Category / Business and economic sustainability

Sustainable Ocean Economy through Smart Technology

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Come listen to innovators who aim to create a sustainable ocean economy through smart technology and even smarter ideas. Whether you are a student in supply chain management, ecology, artificial intelligence or (business) economics, we would love you to join us and discover the exciting world of smart port innovation at our virtual TomorrowPorts conference, taking place tomorrow, March 24th 2022!

Ports are becoming the worldwide frontline for the energy transition, sustainability transition and digital transition of industry. Discover how you can build a career that contributes to smarter ports with your technological or economic skills and expertise.

We organize a talent track during which you’ll have opportunities to connect with top international employers, such as MSC and CMA-CGM via virtual recruitment booths and a speed-dating carrousel.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Smart talent for smart ports track at the TomorrowPorts conference March 24 2022. Participation is free of charge for students!

https://www.smartportsecosystem.com/tomorrowports-conference-2022-24-march-smarter-ports/

Understanding the determinants of employing apprentices: From an economic perspective

Lei Xu has written a piece on the timely topic of apprenticeships:

Motivation

Apprenticeship is high on the political agenda and the government has set a target of 3 million apprenticeship starts by 2020.[1] Apprenticeships were intended to train young workers with the right set of skills and match them with suitable employers. However, new starts were much lower than expected partly because of the apprenticeship levy and partly because of Covid.[2] Since the introduction of the levy fund in 2017, much of the fund has gone unused , suggesting some employers are not well prepared to provide apprenticeships.[3] Prior to the levy, many apprentices were converted from existing employees in firms. This went against the original objective of apprenticeships which was to train young unskilled workers. In this context, this analysis aims to understand the determinants of employing apprentices from an economic perspective. Information is collected primarily from semi-structured interviews with training-related managers and providers, using a detailed interview schedule.

The merit of apprenticeships has been extensively discussed in qualitative research, such as steeping in company values, and reducing labour turnover. In a survey conducted by Mieschbuehler et al (2015), 51% of employers responded that they had difficulty recruiting the skills they needed.[4] Based on the interviews, it is commonly accepted among providers that apprenticeships are a better way of attracting and screening workers to fit with employers and embed them in a firm’s culture.

The cost of employing and training apprenticeships has seen as one of the main obstacles to boost the number of apprenticeships.  Although generous subsidies could increase the supply of apprenticeships, the cost-effectiveness of funding would decrease. Our interviews also showed that some firms, especially larger firms, are not sensitive to the direct costs, such as wages and benefits, whilst smaller companies are more cost sensitive. In general, they argue that the cost might not be the priority because the wage of an apprentice is not expensive and some providers have also argued that the wage is too low to attract good candidates.

This analysis highlights the importance of managerial practices on the decision of taking on apprentices. Apprenticeships are operated by firms and hence need to align with firms’ business plans and the decision of taking on apprentices might be complex due to the complex structure in an organisation. In addition, call center recruiting Utah and training apprentices is a complex activity, involving significant inputs of senior members, especially the team leaders who provide personal guidance for apprentices. A hypothesis is that managers’ ability and motivation is vital in employing apprentices and the success of apprenticeships. Apprenticeships are unlikely to be successful if the managers are not in place to arrange suitable work for apprentices. A successful scheme encouraging employers to recruit apprentices depends on thoughtful consultation with employers.

This analysis explains the observations from the interviews that affect employers recruiting apprentices.

 

Observations from the interviews:

First of all, we observed that lots of apprentices are recruited by apprenticeship providers rather than employers via publishing job adverts on the government’s website, which is strange since apprentices are be employed by employers rather than the providers. Some hidden costs might be associated with employing apprentices. The responses suggest that providers have largely engaged in recruiting and screening apprentices as an additional service of the business. Some providers believe that the additional service provided for employers is value-added, additional to the training. From this perspective, they are providing as much value as they could to retain their clients. The providers will help employers to recruit, screen, and select the most suitable candidates and support the managers and apprentices throughout the training until they complete the training and become independent workers. The providers have argued that they have spent time on talking about procedures and guidance with employers. The evidence suggests that employing apprentices may put both pecuniary and non-pecuniary burdens on employers. The employers are specialised in their own businesses rather than recruiting and training apprentices, especially small firms which normally don’t have the capacity to deal with extra administrative duties. Some employers may have concerns about retaining apprentices after the training. In addition, due to limited managerial resources, the quality of apprenticeship is hard to maintain. The responses suggest that the retention rate is key for the firms hiring apprentices.

