DUBS Alumni News Magazine Issue 28 Summer 2016

Alumni Magazine for Durham University Business School Summer 2016 Issue 28

IN THIS ISSUE: LEADING AND MANAGING CHANGE YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN GERMANY, CHINA AND SRI LANKA FROM DURHAM TO DIESEL

BETTER BUSINESS THINKING

“I chose the DBA to broaden my horizons, challenge myself and achieve personal growth; to meet other researchers and access a researcher network. For doctoral students, Durham is a great place to be, with all the resources you need and a first-rate team of faculty and administration staff to help you.”

Dolunay Arslan Süess Academic Director, César Ritz Colleges – Switzerland

YOU’VE REACHED THE TOP OF YOUR CAREER…WHAT NEXT? THE DURHAM DBA

At a Glance

You’re already at the top of your game as a senior business executive, now you want the next challenge.

• Present your findings at global conferences

Whatever your aspirations, the DBA will enable you to push boundaries, make a unique contribution to your field and empower you to transform the world around you.

• Highest level thinking and research

• Contribute to your own professional practice • Flexible part-time study – the programme takes 4 to 6 years to complete.

Want to find out more?

T: +44 (0)191 334 5404 E: research.admissions@durham.ac.uk

www.durham.ac.uk/business/dba

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CONTENTS Pg 22 ALUMNI FEATURE - MY LANKAN DREAM

Pg 19 WINTER GRADUATION

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Dean’s welcome

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School and University news

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Alumni update

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Introducing... Carol Adams

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Interview with Killick Datta

9 John Snow College update 10 Leading and managing change A personal perspective 12 Rahul Dasgupta 14 Alumni Q&A

Pg 6

Pg 10

INTERVIEW WITH KILLICK DATTA

LEADING AND MANAGING CHANGE

15 Young Entrepreneurs 19 Winter graduation 2016 20 Action, inaction, trust and cyber security 22 Alumni feature - My Lankan Dream 23 What could your Durham legacy be?

24 The dark side of emotional labour 26 International chapter news 28 Class notes 29 Book review by Dr Brad Atkinson

Pg 15 YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

Front cover: Alumna Dr Sylvana Storey celebrates International Women’s Day with the women on our full-time MBA. Durham’s MBA leads the world for its gender balance and internationalism.

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WELCOME TO ALUMNI NEWS PROFESSOR ROB DIXON, DEAN

As many of you will know, last year I made the difficult decision that I would step down as Dean of the Business School. Since joining the Business School in 1992, I have held a number of positions including Chair of the Board of Studies and Director of the MBA Programme and I am pleased to stay on at the School in a research capacity as Professor in Accountancy.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Dean and have been impressed time and time again by the outstanding achievements of our students, alumni and faculty. Following the School’s 50th anniversary celebrations, we can all be proud of its long list of notable achievements.

Accolades and accomplishments of which I am personally proud include the solid progress made in the development and delivery of the School’s research strategy, strong

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student recruitment to all our programmes and the significant expansion and enhancement of our staff and premises. It is particularly pleasing to be leaving the School in such a strong position in the world rankings.

Recently, the Financial Times published its ranking of the world’s top 100 full-time MBA programmes in which Durham University Business School is now ranked joint 66th globally, an increase of 13 places on its position in 2015.

I believe it is the right time for someone new to take the School forward and I am delighted to announce that Professor Susan Hart has been appointed as the new Dean. Professor Hart, who is currently Associate Deputy Principal at the University of Strathclyde, will take up her position at Durham in summer 2016.

It is an exciting time for the School and indeed the University. Since joining the institution in September, our new Vice-Chancellor Stuart Corbridge has spoken of his ambition for Durham to be amongst the top ten Business Schools in Europe. I am sure Stuart and Susan will do a fantastic job at leading the School onto even greater successes over the coming years.

Please join me in giving Susan a warm welcome to Durham.

I would like to thank you one last time for your continued support over my tenure. It has been a pleasure to get to know so many of you. I wish you all and the School every success in the future.

Best wishes, Professor Rob Dixon, Dean

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SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY NEWS University New Vice-Chancellor and Warden Professor Stuart Corbridge started as Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Durham University on 1st September 2015. He is Durham University’s 24th Vice-Chancellor and joins from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He said, “I know that Durham is a very special University. As well as being a world top 100 University with an impressive research portfolio and excellent teaching standards, our staff, students, colleges, departments, estate and traditions all combine to make this a wonderful place to study, work and live.”

School

School Top 50 European Business School When the Financial Times published its 2015 Top 85 European Business Schools Rankings, we had risen to become a Top 50 European Business School. This amalgamates our success in the ranking of individual programmes. In September, the Masters in Management was rated as sixth in the UK. In January, it was announced our MBA programme has risen 13 places to be ranked 66th in the world. Our ability to attract a diverse range of students is reflected in the MBA ranking, currently ranked first globally for the proportion of female students and eighth globally for the proportion of international students.

School Professor Tom Redman It is with much sadness that we learnt of the death of our friend and colleague Professor Tom Redman. Tom died suddenly on 18th December 2015 in Thailand, en route back to the UK from a research visit to China.

Tom, Professor of Human Resource Management, was well known in the UK and internationally as a good and modest man as well as an outstanding scholar, committed teacher, skilled administrator and a very supportive colleague. He is sorely missed.

Professional Recognition The new MSc Accounting degree has been recognised by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, for exemptions in specified professional papers. In addition our MSc Marketing and BA Integrated Masters in Marketing programmes have been recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. These are in addition to the accreditation of the MSc Management (Supply Chain Logistics), which was recently awarded by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

School Centre for Entrepreneurship Dr Paul Hughes has been appointed as Director of The Centre for Entrepreneurship, as Professor Ian Stone scales back his time in the School following many years of commitment and dedication to furthering the entrepreneurial experience of students from all over the University.

Paul said, “We are keen to engage with our alumni to make sure our students get as much as possible from these incredibly valuable external sources of knowledge and insights on corporate and personal entrepreneurship journeys. We always welcome interest in schemes such as the Honorary Entrepreneurial Fellows and Dragon’s Den Competition.

We are also looking at new ways to involve alumni, for example by holding research discussion events, seminars and meeting series.” As part of strengthening the School’s faculty in this area, Dr Joanna Berry, a serial entrepreneur from within major international corporations and in her own right, was recently appointed a senior teaching Fellow in entrepreneurship.

University 150 years of Durham Alumni 2016 is the 150th anniversary of the first alumni society at Durham University. With the actual date of the anniversary being 31st May, there is a programme of celebratory events in late spring and early summer. There will be special recognition of the contribution of the University’s alumni volunteers at a special thank you event in Durham on the 4th-5th June. These will be followed up by an alumni survey in the autumn asking alumni how we can help them to shape the next 150 years.

School

School

New Head of Economics

Teaching and Learning appointment

Professor John Ashworth, Principal of Stephen College, was appointed as Head of the Department of Economics and Finance in September 2015.

Having completed his time as Head of Department, Richard Harris returns to his role as Professor of Economics.

Dr Toby Watson became Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) in July 2015 when Professor Geoff Moore stepped down. Geoff continues as Professor of Business Ethics and is currently on a period of wellearned research leave.

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ALUMNI UPDATE Additional picture to come?

It is seven years since I entered the world of alumni relations and it has been so rewarding in many ways, particularly meeting so many of you wonderful people. It is not lightly that I have made the decision to move on to a new challenge within the School.

My new role is creating placement and internship opportunities, mainly for our undergraduate students. I hope to stay in touch with many of you, continuing to build your relationship with Durham University Business School. Whilst there have been changes to the alumni team over the past twelve months, Lindsay Young will continue to be your main point of contact until my successor is announced formally.

