Drop-In Wednesdays!
An opportunity to drop-in from 2pm to 4pm and ask us any questions you have about studying at Brunel Business School. Our Drop-in Wednesdays @ BBS are for everyone interested in studying with us.
Last chance to register for a FREE seminar on Sustainability in Marketing in Brunel Business School, with speakers from Coca Cola and Eurostar. Register by the end of tomorrow or miss out!
This seminar is organised by the Centre for Research in Marketing (CREAM) in Brunel Business School directed by Professor John M.T. Balmer. The centre is the focus for the school’s marketing research community of around 30 PhD scholars and seven marketing faculty (including Professor T.C. Melewar and Visiting Professor Stephen A. Greyser of Harvard Business School).
Read more about the Centre for Research in Marketing (CREAM) in Brunel Business School.
As part of the Business Life Programme, Dr Grahame Fallon led a party of 12 MSc in Management students on this year’s BMW MINI Oxford Plant tour in December 2012.
Dr Fallon writes on behalf of the MSc Management tour party:
The day was cold and frosty but we all set out bright and early with considerable enthusiasm, arriving at BMW Mini’s Cowley, Oxford plant in good time for the 11am tour, leaving time for a welcome coffee stop en route. On arrival at the plant, we were kitted up with protective overalls and intercom equipment, so that we were able to hear the expert commentary from the tour guide during our walk around the assembly plant.
MINI visit
The tour took just over an hour, and we were able to track the assembly of a range of mini cars from arrival to final completion. We were all impressed by the state of the art quality and efficiency of the supply chain and operations management techniques that were used in the plant. It was fascinating to see the use of robotics at many stages of production, and the way in which teams of workers were organised using total quality management procedures and insights. The tour party asked many questions, leading to fascinating insights into the way that BMW MINI is run. MINI’s BMW inspired recruitment, training and development and apprenticeship schemes were explained to us during the tour, together with the impact of the BMW takeover on the company’s strategic and operational management, and on the continuing high levels of investment that have made the Oxford MINI plant sustainable. At the end of the tour, there was an opportunity for us to take photographs against the background of MINI cars from different eras.
This was a great tour, which we all thoroughly enjoyed!
Find our more about the MSc in Management programme in Brunel Business School by visiting our website.
Brunel Business School recently hosted an annual Capstone event: ‘Making Growth Happen – What can be done to achieve an authentically sustainable economic growth?’ under the umbrella of Business Life: Employability Programme.
Flavia de Facendis, an MBA student who took part in the event this year, writes:
The Eastern Gateway, Brunel Business School’s brand new building, was an ideal venue to host ‘Making Growth Happen – What can be done to achieve an authentically sustainable economic growth?’, where industry representatives, academics and students were able to share their experiences and develop collaborative ideas.
After a welcome from the Vice Chancellor, Professor Chris Jenks, high profile business leaders delivered engaging presentations about growth and sustainability. A diverse range of organisations were represented, from the Confederation of British Industry, to British Airports and Telefonica. The property and development company Cathedral Group were also present, as were the environmental management consultancy Giraffe Innovation. The challenging and thought-provoking ideas of Brunel’s newly appointed Professor of Contemporary Thought, Will Self, concluded the speeches and the first part of this event. To find out more about Will Self’s involvement with Brunel, read here.
The second section of the event comprised of contributions from all of the attendees, focusing on collaboration between participants: business leaders, academics and students worked together to produce a call for action. The participants were encouraged to identify a definitive Ten Point Plan for enabling a sustainable business growth.
The afternoon ended with a valuable networking opportunity for the students to engage with industry professionals. One of the students attending, Sayantan Das, commented:
‘The event was a great networking platform for the business students and a great occasion for us to meet delegates from various industry sectors. I have interacted with some interesting people in my discussion group and created contacts that will be useful in my job search.’
Brunel Business School will be organising two Business Boot Camp events in February and April for high achieving applicants following the success of the fully booked event last year. The Business Boot Camp event at Brunel Business School is an exclusive event for candidates who are predicted to achieve AAB grades or above, or an overseas equivalent, holding an offer to pursue their Business Degree in Brunel University. Eligible candidates will be receiving a personal invitation from the Head of School, Prof Zahir Irani, directly.
