and social welfare.” (see http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/businessschool/aboutus/visionandmission/). Concerns over sustainability and the human impacts of business and management are not afterthoughts, rather they are at the heart of our MBA Programme design.

Managers are faced with a contemporary global environment characterised by complex situations that transcend local, national and international boundaries. In such a context the range of skills and knowledge that are required stretch beyond the range of core technical and management skills traditionally associated with managers to encompass a wider set of analytical and reflective abilities. Management education at MBA level must therefore be responsive to change, reflect changing business needs, encourage students to think critically at a range of scales and understand the role played by knowledge and the supporting technology in supporting a dynamic, creative work environment that is best placed to respond to an increasing pace of change. Many MBAs therefore comprise only a skills ‘toolkit’ for managers: for Glasgow this is only the beginning – a necessary context – as our MBA Programme combines academic and technical excellence with a much broader perspective on the challenges facing future leaders and managers working in an uncertain world.

Our MBA Programme’s aims directly and explicitly reflect the goals of the degree’s principal accrediting body – the Association of MBAs (AMBA), namely to provide high quality postgraduate business education focused on developing future business leaders – and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) which accredits the School as a whole. But our implementation of these objectives is unique, informed both by the wide variety of economic, social and cultural contexts from which our students are drawn, and our own deep-rooted history and cultural values.

Too many MBAs have discovered the challenge of improving economic, environmental and social sustainability too late, with recent initiatives being more about defending past practices in the face of criticism of managers’ contributions to the global financial crisis, rather than contributing something positive in search of solutions to the underlying problems the global community faces. The University of Glasgow Business School is different. Our university is the fourth oldest in the English-speaking world. Our city grew to become the richest in the world by being outward looking and harnessing the skills of its people to solve the new problems of the day. It then suffered from the ravages of deindustrialisation more than most, but recovered to become the vibrant, growing and revitalised European City of Culture of today by understanding its problems and working hard to fix them. This means that when we work with our students to help them understand the intrinsic value of an excellent business education that blends development of the core business skills such as strategy, marketing, resource management and accounting we do so with a much broader perspective, open to the range of insights from across the disciplines that a research-led university with 560 years of learning has to offer. Our MBA Programme welcomes people who recognise the importance of Critical Enquiry in the Glasgow tradition of Adam Smith and Lord Kelvin, that is to challenge accepted practices to generate innovation and respond to change so that the world becomes a better place.

The structure of our MBA curriculum is designed to do engage you with the key issues facing contemporary managers from the outset. Throughout the Programme, we explore themes and develop skills by addressing five core themes, which together define the contemporary business environment, and the sustainability challenge facing managers every day:

  • Is globalisation playing out as had been expected?
  • What degree of control do managers really have over their organisations and their people?
  • To what extent are innovation and diversity really present in contemporary organisations?
  • How is technology and innovation changing the shape and scope of organisations?
  • How should managers react to a more uncertain (unsustainable) world?


To make these questions real – to generate an atmosphere in which Critical Enquiry thrives – our approach to delivering our MBA is to focus not on ‘students’ or a ‘learners’ but participants.  Our people participate not only in the activities of the organisations they go on to work in, but in various communities and networks, each of which is a part of the global community. A key part of any MBA is to learn from expert people skilled in the dissemination of knowledge, for learning itself to be sustainable it needs to grow and develop within an environment in which experience, professional expertise and practical understanding are exchanged and respected.  Glasgow MBAs share their existing and newly acquired understanding and knowledge, and remain active participants in the learning experience long after they have moved on. The best advocates of our approach are our own graduates, so in summary here is what one had to say about us:

“There is a real sea change in everyone’s self-confidence and self-esteem. The MBA certainly stretched me, and now I know I can push further and broaden my horizons.”

Only by broadening horizons will we really understand the problems we face and how they can be solved. This is the mission of the Glasgow MBA.



How does the MBA program 'walk the talk' of social and environmental impact?: 

The University of Glasgow and the Business School are committed to a more efficient, more sustainable future. We’ve shown this commitment by agreeing a five-year Carbon Management Plan with the Carbon Trust and being accredited with the Carbon Trust Standard. Our accreditation means that the University is an organisation that measures, manages and genuinely decreases its carbon emissions. The Standard requires us to keep reducing our carbon footprint and to recertify every two years. Nearly 50% of the University’s electricity comes from green sources, which saves around 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. The entire campus operates a policy of mandatory paper recycling, and the savings we make from recycling are re-invested into future environmental projects. For more information, visit: www.gla.ac.uk/about/values/environment/ and http://www.gla.ac.uk/events/energy/. The University is also committed to construction recycling, and the Fraser Building, our new student services hub, was designed to be energy efficient and employ the use of the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Model (BREEAM) EPC modeling to minimise wider carbon and environmental impacts.  


We operate a Green Transport Policy that is designed to encourage all staff and students to both reduce hydrocarbon consumption and, at the same time, improve health though increased exercise. Our catering is accredited through the Sunflower Standard by the UK Vegan Society: we are the first University to gain such an award. The University of Glasgow was the first Scottish university to be Energy Accredited in 1998, and was the 2nd to achieve Fairtrade status. In line with our policy on sustainability, and our commitment to principles of fairness and equality, the University is committed to supporting, promoting and using Fairtrade goods and has worked hard to achieve accreditation. Fairtrade foods are served at all meetings hosted by the University and the student unions and a wide range of Fairtrade products are available and prominently displayed throughout the University.  Our Fairtrade policy: http://www.gla.ac.uk/about/fairtrade/policy/.


As a research-led Business School, our programmes benefit from the work of our world-class research centres, such as the Centre for Applied Ethics and Legal Philosophy, which draws on the University of Glasgow’s 300 years of developing ethical theory and practice. Members of the Business School are also part of The Glasgow Centre for International Development, which builds on the University's historical tradition of engagement with low-income countries through its unique range of expertise in the areas of human well being and animal health, the economy, the environment, learning and citizenship. The Centre’s aim is to use our strong interdisciplinary approach to make a significant contribution to international development through new partnerships with universities in the Global South; contribution to the UN Millennium Development Goals; linking with the UN and other stakeholders (http://www.gla.ac.uk/centres/gcid/).The Business School is also an active part of the Sustainable Development Network at the University of Glasgow, which aims to engage with the University of Glasgow UG and PGT Sustainability Teaching as well as Campus Sustainability initiatives in Energy, Transport, Waste and Biodiversity. http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/glasgowsustainabledevelopmentnetwork/


The work of these centres has a direct impact on our students, through core courses and electives, which develop and sustain in them an active interest in social responsibility and ethical practice.