We also welcome two PhD students, Johannes Schmalisch and Lei Wang, as part-time members of our team.

As I sign off for my final edition of the alumni magazine, I want to say a massive thank you to all our ambassadors who have made my job so enjoyable. To volunteer your time to help the School’s strategic objectives, whether mentoring students, speaking on programmes, representing Durham at a recruitment fair or hosting an event, really characterises what it is to be part of the DUBS network.

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Ocean (Xun) Wang is a perfect example of an ambassador. He appears regularly in the magazine due to all the hard work and time he puts into expanding the alumni networks in China. In January, he helped coordinate the UK Universities annual alumni party with 11 other institutions.

The event hosted by the British Embassy saw 79 Durham alumni, out of 390 attendees, celebrate all things from the United Kingdom, and Durham took centre stage in the festivities.

This is one of the many reasons that I have nominated him to receive a Dunelmensis award from the University.

As the University’s alumni association celebrates 150 years in 2016, it is a particularly special award for our cherished alumni volunteers.

Some other great examples of our ambassadorial activity can be found on page 26 which highlights some of the fantastic engagement we have across our international chapters.

I’d also like to give a special mention to DunelmUSA board member, Brad Atkinson (DBA 2006) who you may recognise from our regular book review features. Brad is a regular donor contributing to Student Opportunities Fund, the School’s Annual Fund and

the PhD Research Fund. He has supported me at recruitment fairs in Washington DC as well as being a habitual supporter of the School through our mentoring programme.

In this issue, Brad dissects Dr George Cooper’s (BSc Physics 1987/90) second book Money, Blood and Revolution (page 31). I hope you enjoy the read.

Thank you to each and every one of you. Keep in touch via email or on Linkedin, especially to share any openings which will undoubtedly enhance the career prospects for our next generation of alumni.

Alex McNinch Alumni Relations Manager

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Introducing…

CAROL ADAMS PROFESSOR OF ACCOUNTING

What are you currently working on?

Understanding the role of corporate accounting and reporting (particularly nonfinancial reporting) in long-term business success. Understanding the relationships between the key ingredients of business success which to my mind are: identifying environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities; setting an appropriate strategy and delivering on it; sound governance; and, making informed management decisions appropriate for today’s complexity.

What are the most challenging parts of your job?

Juggling the multiple components - finding time to do everything I want to do, as well as I want to do it.

What do you want to achieve? Through my research, teaching and external engagements and networks, I want to make a difference to practice and policy that will move the world towards sustainable development. I use my research to influence practice through external engagements and advisory work, and my expertise to influence policy.

What drives you? A sense of justice and fairness, including fairness for future generations in terms of their well-being and the natural environment we leave them.

Being on a winning team whether that be a research team, teaching team, department, school or faculty which is achieving excellent outcomes, aligned to my values.

What was the best career advice you were given? Listen and know when to step back, when your point has been heard. I’ve learnt more from poor leadership and management, than good. If you want to change things, you need to be aware of what doesn’t work and think about what would.

What advice would you offer to someone thinking of an academic career? You have to be highly motivated, have an enquiring mind and personal resilience. It is not an easy option and the job requires a number of very different skills. Research the career options very carefully. Talk to a number of academics about their work and what drives them. Make sure you talk to current academics - the nature of academic work has changed considerably since I moved from professional accounting and auditing.

Carol Adams is an internationally renowned author in integrated reporting, social and environmental accounting and sustainability reporting.

She is founding editor of the Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal and writes on her website at www.drcaroladams.net.

Carol is currently a member of the ACCA’s Global Forum on Sustainability, the ICAS Sustainability Committee, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board’s Technical Working Group and the Stakeholder Council of the Global Reporting Initiative. She is an experienced nonexecutive director and consults to multinational corporations and other organisations on corporate reporting and integrating sustainability into business practices.

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KILLICK DATTA MSc MANAGEMENT 1981/2

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FROM DURHAM TO DIESEL

HOW A CHANCE MEETING AT DUBS LEAD TO SUCCESS IN THE GLOBAL FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY In 1981 the world was a very different place. Telephones were connected by a cable to the wall, sports shoes were only worn on the court or track and Durham colleges were taking the bold decision to admit members of the opposite sex.

One of the first two male members of St Aidan’s SCR was Killick Datta, who had come to Durham to do an MSc in management studies. At that time it was seen as a temporary break from his studies as a chemist and biochemist before embarking on his career leading to a place on the board of a pharmaceutical multinational, just as his father had done before him.

After studying his first degree in the South of England, friends had encouraged him to look up North for a business course. He stood on the hill outside St Aidan’s, looking across to the castle and cathedral and knew he had found the place. As he sits in a London hotel, thirty five years later, he describes his time at Durham as a wonderful experience and a refreshing break from his scientific research. It also gave him time to pursue his love of sport. He played table tennis for Wales and India, soccer for Durham and was St Aidan’s sportsman of the year.

One Sunday, Killick was sitting in the Business School library in his Adidas tracksuit when a man walked in and demanded he take it off. This was his unpromising introduction to Olympic medallist Brendan Foster, who was at the Business School for a refresher course having been recruited

to a fledgling American sportswear company as European Managing Director. Fortunately, Killick recognised him from the commentating he did on television, and in the hope of bagging some free tickets to Wimbledon, or other sporting events, replied, “This was given to me free, what are you going to give me?” Foster explained his commercial role and promised Killick some kit from the firm. Killick was unimpressed as he’d never heard of the tiny foreign brand. It was Nike.

A few days later Killick saw Brendan having coffee in the SCR at the Business School, and reminded him of his offer. True to his word, Brendan headed to his car and brought Killick back a little bag with a singlet, T-shirt and shorts. Killick points out that none of this was ideal for the sports he was interested in, but in the hope of tickets, continued to chat. They discussed Killick’s plans for his dissertation to study the multi-brand strategy at Proctor & Gamble. Brendan persuaded him not to do this, but to look at a strategy for growth for Nike and offered to pay his expenses to travel around the UK and Europe to research and write the strategy. Killick didn’t think twice and shook hands to agree. It was a risk that was to shape his career. As ever, he gave it 100 per cent.

One evening as he was completing the dissertation, Killick invited Brendan to St Aidan’s for a formal dinner with the then principal Lady Irene Hindmarsh and the Chancellor, Dame Margot Fonteyn. Over the port and sherry after the meal, the men discussed Killick’s

future and Brendan suggested that he come to work for Nike. At that time, it was just a small office in Durham with three members of staff to oversee its European operations. The whole firm had sales of £65 million.

So Killick took on the role of Marketing and Purchasing Manager for Nike UK. In reality, as part of a small team, the role involved everything from marketing research for the London marathon to getting branded socks to John McEnroe, often sleeping in airports or on planes to meet all his commitments.

The other three staff members were all British track athletes who would run together at lunchtime and in the evening. Fortunately, they bonded with Killick over a shared love of Indian food.

The timing was perfect. Nike rode a health boom in the UK, and with its understanding of, and links to, running, the firm grew in the wake of a popular expansion of the sport. Running became a phenomenon, epitomised in huge public events. The London Marathon was launched on 29 March 1981, followed by the Great North Run on 28 June of that year. The Great North Run was co-devised by Brendan Foster and Killick recalls that running it was nearly obligatory for the Nike team.

Britain saw a huge surge in love for track, and this celebrity endorsement was another part of Nike’s success.

Sebastian Coe, Steve Cram, Steve Ovett and David Moorcroft were winning medals at all the major athletic events.

Nike signed them all.

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Kenya Peters and Dean, Rob Dixon Another chance meeting created the opportunity to move on. Brendan had moved Killick to the USA to be director of international business development.

