Business and Community Interaction

The growing importance of business engagement to both the universities and business is demonstrated by this graph from the recent Higher Education - Business and Community Interaction Survey 2010-11 published in July:

 Spending by large business increased overall by 7 per cent from £587 million to £629 million, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) maintained their total spending on engagement with UK HEIs in cash terms; non-commercial partners in the public and third sectors, charities and social enterprises increased their spending by 5 per cent from £1,166 million to £1,221 million (see Figure 1).

Figure 1            Total income by partner 2003-04 to 2010-11 (real terms)

Source: HE‑BCI Part B Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4c

Business Engagement for Higher Education - A Definition

Higher Education's business engagement is the development of meaningful relationships with businesses that add real value to the businesses we engage with and result in:

-for students: guest speakers, mentoring, internships; site visits, or   live business projects

-for academic staff: materials for curriculum development, contract/applied research, personal development opportunities, and relationships with professional bodies

-for the university as a whole: non-HEFCE income in the form of funding from regional, national or international bodies; or directly from our provision of tailored programmes, training, consultancy or contract/applied research to public, private and third-sector organisations

Associate Dean University of Wolverhampton Business School

I am extremely pleased to have been appointed Associate Dean - Business Engagement at the University of Wolverhampton Business School.
This is an exciting new opportunity, joining an excellent team at a well regarded institution with so much to offer business. The Business School also has a first-class Management Research Centre and I am particularly looking forward to meeting colleagues researching Corporate Governance and Ethics, which is my own specialist area.
I will be working with regional, national and international businesses and employers generally, to broaden and deepen the University's engagement with them. My approach is to seek to understand their strategic imperatives and how the resources of the business school might be brought to bear in support of them. The Business School is a fabulous resource for employers and is well structured to respond to their needs.

Kontrolle ist besser - Board Performance Evaluation and the Hedge Fund Board

Late last year I was asked to be the keynote speaker at a financial services conference being held in Luxembourg, with their prime interest was the work I have been doing on Board Performance Evaluation in Financial Services. With the Financial Services Sector being under increasing pressure to prove good governance, there was significant interest in this work.

My presentation covered the case study of a recent Board Performance Evalution review for a Mutual Society and although the delegates at the conference were largely representing Funds, and although the structure of Funds is quite different, they were comfortable in drawing the parallels.

Gratifyingly, there was significant interest in my work and I hope to be returning to Luxembourg soon to undertake some research in the governance of Funds and the application of the models I have developed.

For those who might be interested (and if I can work it out!) I will upload the powerpoint presentation I used at the conference. If you have any questions, feel free to ask,

All change!

You may wonder why I haven't made any posts to my blog for some time... well, that's because changes were underway and are only now coming to fruition.

On the 31st of December 2011 I left my post at De Montfort University (DMU). After nearly 20 years I thought a change was a little overdue! I thoroughly enjoyed my time at DMU and remain an ardent supporter. However, the opportunity arose for me to cut loose and focus solely on the topics I am passionate about - rather than all the responsibilities attendant to a senior management position (especially in the public sector!).

I am now free to pursue my interest in Corporate Governance and especially Board Performance Reviews. I intend to spend the next couple of months refining my thoughts and developing some new tools and materials in this area.

Watch this space... please.

Long-time-no-post!

I couldn't believe it was the 14th of June when I last updated my blog! I do plead mitigating circumstances: firstly there were the wedding preparations for my daughter, then her wedding in Canada, then her UK reception... then our holiday to recover - I think you get the picture.

The Corporate Governance front has been equally busy: working on the on-line questionairre, developing the marketing material, shooting and editing a corporate video, developing the web presence, arranging speaking events...

Oh, and there's always the day job.

Enough of the excuses. I hope soon to have some great news about web availablity and feedback from speaking engagements - it won't be another three months...promise!

NED Wanted - no crooks, cronies or cowards need apply!

You are recruiting a NED, what should you be looking for?

1. Relevant experience
2. Adequate knowledge of the company (can be gained through induction and in-post)
3. Integrity and high ethical standards
4. Sound judgement
5. Strong interpersonal skills
6. High levels of engagement
7. Independance of mind

It's not a new list (see the Tyson reprt on the Recruitment and Development of Non-Executive Directors 2003), so why do we still seem to be struggling? Is it that these people are just not there, or is it more likely that we are not casting the net widely enough? Do we in many cases have too narrow a definition of "relevant experience"?

The barriers to entry for NED postions, especially in listed companies, are artificially high. You can trawl through the annual reports on line and the "old boys network" still screams at you with deafening veracity.

"The best boards are composed of individuals with different skills, knowledge, information, power..." (Conger and Lawler, 2001)

Cast the net wider, seek out diversity but stick to Pehr Gyllenhammar's suggested guidelines for the selection of NEDs: no crooks, no cronies, no cowards.

They are out there!