The University of Glasgow Business School works in partnership with the Cranfield Trust, and we encourage our MBA students and graduates to become part of this unique charity, which supports voluntary organisations by matching them up with highly skilled managers from the commercial and government sectors, helping charitable organisations to develop their services and achieve long-term sustainability. We have also developed a relationship with National Australia Group, and are helping the organisation meet their corporate responsibility goals.



The University of Glasgow Business School participates in several research centres focused on issues relating to governance, accountability, and sustainability. Several members of Business School staff are part of the Sustainability Network, offering inter-disciplinary research to tackle some of the major global sustainability challenges and to present a unified front to stakeholders and the external world.  The University of Glasgow has a significant history of sustainability-related research involving at least 10% of academic staff. Staff of the Business School are also members of the Glasgow Centre for International Development, the Glasgow Centre for Public Health, and the Scottish Institute for Economics Research, all of which are concerned with issues of public policy and public welfare.
 


The Business School is home to the Centre for Development Studies, the Centre for Internationalisation and Enterprise Research, and the Centre for Health, Environment, Risk and Resilience. All of these centres are focused on issues involving developing a sustainable economic, business, or political future in the UK or abroad. The research institutes and centres at the University of Glasgow form the core of all of our activities, particularly programmes such as the MBA, which are constantly evolving through the latest cutting edge research.

Academic Department

Course Name: Change Management
Instructor: Professor Robert Paton

The Managing Innovative Change course explores issues relating to the management of change within the context of innovation, in particular services innovation. The nature, imperative and management of change will be investigated from both a systems and organizational perspective, with a view to providing participants with the ‘tools’, insights and capabilities required to engage with complex change scenarios.

The course introduces the need for knowledge driven innovation strategies, in particular, strategies that impact upon the organizations E2E processes (McLaughlin and Paton, 2008b). Traditional innovatory practices and theories will be examined with a view to determining how best to support solutions driven; knowledge intensive and services orientated enterprises in their quest for global advantage and knowledge leadership (Paton and McLaughlin, 2008a). The principle aim being to explore how best to approach service dominant processes and businesses with a view to maximising the co-creation of value (Vargo and Maglio, 2008).

Service Science is an emerging discipline that aims to combine fundamental science and engineering theories, models and applications with facets of the management field, particularly knowledge, supply chain and change management, in order to enhance and advance service innovation. Service innovation is fast becoming the key driver of socio-economic growth and as such warrants increasing academic and commercial research attention.

Course Name: Company Failure & Transformation
Instructor: Professor David Kinnon

This course creates awareness of the factors which cause enterprises of differing types and sizes to experience survival-threatening crises. It deals with characteristics of crisis; causes of crisis; factors leading to survival and sustained transformation; characteristics of successful turnaround leaders; insight into the legislative framework in which turnaround exercises can take place, focusing on UK, USA and major states of the European Union.

By the end of the Elective, participants should be able to understand the range of causes of failure; identify symptoms of failure; be aware of the main legal considerations which will affect the behaviour and influence the actions of directors and advisers when an enterprise’s survival is threatened; recognise the key points in the life cycle of an enterprises when survival is likely to be at risk; assemble the information necessary on which to build a successful turnaround plan; and specify characteristics which are likely to lead to successful implementation of the turnaround plan.

Course Name: Corporate Image & Communications
Instructor: Dr Cleopatra Veloutsou

This course is designed to create in participants an understanding of the processes that underpin the effective management and communication of the image of an organisation as perceived by all stakeholders, both internal and external, and to understand the role of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) in the marketing process.

On this course, participants will discuss the terms corporate identity, corporate image and corporate reputations and the relationship that they have; critically evaluate factors influencing to the development of corporate identities; analyse the role of integrated marketing communications (IMC) in marketing; discuss the support needed for the development of corporate identity; and analyse various methods for the evaluation of brand equity.

Course Name: Critical Enquiry
Instructor: Professor Denis Fischbacher-Smith

The Critical Enquiry course is designed to introduce participants to the intellectual perspectives and methods of research and enquiry that underpin the Glasgow MBA programme as a whole. It explores the many different disciplinary and methodological traditions that should inform excellent managers’ critical, effective analyses of the business world. A key focus is on how such rigorous, discerning and informed evaluation and analysis assist the decision making process to deliver better management outcomes. Among the themes covered in this course is ethical management. Ethical management and wider ideas of Corporate (Social) Responsibility have become commonplace, not just in the business literature, but in wider debates on the links between the private sector, government and communities. On this course, participants explore the question of what makes an ethical manager within a socially responsible organisation. Exploring the problems of decision-making under uncertainty is another theme covered in this course. Organisations are often seen as repositories for knowledge, understanding and expertise, and participants are asked to explore the limitations of this view, and to highlight a number of potential issues around ethical behaviour and organisational performance.

Sessions devoted to issues of sustainability and ethical business practices include "Corporate Social Responsibility, Power and Exploitation"; "Ethical behaviours and management practices: Does absolute power corrupt absolutely?" and "In deep water? Changing contexts affecting the practice of management"

Course Name: Environment of International Business
Instructor: Dr Shameen Prashantham

The course examines the environment of international business and the development of multinational corporations from a managerial perspective to develop a critical awareness and appreciation of the international business environment within which multinational corporations operate, and to understand the major strategic and planning issues facing the management of MNC’s.

The course will look at the cultural environment, politico-legal and economic environments, country evaluation and selection, direct investment and collaborative strategies, and strategy and organisation in multinationals. Participants will gain an overview of the theoretical perspectives on the internationalisation of firms and markets; develop an awareness of the strategic and organisational options for competing in the international marketplace; appreciate the relationship between MNC strategies and structure and the environment of international business; become familiar with cross-cultural issues within the multinational corporation; be able to conduct a detailed strategic analysis of the activities of a multinational corporation; and be able to formulate appropriate strategies for competing in the global marketplace.