At a trade fair, Killick met Robert Greenberg. Robert headed up a group of five guys, with no college degree between them, marketing ladies’ aerobics shoes. Killick joined LA Gear as president of international business with responsibility for the international licensing and developed the model of celebrity endorsement he had used at Nike. Unusually then for a streetfashion, sportswear business, they signed up celebrities beyond the sports arena, including Michael Jackson. The company also launched shoes with flashing lights, familiar to any parent with small children. The business grew to be worth $1 billion in five years, and to be number one on the New York Stock Exchange, two years running.

Killick suggests that Nike was a great school where he learned his trade, but it was probably his work at LA Gear that got him noticed.

jeans brand for footwear and by designing hybrid shoes including a man’s brogue on a sneaker base, created a brand worth £500 million in its fifth year. Since he has sold the company, he has been enticed to Singapore to launch a footwear brand. He also serves on several boards and is an advisor to the US Department of Commerce on International Trade Issues.

Killick recognises that although he has worked as hard as he could, none of it guarantees success, and it has been an elusive mix of luck, timing and hard work that has paid off for him. He feels fortunate to be paid to do something he enjoys, and clearly relishes attending fashion shows and browsing shoe departments. He is also proud to have made it through his career on his own and stepped beyond his father’s shadow. He credits Brendan Foster as the reason he is in the industry and acknowledges that an unpromising meeting in Durham University Business School had a critical role to play in the direction his career took.

From old Igloo...

...to new

From LA Gear, Killick went on to be president of Wolverine Worldwide International, with responsibility for brands such as Merrell, Brooks and Hush Puppies. Robert Greenberg enticed him back to launch Skechers but at 35 Killick decided that he wanted his own business. Against all the advice he was given, he licensed the Diesel

ALUMNI NEWS

Monika Strycharczyk

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UPDATE FROM KENYA PETERS & MONIKA STRYCHARCZYK John Snow College is familiar to many DUBS undergraduates at Queen’s Campus.

In September 2015, John Snow College created a new sabbatical position ‘Alumni Relations and College Community Assistant’. Alumni news caught up with post holder, Monika Strycharczyk (BSc Applied Pschology, 2015) and JCR President, Kenya Peters (BA Marketing, 2015) to find out more about the new appointment and other developments there.

Monika explains the thinking behind the new sabbatical position, “The role was created to tackle two areas within the college. Firstly, to encourage and increase alumni relations and secondly to promote the ‘internal college community’ by increasing engagement and participation in events and opportunities that are focussed around the college bar and other social spaces.”

Kenya gives us an update on those social spaces, including dramatic changes to the famous Igloo, “With a new refurbishment the Igloo looks superb, with fresh walls, laminate flooring and a new bar feel, we attract students several times a week for planned events, sporting fixtures and socials. We’re hoping for more success in the coming terms with students having a bar to be proud of and call their own.” It has provided a welcoming venue for a variety of social events, including an acoustic night for talented students.

Kenya elaborates on how John Snow is working hard to ensure everyone feels part of this friendly college, “Alumni may be interested to know of our work around the alcohol policy.

In a conscious effort to increase the inclusivity of our events, John Snow JCR have enforced practice promoting non-alcohol behaviours.

From Freshers’ Week we have done more to include students that choose

not to drink in events that are typically considered ‘drinking nights’, as well as hosting more non-alcohol focused nights. Feedback has shown that we have been able to widen participation in our events and create a more inclusive community, whilst also maintaining support from our typically engaged students, factors we see as a great success for John Snow JCR.” The refurbishment has been well received by current students as Kenya explains, “In one short term we’ve managed to turn around bar profits, put on John Snow’s first sell-out Michaelmas term Ball, and execute student representation on some of the most important topics for Queen’s Campus since its conception.”

Since the beginning of the academic year, the John Snow Alumni Association has also has seen many changes and initiatives. “We have had fantastic positive feedback from our alumni to the new John Snow Alumni web page and supporting social media activity on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn,” enthuses Monika. She has also been kept busy re-designing and branding our termly college newsletter, launching a new student bursary scheme and holding the ‘After Hours’ reception at the beautiful new venue of the 19th century Counting House in London.

However, their ambitions don’t stop there. The association is also looking at setting up a scheme, where current business students can reach out to recent business graduates for help and advice in relation to career progression and graduate opportunities. This scheme would not only allow current students to excel in their studies and future employability but also help recent alumni to reconnect with the college and students as well as giving something back through expert advice and knowledge.

The dynamic pair are putting their experience to good use, with Kenya planning a career in marketing, while Monika is planning a career in HR, when they complete their terms of office later in the year.

If you are a recent graduate interested in being involved in the John Snow career progression scheme, please contact snow.alumni@durham.ac.uk.

More experienced alumni are sought as mentors for the DUBS mentoring scheme. Email business.alumni@ durham.ac.uk to volunteer.

For further updates on developments at John Snow College, and links to all its social media channels please go to www.dur.ac.uk/johnsnow.college/alumni/

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A personal perspective

LEADING AND MANAGING CHANGE At the beginning of the 21st century, Ray Kurzweil, Futurist and Chief Engineer at Google, predicted that 20,000 years of progress would be crammed into the next 100 years.

Dr Julie Hodges believes that, if anything, progress and change will accelerate even faster than that, as tremendous forces for change are radically reshaping the world.

In her new book, Managing and Leading People through Organizational Change, the theory and practice of sustaining change through people, she sets out to guide us through frameworks, perspectives and practical approaches so that we can create effective change in our organisations.

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“Organisational change is at a turning point from an art to a profession, from improvisation to a far richer approach based on empirical evidence on what works and what does not,” Dr Julie Hodges suggests.

Building upon the insights of her previous book which was published in 2015, Sustaining Change in Organizations, Julie’s new book addresses the key issues from a practical and realistic perspective as well as a theoretical one. Experiences from individuals and organisations provide insights into what makes change successful and what makes it fail, as well as lessons learnt.

Drawing not only on her academic understanding of theories of change, but crucially, over twenty years of experience as a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and the British Council, she observes, “Academics and practitioners are continually producing studies of, and offering supposedly new approaches to change. Some of these do offer new and useful insights into organisational change, others stress academic rigour but lack relevance and vice versa, whilst some appear to contain neither. Many books are dedicated to describing what change looks like, what instigates it, how it develops, and how it can and should be managed.

Yet change is all about people, as all

change affects someone. Preparing, planning, implementing and sustaining change in organisations are all done by people and in turn impact on individuals who are doing the work.”

Change has been an ongoing feature in Julie’s research, consultancy work and personal life. Her PhD investigating the impact of change on levels of stress among middle managers found that if change was managed badly it had detrimental effects on individuals in organisations. Yet, her research found, there was little recognition from organisations about how they could improve. “During 20 years working in a variety of organisations across the globe, one of the key areas I witnessed that was ignored during change was the impact of the change on people,” she recalls. “Clients would engage us to work with them when they wanted to transform their organisation but did not know how to engage their employees in the transition. Leaders tended to focus on the systems or processes and found it safer to ignore the people aspects.

They then wondered why people ‘resisted’ change and why the change did not realise its benefits.”

Julie explains a fundamental error many firms make, “Change efforts often falter because leaders and managers overlook the need to understand how individuals perceive change and engage people in the change effort. Instead their focus is

often on the process rather than the people element of change.”

However, companies can no longer justify or afford an ad hoc approach to leading and managing people through change.”

As well as providing inspiration, this practical book aims to equip leaders and managers with the knowledge to appreciate the importance of the human dynamics of change as well as the practical skills to manage the emotional aspects of change.