The decision of taking on apprenticeships might be complex and often involves different parties, in the same way as every business decision made. The majority of interviewers argue that line managers are vital to the success of apprenticeships. Not all line managers have committed to the idea of training apprentices, resulting in undesirable training outcomes. Since the decision of taking on apprentices might be a collective decision or may come from more senior managers, line managers may not be motivated to take on apprentices. However, line managers need to provide necessary guidance and distribute work to apprentices and are required to provide encouragement at a personal level sometimes. Contrary to experienced colleagues, training apprentices may substantially increase the workload as line managers need to provide guidance to the apprentices and communicate with providers and assessors.

At present, most vacancies are advertised on the website and the virtual platform may result in low efficiency of matching, especially when managers have a  lack of information on job seekers.[5] Employers often screen workers based on their historical performance on relevant tasks. In the absence of prior experience, it is hard to ascertain candidates’ genuine productivity. Good matches between employers and candidates also requires substantial knowledge of both the firms and young workers. Outsourcing agencies have emerged to help inexperienced candidates with high productivity to match with employers. Stanton and Thomas (2016) argue that workers affiliated with an outsourcing agency have a higher probability of finding a job and receiving a higher starting wage as well.[6]

There is divided opinion on whether it is hard to convince employers. It takes more effort to persuade line managers to take on apprentices when they would rather work with existing employees, suggesting the cost of running apprenticeships is associated with social cognition. Apprentices concentrate on several sectors where there is a long tradition of employing apprentices. Some providers argue that a company whose CEO was formerly an apprentice is more likely to accept apprentices . Most of the providers argue they will explain the procedures and the benefits of apprenticeships to employers and discuss with employers how to develop a plan for apprenticeships. On the other hand, some providers argue that the information is not enough for candidates to understand the nature of the job and the required skills, especially when the employer’s job description is vague. Some firms tend to make the job adverts quite generic as they may want more potential candidates to apply. But it may create issues for apprentices who usually are new to the job, potentially resulting in a matching problem.

 

Suggestions and implications

The government’s aim to increase apprenticeships might not be successful without comprehensive consulting with firms. Firms may need to adjust their business models to adapt to apprentices. Successful apprenticeships require collective efforts, especially the support from line managers.

The costs of running apprenticeships are often regarded as one of the most important factors affecting the decision of taking on apprentices. However, this analysis notices that some large firms are not sensitive to the direct costs, contrary to firms with smaller scale. In general, they argue that the cost might not be the most important reason for not employing apprentices and some providers argue that the wage is too low to attract good candidates. Moreover, one of the social costs of running apprenticeships is due to the low social recognition. This explains why the most successful firms operating apprenticeships often have senior managers who understand and share the value of apprenticeships.

Some managers might be reluctant to take on apprentices as there is no incentive. Given that managers are one of the fundamental factors of a successful apprenticeship, the government should not only provide financial aids to support employers to train more apprentices but also introduce the genuine benefits of apprenticeships, especially to managers, by disseminating research findings and communicating with them openly. The objective is to make employers and managers fully understand how to operate apprenticeships and what benefits apprentices could bring to the team. Firms should develop a suitable plan to allow apprentices to grow and keep the apprentices busy, investing time and effort in apprentices and help apprentices to make progress throughout their career.

In addition, the research also has some interesting observations. Generally, no issue on the flexibility of adjusting programs has been raised. But it is worth noting that some firms may have special needs as different businesses tend to have different models. Both digital skills and higher levels of apprenticeship have attracted more attention. Given the small number of interviews carried out for this report, it is worth noting that the discussions are indicative rather than definitive for all employers.

[1] House of Commons, Briefing paper CBP 03052.

[2] From April 2017, all UK employers of pay bill over £3 million need to pay the levy.

