A special 40th anniversary message

Head of The Open University Business School, Professor Siv Vangen has delivered a special message as part of the Business School’s 40^th anniversary celebrations. In the video, Siv reflects on our incredible network of 108,000 alumni across 125 countries, our pioneering approach to learning, and our impressive UK Research Excellence Framework assessment results. 

She says, “what makes us exceptional is our open access, our phenomenal reach and our increasing focus on social justice, sustainability and equity.”

“Milestones are worth marking and so we hope you will join us in celebrating 40 years of The Open University.”

Success for UNI SIM at Santander’s global awards

OU MBA student, James Markey, won in his category at the prestigious Santander X Global Awards earlier this month! James’s business, UNI SIM, was also the only UK business accepted into the Accelerate category.

This international university entrepreneurship competition offers the best start ups from Spain, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, UK, and Uruguay the chance to pitch for cash prizes and additional benefits to take their solutions to the next level. The global pitch day and awards ceremony was held in Valencia on Thursday 11 May.

UNI SIM is an international business that creates affordable haptic and virtual reality (VR) simulators. Their equipment is being used to educate the next generation of dentists, nurses and doctors, and is revolutionising medical education. When UNI SIM was just an idea, James put forward a business plan to the OU’s Open Business Creators Fund, which he won, and the OU then put him forward for the Santander Universities’ Entrepreneurship Awards.

Read more about James’s story here.

40 lessons in learning for 40 years of OUBS

What have you learned since completing your studies? Can you help us reach 40 lessons learned in post-study life to mark 40 years of The Open University Business School (OUBS)?

We were inspired by alumnus Alan Morrison’s LinkedIn post on the top 10 things he’s learned since completing his MBA 20 years ago. From cultivating creativity to always thinking Win-Win, Alan shares some of his most important learnings. So whether you’ve been resting from your studies or have recently graduated, tell us what you’ve learned by adding your lesson to the list!

New short courses to explore!

The Business School has just launched a broad range of 23 short courses which have been developed by our business and management academics. They are aimed at aspiring, new and more experienced managers, looking to develop skills in the areas of people, finance, strategy, creativity, communication, digital and organisational skills, who are wanting to top-up their continuing professional development (CPD) hours.

These exciting short courses are designed to be bite-size chunks (10 and 20 hours) of learning and can be studied flexibly, over a weekend or over a number of months. Being practice-based, the skills, techniques and models learned can be immediately applied in the workplace or as part of a jobseeker’s learning for their next job.

Learning at Work Week 2023

This annual event was held earlier in the month to highlight the importance and benefits of continual learning in the workplace. OpenLearn, The Open University’s free learning platform, was a proud partner and The Business School was pleased to support the week by providing a selection of resources including daily tasks, blogs, podcasts and webinars for those looking for learning inspiration.

If you missed the week itself, you can still access these resources on our dedicated Learning at Work website. Or head over to the OpenLearn page to discover lots of free options for lifelong learning.

Italian students are buzzing about their trip to the UK

A group of Italian MSc Human Resource Management (HRM) students from the University of Cagliari were on campus for two days last month as part of the Business School’s efforts to enhance the knowledge exchange and internationalisation of the MSc HRM programme.

Hosted by Marco Distinto, our PhD graduate and now Lecturer in Management,  Jo Brewis, Professor of People and Organisations, and Cinzia Priola, Professor of Work and Organisation Studies, our academics took part in a hybrid seminar where they discussed their research in the field of Organisation Studies and HRM, and the Italian students described their experiences as HR practitioners. The OU’s People Services team, the YMCA and Thames Valley Police’s Superintendent Emma Baillie were also on hand to provide more insights for our visiting students.

OU collaborates with Merseyside Police, looking at Evidence Led Prosecutions in Domestic Abuse cases

An interactive workshop was held last month to showcase the findings of an OU collaborative project with Merseyside Police looking into the impact of evidence led prosecutions on victims and the decision-making process within the criminal justice system.

Evidence led prosecutions (ELP's) are where the victim either does not support the prosecution, or withdraws their support, and the case still goes ahead.

The research project, funded by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Science, Technology, Analysis and Research (STAR) programme, analysed police case files, and interviewed victims and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutors and the results will help to inform future policy and practice.

This innovative knowledge transfer event was opened by Merseyside Police’s Chief Constable Serena Kennedy and closed with reflections from Roy Wilsher OBE (HM Inspector of Constabulary and HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services). It produced insightful discussions about ELP-based scenarios with delegates strategically placed to ensure learning from different professional viewpoints.

Photo shows, left to right: DCI Lynsay Armbruster (Merseyside Police’s project lead), Serena Kennedy (Chief Constable, Merseyside Police), Roy Wilsher OBE (HM Inspector of Constabulary and HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services), Holly Taylor-Dunn and Anna Hopkins (Lecturers in Policing Organisation and Practice).

TV appearance for OU lecturer

Nela Smolovic-Jones, Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies, was interviewed for a Montenegrin television programme, which aired on the public service broadcaster Gradska, about the OU’s Business School-based Gendered Organisational Practice (GOP) research cluster, of which Nela is founder and director. The cluster is a place for academic knowledge exchange on the issues of gender.

Whilst in Montenegro, Nela also delivered a public lecture based on her ongoing research on gender, democracy and work in the region. This interactive knowledge exchange event was hosted by the Women’s Rights Centre, a partner of the Business School’s GOP research cluster, and the most reputable and successful organisation in the sphere of gender equality in the country.

David Monk is royally recognised

Congratulations to our MBA alumnus, David Monk, who has been named as one of the 500 outstanding volunteers to be chosen as the nation’s Coronation Champions. David won our Alumni of the Year in 2021 thanks to his leadership role with his local healthcare system and St. John Ambulance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Coronation Champions awards celebrate the work of extraordinary volunteers across the UK who have been contributing to their communities and were launched by the Royal Voluntary Service as part of an official Coronation project.

Currently an Executive Clinical Director for St. John Ambulance Cymru, David supported the development of alternative care models during the Covid-19 pandemic which essentially reduced the number of people attending emergency departments. He also led the introduction of St. John Ambulance volunteers, which has now been rolled out to hospitals across the country.

A judging panel handpicked volunteers from almost 5000 entries to be recognised by Their Majesties The King and The Queen Consort in the official Coronation celebrations. We are delighted that David is amongst those celebrated for his exceptional contributions.

Read more about David’s story here.

Could you be our 2023 Alumni of the Year?

Have you got what it takes to be our next Alumni of the Year? Or do you know someone who has made a real difference as a result of their studies?

Nominations are now open for the 2023 Alumni of the Year to recognise and celebrate the most outstanding achievements of our alumni. This award will be presented to an alum who can demonstrate they have been able to make a difference as a result of their study, is outstanding in their field and is a positive ambassador for the School.

The Alumni of the Year and two Highly Commended awards will be presented at our annual Student and Alumni Awards ceremony on Friday 6^th October at The Open University campus in Milton Keynes.

Check out some of our previous winners here or find out more about submitting a nomination here.

Less is more; conversations for managing in and for the future – an alumni networking event

Join us for an exclusive alumni event focused on managing in and for the future. Dr Richard Longman (The Open University Business School) and Alison Sturgess Durden (Director at Mayden) will lead an evening around the transformative idea that “less is more.” Gain insights from the disruptive ideas at the heart of the degrowth movement and discover how the sustainability shift might be made from thinking about economic throughput (rather than output). This event offers practical knowledge, collaborative opportunities, and idea exchanges for implementing change. 

For more information and to register, please click here. Note that places are limited.