South Wales Business Review Vol3 Issue4 by Lucy Griffiths

Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

Driving Forward Customer Engagement How the DVLA is leading the way on Data Insight Stepping off the Dancefloorâ&#x20AC;Ś Why Public Service Leaders need time away from the fray

Paying For Itself? The Pros and Cons of Private Finance Initiatives Fire-proofing your Business 10 Minute Guide from the Fire Service

Leading by Example Public Services Chiefs on their Personal Leadership Philosophies

Swansea Business School Ysgol Fusnes Abertawe

inside 3

summer/autumn 2012 Volume 3 Issue 4

Editorial: THE HEART OF THE WELSH ECONOMY? Taking the Pulse of the Public Services

Think-piece: “GET OFF THE DANCE FLOOR AND ONTO THE BALCONY” Why Public Service Leaders in Wales need to take time away from the fray

Industry View:

Os hoffech y ddogfen hon mewn fformat arall (e.e. Cymraeg, print mawr neu ffeil tesun i’w ddefnyddio gyda darllenydd tesun), anfonwch e-bost i swbr@smu.ac.uk ISSN 2049-5544 Disclaimer: The articles in this publication represent the views of the authors, not those of Swansea Metropolitan University. The University does not accept responsibility for the contents of articles by individual authors. Please contact the editor if you have further queries. Ymwadiad: Mae’r erthyglau yn y cyhoeddiad hwn yn cynrychioli barn yr awduron, nid rhai Prifysgol Fetropolitan Abertawe. Nid yw’r Brifysgol yn derbyn cyfrifoldeb am gynnwys erthyglau awduron unigol. Cysylltwch â’r golygydd os oes gennych gwestiynau pellach. Registered Charity Number / Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig 1139800 © Swansea Metropolitan University/Prifysgol Fetropolitan Abertawe 2012. All rights reserved/ cedwir pob hawl. Images: Front cover: ©iStockphoto.com/JuSun. This page: ©iStockphoto.com/Freder Amendment: The news item ‘More Placement Success for Met Students’ in Volume 3 Issue 3 of the South Wales Business Review (published May 2012) contained a factual error in reference to refurbishments at Raithwaite Hall Hotel. Our apologies to Horst Schulze

2 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

Education: DOES PRACTICE MAKE PERFECT PUBLIC SERVICE PROFESSIONALS? How can Higher Education help deliver the next generation of public servants?

10 Minute Guide: FIRE-PROOFING YOUR BUSINESS Your essential guide to making sure your business is fireproof and legal

Emerging Theme: MATHEMATICS OF THE HEART Can heart-based stressreduction techniques ease the burden on the NHS?

Research in Focus: PAYING FOR ITSELF? The Pros and Cons of Private Finance Initiatives

Business perspective: DRIVING FORWARD CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT How the DVLA is leading the way on Data Insight

If you require this document in an alternative format (e.g. Welsh, large print or text file for use with a text reader), please email swbr@smu.ac.uk

Fformatau eraill

Opinion: WHY HAVE A PUBLIC SECTOR? The rationale for our public services

LEADING BY EXAMPLE Public Services Chiefs on their Personal Leadership Philosophies Alternative formats

Industry Profile: BLENDED LEARNING IN THE POLICE FORCE How blended learning is enabling South Wales Police to develop future leaders on a budget

News and events

Books

Next Issue: BRIGHT SPARKS – CAN WALES IGNITE ITS ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT?

www.smu.ac.uk/swbr swbr@smu.ac.uk @SWBusReview Lucy Griffiths South Wales Business Review Swansea Business School Mount Pleasant Swansea SA1 6ED

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU │

PRODUCTION TEAM Editor: Lucy Griffiths Editorial Board: Kathryn Flynn Samantha Morgan Pam Murray

Editorial: The Heart of the Welsh Economy? Taking the Pulse of the Public Services

Design & Print: SMU Print Unit positions in our public services were encouraged to ‘step of the dancefloor’ for a while and take a long hard look at how public sector workers can be developed and motivated.

SBS Contributors:  Owen Lewis Owen Lewis is Programme Director for the Swansea Business School MBA and is an expert in financial management with a particular research interest in public service funding issues including Private Finance Initiative schemes.

 Steve Griffiths With a background in Economics and a strong interest in Business Ethics, Steve Griffiths has taught at Swansea Business School for many years, and is currently Assistant Dean Faculty of Business and Management and Head of the Centre for International Development where he is responsible for international partnerships and the internationalisation agenda within the Faculty.

 Dr Margaret Inman Margaret Inman is the Head of the Centre for Professional and Post Graduate Studies at Swansea Business School and Principal lecturer in Human Resource Management (HRM). Her research interests focus on leadership assessment and development. She has co-authored a text book on HRM and has published in international journals on leadership.

 Bronwen Williams Bronwen Williams is a legal expert with a focus on the public services and recently joined the team on a permanent basis as part of the team delivering our newly redeveloped and revalidated range of programmes in the Public Services.

Lucy Griffiths Editor Welcome to the new issue of the South Wales Business Review. This time our theme for the issue is the public services and their role in the Welsh economy. It seems to me that there’s a common perception amongst us Welsh folk that Wales has become heavily reliant on the public services for job creation in recent years – and that this may not always be a good thing - but is this truly the case? In this issue we’ll be taking a closer look at the role of the public services in the Welsh economy, asking what the recent cuts in government spending mean for our public services and highlighting some fantastic examples of how the public services are operating at the cutting edge of business and operational thinking. We’re all dependent on the public services to one extent or another, whether in our working or personal lives, so we all have a stake in their success – and in this edition we’ve got Steve Griffiths looking at whether public services are still relevant in a modern economy, and proposing a new rationale for their existence in his opinion piece on page 9.

The importance of developing public service employees is exemplified by a case study from South Wales Police on page16 which explains how they are using innovative blended learning techniques to train the next generation of police officers. We’ve also got a fantastic example of a public service using cutting edge technology to help make itself financially robust, right here in South Wales as Alison Saunders of the DVLA explains how customer insight is driving their business forward on pages 10 and 11. Owen Lewis presents the findings of a recent piece of research conducted by Swansea Business School into the financial implications of Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) in Wales on pages 12 and 13, and in addition to all this, we have our 10 minute guide (this time it’s hints and tips from the fire service on how to ‘fireproof your business’ p18) and the usual news, events and reviews. I very much hope you’ll enjoy reading this edition and welcome your feedback by email to swbr@smu.ac.uk.

Lucy Don’t forget you can also subscribe to receive a regular copy by post or view the SWBR online at www.smu.ac.uk/swbr.

Dr Margaret Inman reports on a recent public service leadership conference on pages 4 and 5, where those in senior Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │ 3

│SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW

Think Piece: Get off the dance floor and onto the balcony… Why Public Service Leaders in Wales need to take time away from the fray.