Course Name: International Financial Analysis
Instructor: Professor David Kinnon

This course is designed to introduce students to the tools used, and issues involved in analysing the performance and prospects of firms. This will be achieved by considering extant accounting practice and normative analytical techniques based on fundamental analysis. The course will also investigate the relationship between accounting numbers and stock market prices in some depth.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to analyse critically a company’s financial statements and other sources of information; be able to select those required for any particular task; be able to recognise the limitations of financial statements as a source of information, and the factors that may restrict the ability to base meaningful comparisons upon them; and be in a position to appreciate the role that accounting numbers and other information sources play in the market’s evaluation of a company’s debt and equity. Live case studies are used in this course, with an emphasis on the ethics involved in company accounts.

Course Name: Public Sector Organisation & Management
Instructor: Professor Iain Docherty

This course aims to provide an introduction to the key issues in public sector management. The course will outline and analyse the distinctive cultures, processes and structures of public sector organisations, and critically evaluate the forces that contribute to change in public sector institutions and management within them. The course will address the theories of how and why the state and its institutions have evolved to their current position, their role in the wider economic and social systems and structures and their future trajectory. The course will address how different public sector institutions and the individuals working within them relate to one another, and assess the implications of structures, practices and strategies for the practice of public sector management. There will also be a review of the critiques of public sector organisations and management practice made since the financial crisis of 2008.

Course Name: Strategic Foresight
Instructor: Professor Iain Docherty

Strategic Foresight is an innovative course that is designed to enhance participants’ learning through consideration of some of the “big issues” facing international business, government and society, with key external speakers in an interactive setting. The course also allows participants to apply a number of the key themes from the programme as a whole to particular case studies. This course is designed to introduce participants to the key questions over the future direction of business and management practice. It introduces a range of intellectual and disciplinary perspectives from across the social sciences and other allied disciplines such as engineering, environmental science and medicine, identifying the key challenges that organisations face as they seek to develop sustainably in a fast changing world. In so doing, it addresses five key themes, which integrate the wide range of issues covered in the MBA Programme: is globalisation is playing out as had been expected?; the extent to which managers have control over their organisations and their people; the extent to which innovation and diversity are present in contemporary organisations; how technology and innovation are changing the shape and scope of organisations; and how managers should react to an uncertain (and perhaps unsustainable) world.

Through this course, participants will be able to describe and analyse the strength and importance of links between scientific, social and environmental research and the impacts of these on business practice; understand how organisations identify, quantify and react to risk and critically assess the readiness of governments, NGOs, major corporations, SMEs and other organisations to respond to major emerging policy challenges.

To give an example of the breadth of the SF course, in 2010/11 we welcomed Sue Kershaw from the Olympic Delivery Authority as one our contributors,. The ODA’s mission is to “To host an inspirational, safe and inclusive Olympic and Paralympic Games and leave a sustainable legacy for London and the UK.” This involves delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic venues to time, to design and building specification and to agreed budget, providing for agreed legacy use; deliver necessary transport infrastructure for Games, and devise and implement effective transport plans which provide for legacy use; deliver agreed sustainable legacy plans for the Olympic Park and all venues; create infrastructure and facilities associated with Games venues to time and agreed budget in accordance with the principles of sustainable development.

Course Name: Strategy and Organisational Performance: Accounting & Finance
Instructor: Suzanne McCallum, Michael Keeley, Professor Ken Shackleton

This course is designed to introduce participants to finance, financial reporting, and management accounting. This course examines the role of accounting as a method of understanding business activity and results, and the role of accounting and finance in corporate governance. Participants are asked to appraise the principal approaches to budgeting as seen in commercially oriented businesses and comment on the interaction between budgeting and human behaviour and to analyse the principal methods of divisional performance appraisal. The content for this module is tightly proscribed by AMBA regulations. Staff members from the University of Glasgow’s Accounting and Finance Department teach the course, which benefits from research-led teaching. An important research theme within this subject in the Business School is Social, Ethical and Environmental accounting - examples of this theme's work and output can be found on the Business School website.

Course Name: Strategy and Organisational Performance: Economics
Instructor: Dr Robert McMaster

The Economics module of Strategy and Organisational Performance aims to introduce students to economic theories, concepts and techniques of analysis of relevance to business environments and the structure of organisations. In doing so, students will be introduced to economic concepts and differing economic schools of thought. The course provides participants with a working knowledge of a range of economic issues, such as the potential causes of unemployment and inflation; the economic influences on consumer and producer behaviour; whether large corporations provide a blueprint for other organisations; should the market be relied upon to address environmental issues. Of particular relevance is the portion of the course devoted to looking at the modern corporation, and whether corporations provide a role model for public policy. In this part of the course, participants explore the question of whether corporations can be socially responsible in an economic context.

The course is a research-led module, run by the editor of the Review of Social Economy, which looks at the many relationship between economics and social values. Among the subjects addressed in the journal are income distribution, justice and equity, poverty, cooperation, human dignity, labour, workplace organization, gender, need, the environment, economic institutions, economics methodology and class.

Pages

Type of Offering

Trust: the Scottish Forum for Professional Ethics Public lecture
Date: November, 2010

The traditional role of the professions in society is changing. High-profile professional failures have led to a reduction of public trust in the professions, and advances in information technology have made professional guidance more easily accessible. The future shape of the professions, and perhaps their very existence, will depend on how well they are able to respond to the problem of trust.

What is the future for the relationships between the professions, the public and society in general? How can the professions regain the trust that is essential to their legitimacy? The Scottish Forum for Professional Ethics is organising a series of events around the issue of trust. This first event was a public lecture exploring the dynamics of trust in modern society.

http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/business/newsandevents/newsarchive/headline...