The Business Boot Camp is a three day, residential event, with free accommodation and food on campus for all participants. The number of participants is limited to 40 per event. This interactive event will offer participants an opportunity to:
The School received recognition for its innovative approach to giving prospective students a taste of life in a university in the national press, but more importantly the event was a major success with the participants themselves. Here are some of their testimonials:
Sana Ali
I attended the Business Boot Camp because of the incredible opportunities on offer and the chance to gain knowledge and inspiration from professionals, entrepreneurs and staff at Brunel was too good to turn down. I was able to gain skills that I can carry with me throughout my time at Brunel, attaining my degree and preparing for life afterwards. I was also able to get a better insight into the life at Brunel University as I got the chance to stay on campus. In doing this I was able to start great friendships with others at the Boot Camp, and they made the experience all the better. The session with Saira Khan and the guest speaker at the Dinner in particular were very useful and insightful, adding an entrepreneurial atmosphere to the days spent at Brunel. The experience as a whole greatly influenced my choice in attending Brunel for my Business Management degree and I would definitely recommend that anyone interested in business study should attend. The Boot Camp itself has done a lot in helping me realise business is the route which I would like to take for the rest of my studies and career. I’m proud to have been part of the first group of people to attend.
Kishan Patel
The reason I attended the Business Boot Camp was to get an idea of what this university is like, what it offers in terms of academic and job prospects further down the line and to generally get a feel for the university life on campus. I got a great deal out of this experience including a lot of interesting information on the specific business courses available and what excellent opportunities I would encounter, as well as the skills I could learn from attending this university. With all expenses paid, this is truly an experience that will put you ahead of peers come September (fresher’s week!). Two sessions that are etched in my memory is the session with Saira Khan, who highlighted the importance of making the most out of your opportunities and standing out from the crowd. The second session which I found extremely useful was the Markstrat Business game we took part in, which actually helps us in our course when we start. This enabled me to make Brunel a firm choice because I realised that the course here offered practical as well as theoretical learning experience. Overall I would strongly suggest to any potential applicant to make the most of this opportunity as you will develop your networking skills and get an insider’s experience as to how great Brunel really is!
Omer Duman
I was at a point with Business Studies where I was gradually beginning to lose passion with the subject and had serious thoughts about not progressing onto university. I can now honestly say that the Boot Camp changed my opinion in that short space of time! I attended the course as it appeared to me to be a challenge. It was a chance to compete against Brunel’s best applicants and I wanted to experience the so called ‘Uni experience’. The challenge was a great learning curve and a general life experience as I came in with a view of stereotyping everyone, but was pleasantly surprised by other applicant’s achievements and how other applicant’s aspirations actually inspired me. As boring as it may sound, the talks were the highlight for me as I felt great respect for most of the guest speakers because they were talking through experience: they simply proved anything is possible in the world of business. You do not get college teachers who have worked their way up to be millionaires, do you? With this event Brunel are not trying to sell the Uni to you, but give you a life experience.
Edward Ledwith
My decision to attend the Brunel Boot Camp was based on a combination of my interest in studying business operations and the University life as a whole. Using specialist marketing strategy games during the Boot Camp really brought the theory of marketing to life, not just taking into consideration the obvious factors such as advertising but the market direction itself. In addition to the marketing skills learnt, we attended talks on specific aspects, such as voice coaching and how to effectively present to an audience: creating the overall business package you would expect any successful business person to master.
Business is an easy thing to teach in theory; however hearing it from people who have put that theory into practice and had a great success, such as Saira Khan, really becomes a motivational force. In addition to the academic benefits the camp offered, the friendships I made with people on the camp have continued and many of them are now reading the same course at University. I felt that having a crash course in success, which the camp turned out to be, really ignited a flame inside me.
