Free Language Courses for Students

All students at Brunel Business School can attend one of the many foreign language courses on offer. Best of all – they are completely FREE!

Why learn a foreign language?

• Foreign language skills can make you more employable,
• They give you more opportunities in the global market place,
• Knowing the local language can make your more confident when travelling to other parts of the world.

Language classes help students develop key linguistics skills and are taught by qualified native speakers who offer a fun and stimulating learning environment.

Courses are available in:

• Arabic
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Mandarin (Chinese)
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish

Classes at Brunel are run by the IPLC. To find our more please visit: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/international/iplc/foreign-languages

MBA students learn high flying strategy on visit to British Airways HQ

A group of current MBA students recently visited the British Airways global Headquarters as part of the Business Life Employability Programme of Brunel Business School. The visit was organised by Dr. Aida Haijro of the Business School. The aim of the visit was to gain a detailed insight into the history and the future challenges facing this leading player in the aviation industry.

British Airways HQ

The British Airways HQ at Waterside is a series of buildings joined together by a glass roof and a few interconnecting walkways to form a complex which has a large enclosed public area. The BA compound included a water feature resembling a running stream, a mini supermarket, and a coffee shop with people on the terrace either sitting on their own with laptops or discussing in small groups. If it’s not for the ubiquitous aviation-themed sculptures and the occasional groups of crew and pilots in uniform walking past, it could be mistaken a mini indoor city rather than a corporate head office.

After a short welcome session students visited the Heritage Centre and were introduced to the fascinating history of British Airways which can be traced back to the early 20th century when civil aviation began. The years that followed saw many changes to the company both in terms of its organisational structure and its aircrafts. Students particularly enjoyed listening to stories about the Concorde, its supersonic glory and the unfortunate end to its legacy.

With an idea of the history of the company in mind, students listened intently to the presentation on British Airways business plan and strategies for delivering its vision for the future: “to be the most admired airline across the world’s key cities.” There was plenty of emphasis on improving the BA brand and further developing customer loyalty.
The presentation was followed by a visit to the Operation Crisis Control Centre (OCIC). The OCIC is a large oval shaped room with two rows of curved tables surrounding a long straight table at the centre, behind which are a few large screens used to show presentations or live camera feeds. It is a location where various departmental Heads of British Airways come together during an emergency to coordinate responses, recovery actions and resources. Answers to questions such as the different types of crises that tend to arise and how they are dealt with helped students understand the true extent of such complex operations.

Lunch was served during a presentation on learning and development strategy. It is a subject of particular interest to students on the Brunel MBA Programme as Brunel Business School is currently collaborating with BA’s HR department on the “Learning Academy” project. It is an initiative that aims to replace training with self-initiated learning as the first step on a journey to becoming a learning organisation. The presentation itself gave students a broad understanding of the project and the Q&A session that followed helped to clarify certain key concepts and approaches. The visit finished in the early afternoon.

Some of our MBA students in British Airways HQ

Students agreed that the trip was extremely interesting and beneficial, particularly for those who have chosen to specialise in Aviation Management.  It has given our students an unprecedented insight into the past, present and future of the aviation giant. Understandably, with increasingly intensified global competition in the market, the future is uncertain, but it is satisfying to know that continued efforts have been made to ensure the organisation stays competitive in the future.

The report has been provided by Xiaolei Guo and Elizabeth Huang, Brunel MBA students.

Prof Jarvis reappointed member of SMEIG

Congratulations to Professor Robin Jarvis of Brunel Business School has been reappointed as a member of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) SME Implementation Group of the IFRS Foundation for a further two-year term ending 30 June 2014.

Prof Jarvis

Professor Jarvis’s current research interest is the process of accounting standard setting, financial reporting for SMEs and Business Support provisions for SMEs.

As stated on its website, the SMEIG has two main responsibilities:

1. Consider implementation questions raised by users of the IFRS for SMEs, decide which ones merit published implementation guidance, reach a consensus on what that guidance should be, develop proposed guidance in the form of questions and answers (Q&As) that would be made publicly available to interested parties on a timely basis, and request the IASB to approve the Q&As for issue. The Q&As are intended to be non-mandatory guidance that will help those who use the IFRS for SMEs to think about specific accounting questions.
2. Consider, and make recommendations to the IASB on the need to amend the IFRS:
   (i) for implementation issues that cannot be addressed by Q&As, and
   (ii) for new and amended IFRSs that have been adopted since the IFRS for SMEs was issued or last amended.

Book launch at Brunel Business School

Brunel Business School hosted a lunch party on 17 July to launch the second edition of Business Accounting by Dr Jill Collis, Director of Accounting and Auditing Research Centre, Brunel University, Dr Andrew Holt, Associate Professor, Metropolitan State College of Denver, USA, and Dr Roger Hussey, Dean of Guangzhou International Business School, China. Business Accounting is an accessible, non-technical introduction to financial and management accounting for undergraduate and postgraduate students. It is published by Palgrave Macmillan.