The book begins by considering how economic shifts are redistributing power, wealth, competition and opportunities around the globe.

Disruptive innovations, radical thinking, new business models, shifting social and demographic trends and resource scarcity are impacting on every sector. As a result we are all facing varying levels of turmoil, including being disintermediated, out-Googled, or otherwise made irrelevant. The pervasive nature of change and its accelerating pace and magnitude are a ubiquitous reality of life.

Early on, the book addresses key questions about the impact of change on each of us and the likely reactions, drawing on theoretical perspectives of emotions and how they relate to change.

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Julie considers what drives emotions towards change, what might be the anticipated emotional and attitudinal reactions and what responses can be expected from different people. She helps to anticipate the concerns of employees about change and what determines employees’ willingness to change.

The book then goes on to examine how individuals make sense of change and how this relates to the way people in organisations behave and the central role that trust plays in creating an environment where change can thrive.

There is practical advice on how leaders and managers can build and maintain their trustworthiness, including how they can demonstrate their benevolence and integrity in the way they attend to the concerns and needs of employees during change.

The book challenges the traditional view that employee resistance is always a problem by looking at the rationale for people’s reactions and the pattern of emotions people typically progress through in response to change. Julie evaluates transition models and provides insights into the impact of change on the psychological contract.

and controlled.” She considers specific approaches to gain engagement and commitment such as involvement in the decision-making process, creating a sense of shared ownership and enabling individuals to actively contribute. This is necessary to maintain momentum throughout what can often be a long-term process.

The book includes practical suggestions on how best to work with people, before, during and after change. Julie is in no doubt that change requires effective leadership and explores the leadership themes and practices that can motivate people to change. Participative and facilitative leadership are introduced to illustrate that change grows from engagement with employees. Julie’s own practical experience is demonstrated in the breadth of abilities she believes are required: effective change requires leaders to draw on their emotional, moral and spiritual intelligences.

As Director of the MBA programmes at DUBS, Julie has plenty of opportunity to apply her theory, as she is currently overseeing an overhaul of the DUBS full-time MBA programme, set to receive its first students in September 2017. The new full-time MBA programme has been designed based on the key capabilities which employers are looking for. The main changes are the increased connection with business and providing opportunities for students to develop their international experience. The programme will provide a foundation in key business subjects, as well as allowing students to specialise through a specific pathway – consultancy or entrepreneurship.

The pathway will offer connections with industry through elective modules, master classes from industry specialists, capacity enhancement workshops and mentoring.

“Leading change is a necessary, but alone not a sufficient condition for successful change,” warns Julie.

“Change must also be managed – it must be planned, organised, directed

Students will be able to elevate their international experience by learning a language, which they will then have the opportunity to apply during a visit to an overseas institute and various

companies. This will enable them to learn about international business in context and develop their global network. Throughout the programme, students will focus on their employability with individual coaching and guidance.

Julie’s own links with business through her research are clear: the book includes case studies of companies, such as Northumbrian Water Group, Nissan, and Aegon Asset Management that have sustained successful change.

However, Julie sounds a final note of caution about best-practice traps and management theory fads, providing an insight into why she continues to thrive on this work, “When considering any model or framework it is important to adapt them to meet the context of your organisation and situation, rather than attempting a cut-and-paste approach of ‘one-size fits all’, since implementing and sustaining organisational change is never the same twice. The scale of the challenge, as well as the risks posed, mean that even for experienced practitioners, organisational change is never routine.”

Managing and Leading People through Organizational Change, published

by Kogan Page, is available through Amazon and other good book sellers.

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“To say I have applied my learning from Durham to the running of Globsyn Skills would be an understatement.”

RAHUL DASGUPTA

In October 2015, Rahul Dasgupta returned to Durham University Business School for the first time since he completed his MBA in 2011.

Since then over 70,000 people in India have been trained by his company Globsyn Skills Development Ltd. This was not what he had been planning when he started his MBA and the “accidental” social entrepreneur explains how his studies at Durham shaped a very different future to the one he had envisaged.

“To say I have applied my learning from Durham to the running of Globsyn Skills would be an understatement,” observes Rahul. “During the setting up of Globsyn Skills, the functional knowledge I gathered from my MBA was very helpful. My MBA, especially my dissertation, helped me to understand what I enjoyed doing and what I wanted to work towards in my career. Courses such as economics, project management, finance and HR have all in some way shaped the way I have set up Globsyn Skills. My experience in my economics course led me to ask myself questions about learning styles of people which led to my dissertation and finally influenced me to form Globsyn Skills in India.”

Prior to his MBA, Rahul had run a tech business in the USA for twelve years.

He intended to return to New York after

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the course. He had even put his car in storage for the year. However, his time in Durham had a profound effect.

As he puts it himself, “It was one of the best times I have had in my life.

It helped me to find out what I love to do the most.”

During the course, Rahul admits he was scared of not doing well, and in order to pass subjects like economics that he was finding hard, studied late into the night, using the resources he found online to supplement his course notes and deepen his understanding.

Having used these videos and guides to help him pass his exams, he began to reflect on how people learn, their preferred learning styles and how the internet can facilitate learning.

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Rahul and classmate Santosh Patil, 2015

Rahul in South Africa, 2011

Rahul therefore decided to use his MBA dissertation to explore learning styles with Elgin Learning Foundation, an NGO, training the women of the small town of Grabouw, in the Overberg region of South Africa, to teach children under the government’s Early Childhood Development Programme. “My research was focused on the learning and teaching methods that could be adopted for training these women,” Rahul recalls.

“Through my research experience I came to understand the needs of the economically challenged in an environment which was entirely different from the US or Europe where I had spent a significant part of my life. It was in South Africa that I realised how investment in human capital could create a ripple effect and bring about material changes in entire communities. And that is what I try to do in Globsyn Skills today.”

hospitality sector, assistant hair stylists in the beauty sector or consignment booking assistants in the logistics sector.

After the MBA, Rahul worked with his father to set up Globsyn Skills in July 2011, taking over the business seven months later. Today Globsyn Skills Development Limited (GSDL) is a social enterprise in partnership with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) with a network of 494 training centres in 21 states across India. The company delivers vocational training courses, supported by a dedicated job portal called SkillsXchange so trainees can find jobs such as customer service executives in the tourism and

After he returned to India, we were delighted to hear from Rahul that his work had been recognised with an award from the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Entrepreneurship Recognition.

Rahul is clear about the impact his MBA had, “I genuinely believe and feel that I went on a self discovery process during my Durham University business school days, pushed by the environment and what I do today is because of my days in Durham.”

Rahul continues, “Since our training is geared towards making unskilled workers skilled and providing jobs, we are able to bring about an immediate transformation in the lives of the participants, many of whom come from severely underprivileged backgrounds.

Steady jobs in the organised sector for these trainees translate into financial stability and a sustainable livelihood, as well as overcoming obstacles to individual growth. In this context, I would also like to add that our training programmes have been especially empowering for our women participants, whose financial freedom has not only had a telling impact on their lives but in their respective families and communities as well.”

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Alumni Q&A

NICOLAUS BERLIN BA BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT, 2011

DURHAM UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL GRADUATES SHAPING THE ONLINE BUSINESS HOMIFY (L-R)

aside, I believe it is about the right mindset. In Durham, we have been taught there is no challenge we cannot overcome. With this foundation, there is not much that can stop you and I am certain the best is yet to come.

Michael Gurney, Sales UK, Hong Kong & Singapore, BA Business Administration 2007/10 Cana Cezairli, Marketing, BA Business & Management 2008/11 Nicolaus Berlin, Head of Business Development, BA Business & Management 2008/11 Philipp Dommermuth, Founder & CEO, BA Business & Management, 2006/09 Pedro N. dos Santos Ribeiro (Search Engine Optimisation, Portugal & Brazil) Diploma in BA Business & Management 2005/10

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Inspirational online platform for building design and living, homify, was created by DUBS alumnus Philipp Dommermuth.

