INTERVIEW
people and the e ect of drugs and alcohol on their mental and physical health. “The SHAW project looks at how we might better support the 20 per cent of 50-plus employees who feel that they have to leave work due to health issues. It’s about people who would like to stay on at work, or who need to do so for financial reasons, but have to leave due to poor health. One of the outputs we’re creating is an app to better help sta collect and understand their own health, circumstances and needs. “We’re collecting information using AI, which will not just process the data about a person’s sleep pattern, for instance, it’ll ask how they feel, how it has a ected their work and if they have sought help. AI enables us to have a more dynamic way of working – rather than just circulating a questionnaire – and supporting employees’ health. It’s a business and management-led piece of research, but involves both design and medical informatics. I see these LLMs o ering us a real chance to undertake more interdisciplinary work of this kind in future.” Coming together to share best practice Warming to her theme, Loretto comments on how – even though academia is generally renowned as an industry that tends to be fairly collaborative – she believes business schools have a greater propensity to work together than in other areas of education. “Some of these ‘grand challenges’, as they’re often called, are global and no one school is going to be able to solve them on their own. One of the great things about business schools is the links that we forge with each other. “In a sense, I believe business schools have just woken up to the power we have to integrate other disciplines – it’s something we need to capitalise on. There are all these burgeoning technological developments, for instance, but how do you organise, structure and resource to get the best out of them? That’s where business schools come in.” Her zest for her new role is palpable; she refers to “the genuine enthusiasm, passion and warmth [of the association’s sta ]. I see that in the way people carry out their activities, whether that’s how the board operates, interacting with other colleagues, or attending professional events, such as the global conference. I think it’s something that really shines when you’re talking about personal values.” She describes the AMBA & BGA chairship as “a definite highlight” of her career. “It’s an honour and a privilege – I’m really looking forward to being able to use that platform to make a di erence.”
BIOGRAPHY
Prior to becoming dean at the University of Edinburgh Business School, Professor Wendy Loretto previously held several leadership roles there, including director of research and director of undergraduate programmes. Her main research field is age and employment and she is especially interested in the ways in which gender, age and health interact to affect work and retirement experiences amongst older men and women across Europe. Loretto’s work has received funding from research councils, industry partners, government and EU and is published widely in leading academic journals. She is currently leading a major three-year project investigation on how best to support healthy ageing at work. She was a member of the UKRI Equality, Diversity and Inclusion external advisory group and is on the boards of Abrdn Financial Fairness Trust and the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies
start to incorporate ChatGPT and other similar technologies into their teaching. That might involve getting the students to go away and do a piece of work, to engage with it or discuss real life queries in the classroom. Either way, it’s prompted innovative behaviours in pedagogy and it’s also opening up lots of avenues for our research.” Opportunities for collaboration Loretto elaborates on possible interdisciplinary collaboration. “Sometimes there is a perception that business management skills are separate from other academic disciplines. I think interdisciplinarity through AI technology is becoming more of a reality.” She provides an example based on her research: “My current project is called Supporting Healthy Ageing at Work (SHAW). I’ve had a strong interest in wellbeing since I did my PhD on young
Ambition OCTOBER 2023 | 19
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