Responding to the UK Government Digital Strategy

24 January 2013

One of the most critical activities influencing the future of UK society is the rapid evolution of government services from a fixed set of closed, slow-moving paper-based transactions toward online digital services focused on encouraging a new kind of interaction between UK citizens and government.

A major milestone in this journey was the publication of the Government Digital Strategy (GDS) at the end of 2012. It lays out the principles and pathway toward the UK government’s “digital by default” strategy.

Swift response to user need, lower costs for the taxpayer, faster delivery of major IT projects and the ability to stay ahead of the curve and make use of the newest technology all seem to be on the government’s wish list. However the team of key academic thinkers have found that the GDS is light on detail and raises a number of issues that need further scrutiny if this wish list is to be delivered.

Raising a Toast to Local Enterprise

27 November 2012

We are excited to announce that Surrey Business School (SBS) has been named one of the key sponsors of Surrey Advertiser’s Toast of Surrey Awards 2013, and will be championing the Young Business of the Year category. Targeting companies that have been trading for less than one year, the Young Business of the Year award will recognise the work of business start-ups, highlighting the achievements of local entrepreneurs who can demonstrate outstanding results in one or more of several areas including innovation, strategic management, financial performance, exemplary customer service and community awareness.

SBS Executive Education Programme in Accounting and Finance

9 November 2012

At Surrey Business School we believe in equipping you with the right tools for the job. 

Our Open Programme in Accounting & Financial Management for Decision Makers provides senior managers and business leaders with the tools to understand how key elements of accounting and corporate finance affect your organisation and how to create added value, through financial insights, to the drivers of your organisation.

Business and Management Postgraduate Research Studentships

8 November 2012

The Faculty of Business, Economics and Law is offering full-time doctoral (postgraduate research) studentships in Business and Management starting in October 2013. The 3 year studentships will cover all tuition fees, and provide maintenance for a total of up to £16,800 pa*.

We are looking to recruit exceptional doctoral (PhD) students to join our internationally recognised research groups in which our doctoral students play an important part. As a member of the ESRC funded South East Doctoral Training Centre we offer excellent research training and the opportunity to be part of a vibrant research community that shapes agendas of scholarship and practice.

Surrey is Top 10 for Accounting and Finance

6 November 2012

The latest league tables to be published have placed Surrey Business School firmly in the top 10 for its Accounting and Finance programmes. The Sunday Times Good University Guide is one of the only UK league tables to break its rankings down by subject and this year’s edition has placed Surrey Business School in the top 10 for accounting and finance.

“We have a very strong group of academics researching and teaching in this field and that’s being reflected in the league tables,” explained Professor David Goss, Head of Surrey Business School.

Shaping the Agenda on Enterprise and Innovation

5 November 2012

Enterprise and Innovation are now recognised as key drivers of sustainable organizations – from corporate giants to new start-ups. Surrey Business School continues to build on its reputation as a centre of management expertise with its latest round of recruitment targeting world-leading business academics who will shape the research agendas in their fields.

Head of Surrey Business School (SBS) Professor David Goss underlined the importance of continually anticipating the market: “It’s our job to ensure students leave us fully conversant with the issues facing business leaders at a global level, that we arm them with the practical tools to tackle those challenges, and with the intellectual confidence to respond innovatively to an uncertain environment”.

Professional Training … The Wizard of Jobs

19 October 2012

"We must journey on until we find the road of yellow brick again" said Dorothy, "and then we can keep on to the Emerald City." The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L.Frank Baum.

If post-graduation employment is the Emerald City every undergraduate hopes to reach, then the journey from student to employee must be travelled down a yellow brick road of personal growth and professional development.

With the University of Surrey’s student employability standing at 96.9%, one of the highest in the country, it might come as no surprise that the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law placed well over 300 undergraduates into professional training posts this year - the largest number to date. In a tough jobs market, these largely salaried posts offer an unprecedented opportunity to gain workplace experience, giving students a marked advantage in the employability stakes when their course comes to an end.

Pro Vice-Chancellor attends the Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (DUFE) 60th anniversary celebration

16 October 2012

Surrey’s new Pro Vice-Chancellor (International Relations), Professor Vincent Emery, represented the University of Surrey at the 60th anniversary celebrations of DUFE in Dalian, China at the end of September 2012. The Surrey International Institute-DUFE (SII-DUFE) is a joint academic partnership and is the third largest British higher education programme in China with over 1500 students undertaking undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Success in Challenging Times: Research from Surrey Business School gives the key to unlocking success for UK SMEs

10 October 2012

A team of researchers from Surrey Business School have completed the largest study of its kind into the critical success factors for small and medium sized businesses. Professors David Gray and Mark Saunders, along with Research Fellow Harshita Goregaokar, were commissioned by top 20 accountancy firm Kingston Smith to carry out the comprehensive research. With more than 1000 survey questionnaires completed by SME owners and senior managers, twenty in depth interviews and 13 focus groups, the study has covered every sector of the SME business community.

Congratulations to Céline Rojon

27 September 2012

Céline Rojon, a final year doctoral student in the Department of Psychology and Surrey Business School and her joint supervisors Dr Almuth McDowall (Psychology) and Professor Mark Saunders (Surrey Business School) received the best full paper award in the Performance Management track of this year’s British Academy of Management Conference.