For more information about Brunel Business Boot Camp please visit: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/bbs/undergraduate-study/bootcamp or contact Sharon Coote on sharon.coote@brunel.ac.uk
Brunel Business School is proud to initiate its annual Seminar Series with a seminar on corporate branding, an innovative area of research, which is spearheaded by world class academics in the Centre for Research in Marketing (CREAM) in the School.
The first in a series of seminars will take place on Wednesday 17th October 2012.
Limits of Transparency: Corporate Branding and Change in Times of Crisis
How is a brand affected by organizational crisis? How can it be protected by initiating organizational change? And what are the limits of organizational transparency in times of crisis and change? These are the timely questions addressed by Roy Langer, based on his two decades of experience in research and consultancy. In his presentation, he will present two qualitative in-depth-case studies applying innovative research methods and leading to a theoretical and conceptual discussion of transparency in corporate branding. Rather than providing final answers, he will finish his presentation by raising questions for future research in corporate branding and organizational change.
Practitioners, academics and students are invited to participate. Please register your participation by emailing Stuart Sanford on Stuart.Sanford@brunel.ac.uk.
More information about CREAM – Centre for Research in Marketing
The Centre for Research in Marketing (CREAM) is directed by Professor John M.T. Balmer. The centre is the focus for the school’s marketing research community of around 30 PhD scholars and seven marketing faculty (including Professor T.C. Melewar and Visiting Professor Stephen A. Greyser of Harvard Business School). This lively, hard-working, and collegial group of scholars is active on a variety of research projects and scholarly initiatives. It is a group that, very much in the English University research tradition, “punches above its weight”.
The centre’s mission is to develop, facilitate and celebrate the marketing group’s research, scholarship and published scholarly output. The vision of Professor John M.T. Balmer, director of CREAM, is that the centre’s marketing research should be of international standing: research that should make a strong theoretical contribution and research that should, in addition, strive to “marry the cerebral with the practical”. As such, the centre seeks to produce research – especially ground-breaking pioneering research – that not only advances knowledge but, in addition, has a wide institutional and societal utility. The latter is in accordance with the corporate brand ethos of Brunel University (and Brunel the man). It is a tradition which materially draws on many of the diverse precepts of the almost one thousand years old British University tradition. The group are proud custodians of this unique provenance.
Postgraduate Open Evening, held on Thursday 23 August, is a great way to discover more about Brunel Business School and our Masters Degrees, giving you the opportunity to connect in person with academic staff.
Open Evening in BBS: 5.30pm – 8.30pm
This open evening is exclusively for Masters Degrees and will be held in the newly opened home of Brunel Business School - Eastern Gateway Building.
Eastern Gateway Building
Course Directors and Lecturers will be on hand to answer any questions. You will also have the opportunity to tour the campus.
Attending the open evening will enable you to:
Click here to book your attendance. Directions to the Brunel University campus.
The 2nd Brunel Business School Accounting Symposium is to be held at the Hamilton Centre Hospitality Suite, Brunel University on Thursday 21 June 2012. It is hosted by the Accounting and Auditing Research Centre. The purpose of this one-day event is to promote discussion on contemporary issues in accounting, provide continuing professional development and foster relationships with the accountancy profession, standard setters and other national and international stakeholders.
The symposium is likely to be of value to those who are interested in issues arising from the internationalisation of financial reporting, which include the endorsement, enforcement and effects of IFRS in Europe, and recent revised proposals for the future of UK GAAP. Key note speakers are:
More information on Brunel Business School and other events can be found here on this link.
On the 7th and 8th of June, an eLearning Conference was held at Brunel Business School. Senior Lecturer Chris Evans and Director of Programmes Ray Hackney chaired the conference with keynote speakers Maggie McPherson from School of Education, University of Leeds and Steve Wheeler from School of Education at Plymouth University.
The conference was aimed at academic staff interested in using the Web 2.0 and social media in their teaching as well as at researchers and policy makers interested in the next generation of technology enhanced learning. It was open to academics, administrators, researchers and PhD students.
Steve Wheeler
The conference included discussions on topics such as:
The conference was well attended and proved to be a great opportunity for professionals from across the world to exchange ideas and information about the eLearning experience. More ...
