D
urham University Business School
If we want to create global business leaders, our students have to know how to conduct business on a global scale and be inclusive. That’s why we cannot look insular and must be international. A key to this is collaboration between institutions and ensuring diversity of thought in classes. What are your plans for the next 12‑18 months, especially in terms of the school’s global ambitions? I am only very early into my time as dean, so while I have thoughts and insights on how we want to move the school forward these are certainly not set in stone as of yet. For now, I’m enjoying getting to know the members of faculty, professional services and students, and really understanding what challenges we face in the future and how we will steer towards taking these on. We want to be as international as possible, as well as ensuring the faculty are continuing their great work in producing industry-leading research in their key fields, and we’ll be continuing many of the successes the business school has achieved previously. What are the biggest challenges for international business schools? All business schools are facing a lot of challenges, and many of these challenges are similar for each individual school. International recruitment is one example. There is a drive from all schools to continue to ensure they have diverse, international cohorts, yet the rising quality of schools in other regions means
At Birmingham, we managed to change the business school’s strategy to focus more on responsible education and business and sustainability. Leading this successful change was a highlight. One major indicator of this success was that Birmingham jumped 18 places in the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) research positions in my time, something I am very proud of. And now, my most recent highlight is moving into my role as executive dean of Durham University Business School, where my next chapter begins. I get to meet new people and focus on a new business school, with all the challenges that come with that. Your career has spanned senior leadership roles at several UK business schools and universities. Do you think UK business education is ahead of the curve compared to its international counterparts? I don’t think any country or business school should think they are particularly more prestigious or better at delivering business education than others. Although UK business schools do traditionally rank highly and offer great teaching, there is a huge amount we can learn from the way business education is taught in other countries and in other business schools. Business education is truly a global sector, and the stuff we can learn from other schools, especially those in emerging markets, where their businesses operate in different contexts and they deal with greater uncertainty and difficult political situations, we can learn greatly from.
currently offers a full- time, one-year MBA, as well as an online MBA
and an executive MBA in conjunction with EBS Universität in Germany. It also offers both DBA and PhD programmes, in addition to a roster of master’s degrees. Founded in 1965, the school is gearing up to relocate to a new campus in the heart of the city of Durham and a building that was originally earmarked as Durham County Council’s new headquarters, a move that dean Cathy Cassell is set to preside over. Can you share some highlights of your career to date? In my career to date I’ve had plenty of highlights, both from a research perspective in my role as a professor of organisational psychology, as well as from a business school management aspect, working as dean at the University of Birmingham Business School for five years, and now moving to be dean at Durham University Business School. From the academic perspective, the opportunity to change the way in which we think about how we do research in my field, plus the impact of my research on diversity and inclusion, has been a personal highlight. Plus, there is the further impact my research has also had on wider industries. From the management perspective, the opportunity to see others flourish and personnel develop over time, and the role I have had in helping with that, is a real highlight.
16 | Ambition | DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online