Its head of business development, Dr Nicolaus Berlin, explains why this dynamic startup includes no less than five Durham alumni on its team in Berlin.

What is your current role?

At homify we have two ambitions: On the one hand we help home improvement professionals, such as architects and interior designers, to portray themselves and showcase their work in the best possible light. On the other hand, homify serves as a source of inspiration to homeowners, igniting their dreams and connecting them with those professionals that make them come true.

What would you say has been the most satisfying aspect of your career so far?

The most satisfying and exciting aspect of my young career has been to be one of five Durham alumni who joined Philipp Dommermuth in building homify from scratch. Whilst every one of us has initially followed their individual career paths across different countries and industries, we have now all reunited in Berlin to join forces in making homify a global success.

To date, the team has grown to over 80 employees tackling 23 markets.

This young, vibrant and international environment – with Durham alumni at its core - is truly inspiring.

What would you describe as your main strengths and how have these led you to where you are today?

My right bicep which I developed as founder and president of the Durham University Power Lifting Club… Jokes

Do you feel that your Durham degree and connections have helped your career?

Certainly. Beyond homify, I am benefitting from a global network of diverse, interesting and ambitious characters who are all working hard on making their dent in the Universe.

From Hong Kong to Italy, from boxing to building our next generation, they all chose their individual paths in which they excel.

What is the most exciting thing you have done since graduating?

After graduating from Durham I have been studying entrepreneurs across the globe, living and studying in Austria, France, China and the US. This journey helped me to understand what really drives entrepreneurs, which led to my first book publication about Animal Spirits.

If you were to offer some advice to current students, what would it be?

Get involved! Academics are only a little part of your Durham experience.

Make sure you join societies, clubs, sports teams, etc. and that you play an active role within them. Durham is the perfect playground for real life – use it!

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YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS “Doesn’t everyone have a dream to own a small shop, enjoy a coffee and read a book?”

I’m not sure how much time the girls have to enjoy coffee and read a book, as although the restaurant won’t open for another hour, they have been in since 7.30am checking supplies and getting ready to prepare the 200 meals they serve every day to Shanghai’s hungry office workers. They work alongside their six staff, taking turns to supervise the kitchen or dining area, so that they understand all aspects of the business, until they close at 9.00pm but will still need to tidy and cash up before they can go home.

asks Hongyi Chen (MSc Financial Management, 2010/11) as we meet in the stylish noodle bar in Shanghai that she recently opened with Zhilin Liu (MA, HR Management, 2010/11).

Although they both come from Chongqing province, Hongyi and Zhilin didn’t meet until they came to study in Durham and were living in Ustinov College together. Hongyi had majored in English at college before studying finance and economics at Shanghai University. She came to Durham as she was looking for a business qualification.

Zhilin had studied Japanese at Zhe Jiang University in Hang Zhou and as part of her studies had spent a year in Japan. She enjoyed the experience of living in a different culture and was attracted to Durham by its history.

Just as they had very different reasons for wanting to study at Durham, Hongyi and Zhilin have very different approaches. While Zhilin chats away, enthusing about the business, Hongyi contributes from time to time with considered comments. They claim they argue a lot but it is clear these complementary personalities create a formidable team: they have a deep respect for one another and the noodle bar is very much a shared vision, built on the strong friendship forged during their studies in Durham University Business School. Hongyi confirms this, “We support each other, when one of us feels down, the other helps them through.”

After graduating, their careers took paths typical of successful young graduates. Hongyi went to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Shanghai, while Zhilin first worked in human resources for the Salim Group, Indonesia’s biggest conglomerate, before taking responsibility for over 8,000 employees with the chemical and pharmaceutical firm, Bayer.

Although flourishing in their careers, they continued to discuss their dream of a little shop.

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Advice for would-be entrepreneurs from Hongyi and Zhilin:

“Keep trying and exploring different things.”

“Put 100% into what you are doing, as you will learn from it and you don’t know how you will benefit in the future”.

“Love what you do and understand what you do”

The demands of consulting meant that Hongyi was travelling all over China to meet with clients and although they shared a flat, often saw little of each other. They used instant messaging to keep in touch. When she couldn’t sleep, Zhilin would message Hongyi with ideas for their shop: maybe a coffee shop, maybe a dress shop.

Each time Hongyi would consider it before concluding that it wasn’t quite right. One restless night, Zhilin awoke hungry and craving the spicy noodles that are eaten for breakfast in Chongqing. She could not find the genuine flavour of the noodles she loved at home in Shanghai. This gave her the inspiration their shop should be a noodle bar. She sent a message to Hongyi and this time instead of all the reasons why this idea wasn’t for them, Hongyi messaged back, “sure.”

Hongyi and Zhilin clearly love food, and feel passionate about bringing the food, culture and sense of community they grew up with in Chongqing to busy, cosmopolitan Shanghai. “For us, the food brings back the feeling of home,” says Zhilin.

However, she admits, “It’s so difficult to make the leap, as the job is stable.”

Hongyi agrees, “Even when we had the idea and wanted to fulfil it, it’s very difficult to translate it into reality.”

Nevertheless, having done some market research into their idea and concluding it was sound, if risky, they quit their jobs.

Zhilin returned home to work in a good, old-fashioned local restaurant.

She toiled away in the kitchen from 4am until 3pm, chopping meat and washing intestines to perfect the recipes. Meanwhile, Hongyi was waitressing in different noodle shops, on her feet from 10am to 9pm every day. It was tough but the girls recognise that this first-hand insight was essential to develop a first-class product.

“It was so much more difficult than we expected,” reflects Zhilin. Choosing the right location involved trudging round Shanghai in the middle of winter to work out where there was sufficient concentration of office workers who would want to buy the noodles, but a reasonable rent. “Every detail requires more planning,” she sighs as she looks back on the challenges. The girls’ attention to detail shines through in their brightly-lit restaurant, from the fine black chopsticks and the pretty bowls decorated with little blue and white flowers, to the beer bottles used to decorative effect on the shelves above the seating. This is not just any beer, it is the local Chongqing brew, brought especially to Shanghai.

The DUBS Shanghai international chapter has used the noodle bar as a venue (see International Chapter News, page 26) and it continues to flourish. There have been challenges, for example, when the fan broke down in the tiny kitchen, it became almost too hot to work. And introducing a new dessert threw the kitchen into chaos because of a lack of refrigeration space. Finding good, reliable suppliers is a constant challenge. However it’s clear that Hongyi and Zhilin’s hard work, dedication and attention to detail has created a distinctive new enterprise combining slick international design with the comforts of food from home.

They are still dreaming though.

“Maybe in the future, we will have a chain of noodle bars,” suggests Hongyi.

The Noodlista, 209 Fujian Middle Road, Huang Pu District, Shanghai. Durham alumni always welcome.

Eventually, on 20th April 2015, everything was ready and “The Noodlista” opened the doors. They were really touched that so many of their customers were fellow Durham University graduates, alerted to the new enterprise by an article on social media by the dynamic Chairman of DUBS’s International Committee in China, Ocean Wang (MBA 08/09).

Anyone from Durham feels instantly at home as they walk through the door of the noodle bar. They are greeted by a large purple poster, declaring “Shaped by the past, creating the future.”