Leadership for Sustainable Futures
Date: April, 2010

Speakers:

Jack Perry, former CEO of Scottish Enterprise

Michael Cavanagh, Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland

Graham Cunning, Head of Corporate and Structured Finance, Clydesdale Bank

Leadership for Sustainable Futures:

The Leadership Trust Foundation and The Windsor Leadership Trust, in partnership with The University of Glasgow Business School and Clydesdale Bank, held a joint Leadership Forum on Thursday, 22nd April 2010.

The Leadership Forum was intended to be both participative and interactive, bringing CEOs and Directors in the private, public and voluntary sectors together with senior academics in the field of leadership to discuss current issues and challenges, and to share their experience, knowledge and ideas.

Our keynote speakers for the evening are Jack Perry and Michael Cavanagh, who will present their thoughts and ideas on our chosen theme, with Fiona Wilson opening the forum and leading the closing discussions.

For many companies and organisations, 2009 heralded a period of unprecedented turbulence and economic instability. The stewardship of our organisations and institutions in 2010, and beyond, requires our leaders to be both honest about the challenges ahead and resilient to the continuing pressures their organisations are facing. 2009 required leadership ‘from the front’, and if our people are to remain confident about the future, 2010 will be no different; requiring leadership that will provide not only success in the short term but also sustainability for the future. Our speakers reflected on the impact that the last year has had on their own personal leadership and their organisation, as well as the lessons learned for us all. The evening also enabled the audience to engage in these issues at a personal, organisational and macro level, with a central focus on the key leadership traits and qualities that will be required in 2010 and beyond.

This initiative was part of The Leadership Trust and Windsor Leadership Trust’s collective missions as charitable trusts to inspire academic and aspirational leadership thinking, development and education.

Emerging Issues in Uncertainty and Ethical Consumption Research
Date: June, 2011

The University of Glasgow Business School will be hosting a British Academy supported workshop on Emerging Issues in Uncertainty and Ethical Consumption Research.

The workshop, which will be held on 13 June 2011, is designed to provide a forum for academics who are researching in the areas of uncertainty and ethical consumption. The aim of the workshop is to provide an opportunity to examine the latest leading edge theoretical, empirical and methodological progress in research in this area.

Workshop chairs will include Deirdre Shaw, University of Glasgow; Edward Shiu, University of Strathclyde; and Louise Hassan, Heriot-Watt University.

Participants will present their research and the workshop format means that the emphasis throughout will be on informality to encourage discussion, foster opportunities for the development of research collaborations and develop further shared insights in the field of ethical consumption and uncertainty.

One page abstracts are invited by 28th February 2011. Abstracts will be reviewed by an internal panel and authors notified by 31st March 2011. Successful participants will be expected to present their research at the workshop.

Thinking Beyond the Downturn
Date: November, 2009

In 2009/10, the University of Glasgow Business School ran its third series of evening discussion forums in partnership with the Clydesdale Bank.

The School ran a programme of events, in conjunction with the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, looking at the prospects for recovery following the economic downturn. We will be welcomed speakers from UK business, government and the world of competitive sport to discuss their unique perspectives as key decision makers and innovators.

Event 1: What’s next for the UK economy - no return to boom from bust

Date: 10 November 2009

Speakers: Nick Parsons, Head of Markets Strategy for National Australia Bank, and Professor Ronald MacDonald, Adam Smith Chair of Political Economy at the University of Glasgow

How does the current recession compare with previous downturns and what lessons can we learn about recovery? The UK economy is beginning to emerge from a savage recession and we look here at the potential shape of the upturn and how it fits into the global economic landscape.

Event 2: Is the internet recession-proof?

Date: 18 February 2010

Speakers: Brian McBride, Managing Director of Amazon UK and Professor Angus Laing, Head of the University of Glasgow Business School

Can e-business and the internet help companies to prosper in economic hard times and lead the way to new opportunities and economic recovery? Find out what industry leader Amazon is doing to meet the current challenges and satisfy its customers.

Event 3: Leading high performance teams

Date: 18 March 2010

Speakers: Katherine Grainger, MBE, Olympic medal winning athelete; Charles Hall, Deputy Director of Charity, Assets & Residence (CAR), HM Revenue and Customs; and Linda Shirt, CAR Corporate Support

World Champion and Olympic medal winner Katherine Grainger will use her vast experience racing in quadruple sculls crew to bring a unique perspective to team working and managing performance. As a counterpoint, Charles Hall and Linda Shirt from HMRC will discuss the challenges of delivering high performance against a backdrop of limited resources.

Wards Seminar
Date: September, 2010

Professor Paul Boyle, formerly of the Financial Reporting Council, discussed the audit market and the global oversight of the Big 4.

Glasgow Talks
Date: February, 2011

The University of Glasgow Business School is co-sponsoring a series of talks organised by the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce that are designed to give those working in the public and private sectors an opportunity to meet with business leaders and politicians to discuss the issues and policies that affect business in Glasgow.

Speakers include Jim McColl, founding Partner, Chief Executive and Chairman of Clyde Blowers Capital, who discussed his experience of growing a global business, as well as his role as a member of the Scottish Council of Economic Advisers, and his work with a Glasgow based welfare-to-work programme.

Rupert Soames, CEO of Aggreko is also giving a talk as part of the series, who will discuss the organisation's involvement with supplying the 2012 London Olympics with temporary power.

The events began in February 2011, and will be running throughout the year.

http://www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com/news/glasgow-buzz/2011/february-...

http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/business/newsandevents/headline_186529_en.html

Human rights, business and the professions
Date: October, 2010

The Forum for Professional Ethics worked with the Scottish Human Rights Commission to host this event as part of the 10th International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions, which is being held in Scotland this year. The event explored the responsibilities of businesses, professionals and individuals in ensuring that human rights are observed, and how human rights can be embedded in professional curricula.

http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/thescottishforumforprofessionalethics/e...

Personal Development Planning (PDP)

Our MBA programme has a compulsory element on Personal Development Planning (PDP) that runs throughout the course. MBA students first provide a CV and reflective report on their educational and personal development to date. They are then required to work on detailed personal development plans, which require them to reflect on their ethical perspectives on business and management. In addition to the personal development and reflective elements of the PDP process, this workstream is designed to help students choose the subject for their dissertation, the major piece of original research that all students are required to present as part of their degree. The process encourages students to consider a broad range of possible topics, extending well beyond the 'standard' MBA range of projects allied to corporate strategy, marketing etc. Over the last two years, we have had several students pursue dissertations on subjects ranging from CSR to reducing organisational carbon footprint to the most appropriate model of corporate governance for charitable organisations.

