Welcome to your March Newsletter featuring the latest news from The Open University Business School (OUBS) |
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Let the 40th anniversary celebrations begin
The digital content hub dedicated to our 40th anniversary is now live! It’s packed with information about OUBS’ journey over the past forty 40 years and will be updated throughout the year.
There are plenty of ways you can get involved, so look out for more exciting content coming soon.
Plus, if you have a great story or picture from your time with OUBS then we’d love to hear from you!
Click here to view our visual timeline of the last 40 years of OUBS!
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Our Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership (CVSL) is hosting a webinar on Thursday 27 April looking at how non-profit organisations can maximise digital tools to be more efficient, reach more people and open up new avenues for their organisation. They will share details of a competence framework tailored to the third sector, and a toolkit of what’s available now.
The Centre is also hosting its Annual Conference on Thursday 25 May where Paul Streets OBE, Chief Executive of the Lloyds Bank Foundation, will be the keynote speaker.
Voluntary sector organisations are facing challenges linked to the current financial crisis, so this conference will bring together practitioners, policymakers, funders, and researchers to discuss their experiences and share ideas on how the sector can support the communities facing economic challenges.
Further details of both events can be found in the events section below.
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The Open University is offering an exclusive chance to go behind the scenes of recent OU/BBC co-production, Wild Isles. The natural history series, presented by Sir David Attenborough, began on Sunday 12 March and was informed by the expertise of OU academics Dr Philip Wheeler and Dr Miranda Dyson.
If you fancy learning more about the making of the series, then register
for this online event taking place on Tuesday 18 April, from 19:35 until 20:45.
Plus, our eco-friendly podcast The Big Green Money Show, presented by Deborah Meaden continues! The series, supported by academic consultants Dr Rodion Skovoroda and Prof Ali Ataullah, sets out to explore how businesses can become greener.
You can catch the series on Radio 5 Live, and later on BBC Sounds.
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Celebrating 20 years of partnership with Arab OU
The OU hosted the biennial partnership conference with The Arab Open University (AOU) this month. There was discussion about further ways to strengthen this valued educational partnership through innovation in teaching, curriculum development and collaborations in research during the Covid-delayed summit.
The AOU, a non-profit institution operating in nine countries across the Middle East and North Africa, has more than 30,000 students currently registered on OU validated degree programmes. This enables them to receive a dual award – one from the AOU and one from the OU. More than 48,000 students have graduated with an OU award since the partnership was formed in 2002, with 56% of the conferred students being women.
Some of the Executive team from the Faculty of Business and Law (FBL) - Prof Dev Kodwani, Prof Siv Vangen, Dr Dimitris Sotiropoulos, Mike Lucas and Carol Sherriff, plus Dr Haider Ali enjoyed discussions with AOU’s senior leaders.
Dev (far left) is shown in our Library building next to Kevin Shakesheff, the OU’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, and some of AOU’s representatives.
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Some of our alumni readers may already be the proud recipient of an OU MBA award, and for those who may be still on the pathway / journey / aspiring towards earning an MBA please know that the deadline for applications for our MBA is on Saturday 15 April.
The OU MBA is a unique distance learning qualification that builds business skills in the workplace and with our strong international emphasis and global reputation makes it highly attractive to ambitious executives all over the world.
Find out more.
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The Open University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) has just launched four new digital marketing courses. Each new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) short course has been created by leading OU academics and industry experts and will help learners build knowledge and skills that they can apply in a working environment.
The new courses include: Introduction to Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Search Marketing and Content Marketing. Plus, there are a further 14 courses set to launch over the coming months covering in-demand subjects such as digital transformation, entrepreneurship, business agility and social care.
Each short course, which can be started anytime, will take between 24 and 40 hours to complete and can be studied at the learner’s pace over a period of 12 months. Designed to test students’ understanding, each course has plenty of interactivity including quizzes and time for reflections.
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What do Tony's Chocolonely and Beyond Good have in common? They’re among the top scorers in this year’s chocolate scorecard, a guide to the most (and least!) sustainable chocolate producers. The initiative is co-ordinated by charity Be Slavery Free, alongside experts from universities, consultants and civil society groups who are engaged in transforming the chocolate industry.