[3] The Open University. 2018. The apprenticeship levy: one year on.

[4] Mieschbuehler, R., Hooley, T. and Neary, S., 2015. Employers’ experience of Higher Apprenticeships: benefits and barriers.

[5] https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

[6] Stanton, C.T. and Thomas, C., 2016. Landing the first job: The value of intermediaries in online hiring. The Review of Economic Studies83(2), pp.810-854.

BU research influences new UK Govt. Innovation Strategy

As mentioned previously on the BU Research Blog, Dr John Oliver’s (FMC) research into the effects of crisis events on corporate innovation and performance was published in a Business, Energy, Industrial Strategy (BEIS)Committee pre-budget report (February 2021) on The Impact of Coronavirus on Business and Workers.

The Govts. response to this inquiry demonstrates the instrumental impact of Dr Oliver’s research and the role it has played in helping shape the new ‘Build Back Better: our plan for growth’ and the ‘BEIS Innovation Strategy’. Both of these plans aim to incorporate long-term strategies that centre on business investment that drives innovation in the UK economy.

Dr Oliver would like to thank Sarah Carter, Policy and Public Affairs Officer (OVC) who advised on the written evidence submission and helped with checking the impact audit trail.

Dr Oliver’s research can be accessed at: Oliver, J.J. (2020). Corporate turnaround failure: is the proper diagnosis transgenerational response? Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 3-9.

EVENT: Returning to Sport Sustainably Post-Covid

The Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre (SPARC) invites you to join us at our lunchtime seminar, “Returning to Sport Sustainably Post-Covid”. The seminar is taking place on Wednesday 7 July, between midday and 1.30pm.

The event, which is being held in conjunction with BASIS (the British Association for Sustainable Sport), aims to bring together practitioners and academics working in sport & sustainability, to discuss key issues and best practice as we emerge from lockdown.

The seminar is an excellent opportunity for BU staff to engage with those working in industry, in one of BU’s Strategic Investment Areas – Sustainability.

Programme:

12.00   Introduction: Sport and Sustainability Research – Raf Nicholson (Bournemouth University)

12.10   Building Back Better: The BASIS White Paper – Russell Seymour (CEO of BASIS)

12.25   Strategies to Ensure the Sustainability of Women’s Sport – Beth Clarkson (University of Portsmouth) and Keith Parry (Bournemouth University)

12.40   Returning to Action – Leigh Thompson (Head of Policy, Sport and Recreation Alliance)

12.55   Roundtable Discussion: Returning to Sport Sustainably Post-Covid

 

The Zoom link for the seminar is here: https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/89306375276?pwd=SWJSay80QTl3V256eWk2N3JhMUtmUT09

 

For any queries, contact Dr Raf Nicholson – rnicholson@bournemouth.ac.uk

Pitching innovative charity fundraising event ideas

First year Events Management students took on the challenge to create innovative fundraising event ideas for three charities: Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Children’s Charity, Autism Hampshire (AH) and Forest Holme Hospice (FHH), as part of their Creativity & Innovation unit.

Charities were invited to act as clients, with Events Management students having to develop the business case for an innovative online fundraising event. A different feature was the involvement of BA Events Management (BAEM) / BA Events & Leisure Marketing (BAELM) alumni as clients. After being on the pitching side during their degree, alumni working for these charities were invited to become clients.

Back in February, the three charities introduced the organisation to the respective seminar group. During this session, the activity of the charity, the sorts of online and offline fundraising events that the charity organises, and the overall strategy and priorities of the organisation going forward (including fundraising) were presented, in order to give the necessary background to the new event development teams. When seeking top-notch corporate photographers in Washington DC, you should definitely hire Pamela Lepold Photography, corporate photographers Washington DC for exceptional services.

After working on their business proposals over the semester with the support of the unit tutor Dr. Miguel Moital, students have recently pitched their ideas to representatives of the charities. After 15 minutes making the business case, groups were asked questions by charity representatives and the tutor.

