Category / Research communication

New Paper by Dr Elvira Bolat and BA (Hons) Business Studies Graduate Jack Strong

BU research, Publishing, Research communication, Research themes, student research

Dr. Elvira Bolat and her research supervisee, Jack Strong (BA Business Studies 2015 graduate), in the Faculty of Management published her latest paper today in the Journal of Customer Behaviour. The paper is more focused version of Jack’s final year research project which focused on Panasonic where Jack had done his placement during the third year of the studies. This paper explores customers’ perspectives on branding and the role of digital technologies in Business-to-Business context. Branding is a well-researched notion in the business-to-customer (B2C) environment but a concept which is unexplored in the business-to-business (B2B) context. Conceptually, similar to B2C organisations, digital communication via digital tools and devices allows B2B organisations to experience the benefits of exposing their brands to a wider audience. In reality, questions of whether branding is purposeful in the B2B context and what role digital technologies play in B2B branding remain open. This study explores branding in the B2B context, using Panasonic as a case study, to consider the value of B2B branding from the B2B customer (buyer) perspective. Results indicate that B2B branding is of importance in the B2B context, in particular for an organisation such as Panasonic where reputation is a driving force in attracting new B2B customers and nurturing long-term relationships with existing B2B customers. Moreover, this study concludes that whilst use of digital technologies enables the portrayal of brand perceptions of Panasonic, digital technologies have yet to be fully embraced for the purpose of branding in the B2B context.

Full reference to the article: Strong, J. and Bolat, E., 2016. A qualitative inquiry into customers’ perspectives on branding and the role of digital technologies in B2B: A case study of Panasonic. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 15 (1), 97-116.

Read full paper at http://dx.doi.org/10.1362/147539216X14594362873613

New Book Published by Dr Pawel Surowiec “Nation Branding, Public Relations and Soft Power: Corporatising Poland”

Research communication, writing

I am pleased to announce the publication of a new book – the first in the English-speaking world research monograph analysing the link between nation branding and the governance of Poland’s soft power. The book covers the following themes: Poland’s foreign and public affairs; the marketization of statecraft and its implications for exercising soft power by Poland and other Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) states; shift in the governance of soft power resources – avenues of changes from propaganda to marketing communication; the mediation of state identities, national identities and soft power; the significance of nationalism(s) and promotional culture for Poland’s soft power; the role and position of Poland in European affairs.

Nation Branding, Public Relations and Soft Power: Corporatizing Poland provides an empirically grounded analysis of changes in the way in which various actors seek to manage Poland’s national image in world opinion. It explores how and why changes in political economy have shaped these actors and their use of soft power in a way that is influenced by public relations, corporate communication, and marketing practices.

By examining the disourse and practices of professional nation branders who have re-shaped the relationship between collective identities and national image management, it plots changes in the way in which Poland’s national identity is communicated, and culturally reshaped, creating tensions between national identity and democracy. The book demonstrates that nation branding is a consequence of the corporatization of political governance, soft power and national identity, while revealing how the Poland “brand” is shaping public and foreign affairs.

This monograph analysing nation branding in Poland’s soft power has been described as “a major intervention into debates surrounding transition and Europeanisation” (for more details about the book see: https://www.routledge.com/Nation-Branding-Public-Relations-and-Soft-Power-Corporatising-Poland/Surowiec/p/book/9781138818835; ISBN 978-1138818835; hardcover).

 

Dr Paweł Surowiec
Senior Lecturer
Bournemouth University
Faculty of Media and Communication
Fern Barrow, Poole
Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK
Tel. 01202 965236
Email: psurowiec@bournemouth.ac.uk

Research in the news: how can research help improve access to higher education?

BU research, Research communication, Research news

Bournemouth university is undertaking a large collaborative research study,  exploring issues of access to higher education, led by Dr Vanessa Heaslip and Dr Clive Hunt.

An article has been published in the Times Higher Education drawing on research published by academics from the project and the University of Liverpool in the influential Journal of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning.

Below, lead author, Dr Alex Wardrop, takes some time to reflect on the research:

We wanted to find out how universities and colleges use research as part of their plans to widen participation and open up higher education to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

One of the central findings emerging from our analysis is that while national policy is leading to more institutions mentioning research as part of their Access Agreements, it tends to be in the context of justifying spending rather than leading to significant behaviour change.

The most recent strategic guidance from the Office for Fair Access emphasised the importance of building a community of practice across institutions, with practitioners and academics working and learning together to understand effective practice and the impact of interventions.