Dr Margaret Inman Dr Margaret Inman considers the need for Public Service Leaders to take time out from the day-to-day to consider the bigger picture in terms of their people development strategy.

Ronald Heifetz founding Director of the Centre for Public Leadership at Harvard University coined the phrase ‘get off the dancefloor and onto the balcony’, and often there is a need to gain a broader perspective; are we too busy on the ‘dance floor’ to be effective? Immersed in day to day challenges, keeping our head just above the water, occasionally we need to step outside and get ‘on to the balcony’ to see the broader picture to see what is really going on. This involves deep thinking, collaboration, meeting and learning with and from, other people. The recent Public Services Management Wales (PSMW) Summer School was aimed at doing just that. Leaders from over 100 public service organisations in Wales were spending time on ‘the balcony’, to promote collaborative learning and to develop innovative ways to meet the needs of Welsh citizens in the most efficient and effective way. Ensuring public service employees continue to feel valued in the face of uncertainty and change was a key theme that emerged from PSMW. As Public Services is a ‘people business’ it is critical to put in place mechanisms to get the best from our people. It is imperative that 4 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

in such times of austerity employees are being the best they can possibly be. In order to do this they need to understand the bigger picture and what part they play in this.

“As Public Services is a ‘people business’ it is critical to put in place mechanisms to get the best from our people” So, just as the cleaner at NASA knew that his job was “to put a man on the moon”, employees know exactly how they add value to the organisation and are empowered to do so. It is widely claimed that only 30% of individual’s potential is used in work. Gary Hamel writing in the Harvard Business Review (2011) believes that a hierarchical structure disempowers employees. His research has shown that out of solutions for change initiatives, only 10% that work come from the ‘top’. Despite this many decisions within our organisations are progressed up the

chain and in doing so, employees wait to be ‘told’ which in turn encourages learned ‘helplessness’. We need to encourage employees to develop their own solutions and not go straight to the ‘expert’. This will involve the redistribution of power so people are motivated to take personal responsibility. From ‘the balcony’, organisations need to consider how their structures need to change in the future to encourage the release of effort and energy. It is important that we don’t overlook the talent that sits in the shadows of organisations because we don’t know how to identify strengths only weaknesses. People grow on the basis of their strengths. Trying to improve weaknesses at best will encourage mediocre performance, at worst will invite failure. This calls for a growth mindset. Fliaster (2011) believes we need to ‘hire and wire’ people. If we see people as ‘grow able’ it is likely that interventions will be put in place to help them grow. Creating a coaching culture is one way of doing this and in the Public Services in particular, encouraging collaboration. This has already happened between and within public service organisations through Local Area Agreements and Shared Services. The realisation that

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU│

creativity is not down to one person, but collaboration can help identify and solve problems through division of labour. Burt (2001) coined the phrase ‘structural holes’ where social groups may be separated by artificial barriers. This can be for example, between different departments in the same building.

“People grow on the basis of their strengths. Trying to improve weaknesses at best will encourage mediocre performance, at worst will invite failure. This calls for a growth mindset.” As a result departments work in ‘silos’ where ideas flow within each department, not between departments. Burt suggests there is a need to establish information flow across the holes to take advantage of knowledge and promote learning

throughout the organisation. Regular meetings between departments, and working across functional teams builds bridges across these structural holes. It may involve spending less time on understanding what divides people but take more time to understand what brings them together. To do this we need to get on to the ‘balcony’ and legitimise thinking. The NHS growth of strategic consultants increased by 500% in the last 5 years. We are paying them to think for us. Encouraging ‘slow’ thinking and collaboration to explore ideas is one suggested way of ensuring sustainability. Of course we don’t want everybody to leave the dance floor otherwise the party

will end but we do need to encourage people to take time out, look out from the ‘balcony’, and take well thought out steps to get the best from our people in order to meet the unprecedented challenges that face the public services in the future.

Each year PSMW holds a Summer School for leaders across the Public Services in Wales. The theme for the 2012 event was ‘Managing Beyond the Frontier, A 21st Century Approach to Delivering Success’. To find out more about the PSMW Summer School please go to their website: wales.gov.uk/psmwsubsite/psmw/

Image: ©iStockphoto.com/Freder

Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │ 5

│SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW

Industry View: Leading by Example Four of Wales’s highest profile Public Service Leaders give their views on how their colleagues can best prepare themselves to meet the future challenges faced by the sector… Mohammed Mehmet: Chief Executive, Denbighshire County Council

Carmel Napier: Chief Constable, Gwent Police

Paul Roberts: Chief Executive, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board

Paul Roberts: Chief Executive, Newydd Housing Association

6 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU│

That do we need from Public Service managers in the future to deliver outstanding public services?

Paul Roberts (ABM UHB) 'Well, overall what we're going to have to do is to continue the route of improving public services - but we all know we're doing that at a time of absolutely unprecedented challenge in terms of the economic situation, and therefore, finances in the Public Service. So, the overall vision has to be to keep improving but to do it within that context. It's a pretty tough challenge.' Paul Roberts (Newydd) 'I don't think you can really start to deliver an effective service unless you understand what customers really want from that service - and, I think you really need to be able to think beyond the limits of your own responsibility. You need to think about the interface with other public services and also how you may be able to interact with the private sector and the voluntary sector.' Mohammed Mehmet 'Being creative about making the best of less resources, I think is going to be important for the next generation of managers. So, it's about having higher aspirations, recognising the environment in which we work and turning that to an advantage.' Carmel Napier 'We must work across agencies and work towards a shared mission, have the same values to deliver and, above all, when we're considering how we're going to deliver business always put the public, ie. the customer, first.'

What are the key challenges managers will face in delivering that vision?

Paul Roberts (ABM UHB) 'I believe the biggest challenge for all of us is how we take our workforce with us, because in organisations such as the Health Service in which I work, our staff are out there in our local communities. They're hugely influential in what our communities think about our services and some of the changes we're making.' Paul Roberts (Newydd) 'I think what we need to do is work around a value-for-money approach that really focuses on outcomes rather than outputs – making sure that every penny we spend is actually achieving something.'

Mohammed Mehmet 'The challenge of competing in the international economy is massive for Wales. We know, in terms of education and skills we're some way behind. We have a long way to go before we can be satisfied. I do sometimes feel frustrated that we think we're better than we are and there is a feeling that what we do is good enough. I think we need to tackle that.' Carmel Napier 'I think the key challenges will be about the cultural shift, in that it will require a move from hierarchical type organisations, which organisations like the police can be, so that we work on joint initiatives and joint projects – where we jointly fund a team.'

What do you think are the strengths managers in the public service already have that we can build on, to perform even better in the future?