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MSc Marketing: Student Reps - Claire Petras, Xiu-Ying Chia Best Dissertation - Fenruo Wang Best Overall Performance - Peiyue Guo

A dusting of snow covered Durham on Friday 15 January when the latest Business School students graduated. The ceremony took place in Durham Cathedral before the graduates and their friends and families returned to the Business School at Mill Hill Lane for a celebration event and special awards for outstanding students.

At the 12 noon ceremony in the Cathedral, Dr Mathew Hughes received a staff award for excellence acknowledging his contribution to the supervision of PhD students at DUBS. The committee was impressed by his enthusiasm for supporting and developing his students’ research and his commitment to the academic and personal development of all his students.

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MSc Finance Programmes: Student Reps Ms Yan Cao (Finance & Investment) Mr Dion Murtagh (Finance & Investment) Mr Fanqi Xu (Finance & Investment) Mr Mingdi Deng (Accounting & Finance) Mr Lyubomir Dilov (Accounting & Finance) Mr Dian Li (Accounting & Finance) Mr Joannes Lammersdorf (Corporate & International Finance) Mr Zeeshan Quader (Economics & Finance) Ms Shen Wang (International Banking & Finance) Mr Sebastian Seidens (International Money, Finance & Investment) Ms Boyu Wang (Finance) Best Dissertation - Dimitar Bogoev Best Overall Performance - Kaveh Salehzadeh Nobari Outstanding Performance: Nan Mi - Finance Ruoxi Fu - Accounting & Finance Thing Tran - Corporate & International Finance Supita Wipatikpaisal - International Money, Finance and Investment Xinwei Shen - International Banking & Finance Kaveh Salehzadeh Nobari - Economics & Finance Xin Sheng - Finance & Investment Stocktrak Certificates (Spring Challenge): Tsvetelina Shterev - Portfolio Manager of the Year (first place) Dion Murtagh - Portfolio Manager of the Year (first place) Xuewen Jiang - Portfolio Manager of the Year (second place) Qiyi Su - Portfolio Manager of the Year (third place)

Yuting Zhou - Investor of the Year (Stocktrak Spring Challenge fourth place) Qi Li - Investor of the Year (Stocktrak Spring Challenge fifth place) Stocktrak Spring Challenge – Certificate of Participation: Tristan Cossec, Yijun Zheng, Yusuf Ayturk Lyubomir Dilov, Yuling Chen, Yiheng Zhang, Daniel Salcedo-Sanchez, Jiwei Peng, Xiangyu Jia CFA Investment Research Challenge: Brett Saunders, Shan Lu, Xin Mao, Sebastian Seidens, Yusuf Yusifov Investment Club Members: Chad Knight, Daisy Ip, Daniel Osborn, Henry Frewer, Ivan Korshikov, Peter Florian, Red Laviste, Qiyi Su, Thomas Stagl, Xinwei Shen MSc Economics Programmes: Student Reps - Helena Brennan (Experimental Economics) Nevena Deligineva (Public Economics) Xiaoyou Huang (Economics) Christophe Iwanski (Economics) Yao Li (Economics) Trikal Patil (Economics) Outstanding Performance (per programme): Juyeon Lee - Economics Mariana Garro Olivares - Public Economics Ivan Korshikov - Experimental Economics Raisha Bashar - Environmental & Natural Resource Economics Best Dissertation - Michael Nower Best Overall Performance - Juyeon Lee MSc Islamic Finance Programmes: Student Reps - Mr Abdkulkadir Abshir (Islamic Finance & Management) Ms Vita Arumsari (Islamic Finance) Wahyu Jatmiko (Islamic Finance) Best Dissertation - (Islamic Finance) Hisham Jarrar, Muhammad Arsalan.

(Islamic Finance & Management) Arman Mergaliyev

Best Overall Performance - (Islamic Finance) Ayse Aydin (Islamic Finance & Management) Arman Mergaliyev MSc Management Programmes: Student Reps Chenghao Wu (Management) Jinguyang Yan (Management Finance) Juri Zanieri (Management Finance) Syed Ali Akbar Rizvi (Management Entrepreneurship) Jiani Tan (Human Resource Management) Anil Joy (Human Resource Management) Best Dissertation - Oliver Burke Best Strategic Business Project Prabh Singh Best Average: Murray Galbraith-Lowe, Josh Kruse, Marte Wang, Yuanyuan Ping, Johannes Schmalisch, Xuan Hu, Claire Brasey Best Overall Performance: Murray Galbraith-Lowe Exec & Part-time Masters: Best Dissertation winner Anel Tulegenova Best overall average - Scott Mummery PhD Prize: Najib Mazhem - Best Thesis DBA Prize: Bernard Groen - Best Thesis Full-time MBA: Rahul Kaul - Student contribution Global MBA: Dominic Morgan - Highest average mark for the Global MBA (Finance) Nigel Thomas - Highest average mark for the Global MBA Nigel Thomas - Highest dissertation mark for the Global MBA

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WINTER GRADUATION 2016 AYSE AYDIN RECEIVES HER AWARD FOR BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE ON THE ISLAMIC FINANCE PROGRAMME FROM PROGRAMME DIRECTOR DR THOMAS RENSTROM

OLUDIPE AYOMIDE, MSc MANAGEMENT, AND HER SISTER CELEBRATE HER DEGREE

DR BERNARD GROEN CELEBRATES WITH HIS FAMILY AFTER RECEIVING THE DBA PRIZE FOR BEST THESIS

RAHUL KAUL RECEIVES THE STUDENT CONTRIBUTION AWARD FOR A FULL-TIME MBA STUDENT FROM MBA PROGRAMME DIRECTOR, DR JULIE HODGES

MSc MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME DIRECTOR DR CHRISTOS TSINOPOLOUS WITH AWARD WINNERS (L-R) JOHANNES SCHMALISCH, CLAIRE BRADY, PRABH SINGH AND JOSH KRUSE

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ACTION, INACTION, TRUST AND CYBER SECURITY As more of our lives move online and are connected through our computers and phones, we are all more at risk of cyber crime.

A recent paper by DUBS’s Dr Karen Elliott and Professor Julian Williams, with Professor Fabio Massacci of the University of Trento, “Action, inaction, trust and the common property problem of cyber security” provides some curious insights relative to increasing risks of our interconnected world by applying economic theory to the problem of cyber security.

Economic theory suggests that in many cases doing nothing is the optimal strategy when substantial fixed adjustment costs are present. However, for some firms this could be a catastrophic approach. The paper looks at how different modelling, using the Nash equilibrium, can help us to appreciate the risks, and summarises the key ideas on this type of policy issue in relation to the contemporary cyber security agenda.

The point that inaction is sometimes the optimal path is well taken by economists.

However, there is also considerable pressure on Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) to act. When another cyber security attack hits the headlines, the media reporting often focuses on the short-sighted investment strategies in the cyber security domain. The costs may be clear and there is a trade-off between these costs and uncertain future gains.

In many circumstances, the optimal decision is to wait until the future degree of uncertainty changes and the benefits of action outweigh the costs.

The problem is exacerbated because it is difficult to evaluate the return on the security investment. Executives have difficulty knowing, for instance by audit, whether the reason the firm has no known security incidents is because the firm is spending exactly the right amount on security or that the firm is spending ten times more than they need. It may even be the case they are spending too little, but no attacker has either stumbled

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across their vulnerabilities or not found it worthwhile to exploit them. In contrast, the decision to invest in a security fix or control appears to have become relatively well understood, for large technology companies at least.

So, is a delay in implementation of security investment controls a catastrophic miss-step by management in not providing the resources to under-funded information security departments, or simply a sensible trade-off between risk and investment? Curiously many current economic models suggest we are drifting towards disaster. Not because the Board are taking unreasonable risks but an older, more formidable foe: the tiny adjustments that drive us to the Nash equilibrium (see opposite page) choices we make every day to adjust our actions to take into account the actions of others.