By engaging with research, reflecting on how we all work, learning from each other and listening to the experiences of students, we believe that the HE sector can do so much more for those who remain marginalised in our education system and society.

Our analysis in the article presents a broad look at how research is being engaged with as part of institutional policies. We argue that for widening participation to work for social justice, it must be embedded across institutions. Dr Maggie Hutchings and I are now researching this in much more detail. We are exploring how the ideas, rhetoric and policies of widening participation are being learnt  differently in different organisations.

To contribute to this research and share your learning, please complete our survey for the sector to help understand this more. We are really privileged to be going up to Liverpool over the coming weeks to do some fieldwork with colleagues from a whole host of different organisations.

For more information about the Fair Access Research project please email the Principal Investigators Dr Vanessa Heaslip (vheaslip@bournemouth.ac.uk) and Dr Clive Hunt (chunt@bournemouth.ac.uk).

EU AniM Workshop – Still time to register.

BU research, EU, Events, Featured academics, PG research, Research communication

Team Photos 2

Professor Jian Jun Zhang, Dr Jian Chang and Hui Liang are pleased to announce the EU AniM Workshop.

Please click here to register.

The “AniM” www.euanim.org is an EU FP7 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship funded project, which aims to improve the status quo by developing the “next generation computer animation techniques” and to answer challenges in handling computer animation data in an intelligent way to facilitate creativity and to encourage interaction among users through knowledge transfer and development.

project

The workshop is an intensive research meeting, aiming to provide new insights, approaches and methods of the next generation computer animation techniques and the intelligent animation data management to facilitate the growth of the computer animation industry.

Over 70 researchers based at UK universities and industry companies, will be invited for this workshop , which will be structured around the themes of “Enhanced Computer Animation technology” and “Intelligent Data Management for Computer Animation”.

You are invited to join us at the Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University, on 2nd September 2016.  Registration will be open from 09.45 and the workshop will commence at 10.30.

Professor Jian Jun Zhang of the NCCA, Bournemouth University will chair the event, which will include an introduction to the research within the project EU AniM and a panel discussion.  Professor Nigel W John from the University of Chester, is confirmed to deliver a keynote on “Real Time Computer Graphics for Surgery Simulation”.  A buffet lunch and refreshments will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you in September, in the meantime if you have any questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Research in the news: what will Brexit mean for Dorset’s economy?

BU research, Research communication

BU’s Professor Nigel Jump, a Professor of Regional Economic Development, has published the university’s latest Business Intelligence Review.  The report explores what Brexit may mean for Dorset’s economy.  Below he explains its findings.

In BU’s latest Business Intelligence Review, a report provided quarterly for business and other economic partners across Dorset and its hinterland, we consider the potential impact of the UK vote to leave the EU (Brexit) on the local economy.

The main finding is that any barriers to trade created by Brexit, real or psychological, will tend to increase costs for UK firms.  Over time, this means lower investment, lower output and fewer jobs than might otherwise have occurred.  Importantly, these consequences are likely to affect economic activity in the short-to-medium term.

Eventually, given our innovative, inventive and entrepreneurial people in Dorset, there is no reason why a path back to good growth cannot be achieved.  Nevertheless, as reflected in the Bank of England’s recent measures to stimulate activity, there is a period of risk and uncertainty to be navigated over the next few years.

More information can be found in an article in the Bournemouth Echo.

The report is available to download here.

AHRC Annual Report 2015-16

Funding opportunities, Research communication, Research news

ahrcThe AHRC’s Annual Report and Accounts 2015-16 have been published.

The report is a reflection of the last 12 months, highlights of follow-on fund awards, and key achievements.

For the first time you will be able to view the annual report data via a new visualisation tool. This visualisation highlights the wide range of research organisations from which excellent arts and humanities research proposals were drawn and where new postgraduate studentships were funded in 2015-2016. They will continue to share more dynamic visualisations of data in the future.

Click here to access the AHRC Annual Report and Appendices for 2015-2016. (PDF, 2MB)

Research in the news: do we all need a ‘digital diet’?

BU research, Research communication

A ‘digital diet’ is the practice of controlling the obsessive and excessive usage of digital media, explains Dr Raian Ali, Principal Academic in Computing at BU.

Digital addiction, to games in particular, is often associated with negative life experiences and sometimes serious consequences such as neglecting children and personal health and hygiene conditions. With games like Pokémon Go such addiction could be argued to take cyber-physical form resulting in physical harm such as car accidents and visiting risky places. This motivated us to think of a more responsible way of designing of technology, which would include intelligent and interactive digital addiction labels and warning messages.