Paul Roberts (ABM UHB) 'There is a very, very strong code of Public Service ethics it seems to me in Wales. People are very committed to doing the best for their local communities and, while I'm sure that's the case across Public Services in the rest of the UK and the rest of the world, I think there's a very, very strong sense of that community pride in Wales – and I think that comes through in public services managers. I have been deeply impressed with that.' Paul Roberts (Newydd) 'Generally, we've got an ethos of strong governance and probity. I think we know that we're accountable for what we do and for every penny we spend, and that's a very positive starting point for public services. Secondly, I think we've all got an ethos of improvement and challenge; it's not good enough to be satisfied with what you’re doing, you should always be trying to think about how can we actually improve what we're trying to do as an organisation. And, I think in Wales it's fairly unique really – there is a very strong and quite close network that we can draw on. Wales is a relatively small country and it's not difficult to make those connections with people across the Public Service, both within your own area of work but also outside as well - and right across the country. I think that can be very supportive.'

each other which you get in a small country, that you wouldn't in a bigger one. I think there is a lot of knowledge and experience in all of our organisations. We have people who have been around for a while, which is good. So, in terms of continuity and of knowledge of place and challenges, that's impressively there. And, we know about each other so the potential for sharing that, networking, building on good practice is there more than it is in other places. I think that is probably the biggest single advantage we have.' Carmel Napier 'There is already that common bonding, in relation to that 'Welshness' brand about how we move and take things forward together. I think within Wales, we're really, really lucky in that we're small enough to know most of each other. I think also there's a key will to do it. We've got a Programme for Government which is joined up on its approach – it's actually focussing very much on the benefits and the outcomes to the public. I think through that common purpose that we can pull together. I think the advantage that we've got is that we can build on the strength in the professional working relationships that we already have in place and the outcomes and successes that we're already achieving. We know at time of critical incidents and disasters, that all the agencies do mobilise and work really successfully together – both supporting and engaging the community, explaining what they're doing and providing excellence and service. I think it's about having that critical joint agency response being part of our day-to-day business, which we can build on for the future.'

What are the top three key leadership qualities our future leaders will need?

Paul Roberts (ABM UHB) 'In all the hard work we do about delivering change and services, we must always appreciate the need for developing ourselves. Keep looking around at where good practice is, make sure we keep up-to-date, make sure that we keep educated. The challenges we face at the moment are going to draw on our own individual and personal resources like they've never done before. So, I think being reflective about practice is one.

Mohammed Mehmet 'I think there are significant strengths in Wales, the one that I'm always struck by is that there is very good knowledge of Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │ 7

│SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW We need to be resilient. The next few years are going to be very, very tough – we will have to find lots of innovative solutions, they're going to be tough. Some people are not going to like them. We'll have to make sure we're resilient and determined to see some of that change through.' Mohammed Mehmet 'I think we need people who are not phased by change or challenge, that they actually look forward to it and thrive on it and think it's a good thing. We want and need leaders who can see opportunities in difficult times. The characteristics of leaders are also very important. I think, being authentic and communicating a passion for improvement and change – people can read through you if you are not authentic. That's really important for me.' Carmel Napier 'People that can help build a clear strategy and mission which is rooted in values. For me, it's that clarity of vision. ‘What is our purpose? What are we seeking to achieve?’ - and to get others working to it. That's number one. I think secondly, it's about that ability to work across other organisations and to work together to overcome those hurdles of organisational cultures. To move away from the way we traditionally delivered our business within our silos, to work compactly and effectively together to achieve one goal.’

What are the things managers need to do more of?

Paul Roberts (ABM UHB) 'I feel one of the things we need to do more of is draw on the existing strengths of our workforce. We need to draw more on people who are in the front line to help us develop solutions to some of the problems we face.' Paul Roberts (Newydd) 'They need to listen to customers, they need to listen to staff, they need to listen to stakeholders – because without listening you don't really know what those groups of people expect and what challenges they're facing. We need to do more around supporting and coaching staff. At the end of the day, leaders in the public services are in a very small minority; how we achieve things is through our staff and through our relationships with external organisations. And, then finally, again it's about 8 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

reinforcing those key messages. Making sure that people are very clear about the organisation’s mission, about what it's trying to achieve and that those messages keep getting repeated.' Mohammed Mehmet 'I think we need to invest in our workforce more. There is enormous capacity in every organisation, and the Public Sector is no different. I think we need to be better at recognising that potential, developing it and deploying it. We have initiatives here in Denbighshire where we're creating what we're calling a 'Hub'. For example, where a number of staff will spend a certain amount of their time on their day job and a certain amount of their time on corporate and other priorities for the Authority. Now, that is an alternative to bringing in people from outside, it will save us money and it will also develop our own staff. I think good managers need to be able to communicate the vision that is about different ways of working, rather than losing your job. And, I think that's completely possible.' Carmel Napier 'We've got to radically change the way that we do business. We cannot do business the same way that we've been operating over the last 30 to 50 years. We can't. There have been some significant strengths in it and it's taken us to the good point that we are at now. But, we have to really focus about what it is we're seeking to achieve, what is the investment we are putting in it to achieve and actually know what the outcomes are which must be sustainable for the future. The days of armchair executives at my rank, or any other level within the organisation, for me are gone. You need to know the detail of the business, you need to know what your personal contribution is and what your team's contributions are to it. From that, actually challenge each other to move and push the service on so it delivers the best for the public. Until we reached this time of austerity, I think some of our managers we aren't aware of all those core ingredients.'

What are the things managers could do less of?

Paul Roberts (ABM UHB) 'I think, in a time of real challenge financially, what we've got to do less of is accept low standards. I think we as leaders have to constantly demand high standards of our services, of our staff and, most of all, of ourselves.'

Paul Roberts (Newydd) 'It sort of drives me mad really when people get into a management position and think that gives them the right to assume that they know everything about the area of work they're working in. They don't – they're there to do a specific job and they need to listen to people and establish why there might be barriers to change, why there might be barriers to improvement and try to work with people to remove those barriers and achieve better results for customers.' Mohammed Mehmet 'Cutting out meetings and travelling, by something like a half - or more! - because I think there is a lot of redundant activity that managers do. Some of the things they should not do is attend meetings for the sake of attending meetings, getting involved in things for the sake of getting involved in things – because they might miss out if they're not there, that kind of stuff. Doing much less travelling, focussing a lot more on research and analysis and understanding of situations. I'd like to see that shift from day-to-day, kind of operational management stuff, to more thinking and shaping the future, through investing in their workforce.' Carmel Napier 'Meetings for the sake of a meeting. I think costing time against the outcomes we are seeking to achieve and to maximise the technology that we've got available, both from video conferencing to social media to telephone conferencing. And, to do things today and not put off until tomorrow, because if the public in areas that we identify are high risk need our help then we cannot wait for a management meeting to happen tomorrow. I would like to see public services moving towards providing against the demands that the public need and make – against that 'threat, harm and need'. I think in a society which is 24-7 they need to be working more on that seven days a week, against the times of demand and need and making access to our services easier.' Published with kind permission of Public Service Management Wales (PSMW). PSMW supports and helps develop the skills required by managers and leaders across the Welsh public service to work collaboratively, across traditional boundaries. More information can be found at their website: wales.gov.uk/psmwsubsite/psmw/

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU│

Opinion: Why have a public sector?