Glasgow Centre for International Development
Business School Housing? No
Number of Faculty: 96
Contact Name: Alberto Paloni
Contact Email: alberto.paloni@glasgow.ac.uk

The University of Glasgow Centre for International Development builds on the University's historical tradition of engagement with low-income countries through its unique range of expertise in the areas of human well being and animal health, the economy, the environment, learning and citizenship. Our aim is to use our strong interdisciplinary approach to make a significant contribution to international development through new partnerships with universities in the Global South; contribution to the UN Millennium Development Goals; linking with the UN and other stakeholders.

Key Aims

* To be an internationally recognised research centre in international development drawing on and bringing together the expertise available in Glasgow University in the fields of medicine; veterinary medicine; environmental management and development; sustainability; development economics; education and lifelong learning.

* To promote and strengthen interdisciplinary research in international development within Glasgow University, within Scotland and in selected low income countries of the global south.

* To promote capacity building and cultural exchange between low income countries and Scotland through shared collaborative research programmes, the provision of joint research training workshops and short courses, and the delivery of appropriate Master's and PhD degree programmes.

* To develop strong and active collaborative research and development links, not only between Glasgow University and partners in the Global South, but also between partners in the Global South.

The Centre is built around four key research themes:

* Health

* Environmental management and infrastructure

* Education, lifelong learning & global citizenship

* Economic development

Centre for Applied Ethics and Legal Philosophy
Business School Housing? No
Number of Faculty: 20
Contact Name: Grace McGuire
Contact Email: caelp@gla.ac.uk

For more than 300 years the University of Glasgow has played a major role in developing ethical theory and practice. This newly established centre draws on the legacy of the Institute of Law and Ethics in Medicine and aims to continue this tradition. It pulls together expertise from across the university into a world-class centre for research, practice and innovation in ethics and legal philosophy. The centre aims to be engaged in the most innovative research and thinking in applied ethics

and legal philosophy, and to promote the teaching of applied ethics and legal philosophy at all levels of educational practice, from primary school to continuing professional development.

The centre aims to work with governments, corporations, professional bodies, charities and NGO's, schools, policy makers and prisons on issues of applied ethics and legal philosophy, and individuals at the centre are or have been engaged with, inter alia, organisations like: the World Health Organisation; International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO; Wellcome Trust, Biomedical Ethics Panel; Broadcasting Council for Scotland; and the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Task Force on Ethics Consultation Liability.

Sustainable Development Network
Business School Housing? No
Number of Faculty: 103
Contact Name: Lauren Currie
Contact Email: sustainadmin@glasgow.ac.uk

Purpose of the Sustainable Development Network

The University of Glasgow has a significant history of sustainability-related research involving at least 10% of academic staff. This represents a spread of expertise over all Faculties. The University's expertise also includes satellite centres such as the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), the Dumfries campus and the Scottish Centre for Ecology and Natural Environmental (SCENE) at Rowardennan, Loch Lomond.

The rationale for a new Sustainable Development Network is to link all nine Faculties and the three satellite centres in a more coherent way that will offer cross-cutting inter-disciplinary research to tackle some of the major global sustainability challenges and to present a unified front to stakeholders and the external world. The idea is also to link with the Research Councils UK inter-disciplinary agenda: Living with Environmental Change.

The broad aims of the Sustainable Development Network

* To be an internationally recognised interdisciplinary research centre in sustainability, bringing together the breadth of expertise available in Glasgow University and its associated research centres.
* To maximise research funding potential through the RCUK inter-disciplinary research agenda and other comparable initiatives.
* To promote new approaches to public engagement and interlinks with key stakeholders in Scotland and beyond, through shared collaborative research programmes.
* To engage with the University of Glasgow UG and PGT Sustainability Teaching as well as Campus Sustainability initiatives in Energy, Transport, Waste and Biodiversity.

Scottish Centre for Business History
Business School Housing? No
Number of Faculty: 23
Contact Name: Ray Stokes
Contact Email: raymond.stokes@glasgow.ac.uk

The prime objective of the Centre for Business History is to encourage, facilitate and conduct research in all aspects of business history, with particular emphasis on corporate governance, innovation and organisational change. All research projects within the centre address one or more of the four main focal points of the Centre's current activities: internationalisation of business enterprise; business, energy and the environment; the role of business in innovation systems and policy; the evolving relationship between the state- owned, stateinfluenced and private sectors. Current or past research projects related to social responsibility and business ethics cover areas such as the history of the recycling industry and related technologies; the history of privatisation and nationalisation in its political and economic context; industry-state relations in the twentieth century; family, urban and demographic history; the history of corporate governance in Britain; a history of industrial gases; and the evolution of British food regulations.

Training and Employment Research Unit (TERU)
Business School Housing? Yes
Number of Faculty: 10
Contact Name: Marjory Walker
Contact Email: marjory.walker@glasgow.ac.uk

The Training and Employment Research Unit (TERU) is a multi-disciplinary centre for applied economic and social research, driven by a desire to offer practical solutions to the challenges faced by policy makers, practitioners, individuals and communities. We undertake research and evaluation work, and deliver specialist training for a wide range of clients across the UK.

Research Expertise
* Research and evaluation focusing on:
o Local and regional economic development
o Key sectors of the economy
o Business development and enterprising behaviour
o Labour markets and skills issues
o The worklessness agenda and employability
o Social and economic inclusion
o Community and area regeneration

* Technical appraisals of the costs and benefits of potential projects and programmes
* Establishment of monitoring and evaluation frameworks to test the delivery effectiveness of projects and programmes
* Strategy planning and facilitation
* Policy advisory work

Research methods
* Literature reviews and document analysis
* Design and management of surveys
* Statistical analysis of existing datasets and survey-generated data
* In-depth quallitative studies with individuals and organisations
* Developing good practice case studies

Making an impact with our research

* Feeding directly into policy development
* Guiding the development of new projects, programmes and ways of working
* Providing an evidence base
* Formative evaluation work to enhance delivery
* Challenging misconceptions

Research clients

We have an extensive range of clients who commission our research services.