The scorecard ranks chocolate companies on factors such as living income, deforestation and climate, and traceability and transparency.
Dr Cristiana Bernardi, Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Financial Management in the OU’s Business School, is one of the researchers who has been involved in the project: “Many of us indulge in chocolate, particularly at this time of year, and nowadays more consumers are demanding chocolate that’s free of child labour, poverty, and deforestation. They want chocolate that’s good for people and the planet. This is why it is wonderful to be part of a project that empowers people to make informed decisions about where they buy their chocolate from.”
If you want to find out who this year’s ‘good eggs’ and ‘rotten eggs’ are then download your chocolate scorecard here.
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Dr Steven Parker, Lecturer in Management, has been part of a research team, with colleagues from De Montfort and Staffordshire universities, looking at the future of local councils.
Part of the work involved conducting a survey of parish, town and community council clerks across England and Wales; the first comprehensive, national survey of the local council sector in more than 30 years. It revealed how these local councils, the tier of government closest to the people they serve, have taken on so much more and are central to the running of their communities.
The report highlighted changes and challenges, making some crucial recommendations about the future of local councils and their increasingly pivotal role, particularly around revisiting antiquated legislation, sector professionalisation, the importance of better collaboration with national government and further improvements on standards. You can read further details, including the full report, here.
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Top Asian radio station interviews Dr Vijaygopal
Dr Rohini Vijaygopal talked about her journey as a senior lecturer with presenter Raj Baddham from Lyca Radio, the UK's leading south Asian radio broadcaster.
Our Senior Lecturer in Marketing discussed her research, invited businesses to engage with knowledge exchange with the OU and even invited students to apply for her advertised PhD studentship!
Click here to watch the interview.
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We are proud of our alumni community and this space is an opportunity to share some news, a personal achievement or a promotion, so please get in touch.
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Open University Business School alumna, Rachel Blackburn, attended The Broadland and South Norfolk Business Awards ceremony this month following a nomination in the ‘Excellence in Insurance, Financial and Professional Services.
Rachel, who graduated in with her MBA in 2004, is Director of US2U Consulting, a management consultancy based in Norwich.
The team were delighted to be amongst the top three finalists in their category and proud of their organisation’s achievements.
pictured left to right Jan Baynham, Rachel Blackburn, Jess Connolly
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Sergio, originally from Venezuela and now based in Italy, studied for an MBA after taking advice from a friend who told him having the backing of an MBA from a good university would give him a good standing in business.
He never intended to use it to change career but observing his fellow students has given him food for thought and the motivation to take on a new challenge.
Read more about Sergio’s story here.
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The pandemic has forced leaders to raise their game. Leading remote teams requires new skills and is harder than leading in the office. This session will show how you can rise to the challenge and stand out from your peers.
Find out more and register here.
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In the webinar you will hear about a competence framework tailored to the third sector, and a toolkit of what’s available now. You’ll also hear from a small organisation that has introduced new digital tools and practices.
Find out more here.
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This free online conference, hosted by the Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership, will bring together practitioners, policymakers, funders and researchers to discuss their experiences and share ideas on how the sector can support the communities facing economic challenges. Paul Streets OBE, Chief Executive of the Lloyds Bank Foundation, is the keynote speaker and Ed Mayo, CEO of Pilotlight, and the former CEO of Co-operatives UK, New Economics Foundation and National Consumer Council, will also be speaking.
Find out more here.
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Have you ever considered mentoring or coaching in a career context – either as someone who would benefit from the career support they can offer, or someone who wants to become a mentor or coach?
If you have, then this free OpenLearn course will help you. Working through this course will help you to:
- Identify how a mentor or coach can support career development
- Understand the skills and characteristics of an effective mentor or coach
Find out how to become a mentor or coach when you feel ready to take on that role – whether now, or at some stage in your future career.
Enrol today.
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Top tips on professional networking with AMBA
How do you get started with networking and make the most of opportunities? This workshop from the Association of MBAs (AMBA) will share strategies to help you to prepare, participate more productively and avoid the most common mistakes that people make while networking. During the event, speaker Juliet Landau-Pope will outline the benefits of different types of networking events, online and in person.
Sign up here.
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Study Discounts
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Alumni Offers
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Library Access
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Thanks for staying connected
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Best wishes, |
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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