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Welcome ....
to your April newsletter, featuring the latest news from The Open University Business School (OUBS)
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Professor joins the Government’s SME Net Zero Working Group
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Richard Blundel, Professor of Enterprise and Organisation, has joined the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) ‘SME Net Zero Working Group’ which meets monthly to discuss UK Government initiatives to reduce carbon emissions from smaller businesses. The working group’s current focus is a promotional campaign, linked to the international SME Climate Hub initiative, which aims to recruit large numbers of SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) in the run-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November.
He has also been invited to draft two ‘SOTA’ (state-of-the-art) reviews for the UK’s Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) on eco-innovation and the greening of SMEs, to be published later this year. These are short reports, written in accessible language, that draw together the latest evidence, identify research gaps and address key policy questions.
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Check out the many benefits of Executive Education
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Our Executive Education team has a new more visual, clean, dynamic website which is more client focused. This is to reflect the OU’s values and strengths and our commitment to supporting leaders and managers in the workplace, as well as the success of their employers. It will be updated with news, events and blog content, featuring the ideas and achievements of academics who could add value to your business or public sector organisation and providing an important showcase for alumni, clients and partners.
The team will really appreciate hearing from our alumni, having already benefited from members of the Alumni Council who helped shape the new website with some invaluable feedback. Please email executive-education with your ideas or constructive feedback.
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Plenty to shout about in Charter Day celebrations
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Some key achievements in the last year were highlighted as the OU celebrated its 52nd birthday on Friday (23 April), also known as Charter Day. These are available here in a video from OUBS and our sister Law School, collectively known as the Faculty of Business and Law (FBL).
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Sarah says that work won’t love you back!
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Ahead of International Workers’ Day on Saturday (1 May), fast-talking American freelance journalist Sarah Jaffe was the guest speaker for a webinar earlier in April. Sarah, who has written for the likes of The Guardian and The New York Times, discussed her Work Won’t Love You Back book. She then took a number of questions from an engaged audience at the Gendered Organisation Practice (GOP) research cluster organised event. Watch the recording here.
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Be part of The Great Work Reset for a post-pandemic world
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With circumstances right for meaningful and fundamental change in the world of work, what will that change look like – and what role will HR play in it? OUBS’ Research into Employment, Empowerment and Future (REEF) academic centre of excellence is a brand partner with The People Space throughout 2021. Each month, a REEF-affiliated academic is providing their thought leadership on ‘The Great Work Reset’ series. The first three in the series – The Great Work Reset (featuring REEF Director Dr Owain Smolovic Jones), The Great Gig Reset? (a video interview with Senior Lecturer in Management Dr Jamie Woodcock) and Resetting Equality in Work (with Professor of People and Organisations Jo Brewis) – highlight issues and suggest how HR can help work to become radically better. Please keep an eye out for the fourth one in the series, ‘Resetting Trust’, which will be published shortly.
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Ground-breaking new research project into rape and sexual offences
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The OU is collaborating with Avon and Somerset Police in a pioneering research project that aims to transform the police response to rape and sexual offences. Project Bluestone combines academic learning with professional practice and brings together leading academics from across the UK to work alongside police officers. Dr Emma Williams, Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships in our Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL), is working alongside Detective Chief Inspector Larisa Hunt as the academic lead for the learning and development workstream. Full story here.
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Courses focus on community policing and empowerment
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Our Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL), working with tutor Laurence Knell (pictured), has published four more free courses focusing on community policing and empowerment. This work is part of an ongoing collaboration with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and brings the number of PSNI community engagement courses on OpenLearn to seven, with another four now commissioned. The latest courses are available to view here.
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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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REEF attracts two new high-profile research fellows
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MBA alumna Maria Chenoweth (pictured) and renowned political economist, writer and broadcaster Grace Blakeley will be helping the OU to strengthen its engagement with global economics and environmentalism. Both Maria, Chief Executive of the innovative textile reuse charity TRAID, and Grace are joining Research into Employment, Empowerment and Futures (REEF) as new research fellows on an indefinite basis. Read more here on what their involvement will be.
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Read more about some of our amazing alumni
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Three more case studies have recently been added to the OUBS website here.
These are MBA alumna Julie Perry (pictured below left), professional footballer Dominic Ball who studied at undergraduate level with the OU and MBA alumnus Paul Mylrea (pictured below right) who speaks of his struggles with Covid-19.
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Latest career webinar focuses on leadership in difficult times
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The seventh, and penultimate, in a series of free lunchtime webinars exclusively for our alumni is on Wednesday 19 May (13:00 – 14:00). With the pandemic forcing leaders to raise their game, this ‘Leadership in Difficult Times’ interactive session draws on emerging best practice and research from presenter Jo Owen which will be published by Bloomsbury this year in his new book, ‘Smart Teams’. Further details on the event, the speaker and to register here. The six previous 2020-21 career webinars are also available to view here.
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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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