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Welcome ....
to your Autumn newsletter, featuring the latest news from The Open University Business School (OUBS)
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New OUBS Head for 2021 is an experienced leader
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Congratulations to Professor Siv Vangen (pictured) who is the new Head of School, starting on 1 February 2021. She is taking over from Professor Dev Kodwani who remains as Executive Dean of both the Business and Law Schools.
The Professor of Collaborative Leadership first joined OUBS in 2002, teaching extensively across the undergraduate, postgraduate and executive programmes, being an active researcher on inter-organisational collaboration and supervising many PhD students. She has held various leadership roles and has been Associate Dean for Research, Enterprise and Scholarship for the last five years. Siv will continue in her current role to oversee the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 submission which is due in March next year.
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Business Barometer shows key skills gaps remain
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The Open University Business Barometer has provided detailed insights into the UK skills landscape since 2017, looking at the impacts across regions, nations and sectors. This year’s report, which is released in a completely new business context, is based on a survey of 1,000 business leaders representing organisations of all sizes. It found that even though the pool of job candidates has grown significantly in size, employers are still struggling to find the right people, with management and leadership, and digital skills most difficult to find. Read here for other key findings, recommendations and to access the full report.
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The OU and Hugh on the Times Higher Education Awards shortlist
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The OU has been shortlisted in the University of the Year category in the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards 2020. These annual awards recognise outstanding work and exceptional performance across the higher education sector for 2018-19. Hugh McFaul from our sister Law School has also been shortlisted in the Most Innovative Teacher of the Year category. The winners will be revealed at a virtual ceremony on Thursday 26 November. For the full story.
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Financial support for one Future Leader
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The Future Leader Fund is a scholarship for the first two modules of the MBA for someone with the potential to be a Future Leader – further details here. The 2019 beneficiary was Vicky Gaillard (pictured) who is a manager for Natural England, a not-for-profit organisation helping to protect England’s nature and landscapes. She said: “Without my scholarship, I would never have had the chance of studying for my MBA. It is a life-changing opportunity and I’d like to thank the OUBS alumni who make it all possible through the Future Leader Fund.”
Applications for 2021 are now welcomed so please make your work colleagues, friends and family aware – how to apply. Entries must be submitted by early January 2021, with the beneficiary announced in February and their studies due to start in May.
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Tim joins the Class of 2020 takeover week
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Another previous beneficiary of the Future Leader Fund was Tim Lewis (pictured) who graduated this year. With degree ceremonies postponed due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the Class of 2020 was instead celebrated solely on social media for a week in September. This included special messages from the #OUfamily with some famous faces – watch this short video on YouTube – and some inspiring student stories with an opportunity to thank family and friends.
Tim took up this opportunity on social media including a LinkedIn post in which he said: “The course might be over but the experiences and the people who shared in this course will continue to be cherished long into the future.”
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Completing your qualification with The Open University Business School may have been a significant milestone in your life, whether it was in recent years or decades ago. The relationship we have with our alumni community is for life, and we always want to hear about your journey since learning with us, what you are achieving and how you are contributing to your company, community or society.
The alumni and career services are always available to you and we want to make sure that you do not miss out.
You can ensure you receive the full range of communications and services from your University by simply clicking here. If you confirm your email address with us, we’ll be able to keep in touch with you about the full range of benefits available from the University including the latest news, discounts, events, fundraising appeals, campaigns, plus ways to get involved with the OU Business School and The Open University.
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Check out this webinar as global transition to online gathers pace
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The current crisis has seen an increased urgency for organisations of all types and sizes to enhance their digital presence and to redefine their strategies to capitalise on the possibilities that digital transformation can offer. The Strategic digital transformation webinar on Wednesday 28 October (09:00 – 10:00) will bring together academics and senior practitioners to explore current thinking and practice on strategic digital transformation, providing unique insights on the move to digital in both business and higher education. OUBS’ Dr Giacomo Carli (Senior Lecturer in Strategy) and Jane Roberts (Acting Head of OpenLearn) will be joined by MBA alumna Kate Pain (Associate Director, Digital Strategy and Capabilities, Astellas Pharma).
This webinar is hosted by the Strategic Management and Leadership research cluster, with registration details available from mid-October on its webpage and via OUBS events.
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New online course to plan for your retirement
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Senior Lecturer in Finance Martin Upton has authored another course, this time setting out stepping stones to a financially-secure retirement. The Retirement planning made easy course on OpenLearn was created in partnership with Legal & General and was promoted during the recent Pension Awareness Week. The course explains how those approaching retirement now have more options, both about when to retire and how to use the pension ‘pots’ they have built up. It examines these options to help decide with confidence which are right for you, and also considers what to do if your pension is not sufficient to cover your spending needs in retirement. For further details.
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Assessing the value of small charities to the pandemic response
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The Director of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership (CVSL), Dr Carol Jacklin-Jarvis, is part of a consortium awarded £44,000 by the Lloyds Bank Foundation for a research project, ‘The Value of Small Charities in the Response To and Recovery From the COVID-19 Pandemic’. This four-month project will develop and analyse four case studies and produce a final report aimed at local authorities to evidence the role of small charities in the recovery from the pandemic. The team includes Sheffield Hallam and Wolverhampton universities and the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR).
This news is included in the online series, ‘Business and Law in the time of COVID-19’, which has reflections on the pandemic from academic experts and researchers in the Business and Law Schools. The series shows how management and legal insights from research and scholarship can help us consider and interpret the current context. Please email OUBS-Alumni if you would like to get involved in any way.
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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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Supporting the most vulnerable and disadvantaged during pandemic
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True Potential, the initial funders of the Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance (PUFin), has donated £200,000 to support vulnerable and disadvantaged people during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The chairman of the financial and technology firm, which has its head office in Newcastle, is MBA alumnus David Harrison. He also co-founded the national C-19 Business Pledge which mobilised more than 300 businesses such as Sainsbury’s, BP, Coca-Cola, NatWest, Unilever and Experian, collectively employing three million people. All committed to putting support in place for their vulnerable customers, employees and to help their local communities. For further details.
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Christian and Ilkay contribute to a new book on innovation
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Two MBA alumni, Christian Kastner and Ilkay Özkisaoglu, have written chapters for a new academic book, ‘Creating Innovation Spaces: Impulses for Start-ups and Established Companies in Global Competition’. Published by Springer Nature, this sees authors from different backgrounds such as artificial intelligence, mechanical engineering, medical technology and law share their experiences with enabling and managing innovation. Christian writes about ‘The Role of a Leader: transformational efforts in innovation and change’ and Ilkay on ‘Professional Social Media and Innovation: How You Start Leveraging on Your Innovation through Strategic Content Creation on LinkedIn’.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - 09:00 to 10:00
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Webinar on online networking to get better connected
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It’s always a tough balance to strike – how do you network online without seeming pushy or even desperate? Making online connections can build a valuable network which you can then leverage for your career advancement or next job.
A lunchtime webinar on Wednesday 21 October (13:00 – 14:00) is being led by Cambridge University and Judge Business School alumnus Tony Restell who will show how to efficiently grow a meaningful network online. He is a former strategy consultant and founder of the well-known consulting careers website Top-Consultant.com who more recently founded Social-Hire.com, a social media outsourcing company that businesses turn to when they are looking to leverage social media for recruitment.
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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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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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