* International agencies such as European Commission and OECD

* National government agencies such as Department for Work and Pensions

* Regional governments and their agencies, principally the Scottish Government

* Regional development organisations including East of England Development Agency, One North East, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise

* Sub-regional bodies including Commission for New Economy (Greater Manchester) and Liverpool City Region

* An extensive range of local authorities and local partnerships

* Third sector organisations such as Community Enterprise in Scotland and Glasgow Social Economy Partnership

Centre for Internationalisation and Enterprise Research
Business School Housing? Yes
Number of Faculty: 26
Contact Name: Marian Jones
Contact Email: marianv.jones@glasgow.ac.uk

The University of Glasgow’s Centre for Internationalisation and Enterprise Research is a centre for multidisciplinary study in internationalisation and enterprise with a worldwide network of internationally acclaimed scholars.

CIER aims to be recognize

Adam Smith Research Foundation
Business School Housing? No
Number of Faculty: 16
Contact Name: Louise Virdee
Contact Email: Louise.Virdee@glasgow.ac.uk

The Adam Smith Research Foundation has been established to promote and sustain research within the UK, European and international arenas.

The Foundation promotes the engagement of staff in key policy debates and in shaping policy for the future. It provides the environment in which to foster further links between the College's disciplines and supports the development of interdisciplinary research both within and beyond the University. The Foundation seeks to honour the Enlightenment legacy of Adam Smith (1723-1790) with independent, original research that impartially advances utility and enhances social

happiness or well-being in the Information Age. The Foundation's five research themes are: Public policy, governance and social justice; Work, ethics and technology; People, places and change; Macroeconomics, business and finance; and Legal and political thought. These themes encompass research on areas such as constitutional theory and practice; conceptual and normative analysis of contemporary issues; international finance and financial policy; regional governance in the UK and EU, applied policy; inequality, social identity & social exclusion; employment; professions and their obligations; and the impacts of e-business and e-services.

Centre for Development Studies
Business School Housing? Yes
Number of Faculty: 27
Contact Name: Luis Angeles
Contact Email: luis.angeles@glasgow.ac.uk

The Centre for Development Studies (CDS) is a leading institution in the UK for postgraduate study and research in the area of development studies. The centre is a multi-disciplinary group that crosses subjects such as Economics, Accounting & Finance, Central & Eastern European Studies, Economic & Social History, Law, Politics, Sociology, Anthropology, and Urban Studies.

We offer a range of integrated taught masters programmes providing specialist postgraduate training designed to meet the needs of those involved with and interested in problems and policies in developing countries.

While our degree programmes are at the research frontier, they devote special attention to the policy and practical implications of the different theories. Our graduates go on to successful careers in international organisations, government ministries, academia and research institutions, non-governmental organisations, banks and other financial institutions. We are one of the institutions from which the Asian Development Bank will accept applications for their internship programmes.

CDS has links with important development agencies, and as a student of the centre, your dissertation may be jointly supervised by staff from the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

Expertise within the Centre for Development Studies includes Economic Development; Environment and Sustainable Development; Development Policy; Carbon Management; and Economic Policy.

Centre for Health, Environment, Risk and Resilience
Business School Housing? Yes
Number of Faculty: 6
Contact Name: Denis Fisbacher-Smith
Contact Email: denis.fischbacher-smith@glasgow.ac.uk
Scottish Institute for Research in Economics
Business School Housing? No
Number of Faculty: 56
Contact Name: Gina Reddie
Contact Email: info@sire.ac.uk

"The University of Glasgow is one of ten Scottish Universities engaged in an exciting collaborative venture for the establishment of the new Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE). The initiative is funded by a £9.4m award from the SFC (Scottish Funding Council) combined with £11.4m from the partner institutions. Detailed information on SIRE, including publications, can be found on the SIRE website.

One of three programme strands within SIRE, the Macroeconomics, Financial Linkages and the Regions programme, is based at Glasgow under the directorship of Professor Charles Nolan. It is mainly concerned with theoretical and policy-related analysis at the macroeconomic level. The classic questions remain pertinent:

* What policies and institutions may be adopted to boost an economy’s secular, or long-run, growth rate?

* What policies can be implemented in order to attenuate inefficient fluctuations in economic activity over the business cycle?

* How do frictions to international trade affect trade patterns and economic growth?

* What are the interactions between fiscal and monetary policy?

* What are the determinants of key asset prices, such as housing prices and exchange rates, and what role do asset prices play in influencing macroeconomic outcomes? "

Forum for Professional Ethics
Business School Housing? No
Number of Faculty: 13
Contact Name: Grace McGuire
Contact Email: grace.mcguire@glasgow.ac.uk

We are a voluntary group of professional bodies and interested individuals in Scotland whose aim is to sustain inter-professional dialogue and exchange on the ethical basis and dilemmas of professional life

The objects of the Forum are:

* To support professional bodies in Scotland and their members, as well as interested individuals, in serving the public interest through the highest standards of ethical practice.

* To nurture inter-professional dialogue, exchange, and collaboration between professional bodies, their members, and interested individuals.

* To maintain a network of professional bodies and their members and of interested individuals in Scotland to promote the sharing of perspectives on the ethical dilemmas that are encountered in professional practice.

* To contribute to the public and professional debate on the role of professional bodies in a changing society.

While the Forum is a non-party political organisation and as such will eschew party-political matters and stances that are politically partisan, it will nevertheless engage, whenever appropriate, in the policy debate on the professions.

Over the three-year period we shall be working in close collaboration with the Centre for Ethics and Legal philosophy at the University of Glasgow and the administrative base of the Forum is located there.

MBA+

MBA+ is a club open to MBA alumni and students from the private, public and voluntary sectors. The club allows fellow students and alumni to work in each other's organisations for knowledge exchange and best practice. The members of MBA+ participate in the work of the Cranfield Trust, which matches volunteer MBA graduates with voluntary and charitable organisations requiring specialist expertise.