Steve Griffiths Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Business and Management at Swansea Met, Steve Griffiths, on why politics still drives the balance between the public and private sectors in our economy.

The rationale for having the government make, deliver or regulate goods and services has changed over time as our thinking has changed and in response to social and economic forces. However the key driver of whether we have more or less controlled by government has, in modern times, remained political. The underlying economic justifications derived from the fact that the market fails to deliver the efficiency that it promises are still valid, but critics of the public sector will simultaneously point to failure of government, in terms of inefficient bureaucracy, lack of concern for what people really want and its lack of flexibility to change to meet new needs. These competing economic perspectives, both with their strengths and weaknesses mean that most of us will opt for a mix of public and private. Few are so confident that either sector should be abolished, and even free market economists such as Milton Friedman saw some role for government - not a very big role, but certainly defence, policing and protection of children. In fact, most things could be run privately or use private philanthropy. Few apart from unreconstructed Marxists would deny some role for market forces;

remember the thriving ‘black markets’ of past Soviet regimes? The debate is really about the nature of the mix in the mixed economy. The great leaps forward or backward for the government sector have been politically motivated. The post 1945 nationalisations and creation of the big public services followed a wave of welfare state liberalism and municipal socialism fostered by the nationalisation and planning for the war effort. The privatisations of the 80s and 90s were driven by conservative readoption of neoclassical economics of Hayek and Friedman and belief in individual freedom and the idea that there was “no such thing as society”.

The fact is that the free market is not a level playing field. However you look at it, the economic arguments still demand answers to key questions. Should the state sector be seen as the first choice provider (is the NHS safe in the hands of the Conservative Party) or as a fall back, ‘safety net’ for those who are the casualties of the free market? Should council houses be seen as ‘homes for workers’ (a 1940s concept) or as welfare

housing for those unable to pay for private rents or mortgages? If you had the money, would you go private? The fact is that the free market is not a level playing field. Inequality, the under production of merit and public goods, lack of information to make rational choices and Professor Pigou’s “defective telescopic faculty” whereby many people fail to make provision for future needs like old age, sickness or having children (far from the free market ‘rational consumer’ assumption) mean that there are many ways in which we all agree that the state must intervene. Should we have let the banks go bust in 2008? If not are we prepared for the negative aspects of the market as much as we like the benefits? Those who believe in the free market are just as “political” as those who defend it, and perhaps recognising the philosophical and political context as well as the economics might just make the debate more realistic and humane.

Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │ 9

│SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW

Business Perspective: Putting customers in the driving seat How the DVLA Swansea are using the latest data insight techniques to improve customer engagement

Alison Saunders Alison Saunders is Customer Insight Team Manager at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), an executive agency for the Department for Transport.

For many years, the private sector in Britain has recognised the value of sharing customer insight in developing customer-focus and in increasing the potential for efficiency, productivity and market share. Building effective customer insight capability enables the organisation to focus on and meet customer needs, thereby building value and enhancing the brand. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) perceives this knowledge sharing as a way to improve the quality of information underpinning its core business, providing greater synergy between customer service and efficiency. DVLA has committed significant resource to sharing customer insight between its core business functions as a means of enabling the organisation not only to meet the ever-increasing demands of its customers, but also in achieving: •

More effective monitoring of the external environmental factors impacting on the organisation to enable the organisation to anticipate the needs of its customers;

This requires customer insight in the holistic sense, with all key organisational activities aligned towards serving the needs and aspirations of the customer in a viable and sustainable way.

Channelling Knowledge A developing customer-focus will require staff to be equipped and empowered to respond appropriately to changing customer needs. An integrated and systematic approach to customer insight across the Agency enables the organisation to focus on broader marketbased questions such as: •

What are our core products and services?

•

Who are our customers?

•

How do they differ in terms of needs and expectations?

•

How do they access our service and how would we like them to access our services?

•

Who else could offer the same services as DVLA, but more efficiently? How should we respond to this?

•

Greater understanding of customers which can lead to reduced operating and delivery costs;

•

More cost-effective and transparent processes increasing engagement with the public.

The integration of customer insight with customer service has also been described by some major organisations

10 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

Barriers to Customer Insight

as a messy and uncomfortable business. This may be due to the perceived internal conflict that it causes, as well as the competitive threat or other significant challenges faced by the organisation from increasingly discerning customers and their demands for value for money. In order to focus on what matters most to the customer, the organisation needs to align and monitor its processes to provide consistency between the quality it promises and that which is actually experienced by the customer. Whilst this requires various organisational functions to communicate and share customer insight routinely, more significantly, it requires them to share a common, fundamental goal: to delight the customer. Integration of customer insight into the core business can often be hampered by the organisation's culture.

Reduced Customer Focus Without a centralised approach to customer insight the Agency is unable to assess accurately the effectiveness of its customer service and inform Ministers on the formation of practical, knowledgedriven policies. For example, reducing car tax evasion depends on fully targeted, intelligence-led enforcement policy which in turn depends on an appreciation and dissemination of customer behaviour and social trends throughout the organisation.

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU│ Thus, a customer insight strategy engenders greater customer focus and identifies more accurately and objectively how stakeholders and customers perceive DVLA’s processes and the accessibility of its service. The dissemination of customer insight across DVLA supports those whose role is to deliver customer service to an increasingly high standard. As communications channels increase and diversify, so too will the opportunities for dialogue with the customer. It is precisely this dialogue which can offer the organisation a rich and varied source of customer intelligence on which to base its product or service offering – provided of course that it has a robust mechanism for disseminating its intelligence throughout the appropriate parts of its business. This should identify for the organisation where policies and transactions meet customer needs and where they do not, driving up efficiency through enhanced intelligencebased, customer-centric processes. This can mean increased product take-up, improved accuracy of the customer database and of course an increased return on marketing communications

investment through greater efficiency in the use of customer intelligence. For DVLA this offers an opportunity to undertake Customer Journey Mapping (CJM) in order to examine critically the key DVLA transactions from our customers’ perspective. Through this increased understanding of customers’ real needs and expectations, the business will be better placed to improve and develop its services and improve the overall customer experience whilst maximising cost efficiencies through reduced failure demand. The wider objectives of CJM are to: 1. To explore at what point customers become aware of their obligations and requirements when interacting with DVLA. 2. To determine where customers seek and obtain information prior to interacting with DVLA 3. To identify what methods customers use to interact with DVLA and why. 4. To determine customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with each key stage of

the customer journey along with qualitative information on the experience. 5. To capture customer views and opinions on the overall customer experience 6. To establish customer opinion on improvements to the service/process. 7. To identify where interacting with DVLA sits within customers’ priorities Data on the customer journey is captured and analysed using a structured, ‘Customer Experience Map’. In order that the outcomes of our CJM activity be actionable, rather than just an academic exercise, key stakeholders across the business should identify priorities for action and drive service improvements. References: Turnbull, A. Letter to all Civil Servants, 19th July 2004. (Reference AO2004/942) Disclaimer Reference made in this article to DVLA and work in knowledge management does not form part of the official viewpoint of the DVLA. Responsibility for the content remains with the author.