For security problems we can model the decision-making problem of three groups of actors: hackers, firms and government. Each makes a decision to invest in malware or hacking effort; defensive security and regulation or enforcement respectively. Their payoffs will have differing structures, for instance hackers may value chaos rather than money and firms and governments may value coverage in addition to a simple calculation based on likelihood and impact.

There is increasing recognition that the provision of security for different firms is dependent, not only through direct links, such as shared data facilities, but also through indirect connections, such as the risk environment. In this case, increased investment in security by one firm may result in a positive benefit in another because it may discourage the aggregate number of attackers whilst also reducing its risk.

However, the opposite is also true, and given the substantial fixed costs in testing and applying security patches, delays in investment may result in an increased number of attacks. Hackers too are recognising this lag in protection and instead of developing new tools, persisting with malware long after effective patches are widely available and the apparently most profitable opportunities have been lost.

This “lumpy” investment profile from both businesses and hackers means we could see sudden and dramatic increases in attacking intensity, with little way of predicting these shifts from historical data as each observation may be the result of an equilibrium formed from a very different situation.

Pulling this all together from the microlevel of individual firms to consider the public policy implications, the impact of these indirect connections is that when firms invest in cyber security, it results in a public good as well as being a private benefit to the firm. It may not be as effective as coordinated action mediated by a policy maker. However, the fixed costs of patching exaggerates the already problematic issues of increased vulnerabilities in our interconnected world.

This “lumpy” investment is generating excess aggregate security threats. This makes it much harder than we previously thought, not only for individual firms to make rational investment decisions about security threats, but for policy makers to predict the effects of regulatory changes on the threat environment.

DR KAREN ELLIOTT

PROFESSOR JULIAN WILLIAMS

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If you are not already familiar with the work of Nobel Prize winner John Nash, you may have heard of the film “A beautiful Mind,” where the actor Russell Crowe plays Nash. A Nash equilibrium is a set of choices made by people, taking into account each other’s actions. If the film is to be believed, this idea struck Nash when he realised that if all his friends hit on the prettiest girl in the room, he should adjust his strategy to hit on the second prettiest.

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Alumni feature

MY LANKAN DREAM INTERVIEW BY CHRISHAN PERERA MBA 2015 WITH GAYANI BOTEJUE BA BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT 2010

Chrishan and Gayani

Michael and Sharon

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Gayani hails from a family of entrepreneurs and it is definitely evident that she has inherited the genes for venturing beyond the norm by taking the leap and starting her own business. As I sat down and started speaking with her about her boutique travel company, My Lankan Dream, I immediately realised that this was her passion and she loves what she does.

The conversation started with her explaining why she decided to start her own travel company and what events led to her decision. “I always loved travelling, from the very early days of my childhood when I used to travel around Sri Lanka with my parents, it was something I always looked forward to” explained Gayani. The conversation continued with her talking about how when she was in Durham, she used to talk about Sri Lanka and promote the destination.

It was 2011 and with the end of the civil conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009, the tourism industry had started blossoming once again, all on track to return to its former glory days. This situation combined with the solid nurturing and education received while in Durham formed the perfect recipe for a start-up.

The acute sense of understanding the market dynamics and tourism industry were all thanks to the core modules covered under the BA in Business & Management.

Gayani was able to pick a niche market of tailor-made tourism that was left untapped and open for opportunity. The other organisations were all focused on mass scale tourism and standardised packages that did not take into consideration the needs of the individual traveller. But as Gayani explained, it was not an easy task to build a successful company. She faced many difficulties in the beginning with branding and establishing direct links with the traveller.

She explained she had to work hard to build a reputation and form relationships with the travellers, stressing, “it’s a very personal connection”. She helped classmate Michael Samuel BA Business & Finance (2007/10) to plan his perfect honeymoon for his bride Sharon. The journey for Gayani has not ended and in fact has just begun. While she thanks her father for motivating her and providing the guidance required to start her own company, she explains that she now intends on growing the company even further. Her plans are to expand the service offering by including domestic tourism and direct management of properties to her company’s repertoire.

When asked for her recipe for success, she mentioned that as cliché as it may seem, she follows five key mission goals. She explained them to be firstly networking, which is something she says has helped her understand the market and consumer preferences

and occasionally also been the point of generating new ideas to expand her operation. Planning, recalling the business planning covered in Durham, is the second mission goal. The third is “Don’t let the minor set backs deter you, always look for alternative ways around a problem and never give up”, while the fourth focusses on being innovative.

Her fifth and final mission goal is very appropriately, being passionate about what one does.

As the discussion came to an end, Gayani’s last words were, “the Durham business degree gave me the confidence needed to pursue my dream of starting my own luxury, tailor-made travel company and I encourage others to also pursue their dream.” A very appropriate ending to an insightful conversation of understanding entrepreneurial traits encouraged by Durham University.

Gayani has offered Durham alumni booking directly with her a 20% discount. She can be emailed at gbot@mylankandream.com. If you have started your own business and can offer deals to Durham alumni, please email business.alumni@durham.ac.uk.

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WHAT COULD YOUR DURHAM LEGACY BE? Simon Bartley’s time at Durham (Engineering & Management, Collingwood, 1979; Management Studies, Collingwood, 1985) gave him a lasting appreciation of the importance of good teaching – something he wants to ensure that others continue to experience into the future.

Simon describes his motivation for putting a gift in his will and explains the choices he has made in the process.

Simon Bartley’s time at Durham gave him a lasting appreciation of the importance of good teaching: something he wants to ensure others continue to experience into the future What led you to come to Durham University? I came by train and, similar to others’ experiences, when it pulled in to the station I saw the cathedral, castle and city laid out in front of me. It made an immediate impression. You could walk from fields on one side to fields on the other side – it was a wonderful setting for a pocket-sized city.

The brother of somebody I was at school with was a Senior Lecturer in Engineering, Dr Geoff Endean. I was invited to take a tour so I went up to Durham. I fell in love with the city and the University.

Engineering and Management was an excellent course. We had a go at all types of engineering in one course, and also the management skills as well. Dr Geoff Endean was also a tutor at Collingwood.

I thought it was a great place.

Simon Bartley

What prompted you to start thinking about putting a gift to Durham in your will?

I had such a marvellous time, the first and second time, that I wanted to give something tangible back. I thought leaving something in my will was a practical way of doing that. I wasn’t going to need it when I was gone. I thought I’d leave a legacy for other students to have as excellent a grounding in engineering and management as I’d had – while having a good time.

How was the process for you and how do you feel now that you have your will all sorted out? I had a will already, so it was a case of updating my will and the practicalities weren’t difficult. I think everyone should have a will and decide what to do with their estate.

The gift is for the Business School, Engineering and Collingwood College – I decided to split the gift between the three. Because I wasn’t the brightest student on the course, I was appreciative of the lecturers and the support they gave me. This was something I really wanted to do: indicating that I wanted the money I left to two departments to further improve the quality of lecturing staff.

Yes, research is important, but good teaching is invaluable.

“You could walk from fields on one side to fields on the other side – it was a wonderful setting for a pocket-sized city. […] I had such a marvellous time, the first and second time, that I wanted to give something tangible back.”

What would you say to your fellow alumni who are considering putting a gift in their will? Wills are multi-faceted things. The prime requirement is your family. But if you feel there’s an ability to leave some money to charity then what I did was look at areas that gave me a grounding in life – for me, my departments and my college gave me a grounding and a core of friends I’ve had since 1976. I felt that, because it had given me such a good foundation, this was the right thing to do. I’d suggest to people that they do the same. I’ve left money to other things as well, but it was important for me that Durham featured quite prominently.