Banks, knowledge and crisis: a case of knowledge and learning failure
Author(s): Holland, J

Purpose – Regulators such as Turner have identified excessive securitization, high leverage, extensive market trading and a bonus culture, as being major factors in bringing about the bank centred financial crisis of 2007-2009. Whilst it is inevitable that banks adopt procyclical business strategies, not all banks took excessive risks and subsequently had to be rescued by taxpayers. The paper examines the extent to which individual bank outcomes can be attributed to systematic differences in banking knowledge concerning the primary risks and value drivers of their organisations by bank board directors and top management. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews a wide range of theoretical, historical and empirical literatures on banking models and detailed case analyses of failing and non-failing banks. A framework for understanding the role and application of knowledge in banking is developed which suggests how banks, despite their pro-cyclical business strategies, are able to institutionalise learning and actively create new knowledge through time to improve bank organisation, intermediation and risk management. Findings – The paper finds that a lack of basic knowledge of banking risks and value drivers by the boards and senior managers of the failing banks were implicated in the banking crisis. These knowledge problems concerned banks' understanding of their organisation, intermediation and risk management in an active market setting characterised by rapid economic and organisational change. Thus, the failing banks ignored or were unaware of this knowledge and hence experienced acute difficulties with learning the new knowledge needed to address the new problems thrown-up by the financial crisis. Practical implications – The analysis suggests that addressing this knowledge gap via the institutionalisation of banking knowledge ought to constitute an important element of any sustainable solution to the problems currently being experienced by the banking sector. By ensuring greater bank learning, knowledge creation, and knowledge use, governments and regulators could help reduce individual bank risk and the likelihood of future crisis. Originality/value – In contrast to the claims made by some politicians and banking insiders, the analysis indicates that the banking crisis and its severity were neither unpredictable nor unavoidable since some banks, by institutionalising banking knowledge and history of past crises, successfully avoided the pitfalls experienced by the failing banks.

Journal Title: Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance Volume: 18 Edition: 2 Page Numbers: 87-105
Bullying and Harrassment: a Case of Success?
Author(s): Pate, J; Beaumont, P

Purpose – This paper aims to examine an attempt by an organisation to address the significant problem of bullying and harassment. In doing so the paper particularly centres on the question of how the relative success of bullying and harassment policies might be measured. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a quantitative longitudinal study of a single organisation. Findings – The findings revealed that there was a significant reduction in perceptions of bullying in the organisation. The level of trust in senior management, however, was not enhanced as a result of the success. Research limitations/implications – The study emphasises the need for further research on measuring the outcomes of bullying and harassment policies and also work is required to further the understanding of trust between senior management and their workforce. Practical implications – The paper highlights the importance, and difficulties, in assessing the success of policies such as bullying and harassment. In many respects this paper contains a mixed message for senior managers. Employees may acknowledge the impact of management actions on reducing the level of bullying and harassment but was not associated with a noticeable improvement of trust in senior management. Originality/value – There is a plethora of literature on understanding the complexities and effects of workplace bullying. The literature, however, is relatively silent on the issue of measuring success of a policy and this paper seeks to contribute discussion on the subject.

Journal Title: Employee Relations Volume: 32 Edition: 2 Page Numbers: 171-183
Leadership: the way forward
Author(s): Paton, R

The popular and academic media have been quick to diagnose our present ills as being, at least in part, the product of a combination of misguided, remote and dissolute leadership. Leadership failed the banks which in turn failed the people; our politicians chose coveted position and power rather than the well being of their people, and we the electorate, employees and stakeholders simply did not want to hear the truth! We write this editorial as Europe and the International Monetary Fund assess the costs of intervention on behalf of Greece; Britain teeters forward with a coalition government and the financial markets attempt to make sense of corporate and national recovery plans. The mood of ‘doom and gloom’ goes beyond our economies to social ills, global warming, wealth disruption and global terrorism. As far as we can detect the prevailing mood of our ‘leaders’ remains one of tougher regulatory control of the financial sector, austerity and realism and above all strong leadership. However, one can also detect some concern that we may be missing the point, indeed that what we require is a more Schumpeterian approach. Innovation, creativity and enterprise offer significant hope for the future. We require enterprising leaders who can grasp the emerging opportunities associated with socio-economic disruption. This being especially the case when these opportunities are linked to the emerging solutions based technologies: global warming; pollution; inclusion; transport and communications. There appears to be a common theme. Whether we require strong leaders, enterprising leaders, empathetic leaders, or simply new leaders … leaders and leadership are to the fore. This special issue entitled ‘The way forward for Leadership’ was conceived by the Editors as a means of exploring three areas: 1. Are traditional perspectives of leadership enough of an answer to our present predicaments? It is oft quoted that we the people get the politicians and leaders we deserve and that the stakeholders in our great financial and corporate enterprises do likewise. Is our future wellbeing and prosperity dependent more on an articulation of what we want to see as citizens, employees and investors than who leads the pack? 2. How will organizations and societies be governed? Will regulation be enough? The prevailing trends seem to indicate that in both America and Europe there will be an attempt to bludgeon change out of the Financial and Political worlds by rules and regulation. If leadership behaviours were at fault will new rules necessarily change old paradigms? Are we looking in the wrong place for new answers? 3. Just exactly what do we mean by ‘new’ leadership and in particular in what ways will leadership be different?

Journal Title: European Management Journal Volume: 28 Edition: 4 Page Numbers: 251-252
Managing creative coalitions: Reflections on the social side of services innovation
Author(s): Beirne, M

This article considers the third dimension of the oft-discussed triumvirate of services science, concentrating on how social and managerial knowledge can be integrated with science and engineering to promote services innovation. Given the backgrounds and occupations of the authors, it represents an exploration in the sort of cross-boundary collaboration and joint analysis that is vital in this area, straddling the contrasting perspectives of social science and engineering, as well as the worlds of the academic and the practitioner. Our dialogue about the principles that may be capable of supporting a multidisciplinary approach to services innovation has underlined the importance of straight talking about disciplinary tensions and priorities, and mutual sensitivity to contextual conditions and constraints. Recognizing that creative insights and options for innovative activity emerge from the lower as well as the upper levels of organizational hierarchies and that viable improvement projects must connect with local insights and aspirations, this article cautions against designer tendencies to innovate from above or beyond the service workplace. Extending the logic of boundary-breaking collaboration, it argues for a more open approach to programme shaping from a broader alignment of engineering and the physical and social sciences with practitioner perspectives from manager, employee and other stakeholder groups on the ground.