“Whilst this requires various organisational functions to communicate and share customer insight routinely, more significantly, it requires them to share a common, fundamental goal:

to delight the customer.”

CU5T0M3R 1 Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │11

│SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW

Paying For Itself? The Pros and Cons of Private Finance Initiatives Owen Lewis Programme Director for the Swansea Business School MBA, Owen Lewis, considers whether Wales should jump on the Private Finance Initiative bandwagon or find another way of funding public service developments.

12 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU│ Private enterprises often use assets to generate revenue and profits, even though they do not own them. In the early 1990s, the then Conservative government championed the same principle for the financing and use of major new public assets. The adoption of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) relieved pressure on already tight government spending plans and the national debt, as at that time (i.e. before 2009-10) such ventures were not included in National Debt statistics.

Practitioners’ opinions of PFI /PPP in Wales

There has been considerable debate over the last twenty years as to whether entering PFI contracts provides greater benefits and value for money for public organisations over the traditional or other forms of procurement. The UK in total has adopted the PFI procurement route to a far greater extent than Wales (760 schemes in the UK, valued at £76.2bn, of which only 42 schemes relate to Wales, valued at £1.02bn). A recent study undertaken at Swansea Metropolitan University evaluated PPP/PFI procurement processes and value for money issues in Welsh public organisations.

 The PFI procurement route has no initial capital funding requirement.

The results illustrate that the PFI model does have faults and heavy financial consequences in terms of future revenue payments. This may explain the Welsh Government’s previous reluctance to actively promote and pursue this method of procurement. However, this investment in public infrastructure may also provide economic benefits for employment, quality of public service delivery and promote private sector investment and economic activity during recessionary times.

Our research examined both the economic issues affecting the PFI procurement process, and the constituent elements of economic evaluation, gathering opinions from Welsh Public organisations, and they suggested the following positive and negative aspects of PFI schemes:

Pros

 There may be a role for private organisations in the maintenance of public assets, since public organisations are reluctant to support due to pressures on the public purse.

 Private sector companies can compensate for the enhanced costs of borrowing by introducing innovation, qualitative and cost effective solutions.  PFI contracts can provide value for money over the ‘whole-life’ of the contract.  Opinion regarding PFI schemes that have been undertaken in Wales have concluded that they have been “pretty efficient”.

PFI Schemes by the numbers UK: 760 schemes Value £76.2bn Wales: 42 schemes Value £1.02bn

Cons

 Financial benefits accrue to the private sector not the public.  PFI projects may not provide savings in procurement transaction costs.  The PFI process is impacted by inexperience and low levels of contract negotiation expertise available in the public sector.  Private contractors may cut costs on the materials used in PFI projects.  High bidding costs can reduce competition in the PFI procurement process.  The PFI procurement process is heavily bureaucratic and time consuming.  The economic climate has restricted the supply of private finance for PFI projects.  Insufficient information is available in the public domain to judge whether a PFI contract is more beneficial than other routes.  A considerable degree of subjectivity is involved in risk evaluation.  PFI schemes could cost public organisations up to 5 to 8 times the actual cost of the project.

Future of PFI in Wales

The study concluded that the Welsh Government were now considering changing the approach to public asset procurement from the classic PFI model, to one which is more of a true partnership with the private sector. A procurement programme with a ‘whole of Wales’ approach was being considered, in the belief that larger schemes jointly sponsored with the private sector would provide better value for money to public organisations in Wales. Overall, there are concerns regarding the total cost to the public purse, and the whole system of assessing whether a PFI contract represents better value for money than any other procurement route. This strategy is currently under consideration by the Welsh Government, and its attributes will be examined in the same way as the PFI has in the past two decades. Image: Mark Hobbs

Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │13

│SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW

Does Practice make Perfect Public Service Professionals? How can Higher Education Institutions help deliver the next generation of professional public servants? Bronwen Williams

MA LLB(hons) PGCE FHEA Legal expert Bronwen Williams considers the role of Higher Education in developing high quality public service professionals.

According to Susan Anderson (2011 p1), CBI Director for Education & Skills "Employability skills are the most important attributes that businesses look for in new recruits, but graduates are currently falling short of employers' expectations.” The employability of prospective new employees is also an issue that has gained a great deal of prominence for many employers in the last few years and the public sector has been no different in this respect. In the uniformed public services although they may not require any specific qualifications to join the service, experience and practical skills seem to be a priority when selecting successful recruits. South Wales Police, for example, are recruiting PCs from the existing pool of voluntary Specials rather than through advertising due to the knowledge and skills that the Specials already possess. So, if practical experience is the key to successful recruitment then how are universities responding to this?

14 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

Since the Dearing Report (1997), which played heavily on the need for key skills, work-based learning opportunities and more collaboration between higher education and employers, universities have seen a fundamental change in society’s expectations of higher education (Harvey and Knight 2003). Indeed with students now expected to cover the cost of increased tuition fees their expectations of the quality of delivery and content of degree courses has increased, students want to see a good return on their investment, notably is there employment at the end of it? New proposals from the Government for legal education and training were encapsulated in the White Paper for Higher Education (2011) “Students at the Heart of the System”, which called for “A Better Student Experience and Better Qualified Graduates.” The report recognised that HE was a good thing in itself and students may study a subject because they love it regardless of what it means for their earnings but, even so,

one of the purposes of higher education is to prepare students for a rewarding career. Indeed Atkins (1999) identified that the ‘current preoccupation’ of HE institutions to increase the employability of graduates has resulted in the development of key skills, or similar named skill enhancements within curricula. Hills et al (2003) agree that there should be “a match between the learning outcomes of the students and the employment market into which they proceed after graduation”. However they then argue that a majority of graduates go into jobs in which their degree knowledge base would appear to be of little benefit. Therefore they suggest that a more functional framework for employability would have to be an overarching concept that supports preparation for a wide range of careers, from an academic research career, to the voluntary sector, to the commercial sector. Consequently this view re-enforces the point made by the Council for Industry and Higher Education (2008) that:

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU│

“Graduates are more likely to be equipped with the skills that employers want if there is genuine collaboration between institutions and employers in the design and delivery of courses. Although around 80 per cent of universities say they are engaged in collaborative arrangements with employers, this can still be improved.” The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), and the Government have been calling for all universities to incorporate more clinical education and work experience and to include good communication skills, practical commercial awareness, professionalism and how to be a team player and well organised into their undergraduate courses in order to increase employability.