The event was attended by Professor Zahir Irani, Head of the Business School, Professor Keith Dickson, Acting Head of the Business School and members of staff. Other guests included co-author, Andrew Holt, Martin Drewe, Business Publisher, Palgrave Macmillan, Andrew Curd, Senior Campus Representative South-West, Palgrave Macmillan, and users of the text book in the London area.

Latest Guardian rankings show our dramatic climb towards the top

Reblogged from Brunel Business School Blog:

Professor Zahir Irani, Head of the Brunel Business School, explains his delight with the results announced in today’s Guardian Tables that show the Brunel Business School (BBS) has jumped some 52 places in the last 12 months to 45th out of 116 universities in the UK .

This meteoric rise has happened by way of a clear strategy that is underpinned by a focus on a relevant curriculum that supports student employability, positive student experience and engaged academic staff.

Read more… 99 more words

Brunel Business School invited to help establish policy on student employability

Prof Zahir Irani, Head of Brunel Business School, has been invited to speak at the prestigious Westminster Employment Forum and Westminster Higher Education Forum, in recognition for our achievement in student employability. The event will take place on 18^th October in Central London.

Bringing together key policymakers with stakeholders – including university leaders and careers advice staff, graduate recruiters and social mobility groups – delegates at this seminar will consider how universities and employers can work together to ensure that graduates have the abilities necessary to compete for employment in the knowledge-based economy. Delegates will assess the recommendations arising from Sir Tim Wilson’s Review of Business-University Collaboration, particularly the role of work placements, gap years and internships in enhancing employability and enterprise skills.

Funding for business education? Do your homework well.

Reblogged from Brunel Business School Blog:

• 

Funding for higher education study is always a hot topic – especially for postgraduate study, where the fees are typically high.

Over the years we have seen a subtle but noticeable shift in how students are funding themselves for their postgraduate studies. Whilst in the early 2000’s, many firms were only too happy to support developing their top managers and leaders of the future by paying their fees, now the landscape has changed to that of a greater proportion of self-funded students.

Read more… 589 more words

BBS Exchange Programme with Korean Aviation University

Brunel Business School has established an exchange programme with the Korean Aviation University (KAU). This year, two students have joined our undergraduate programme at Level 2. The aim is to organise a competition to select the best four Level 2 BBS students to go on KAU’s Summer Programme which takes place for four weeks in June/July 2012. BBS will sponsor the selected students in terms of free flights and £500 in cash for the student to spend on accommodation etc.   The selection process will be through competition.

 

 

Brunel MBA leading specialized MBA programme, says Asian Correspondent

The Brunel MBA (Healthcare Management) was listed as leading specialized MBA programme for Asian students by Asian Correspondent. Brunel University has been selected as one of the premier MBA programmes for Asian students. Brunel Business School offers MBA in a choice of three specializations: General Management, Aviation Management, and Healthcare Management. The Healthcare Management specialization as part of the Brunel MBA allows students to have a deeper understanding of senior management decision making processes or consultancy within this industry, helping students develop the required management skills to excel in this field. Read the full article in the Asian Correspondent here: http://asiancorrespondent.com/71576/leading-specialized-mba-programs-for-asian-students/

CAPCO Exhibits Exclusively for MBA students at Earls Court

 

On the 25th November MBA students visited Capital & Counties Properties PLC (Capco), a major property investment and development company in London. The inaugural visit was part of a series of company visits that will run throughout the year, giving MBA students first hand experience on how businesses operate. The visit offered a unique insight into two major construction and redevelopment projects run by Capco.

The group met at Earls Court Exhibition Centre with Gary Yardley, Director of Investment, and Richard Powell, Director of Planning, who showed the students the project for the 77 acres development of the site, a £4.5 billion planning application project fully financed by private investment.

The ambitious master plan is to reshape the entire area on the site of the Exhibition Centre, creating 7500 new homes along with hotels and offices, and 12000 new jobs. The Q&A that followed was an occasion to examine in more depth the complexities of the project, and to create connections between classroom theory and the reality of business practice.
MBA student Shekar Kamble commented: “This trip was an excellent exposure for my management studies – to understand the challenges in the Real Estate & Development Market in terms of strategic planning, sustainability, urban marketing, revenues, investment and market risks. The amount of learning through Capco was incredible!”

The visit continued to the Covent Garden estate, which was transformed into a new inspirational leisure and residential district, recording rent levels last summer. The aim of Capco’s visionary asset management strategy was to raise value in the area through new attractive retail spaces, converting building uses, restructuring properties and improving pedestrian circulation.

Students were engaged by the extent of the challenges involved in these projects, as Elizabeth Huang commented: “The visit to Capital & Counties was highly interesting because it allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the firm’s grand vision, their strategies and the extraordinary level of complexity they have to deal with in order to achieve their objectives. As a former Chinese urban planner, I’m also very impressed with fact that, despite all the challenges, they have gone to great lengths to strike a good balance between social responsibility and commercial success.”

Report by Flavia De Facendis, MBA student

The Brunel Master of Business Administration (Brunel MBA) is a one year full-time masters directed at graduates with three years managerial level experience. www.brunel.ac.uk/mba