Journal Title: European Management Journal Volume: 27 Edition: 2 Page Numbers: 83-89
Putting our money where their mouth is: alignment of charitable aims with charity investments - tensions in policy and practice
Author(s): Beattie, V

Given the values-driven nature of the mission of most charities, it might be expected that investment behaviour would be similarly values-driven. This paper documents the ethical investment policies and practices of the largest UK charities and explores how these are aligned with the charitable aims, drawing upon accountability, behavioural and managerial perspectives as theoretical lenses. The study employs two distinct research methods: responses to a postal questionnaire and follow-up semi-structured interviews with selected charities. The evidence indicates that a significant minority of large charities do not have a written ethical investment policy. Charities with larger investments, fundraising charities and religious charities were more likely to have a written ethical policy. We suggest that there is a pressing need for improved alignment between charities' aims and their investment practices and better monitoring of investment policies.

Journal Title: British Accounting Review Volume: 41 Edition: 3 Page Numbers: 154-168
Regional Location of Multinational Corporation Subsidiaries and Economic Development Contribution: Evidence from the UK
Author(s): Dimitratos, P; Young, S

The regional location of multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries in their host country and their associated entrepreneurial output and networking activities are likely to affect their economic development contribution, measured in terms of technology and management know-how transfers; enhancement of innovativeness of other firms; and company spinoffs. This theme has considerable research and public policy value. We investigate the issue drawing from a large-scale study of 264 MNC subsidiaries based in the UK. The findings show that activities in developed regions are associated with higher economic development contribution than those in less developed regions. Moreover, entrepreneurial output and networking with partners external to the MNC system positively affect economic development contribution. Key implications of this study are that entrepreneurship critically influences economic development contribution, underlying the importance of the MNC subsidiary research stream; and that the policy practice of supply-side measures fostering entrepreneurial output and embeddedness in local networks seems to be appropriate to pursue.

Journal Title: Journal of World Business Volume: 44 Edition: 2 Page Numbers: 180-191
Relative price distortions and inflation persistence
Author(s): Nolan, C

Sticky-price models often suggest that relative price distortion is a major cost of inflation. We provide an intuition for this: Even at low rates, inflation strongly affects price dispersion which in turn has an impact on the economy qualitatively similar to, and of the order of magnitude of, a negative shift in productivity. The utility cost of price dispersion is quantified and its impact on optimal monetary policy discussed. Price dispersion is incorporated into a linearised model. Strikingly, a contractionary nominal shock has a persistent, negative hump-shaped impact on inflation but may have a positive hump-shaped impact on output.

Journal Title: Economic Journal Volume: 120 Edition: 547 Page Numbers: 1080-1099
s a higher rate of R&D tax credit a panacea for low levels of R&D in disadvantaged regions?
Author(s): Harris, R

This paper studies the impact of R&D spending on output as well as forecasting the impact of a regionally enhanced R&D tax credit on the ‘user cost’ (or price) of R&D expenditure and subsequently the demand for R&D. The example we use of a ‘disadvantaged’ region is Northern Ireland (partly because it has the lowest levels of R&D spending in the UK, and partly because the necessary data is available for this region). We find that in the long run, R&D spending has a mostly positive impact on output across various manufacturing industries. In addition, plants with a zero R&D stock experience significant one-off negative productivity effects. As to the adjustment of R&D in response to changes in the ‘user cost’, our results suggest a rather slow adjustment over time, and a long-run own-price elasticity of around −1.4 for Northern Ireland. We also find that to have a major impact on R&D spending in the Province, the R&D tax credit would need to be increased substantially; this would be expensive in terms of the net exchequer cost.

Journal Title: Research Policy Volume: 38 Edition: 1 Page Numbers: 192-205
Successfully reshaping the ownership relationship by reducing 'moral debt' and justly distributing residual claims: the cases from Scott Bader Commonwealth and the John Lewis Partnership
Author(s): Guidi, M

This paper examines the issues relating to the most appropriate form of corporation ownership including organizational and cultural systems that will maximize the firm's value to society whilst maintaining a more sustainable market value. The paper argues that the maximization of firm value to society may be more readily achieved through a closed corporation type formation with better rights protection for all internal stakeholders, such as an employee-owned corporation or a limited liability partnership similar to Scott Bader Commonwealth and John Lewis Partnership, rather than a publicly-owned open corporation with large ‘moral debt’ claims, conflicts of interest, and agency costs. The four main perceived theoretical arguments against a closed corporation are: The horizon problem; the common-property problem; the non-transferability problem; and the control problem. Our analysis demonstrates how the Scott Bader Commonwealth and the John Lewis Partnership with support from the capital markets evolved successful solutions to the above theoretical issues. In other words, closed corporations such as Scott Bader Commonwealth and John Lewis Partnership with their better organizational and cultural systems can be considered to be more just at distributing residual and ‘moral debt’ claims than open corporations and thus are better at maximizing their value to society.

Journal Title: Critical Perspectives on Accounting Volume: 21 Edition: 4 Page Numbers: 318-328
The credit crisis and corporate governance: excessive bonuses of TARP banks
Author(s): Guidi, M

Maximising TARP banks' value to society would require the integration of all stakeholders rights and 'moral debt' (obligations) claims providing justice in protecting and distributing alienable and inalienable rights as well as their associated benefits and costs. For instance, the TARP banks that maximise their value only for an elite group through excessive bonus payments to executives incur 'moral debt' claims from other stakeholders, which will make the firm less valuable to society. This study shows that the unjust redistribution of rights through compulsory layoffs, whilst making excessive executive bonus payments reduces the value of TARP banks to society.

Journal Title: International Journal of Corporate Governance Volume: 1 Edition: 4 Page Numbers: 366-381