However Newman (1966) described the role of universities as providing students with the intellectual means to make better choices about their lives, allowing them to select and pursue the occupation that best suits their talent and aspirations. Arblaster (1974) affirmed this sentiment stating that “Education is not synonymous with training, least of all training for specific jobs,” that the primary function of universities is to educate students not workers. While this sentiment is true and that the protection of education is important it has to be borne in mind that students are now consumers and value for money is key. Here at Swansea Metropolitan University, the Public Service department have recognised the need for effective engagement and collaboration with public service providers. Communication with a number of these providers has led to creation of links and training to enhance the student experience. The course includes modules that have been written and delivered by current public sector

employees increasing the appropriateness and context of the course, such and Emergency Disaster Management, Management of Terrorism and Public Sector Governance. This gives students up-to-date, relevant and necessary skills to enter public sector employment, which could also be applied to the private and voluntary sectors. Students will be given the opportunity to train in a professional fire service environment and experience first-hand a fire simulation using breathing apparatus. The department is creating links with the local police forces to provide training opportunities and have included a work experience module into the course to allow the students to become Specials or undertake other voluntary work during their degree course. The aim is to create graduates who gain relevant subject knowledge balanced with the necessary skills for employment.

Image: Chris Thomas

Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │15

│SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW

To Blend, or not to Blend? How blended learning is enabling South Wales Police to develop future leaders on a budget.

Steve Commander Senior Design & Development Officer for South Wales Police, Steve Commander explains how through taking a blended approach to learning the force is able to develop its people efficiently and effectively. Businesses of all kinds today are beset with financial imperatives and competitive influences that constantly influence the culture of learning within the organisation. The danger is that business allows compliance to become the driver for learning, rather than the need to enhance skills and improve attitudes and behaviours. For example, if an organisation dramatically reduces or eliminates leadership development for their supervisors and managers at all levels; past evidence has shown that it will see a reduction in the general productivity and effectiveness of those leaders. Leadership has been found to be more important during an economic downturn than ever before. It is the ability to lead and inspire that will produce ‘more with less’, and it is quality leadership and creativity that nurtures innovation and action. Managers look to leaders to restructure the business to meet demand, to improve the productivity or effectiveness of the business, and to find new ways to keep the impetus towards the good. They look to leadership to increase standards, drive value, and work even harder to rebuild or redirect the business. Does it make sense to take away that small amount of the budget spent on developing skills, capabilities, and networks? Or, do we allow the bottom line to be the driver?

16 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

Within a Public Service such as Policing, there is an understanding for the need to maintain leadership qualities, at the same time as reducing financial deficits. Over time within South Wales Police there was a dawning realisation that it does not need a trainer to regurgitate knowledge based content to learners. Therefore there was a concerted effort to create an upturn in the use of distance learning… and this change has been dramatic. This increase however comes with a health warning… ‘To swap traditional learning with distance learning is not the answer’. Therefore we at South Wales Police embarked on an ambitious programme to transform the delivery strategy to meet the needs of the Force, whilst attempting to balance the books, and meet the needs of the community. During our study we consistently put the needs of the citizen at the heart of all our efforts, at times to the contrary of the prevailing culture. We continue to put the citizen at the heart of our service delivery and the ‘just in time’ approach to training, via the Distance Learning strategy has enabled us to do this in terms of reduced abstraction for learning, and maintaining frontline availability and visibility. Part of the rationale at the beginning of the study, was that the current leadership in the world of learning is of a generation that has inherited methods of learning that have been sanctioned and practiced

for centuries. There is evidence to suggest that this leadership can at times be guilty of not embracing change and ignoring the wholesale growth in the technological influences over the past twenty to thirty years. In his research Marc Prensky (2001) stated:

“It is amazing to me how in all the hoopla and debate these days about the decline of education in the US we ignore the most fundamental of its causes. Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.”

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU│

“…a type of education or training program in which learners define what they want to learn and learning is considered successful when learners feel that they are able to master their intended objectives (whether or not the course designers believe that the learners have or have not demonstrated mastery).” Technological changes have spawned a generation of young people who operate at a technical pace that is unimagined by those who would deliver their learning… with that in mind, further education and higher education has moved to meet this challenge, in line with some of the methods being used in the compulsory learning sector. However, the South Wales Police prospectus for 2010/11 indicated that the Force continued to spend in excess of 80% of its learning budget on traditional classroom methods of learning. Some of the work that has taken place within the Distance Learning research helped to highlight the areas that assisted South Wales Police to make more intelligent learner centred choices when it came to delivery methodology. It was our intention to help inform the leadership with detail around the preferences that exist in the business, and produce both qualitative and quantitative data to help inform understanding. This investigation came at a time when the public sector had to embrace ‘lean’ methods of operation, and when the private sector was attempting to recover and create a more competitive workplace environment. The findings from our investigation helped inform leaders as to the impact of the digital era, and give

detail around the differences that exist in the workforce of today. Our research helped inform leadership as to the fact that as ‘a profession’ the Police Service is going through a state of change; from traditional methods of ‘one-to-many’ types of learning, to a more blended technological approach.

attitudes towards learning, and that this divide had the potential to hinder the progression of any change in learning methods. However it was acknowledged that the Force was faced with conflicting priorities on a daily basis which may or may not have given a distorted result during the study.

“Blending the learning within South Wales Police has seen a saving in excess of £1M”

Blending the learning within South Wales Police has seen a saving in excess of £1M, and although the initiative continues to be a working progress, a 5480% increase in e-Learning completions alone, is an indicator that a blend in the learning is having a positive outcome. Who knows; it may even allow the doubters to start looking at learning as an investment in individual development and ultimately organisational performance improvement.

The data from the study helped to show that blended learning could work given the right environment and circumstances. Driscoll and Carliner (2005) stated of blended learning: One of the main revelations from the study was the culture and sub cultures that existed within South Wales Police. The evidence from this study gave a clear indication that there was a divide in

Image: South Wales Police

Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │17

│SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW

10 Minute Guide: Fireproofing your Business Advice from the Fire and Rescue Service on your legal responsibilities and how to protect your business from fire damage. Peter Greenslade Peter Greenslade, Fire Officer at Mid & West Wales Fire and Rescue Service and part time lecturer in Public Services Leadership at Swansea Met provides guidance for all businesses on how to minimise their risk of fire damage and stay within the law…

The Fire & Rescue Service (FRS) are now involved to a greater extent with commercial premises than ever before, and not just in an enforcement capability. Whilst business fire safety enforcement is still the domain of inspecting officers, Mid and West Wales FRS are also capable of provide advice regarding reducing unwanted fire alarm signals, arson reduction and business continuity management. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the ‘Order’) came into force on 1st October 2006 and replaced over 70 pieces of dated fire safety legislation including the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and consequently the requirement for a number of businesses to hold a Fire Certificate. The Order applies to all commercial and multiple-occupancy housing properties in England and Wales and states that the nominated Responsible Person must carry out a fire safety risk assessment and, if there are 5 or more people employed record the findings.