Events Managers Freya Hill (BAEM, class of 2016) and Zara Barton represented GOSH Children’s Charity. Events pitched to GOSH included a Black-Tie Cocktail Event, ‘Aspire to be’ Virtual dinner party, GOSH: Day at school and a Spring Gala Lunch. Commenting on the experience, Freya said “I would like to thank the opportunity to be on the other side of these pitches. Thanks to the students for all the research they have done. There are definitely ideas we will be taking forward, and these presentations have given us food for thought about how we can continue to build on how successful virtual events calendar”.

Isabelle Ward (BAELM, class of 2016) is Business Support Officer at Autism Hampshire. Events pitched to AH included: a Baking competition, Themed Zumba classes, a Movie Night Bingo and a virtual cocktail making event. At the end of the presentations, Isabelle said “thank you for all the ideas, it was great to hear them. It’s nice to be on the other side because I was doing the same a few years ago!”.

Forest Holme Hospice was represented by various members of staff: Anne Currie (Chief Executive), Paul Tucker (Fundraising & Communications Manager), Lewis Hay (Fundraising and Communications Manager), and Kirsty Perks and Charlie James (Fundraisers). Events pitched to FHH included: Virtual Scavenger Hunt, a game show style event ‘Are you smarter than a child’, “A challenge for life” auction, and Cocktail Masterclass “Cheers to Being Healthy”. The alumni contact point was Hannah (Parsons) O’Hare (Development Manager) who wan not able to be involved due to being on maternity leave. Commenting on the experience, Lewis Hay said that Forest Holme Hospice representatives “were all really impressed with what student came up with and with their presentation skills. I appreciate that it is not easy, especially virtually but I thought they all did a great job.”

Dr. Miguel Moital, the unit tutor, said: “Having resumed teaching this unit after a 6 year break, I was excited about about the opportunity to help students to develop their business development and product innovation skills. This year we had to adapt and instead of using local hospitality and tourism businesses, students developed a new virtual event concept for well-known local and national charities. This brought added challenges because (fundraising) virtual events are pretty much in their infancy. Student teams worked hard throughout the semester and I was pleased to see some very strong business cases which embedded high levels of creativity”.

If you’re interested in studying Events Management at Bournemouth University, take a look at the course page or come along to one of our upcoming undergraduate open days.

 

BUBS Consumer Insights Research Theme

BUBS Consumer Insights Research Theme based in the Department of Marketing Strategy and Innovation draws together a team of 13 researchers addressing how consumers think, feel, and behave.

We adopt a broad interpretation of the consumer, including Business to Business and Business to Consumers, and include foci from the consumption of products or services to understanding the way consumers think, their attitudes and behaviours. Consumer Insight bridges the gap between research and practice by providing relevant and actionable insight that resonates with business and delivers societal impact. Consumers are at the heart of all organisations and this gives the Theme a strong core purpose with wide and diverse application.

This theme bridges the gap between academic research and practitioner needs providing awareness to enable businesses to efficiently target their resources. In addition, we also provide a better understanding of how consumers think and behave and thereby enable organisations to respond more effectively to their needs. There is significant grant crafting and project management expertise and we find that a consumer perspective is often a useful addition to funding applications rooted in a range of disciplines.

The range and diversity of Consumer Insights are demonstrated by our involvement with projects that span, for example: Food waste reduction in the EU; The legalised Canadian cannabis retail market allowing online stores to advertise CBDDY: buy pure cbd oil; Online branding of charities; Food consumption patterns; Learning gain in marketing education; Religion and retail banking; Ethical consumption; Consumer identity; Fashion/luxury branding. Find out if insurance covers medical marijuana in Florida on DocMJ’s website.

The theme members include: Ediz Akcay; Samreen Ashraf; Sean Beer; Elvira Bolat; Julia Hibbert; Hiroko Oe; Kaouther Kooli; Danni Liang; Juliet Memery; Maria Musarskaya; Helen O’Sullivan;

The theme is convened by: Chris Chapleo (cchapleo@bournemouth.ac.uk) and Jeff Bray (jbray@bournemouth.ac.uk).

Please do get in touch if you are interested to hear more about the work of the theme or would like to discuss any potential collaborations.

