ACADEMIC RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY FOR BUSINESS
DURHAM UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL
WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH Durham University Business School research enjoys international renown, both for its academic rigour as well as for the major contributions it makes to benefiting wider society. Working with partners across the world, our significant research findings are at the cutting edge of the latest developments, and consistently lead to better business thinking.
ACADEMIC CONSULTANCY By partnering with us, you gain the experience and knowledge of a world-class faculty. Accessing our expertise provides powerful insight into your business and its operating environment when you need it. We enhance your offering through practical solutions to contemporary business issues underpinned by the agile thinking of leading experts. Our knowledge base is diverse with sector experience spanning finance, HRM, decision science, and leadership.
RESEARCH COLLABORATION Our world-class research contributes to global progress, actively helping to advance policy, society, the economy and the wider world. Working across all major disciplines, we harness pioneering ideas and conduct research that makes you stronger. We are home to world-leading researchers in Economics, Finance, Management and Marketing. To find out more about how we can work with your business please visit www.durham.ac.uk/business
High calibre research and consultancy services conducted by leaders in their field to help your business achieve even more. CASE STUDY - BP CASTROL Unlocking potential in the field of key account management through a study into best practices Managing corporate client relationships is fundamental to the success of any global business. That’s why BP Castrol wanted to analyse their own procedures across Europe and Africa, and gain a clearer understanding of how they compared to best practices in the field of key account management (KAM). Nick Ellis, Professor of Marketing Management at Durham University Business School, led a team to help them do just that. The study focused on several elements of relationship management from scholarly B2B marketing literature including customer interaction, branding, culture, organisation, information technology and knowledge management. Under Professor Ellis’ leadership, two MBA students and an external consultant interviewed key BP Castrol employees, as well as managers from non-competing sectors, to establish a relevant context to understand best practices. Through a combination of deductive and inductive analysis of the results, the study showed that BP Castrol’s key account managers were performing very well compared to best practice. It also highlighted some areas with room for improvement. As a result of the study, BP Castrol were able to take these conclusions forward in the Autumn of 2012 with a view to informing plans for potentially rethinking the firm’s sales and marketing strategies.
“Our recent study looked to gain a clearer understanding of how our procedures across Europe and Africa compared against best practice in key account management. The process was straightforward, and the access to a professor during the project was very insightful. The quality of the research and analysis was excellent.”
Nick Harley International Key Accounts and Western Europe Sales Director BP Lubricants Europe & Africa
RESEARCH CLUSTERS Our research is structured around the following clusters of expertise:
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND POLICY The Centre for Economic Growth and Policy (CEGAP) is primarily concerned with issues of economic growth and the variety of ways that it can be explained and understood more clearly. Researchers working from the Centre are therefore concerned with how growth can be restricted and encouraged, as well as the impact that this might have upon individuals and wider society.
LEADERSHIP AND FOLLOWERSHIP The International Centre for Leadership and Followership investigates the characteristics of followers as well as their needs and expectations, so that a clearer understanding of leaders can subsequently be gained. Research therefore considers how followers view and evaluate their leader but also how far they willingly follow them and engage with their organisational goals.
ORGANISATIONAL DYNAMICS AND ECOLOGICAL STUDIES The purpose of the Centre of Organisational Dynamics and Ecological Studies (CODES) is to promote, coordinate and execute international cutting-edge research in organisation theory. Research activities in the Centre involve empirical studies of the ecologies and institutional developments of organisational populations, ranging from data storage industry to boutique wine makers and motorcycle producers.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
LOCAL GOVERNANCE
A distinctive feature of the Centre for Entrepreneurship is its concern with growth and change within small businesses and social enterprise in the North East of England and the UK as a whole. This particular focus signals a degree of specialisation in vital areas such as innovation, change management, organisational dynamics and workplace productivity.
The Institute for Local Governance (ILG) is a pioneering research and knowledge exchange venture designed to maximise the benefits of collaboration between the region’s universities and wider public realm. It is a unique research partnership between all North East local authorities, universities, police forces, fire and rescue services, Strategic Health Authority, One North East and other public sector partners.
MARKETING
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
The work of the Marketing Group represents a wide variety of perspectives on the field of marketing. Their research explores how the different stakeholders involved in marketing exchanges make sense of their worlds and how they act within these worlds. Thus, we study subjects such as the management and practice of marketing, as well as consumer culture; engaging with individual consumers, organisational customers and other institutions.
ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING The main aims of the International Accounting and Auditing Studies (IAAS) Group are to increase understanding of the social, economic and political interactions arising through the practice of accounting and auditing. In doing so, they seek to advance accounting and related practices through enhancing financial and nonfinancial information in terms of criteria such as completeness and credibility.
CHINA DEVELOPMENT GROUP The China Research and Development Group are interested in the increasing influence of the Chinese economy and financial system. They currently have research projects which investigate the impact of the Eurozone debt crisis on Chinese growth and the role of political succession within China on their financial institutions and markets.
CRITICAL STUDIES
OPS MANAGEMENT
The Critical Studies Group investigates business and management through concepts such as power, control, cultural representations of business, environmentalism, identity, gender, agency and voice. They address and emphasize these issues in order to equip students and practitioners to make better sense of the work situations in which they find themselves.
The Ops Management Group conducts research which explores the design, planning, control and improvement of operations within organisations, across both the private and public sectors. Academics in this area work with UK and International companies on modelling complex business domains, ranging from operational processes to strategic decisions.
The International Business Group carry out research to understand the challenges that confront individuals and firms in an increasingly globalised world. Their research focuses on areas such as export marketing, international entrepreneurship, international strategy, cultural studies in consumer behaviour, global supply chains, B2B markets, emerging market characteristics and new product development and innovation.
BENEFITS TO YOU By working in partnership with us, your organisation can benefit in many ways: • Premium-calibre, tailored research into key issues • Practical results that deliver competitive advantage • Advice on best practice and trend (current and predicted) • Access to our extensive resources • Knowledge transfer • Access to a world-class faculty • A multidisciplinary and multicultural perspective.
The calibre and influence of our research is well recognised with ninety-five percent of our output deemed to be of international quality or above.
RAE 2008
Corporate Relations Durham University Business School Mill Hill Lane, Durham DH1 3LB, UK T +44 (0) 191 334 5200 E business.extrelations@durham.ac.uk
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