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Welcome ....
to your January newsletter, featuring the latest news from The Open University Business School (OUBS)
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The Open University and BBC partnership
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More than 50 years co-producing inspirational content, bringing learning to life for millions of people.
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The Decade the Rich Won
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Did you watch ‘The Decade the Rich Won’ this week?
You may have seen the first of this two-part series which aired on BBC2 on Tuesday evening. This OU / BBC co-production has Senior Lecturer in Management Dr Jamie Woodcock as one of its academic consultants, together with Professor of Economics Susan Newman from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The second part of the series is on Tuesday (1 February) evening at 21:00 – more information here. The OU’s Broadcast and Partnerships website has extensive resources and information on topics related to this series, including an illustrated look into the wealth gap and how it affects us all.
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Check out what it takes to be a leader
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Another recent OU / BBC co-production is BBC Learning English – Leadership which launched on the BBC Learning English website earlier this month. Three academic consultants from the Business School, Dr Owain Smolovic Jones, Dr Daniel Haslam and Dr Francesca Calo, are involved in this 20-part series of digital content which seeks to discover the underlying nature of leadership. This includes exploring the power of cults, the genius of visionaries, the unexpected power of individuals, the strength of community-led leadership, and whether leadership is best done by women. Further details here with more information and resources on the OU’s Broadcast and Partnerships website.
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Apprentices letting the train take the strain via the OU
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With National Apprenticeship Week (7-13 February) fast approaching, please take a look at a great example of flexible learning provided by the OU with South Western Railway. The train company, which has a substantial workforce of around 5,500 people performing a whole range of jobs, from drivers to customer service to HR, has invested in management capabilities through our Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA). This article highlights two apprentices who are studying at degree level for the first time in their 40s after career changes.
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NHS vaccination centre remains for first half of 2022
The ground floor of our Michael Young Building on the Milton Keynes campus will be remaining as an NHS vaccination centre until the end of June this year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson toured the temporary Covid-19 vaccination centre in late December with his visit attracting significant national, regional and local media attention.
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The OU Business School is committed to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA)
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LGBT+History Month
A research showcase on Tuesday 8 February from 11:00 – midday will celebrate LGBT+ History Month. Dr Caroline Derry (Senior Lecturer in Law) and Jill St George (Lecturer in Law) will introduce their research on the connections between sexuality, legal history and empire, followed by an opportunity to ask questions. Please email FBL-EDIA to book as well as for enquiries.
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How to make life better for the working women of the world
Leading scholar of work and social reproduction Susan Ferguson requests that the working women of the world down their tools for an hour next week! The Associate Professor Emerita at Wilfrid Laurier in Canada will guide attendees through more than two centuries’ worth of theorising about women’s unpaid labour, as well as their relationship to waged labour. This Gendered Organisational Practice (GOP) research cluster online event, Help! I’ve been historically overworked!, is on Thursday 3 February (18:30 – 19:30).
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Challenges and opportunities for SMEs with net zero goal
Professor Richard Blundel’s article, SMEs and Net Zero – challenges and opportunities, has been published on the digital learning platform OpenLearn. This is part of The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference - COP26 Hub, which also features on the OU’s revamped website for sustainability. With around six million SMEs in the UK alone, and more than 200 million worldwide employing around two billion people, the Professor of Enterprise and Organisation asks how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can make the radical changes required to tackle the Climate Emergency.
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Hear more on intercultural competence in new speaker series
Have you ever considered how your culture and the community you live in shapes your identity, values, beliefs and preferences? Developing your intercultural competence is arguably one of the most valuable skills you can develop for the modern workplace.
World-renowned Emeritus Professor Mike Byram is the inaugural guest in the Distinguished Speaker Series from the OU’s School of Languages and Applied Linguistics on Thursday 17 February (13:00). You will learn more about what it means to be interculturally competent and why an ‘internationalist’ approach to working across cultures might be exactly what we all need!
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We are immensely proud of our alumni community and this space is an opportunity to share some of your news, a personal achievement or a promotion, so please get in touch.
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It’s official – we’re very good for your career!
In a recent survey, nearly eight out of 10 Faculty of Business and Law (FBL) alumni say that their studies helped them in their career, a figure significantly higher than for the rest of the OU. This online survey, conducted over three weeks in July 2021, had replies from nearly 450 FBL alumni with 78% saying the OU has helped them achieve positive things in their career. Our alumni are more likely to gain a salary increase (60%), experience career progression with a promotion (52%) or to become entrepreneurs (20%). Many were very positive about their experience with the OU (86% satisfaction rate) and are likely to recommend.
Interestingly, although UK residents are more likely to be currently engaging with the University as an individual, future consideration of supporting the OU is higher internationally on both a personal level (51% compared to 45%) and at work (53% to 40%).
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‘Help! I’ve been historically overworked'
Scholar of work and social reproduction Sue Ferguson will guide us through more than two centuries’ worth of theorising about women’s unpaid labour, as well as their relationship to waged labour.
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EDIA Seminar Series – LGBT+ History Month Research Showcase
This research showcase to celebrate LGBT+ History Month will see several short presentations before an opportunity to ask questions. Please email FBL-EDIA for an invite and/or any enquiries.
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Hitting the Sweet Spot: Interview with Jo Fairley – Founder of Green & Black’s Chocolate
Jo will be sharing the extraordinary rollercoaster journey of Green & Black’s from a Portobello Road bedroom to a global ethical brand in this lunchtime careers webinar.
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Crazy Busy: How to work fewer hours and be more successful
Leadership coach and speaker Zena Everett will give practical tips to get more higher value tasks done, in less time, in another lunchtime careers webinar.
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Take a look at our careers support to help you progress
We can offer help and support in the OUBS careers and professional development service if you are looking for a new role and/or want to progress in your role. MBA recruitment guides are designed to help start your search and Career maximiser, a CPD-accredited online career development course, will help on what you want from your career. Our monthly free careers webinars take place throughout the year – if you have missed them, they are all are recorded to watch on-demand. Recent topics include how to use the free career maximiser tool, the power of professional relationships, leadership in difficult times and many more.
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Hitting the Sweet Spot: Interview with Jo Fairley – Founder of Green & Black’s Chocolate a look at our careers support to help you progress
One of the UK’s leading motivational speakers, Jo Fairley (pictured) will share the extraordinary rollercoaster journey of Green & Black’s from a Portobello Road bedroom to a global ethical brand. Jo’s business insights will be from an entrepreneurial slant, as a woman in business, to an ethical and environmental angle, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and branding. This latest free lunchtime careers webinar exclusively for our alumni is on Wednesday 16 February (13:00 – 14:00).
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Crazy Busy: How to work fewer hours and be more successful
Research shows that we get our work done but it takes longer because of constant digital and people interruptions. This lunchtime careers webinar exclusively for our alumni on Wednesday 2 March (13:00 – 14:00) will give you practical tips to get more higher value tasks done, in less time. Presenter Zena Everett is a leadership coach and speaker on career strategy and productivity, the author of Mind Flip: Take the Fear out of Your Career and Amazon’s number one best-seller The Crazy Busy Cure.
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We have a range of exclusive offers for our OUBS alumni. Click the buttons to find out more. Remember, you can access our career webinar recordings on our website along with a whole range of online careers articles.
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Thanks for staying connected
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Best wishes
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OUBS Alumni Engagement Team
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The Open University (OU) Business School’s Stakeholder and Alumni Engagement team works with the OU’s Development Office to keep in touch with alumni, partners and supporters. Our privacy policy sets out how the OU obtains, manages, uses and protects your data and relates specifically to information held by both Offices.
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