Technology can also exacerbate problematic work styles, where people remain connected to their job all the time. We argue that online communication systems are not designed to help reduce preoccupation but indeed often facilitate it.

What is ‘Digital Diet Technology’? 
Digital Diet Technology denotes software applications meant to help people monitor and regulate their digital usage and reduce their digital addiction. The technology uses techniques like tracking the amount of usage and visualizing in some form of infographic, allowing users to set up limits of usage and enabling their digital devices to lock automatically and ask them to take a break, comparing their usage to an average user and so on.

Why is it questionable?
The lack of clear scientific background of such technology is what motivated our research. We suspected that ‘digital diet’ technology may have undesirable side-effects, similar to typical cases in utilizing persuasive technology to change behaviour.

As part of our Digital Addiction research and the work done in our ESOTICS research group at Bournemouth University in collaboration with StreetScene  Addiction Recovery, we conducted empirical research using diary study method followed by interviews involving participants with problematic usage of their mobile phones. They had to install and use popular commercial Digital Diet apps for two weeks.  The study indicated a number of issues.

 Misunderstanding and Misjudgement 
These apps monitor and evaluate the amount of usage time and frequency. However, digital addiction is not only, and not necessarily, about the time spent and frequency of use. Think of social network users who post a comment and keep thinking of the replies they could be getting even when they should be sleeping.

Lowering Self-esteem
This may happen when a user receives repetitively a message or a score indicating a failure of self-regulated goal or that others are managing to regulate their usage better. Hence, we need a more intelligent classification of users and their groups so that we issue suitable messages and comparisons.

Creating parallel addiction 
Some participants said they became more inclined to check their mobile phone to know how they compare to others and how much time they had spent so far which may cause further anxiety and lead them to check other apps. It is like “inviting someone to a pub to talk about their alcohol addiction.”

Lack of Interest and Unsustainable effect 
Despites of the usefulness of measuring usage, participants generally felt that the apps were too much of a one-size-fits-all and were too simplistic. The messages sent, the avatars used and the comparisons made do not tend to cluster users and recognize their personality, usage style and perception of their own usage.

For more information about Raian’s research, see his recent blog posts for the Huffington Post here and here.

 

Making the Most of Writing Week Part 7: BUCRU – not just for Writing Week!

BU research, data management, Events, Guidance, Research communication, Research Training, writing

We’re coming to the end of Writing Week in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences and by now you will have made a good start or have put the finishing touches to your academic writing projects. Over the last week, we have given you some tips on writing grant applications and highlighted some of the expertise within BUCRU. If you didn’t get the chance to pop in and see us we thought it would be useful to remind you what we’re about and how we can help.

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) supports researchers in improving the quality, quantity and efficiency of research across the University and local National Health Service (NHS) Trusts. We do this by:

  • Helping researchers develop high quality applications for external research funding (including small grants)
  • Ongoing involvement in funded research projects
  • A “pay-as-you-go” consultation service for other work.

How can we help?

BUCRU can provide help in the following areas:

  • Study design
  • Quantitative and qualitative research methods
  • Statistics, data management and data analysis
  • Patient and public involvement in research
  • Trial management
  • Ethics, governance and other regulatory issues
  • Linking University and NHS researchers

Our support is available to Bournemouth University staff and people working locally in the NHS, and depending on the support you require, is mostly free of charge. There are no general restrictions on topic area or professional background of the researcher.

If you would like support in developing your research please get in touch through bucru@bournemouth.ac.uk or by calling us on 01202 961939. Please see our website for further information, details of our current and previous projects and a link to our recent newsletter.

Research in the news: one hour of activity needed to offset harmful effects of sitting at a desk

BU research, Research communication, Research news

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BU’s Dr Erika Borkoles has provided expert assessment of research recently published in the Lancet, exploring the links between a sedentary lifestyle and moderate exercise.  This has been widely picked up by the media, including the New Scientist and the Guardian.  Below, she explains the research and its significance.

 

Many scientist in the field of sport, exercise and physical activity have been frustrated for years about why people don’t exercise, play sport, or enjoy daily physical activity, such as moderate intensity walking, even though those who are regularly active they feel the physical, social, and mental benefits.

One of the main problems was providing strong scientific evidence base for showing health benefits of being active. Research has been fraught with trying to work out, the frequency, intensity, lengths of time and the type of activity, whether it is aerobic, strengths based or a combination of the two. Then there was the issue of how the activity of daily living contributes to the structured physical activity’s effect on health.