The law applies to a person who is: • responsible for the business premises (the Responsible Person); • an employer or self-employed with business premises; • responsible for a part of a residence where that part is solely used for business purposes; • a charity or voluntary organisation; • a contractor with a degree of control over any premises. The Order requires any person who exercises some level of control in premises to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire and ensure occupants can safely escape if a fire does occur. One of the key differences between the Order and previous fire safety legislation is that the Order is non-prescriptive and the focus is on the Responsible Person (RP) to identify the risks and take suitable and sufficient measures to reduce the risks from fire to ‘So Far As Is Reasonably Practicable’ and ‘As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP)’. The ALARP principle incorporates cost benefit analysis and in most cases the required measures should be undertaken unless the costs in time, money or effort

18 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

are grossly disproportionate to the benefit that would be gained from their implementation. Whilst the Order is non-prescriptive and self-regulatory, the Order clearly identifies the enforcing authority as the fire and rescue authority for the area in which the premises are, or are to be, situated. To enforce the Order Mid & West Wales FRS have a number of fire safety inspecting officers that will undertake inspections of premises as part of a planned audit programme and in response to complaints. The Order provides a range of powers to officers to enforce the Order including serving a Prohibition Notice for a premises that: “involve or will involve a risk to relevant persons so serious that use of the premises ought to be prohibited or restricted”. A suite of Guidance manuals are available from the Home Office to assist the RP in determining risk relative to the premises type and a Risk Assessment template is available from Mid & West Wales FRS . Local Business Fire Safety departments are available for consultation regarding complex issues.

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU│ Unwanted Fire Signals Fire alarm and detection systems are primarily a means to warn persons at risk however, unwanted fire signals across the UK have totalled 285,000 a year and reduce fire service delivery, increase the financial burden on FRS’s and result in a decrease in productivity in the workplace. The Order encompasses unwanted fire signals and RP’s are encouraged to discuss steps to reduce unwanted fire signals with their alarm maintenance company and local fire safety inspecting officers. Avoiding the Arsonists Arson is an increasingly significant factor in fire losses and industrial and commercial buildings are major targets for arsonists. Although the public perception is that arson is a crime against property rather than the person and that the insurer will pay, the losses due to arson fires are not simply financial, they can also involve: • Deaths and injuries to staff and fire fighters. • Business interruption or even closure of the company. • Loss of jobs. • Loss of facilities or amenities for the community. • Pollution of the air by smoke and possibly water pollution as a result of the run off of water used in the fire fighting operations.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Loss of our industrial heritage. 3 Step Arson Prevention Plan Undertake an arson risk assessment – be aware, be prepared. Check security measures - things to consider are: Perimeter protection. The strength of the building envelope. Access control. The detection of intruders. Security lighting. CCTV systems. Staff relations. Awareness of activities of pressure groups who could target the premises. Remove your rubbish regularly and place it outside in a secure closed metal container positioned at least 10 metres from buildings and plant.

Planning Ahead A Business Continuity Management Plan could save your business in times of trouble… The experiences of Swansea businesses affected by the major fire in Fforestfach in 2011 have highlighted the benefit of business premises undertaking a Business Continuity Management plan. Business Continuity relates to identification of the critical services that would be required to maintain operations through a major disruption such as fire or civil unrest.

Key Questions when developing your plan: • What are your organisation’s key products and services? • What are the critical activities and resources required to deliver these? • What are the risks to these critical activities? • How will you maintain these critical activities in the event of an incident (loss of access to premises, loss of utilities, etc)

For more info: How prepared are you? Business Continuity Management Toolkit, HM Government. Available from www.direct.gov.uk The range of advice and guidance to your business from Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service is extensive however it is important the Responsible Persons take on board their legal responsibilities under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to ensure the safety of employees and all relevant persons.

Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │19

│SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW

Emerging Theme: Mathematics of the Heart Can heart-based stress-reduction techniques ease the burden on the NHS?

James Williams Lecturer at Swansea Metropolitan considers the wave of interest in the potential for HeartMath to impact organisations. In 2010 the prime minister set up the National Wellbeing Project, to go beyond economic measures to find out what matters most to people in order to inform policies that can encourage and foster well-being. This followed on from earlier work by researchers and practitioners such as Daniel Goleman (writer of the hugely influential and popular ‘Emotional Intelligence’) who reported on compelling breakthroughs from the fields of neuroscience and business. He suggested that those who excel in emotional intelligence achieve not only superior academic and business results, but also have higher levels of personal fulfilment and increased wellbeing.

In recent years others have taken these concepts forward and one interesting development in this field is the concept of ‘HeartMath’ (developed by the US-based Institute of HeartMath) which is considering the important role of the heart in balancing and managing our mental and emotional energy. The Institute promote the idea that Intuitive Intelligence (IntQ) is the ability to tune into the inspiration and guiding force within us. According to HEC Paris International Business school Intuitive intelligence is the ability to combine our analytical mind with our intuitive aptitude to solve problems in an innovative way and succeed in the new economy. Can Heartmath Reduce the Cost of Workplace Stress? The Institute also suggest that developing this form of intelligence through training programmes that work on our ability to work with our heart’s natural regulatory rhythms can result in a reduction of workplace stress.

The Institute’s studies in this area continue - and both those in charge of managing the nation’s health services and large corporations will, no doubt, be watching with interest to see how this emerging field of study could improve health and wellbeing levels within our society, and hence have an impact on the cost of workplace stress…

“Studies investigating the impact of HeartMath programs in the workplace have documented a wide range of organizationally relevant outcomes, including increases in productivity, job satisfaction, communication effectiveness, improvement in employee health and reductions in turnover.” (Institute of Heartmath , 2012)

20 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU│

News and Reviews Events @ Swansea Business School

For further details of these events and to register to attend please email sbs@smu.ac.uk or call our Faculty Office on 01792 481132.

1pm - 4pm, 3 October 2012

Open Day

Undergraduate open day for Swansea Business School programmes. See www.smu.ac.uk for details.

1.30 - 4.30pm, 31 October 2012

Sports Marketing: Insights for Other Sectors

Half day conference in collaboration with the CIM. Email cimevents@cim.co.uk to book. Price: £45.

12 - 18 November 2012

Global Enterprise Week

Various events throughout the week. See www.smu.ac.uk for details.