Surrey graduate company selected as finalist in The National Business Awards

21 August 2012

Bike Dock Solutions, a bike parking company, is a finalist in the Small Online Business of the Year category of the National Business Awards. BSc Business Management students Josh Coleman, James Nash and Craig Jones, were inspired to set up the company while studying the entrepreneurship module of the course. Part of the module requires students to think up real business ideas and helps them shape them into realistic ventures and it was then that the idea for the business was formed. Each of the three graduates borrowed £10,000 to kick start the company on leaving the business school and since then they have won contracts with clients such as the University of Reading, various councils and Transport for London.

Top SBS Student Wins CIM Prize

10 August 2012

Congratulations to Stephanie Pollard who was awarded the Chartered Institute of Marketing prize for the best Marketing student. The CIM prize  is awarded to the final year student achieving the best overall mark on all final year marketing modules. This includes Research in Marketing, Marketing Strategy and Marketing in the Digital Environment. The Surrey Business School has developed close links with the Surrey branch of the CIM, and students have been able to sit on the Surrey board and act as a ‘voice’ for business and management students.

Top SBS Student Wins Mintel Prize

10 August 2012

Congratulations to Ursula Heathcote, this year's winner of the Mintel Prize. The Mintel award is made annually to the final year undergraduate Business and Retail Management student exhibiting the best all-round academic performance. Ursula was described by her tutors as a very deserving winner, with special mention being given to her excellent performance in the modules International retailing and Retail buying. The Surrey Business School has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with Mintel - a leading provider of market intelligence.

Best Research Award for SME Study

9 August 2012

Innovative research from Surrey Business School academics has won an award at the 2nd International Conference of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IE2012) in Singapore. The award for Best Research went to Professor David Gray and Harshita Goregaokar who, along with Professor Mark Saunders, have been looking into the triggers for success for SME’s.
The research has been commissioned by Kingston Smith, one of the UK's top 20 audit and chartered accountancy firms, and this paper looked at some of the early results and the research methodology. 

It's not too late!

7 August 2012

Clearing can offer an alternative or last-minute route to a dream course. Surrey Business School is keen to find high calibre students who may be using clearing to rethink their options. A small number of places are likely to be available on a range of programmes including its BSc in Business and Retail Management. Undergraduate degrees at Surrey Business School combine a rigorous academic approach with opportunities to put your learning into practice. For Business and Retail Management a high quality teaching programme delivered by expert academics includes opportunities for learning in the real business world through; study tours to retail stores/distribution centres, guest lectures by senior retail managers and regular visits from senior level former students now working in the retail industry. 

Double Success for Retail Researchers at the Academy of Marketing Conference

19 July 2012

Marketing and Retail Group members Professors Andrew Alexander and Christoph Teller enjoyed a double success at this year’s Academy of Marketing Conference, held at the University of Southampton. They were awarded the best paper award in the Retail Marketing track. The paper is entitled ‘Store Managers – The Sounding Board in Shopping Centre Environments?’ It represents research into the role of store managers as an interface to consumers and thus their potential to inform both retail and shopping centre management decision-making.

Dr Beverly Tyler visits the Surrey Business School

3 July 2012

Dr Beverly Tyler from Poole Management School, North Carolina State University, USA visited Surrey Business School on 20th and 21st June. Beverly, who is an Associate Professor at North Carolina State University (NCSU), received her PhD from Texas A&M University (Chair Jay Barney) where she focused on the strategic management process, top executive decision making, and organizational information processing. 

SETsquared announces ethical bag company as Uni Popshop winner

3 July 2012

The SETsquared Partnership has announced the winner of its Uni Popshop student entrepreneurship competition. The prize was won by Bath University team ElephantBranded, which made a profit of £458 at the one-day event.

Tom Pellereau, University of Bath alumnus, inventor and the 2011 winner of BBC’s ‘The Apprentice’, announced the winner at an awards evening on Friday 29th June at the Lloyd’s building in London, and said he wished competitions such as this were available when he was a student. The event was part of a year-long programme of activities from SETsquared that helps students improve their business skills, and to turn their bright ideas into profit making companies.

Best paper award for Surrey researcher at leading retail conference

28 May 2012

The AMA/ACRA Triennial Conference, sponsored jointly by the American Marketing Association Retailing and Pricing SIG and the American Collegiate Retailing Association, was held between April 18th to 21st in Seattle. There Surrey’s Professor Christoph Teller (Marketing and Retail Group) and his co-authors Dr Ernst Gittenberger (SME research Austria) and Professor Peter Schnedlitz (Vienna University of Economics and Business) received the best conference paper award for their work on ‘Cognitive Age and Grocery Store Patronage Behaviour of Elderly Shoppers’. The article discussed the moderating effect of self-perceived age dimensions on the grocery shopping behaviour of consumers 60+. Congratulations to the three of them.

Mini-Conference strengthens research collaboration

24 May 2012

A mini-conference at University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation, corporate governance, internationalisation and sustainability was organised in March 2012 by Dr Jane Hemsley-Brown (Associate Dean International) as part of the University Global Partnership Network (UGPN). Academics from Surrey Business School, the Centre for Environmental Strategy (FEPS) and Research and Enterprise Support (RES) delivered papers at the three day event which took place from 19 to 22 March. Hosted by University of Sao Paulo, the Surrey academics were joined by speakers from North Caroline State University (NCSU), who presented papers on the same research themes.