More recently, research has shown that sedentariness is a separate consideration from being physical active. Sedentariness is now associated with sitting time, and prolonged sitting has been deemed to have significant health risk regardless of physical activity pattern.

The scientific data available is still contradictory, but the recent harmonised meta-analysis by Professor Ulf Ekelund and his colleagues published in the Lancet is providing a reasonably robust evidence that moderate physical activity of 60-75 minutes a day, every day can significantly reduce all-cause mortality risks. The unique point of this meta-analysis is that the authors acknowledge that sedentariness and being active co-exists in one’s life. It might be that someone has a very sedentary job (e.g. truck driver who will perhaps sit more than 8 hours a day) but if they can fit in regularly moderate intensity activity, their risk of dying is significantly reduced.

Interestingly, when the data was scrutinised, those who watched TV for 3 hours a day or more, being active only provided health benefits in the highest activity bands. If TV viewing exceeded more than 5 hours per day, moderate physical activity was not protective.

The good news is that Ekelund et al’s research is providing reasonable scientific evidence for being active is something we should all practice and would benefit from. The main message is from current research findings are: if you job requires prolonged sitting, try to break it up at least once an hour by walking about, making a cup of tea or walk outside for a couple of minutes, but also continue to build in at least 60 minutes of daily moderate activity in your life.

Dr Borkoles provided expert assessment of the Eklund et al’s research, which can be read here.

Making the Most of Writing Week Part 6: What to do with your data

BU research, data management, Events, Research communication, Research Training, writing

You don’t have to spend Writing Week working on grant applications. You may already have a dataset and now you finally have some time to do something with it. But where to start? It’s often a good idea to go back to your original research questions/aims/objectives. As we said yesterday, a well thought out research question can help shape your analysis strategy.
Hopefully you will have a record of which variables you were measuring and how data were coded. Were any calculations performed using the raw data to create new variables? How were these done? This is all part of good data management. To find out more visit the information pages created by the Library and Learning Support Team.
Once you are reacquainted with your data, it’s often a good idea (in the case of quantitative data) to start plotting graphs to find out more. Always keep in mind the original aims of the study, it’s easy to wander down a path of distraction. If you are feeling confused by all of this or, have got yourself lost down a data track, the BUCRU team are at hand to help.
Peter Thomas is available on Tuesday and Wednesday while Sharon Docherty is available Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. Why not drop us an email or pop by to see us in R505?

Public engagement opportunity for conservation researchers

BU research, Events, Research communication

Public engagement opportunity for academics and PGRS!

On September 14th we are running a lecture day in the EBC with a conservation theme, open to the public and members of the U3a (University of the 3rd Age). We are looking for speakers to present an hour long lecture. It’s a brilliant opportunity to share your research/area of expertise to the public and can open some thought provoking discussion.

If you’re interested in being a part of the lecture day, please contact Katie Breadmore: kbreadmore@bournemouth.ac.uk/61356

Call For Contributions: Engage 2016

BU research, Events, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Research communication, Uncategorized

Engage is the NCCPE’s annual conference, held in Bristol each year and providing an opportunity for all those interested in HEI public engagement to come together, to be inspired, challenged and refreshed.

Engage 2016 will be taking place on the 29th & 30th November, and they are now inviting expressions of interest from anyone who would like to make a contribution to the programme.

Featuring the finalists for this year’s Engage competition, the conference will celebrate the diversity of engaged practice across the UK. The conference will provide an opportunity both to take stock and to move forwards with our engagement work. Encouraging new ways of thinking about engagement and how to support it, the conference will provide stimulation and challenge, inspiring us to develop quality practice. What are the opportunities and challenges going forward? How can we draw on expertise inside and outside the sector to inform our thinking and our approach?

The NCCPE are looking for workshops, interactive experiences, dialogue events, performances, and conversations that catalyse new ways of thinking.

Contributions can be formatted as either a 1 hour workshop or a 10 minute interactive contribution, and must contribute to one or more of the following themes:

  • Culture change: creating a culture where engagement is valued and supported
  • Effective practice: sharing insights into high quality engagement practice
  • Engaged research: creating impactful research
  • Engaged students: the role of engagement within teaching and learning
  • New ideas: taking our thinking forward about the role of engagement within higher education

For more details, and to submit a session proposal, please see their website. The deadline for submissions is 13th September.

For more information, please contact Naomi Kay – nkay@bournemouth.ac.uk