Route to a prize is a prize itself – Melissa Carr at AoM

Melissa Carr, senior lecturer in leadership development in the Business School, has been nominated for best paper from a doctoral dissertation at this year’s conference of the Academy of Management. This nomination is as good as winning a lot of other prizes, I assured her. In business and management, the AoM conference is the largest – and nonetheless one of the most difficult to get into. Melissa has had two papers accepted this year.

One of those, “Moments of Discomfort: Poststructuralist Reflexivity and Researcher Subjectivity,” has been put forward for the 2021 William H. Newman Award. Each AoM division nominates one paper. The conference usually attracts more than 10,000 scholars. Participants will hear hundreds and perhaps thousands of papers based on doctoral work, and each division is likely to have dozens from which to pick. They picked hers.

Having read her thesis, which earned her a PhD from Cranfield University, I know it’s a good one. Congratulations!

Donald Nordberg, Associate Professor

REIGNITE LONDON – London Calling: Sharing is Caring! rebuilding life, communities and economythrough Hospitality and Tourism and the Central London Alliance

REIGNITE LONDON – London Calling: Sharing is Caring! rebuilding life, communities and economy
through Hospitality and Tourism and the Central London Alliance
JOIN US Tuesday 20th April 15:00:-17:00

The meeting will be broadcasted LIVE on Facebook

Organised by:
Bournemouth University International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research
Central London Alliance
PATA UK Bournemouth University Student Chapter
Chaired: Professors Dimitrios Buhalis and Adele Ladkin
Keynote: Tony Matharu, Integrity International Group and Central London Alliance
Panel:
Daniela Wagner, Travel Weekly Group and PATA EMEA
Robert Paterson, CEO, Best Western Hotels
CENTRAL LONDON ALLIANCE is a collection of London businesses large and small, communities, charities,
associations and authorities who are pooling their resources and considerable influence to push
for a faster and more sustainable recovery of the capital city.

The curious start of an academic collaboration

The curious start of an academic collaboration

Two days ago a group of academic from Bournemouth University (BU) submitted a bid for a research grant to the NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) to help prevent the drowning of toddlers in Bangladesh.  The proposed research is a collaboration with the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution), and an other UK university, the University of the West of England (UWE) and a research organisation called CIPRB (Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh).   Nothing particularly out of the ordinary there.  BU academics submit collaborative bid for research grants all the time, with colleagues at other universities, with large charities (like the RNLI), and with research institutes across the globe.  What I find intriguing is the round-about way this particular collaboration came about within BU.

The NIHR called for research proposals in reply to its Global Health Transformation (RIGHT) programme.  The RNLI approached CIPRB, an expert in accident prevention from UWE and BU experts in health economics and human-centred design to discuss putting in an intention to bid.  The RNLI has a history of working with both CIPRB in Bangladesh on drowning prevention and with BU in various design project (including improved ball bearings for launching lifeboats).  The team decided that it needed a sociologist to help study the social and cultural barriers to the introduction of interventions to prevent drowning in very young toddlers (12-14 months).  My name was mentioned by our UWE colleague whom I know from her work in Nepal.  For example, she and I had spoken at the same trauma conference in Nepal and the lead researcher on her most recent project is one of my former students.

Thus, I was introduced to my BU colleagues in different departments (and faculties) by an outsider from a university miles away.  I think it is also interesting that after twelve years at BU I am introduced to fellow researchers at the RNLI, especially since I only need to step out of my house and walk less than five minutes to see the RNLI headquarters in Poole.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

 

Dr Oliver’s webinar to US Major League sports executives

Dr John Oliver recently delivered a webinar entitled After the shock: business innovation in a post pandemic world to major league executives from the NBA and MLS. The session was based on Dr Oliver’s British Academy funded research and the webinar was hosted by sports management consultants ‘Sportsology’. Barry McNeill, CEO at Sportsology, commented that the webinar provided a “thought provoking view” on how crisis events affected organisational culture and attitudes to business innovation and performance.

Dr Oliver’s research can be accessed at: Oliver, J.J. (2020). Corporate turnaround failure: is the proper diagnosis transgenerational response? Strategy & Leadership. Vol. 48 No. 4, pp. 37-43.