New Recruit to the Public Services Team The School of Public Services Leadership is delighted to welcome lecturer Bronwen Williams as a member of the teaching team at Swansea Met.

New Home for Swansea Business School From January 2013, Swansea Business School and the School of Public Service Leadership will have a new home – the newly refurbished building right at the heart of the city centre, and ideally placed next to Swansea’s train station will provide improved student facilities and a dedicated library and study space for our growing Faculty. We can’t wait to welcome students new and existing to our new home, and are looking forward to settling in to what should be a fantastic base for the Faculty of Business and Management at the centre of Swansea’s business district. For more on the move see: www.smu.ac.uk/businessmove

Bronwen, who has been teaching Business and Organisational Law as a part time lecturer for some time, has recently joined the team on a permanent basis as part of the team delivering our newly redeveloped and revalidated range of programmes in the Public Services.

Welcome aboard Bronwen!

Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │21

│SOUTH WALES BUSINESS REVIEW

Awardwinning Teaching Quality

Mastering Financial Management Pictured (left to right) Samantha Morgan, John Williams (Students’ Union President) Lucy Griffiths, Steven Osborne.

Five members of the lecturing team at the Faculty of Business and Management at Swansea Met were recently honoured with awards for their teaching as nominated by the most important people at the University…the students. Swansea Metropolitan University’s Students’ Union is extremely active under the leadership of President John Williams (now in his second term of office), and just one of the fantastic initiatives introduced this year has been a series of awards for teaching quality. The Faculty was delighted to have a significant number of nominees from its teaching staff and to win five of the awards. The winners were Andrew Campbell, Pam Murray, Steve Osborne, Samantha Morgan and Lucy Griffiths, and they received their awards at a glitzy awards ceremony organised by John and the team from the students’ union. Dean of Faculty, Leigh Jenkins said ‘I’m delighted that there were so many nominees from the faculty and proud of those members of staff who have been awarded prizes – it shows just how much emphasis we place on high quality teaching here at Swansea Met’.

You’ve been SMUDGEd! Students who took part in the final workshop of the SMUDGE Enterprise programme (developed collaboratively by Swansea Business School and the Faculty of Applied Design and Engineering and supported by the Welsh Government’s Dynamo project) were treated to a fantastic visual representation of their journey created by visual minute-taker and Swansea Met Illustration student, Karl Mountford (see above). The workshop aimed to help those graduating this year to find their passion and develop a career based on their own unique skills and talents, something we believe strongly in supporting here at Swansea Met. The event was highlighted by Tim Clark, (author of the best-selling Business Model You, the book on which the workshop was based and which presents a framework which individuals can use to create their own ‘personal business model’) and featured on his web site and in his international newsletter. Feedback from the students was excellent, and we look forward to hearing how the participants put their personal business plans into practice as they progress in their careers after graduating from Swansea Met… Visual minutes by Karl Mountford

22 │ Vol 3 Issue 4 2012

Swansea Business School is proud to be launching two new Master’s programmes in Financial Management and Financial Management (Learning and Development). These programmes are designed to help both experienced financial managers and those developing their career in the field to respond to rapid changes in this challenging area of business. The 21st Century accountant and financial manager should be at home in the boardroom in a managerial role, on the international stage or in an entrepreneurial environment. Today's business managers need to be able to interpret financial information and use it to guide business strategy. The MSc in Financial Management recognises the need to broaden traditional accountancy education and to include a much broader business footprint. The programme is designed to fit comfortably within the new accounting educational framework incorporating academic rigour with practical experience. It would also provide a route for qualified accountants and finance professionals to obtain a Master’s degree. Qualified chartered accountants are likely to only have to complete the part 2 dissertation stage, as their professional qualification such as ACCA or CIMA should exempt them from the part 1 modules. For more information please contact the admissions tutor for the programme, Richard Dunstan: Richard.Dunstan@smu.ac.uk or apply online at www.smu.ac.uk

ADOLYGIAD BUSNES DE CYMRU│

Books

Inequality may kill the system Review by Steve Griffiths

Stiglitz, Joseph, E. (2012) The Price of Inequality: The Avoidable Causes and Hidden Costs of Inequality, London, Allen Lane Galbraith, James, K. (2012) Inequality and Instability, Oxford, OUP Since the economic crisis of 2008 a number of economists have been returning to the philosophical roots of their discipline to challenge what the meaning and motivation of the capitalist system are. Since the death of the Soviet Union when Francis Fukuyama declared we had reached the “End of History” with capitalism’s final triumph, many have questioned the efficacy of the system. Richard Layard has investigated the source of happiness, which may not be tightly linked to material wealth, Robin Hahnel (2010) urges us to adopt green economics to avoid ecological disaster and Michael Sandal (2012) questions what we should be striving at within the capitalist system. All have alerted us to the under performance of the system in creating wealth and especially, the lack of equity in the distribution of benefits. Nobel prize winner Stiglitz and James Galbraith, son of the great John Kenneth, focus on the causes and impact of the inherent inequality in our system. Both challenge the claims of neoclassical economics which has dominated government policy since the 80’s and give damning verdicts on current recession inducing austerity measures. All these writers come from the liberal wing of economics and politics, but are not preaching socialism. Stiglitz identifies the top 1% of the US population who dominate economics and politics, and who have gained a 150% wage rise in the last 30 years, compared with the bottom 90%, who are excluded, disenfranchised and have seen only a 15% wage rise in the same time period. Galbraith with his powerful analysis of his upgraded data base, agrees with most of the diagnosis and predictions of Stiglitz, but adds an international dimension in his analysis of the inequality in the wealth of nations, as well as that within. Both challenge the conservative idea that inequality is necessary to create incentives and growth. Indeed they believe more equality would generate more jobs and real welfare gains. Both inject a moral dimension to the discussion of means and ends in the economic system. The ideal of social benefits and the positive role for state intervention are advocated. As liberals, not revolutionaries, they also point to the possible explosive consequences, even threatening the top 1%, if the immiseration of the poor and wasteful use of resources by the powerful are ignored. These books are not an easy read, but can be read selectively by readers who want to learn a critical alternative to the current “monetarist inspired” consensus. References: Fukuyama, Francis (1992) The End of History and the Last Man, London, Penguin Hahnel, Robin (2010) Green Economics: Confronting the Ecological Crisis, NY, ME Sharpe Layard, Richard (2006) Happiness: Lessons from a New Science, London, Penguin Sandal, Michael (2012) What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of the Market, London, Penguin

Vol 3 Issue 4 2012 │23

Next Issue…

Bright Sparks How Wales is Igniting its Entrepreneurial Spirit… Out November 2012

To reserve a copy please visit www.smu.ac.uk/swbr or email your name and address to: swbr@smu.ac.uk Image: ©iStockphoto.com/YaryGin