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A tough day at the office can often provoke deep frustrations that work shouldn’t be like that. However, Dr Robert McMurray argues we need to recognise negative emotions are a natural part of organising and work.

Once we acknowledge them, we can start to put systems and strategies in place to handle the stresses they create, and reduce the unhappiness and ineffectiveness they cause.

At the Business School’s 50th Anniversary Weekend Robert held a masterclass on Toxic Management.

He explores similar themes in his latest book, The Dark Side of Emotional Labour, written with Jenna Ward of Leicester Business School.

While applicable to all organisations, the book considers the work that the rest of society would rather not think about, the often unseen work is emotionally disturbing, exhausting, upsetting, and stigmatising. This is work that is simultaneously undesirable and rewarding, work whose tasks are eschewed and yet necessary for the effective function of individual organisations and society at large.

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“We explore these every day – darker sides of emotions and organisations,” explains Robert. “We show how they are a natural part of organising, how people cope with ‘emotional pain’, how some enjoy emotionally challenging work and why managers and leaders have an ethical duty of care for our emotional wellbeing.”

Diverse and challenging, this book examines how workers such as the doorman, the HR manager, the waiter and the doctor’s receptionist experience verbal aggression and intimidation; how the prison officer and home carer respond to the emotions associated with physical violence, and; how the Samaritan, banker and veterinarian deal in death and despair.

Robert observes, “Organisations are happy to use our positive emotions to relate to colleagues, customers and suppliers. Indeed they expect and demand it. They are more reticent when it comes to dealing with the negative emotions that arise from, or are caused by, the very same work.

When these difficult emotions surface there is a tendency to fall back on clichéd dichotomies that privilege outdated myths of rational organisations that are masculine, efficient and effective; versus private emotions characterised as feminine, effete, messy and ineffective. Of course, we all know that emotions are a natural and inevitable part of organisations and, no matter what the text books say, this splitting of rationality and emotion is false - whether it’s the rationalised emotion of call centres, neutral presentations in the face of bad behaviour, or the aggressive demands of unreasonable bosses.

More importantly, if organisations don’t recognise the existence of difficult emotions, and don’t create the time and structures to handle them, the everyday pain of organising can become toxic.”

empathetic and do all those things, and …I am a bit of a sponge for it and I get lot of tension in my neck and shoulders and I used to be really bad with that … because it has got to affect you somehow.”

The book goes on to consider how different individuals develop the emotional capital necessary to cope with the dark side of emotional labour, and how individuals can make sense of, and even come to take satisfaction and pride in, such difficult work.

If the importance of these informal toxic handlers is not recognised, they are vulnerable to being overloaded, as the time it takes for them to absorb the emotions of others can lead to them having to do their ‘real job’ in personal time. The contribution toxic handlers make is hard to quantify, and easier to ignore, but Robert and Jenna suggest organisations have an ethical responsibility for the staff that handle the negative emotions.

Finally, the book considers what is to be done with darker emotional work, both in terms of the management and care of those labouring on the dark side. It describes the work that Robert and Jenna have done with The Samaritans who, after a difficult call, give their volunteers time to share some of the pain they have had to handle with a fellow Samaritan which, in turn, helps them go back to work.

Robert notes the importance of this peer support, “While sometimes external counsellors can be helpful, sometimes we can only unburden ourselves to someone else who has also ‘been there’ and understands the work.”

If organisations do not create these support networks formally, they rely on informal toxic handlers to process the emotional load of their organisations: people like Rachel, a HR Director. She reflects, “When I said I was not going to do the personnel [role] any more, I had a stream of staff coming to me and saying you can’t… who will we go to with our problems, and who will sort everything out for us and who will make it OK?” This support takes its toll, as Rachel notes, “I would soak it in all day and be neutral and very

Challenging and original, this book gives a voice to those who undertake the most demanding work on our behalf. It will be of interest to researchers and students of organisation studies and its related fields, and to every one of us who is called on to work or manage on the Dark Side. Why is the book called the Dark Side? Is it because it only looks at the negative? Robert again, “Not at all. Much of the work is rewarding, challenging and valued and it can involve positive and negative emotions.

We refer to it as the Dark Side, not because it’s bad, but because, like the dark side of the moon, people often fail to look at it and account for it even though, deep down, they know it’s there’. So, dare you take a look at the Dark Side? – it may give you a whole new perspective on your own bad day at the office.

The Dark Side of Emotional Labour is published by Routledge and available on Amazon and through other good booksellers.

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HONG KONG

INTERNATIONAL CHAPTER NEWS

KAZAKHSTAN

SHANGHAI

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THAILAND

AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan: The Azerbaijan International Chapter met for dinner at the stylish Merci Baku restaurant in the Old City in Azerbaijan.

It was a great networking event and we were delighted to hear so many alumni share their experiences finding work.

If you would like to get involved in the Azerbaijan Chapter, please contact International Chapter, Leader Urkhan Seyidov - urkhan.s@gmail.com.

Hong Kong: In August, Business School International Champion Dr Ian Whitfield travelled to Hong Kong and met with the International Chapter at the Metropark Hotel, Wanchai.

The event was a phenomenal success with more than 30 alumni in attendance.

To find out more about the Hong Kong group, please email International Chapter Leader Glori Fujia Ye – real_arsen_ac@hotmail.com.

India: DUBS alumni met up with Dean Professor Rob Dixon and his wife Anne in Mumbai during his trip to India on 21st November 2015. To get involved with the DUBS alumni group in Mumbai, please contact Rohini Gautam Goradia – rohinigoradia@gmail.com. On 28th November, Rob and Anne enjoyed the company of the New Delhi alumni coordinated by Utsav Malhotra malhotra.utsav@gmail.com.

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Kazakhstan: The Kazakhstan International Chapter met for dinner in December, where alumni had a nice time talking about Durham and life after Durham.

To find out more about the Kazakhstan International Chapter, please contact Gauhar Khasenova gkhas@hotmail.com.

Los Angeles: The Los Angeles International Chapter met for a relaxing dinner at The Six Restaurant in Studio City. To find out more about the Southern California alumni group, please email International Chapter Leader Kevin Turnbull – kevin@turingo.net.

Malaysia: The Malaysia International Chapter met for the first time in Kuala Lumpur in August and again in November under the leadership of the new Chapter Leader SM Brahmanada (Brahma). To find out more about the Malaysian International Chapter, please contact Brahma bmaniam85@gmail.com.

Nigeria: The Nigerian International Chapter met for dinner on 4th December at the Jade Palace Restaurant in Lagos. It was great to see so many alumni enjoying a meal together in true Durham spirit. To find out more about future events, please contact Chapter Leaders Ayo Teriba, or Damilola Fakiyesi – damilola.fakiyesi@gmail.com.

Pakistan: This year has seen the Pakistan International Chapter go from strength to strength. In November, Sharne Procter from the International Office visited Pakistan and the DUBS Pakistan International Chapter led by Muhammad Ali, organised a series of events for Pakistani alumni. In December, Zuhair Imran (MBA 2014/15) i.zuhair@gmail.com became leader of the Karachi group and Turab Ghani (MSc Accounting & Finance 2008/09) turabghani@hotmail.com became Leader of the Lahore group, following Muhammad Ali’s move to Chicago.

Russia: The DUBS Russia International Chapter had a great time networking over informal drinks at the British style Bobby Dazzler pub in Moscow. The evening had a very British flavour as attendees reminisced about their time enjoying pub quizzes and real ale whilst studying in Durham. The group is thinking of holding another event soon. If you would like to get involved, please contact the Chapter Leader Andrey Bogomolov – Andrey_bogomolov@me.com.

United Kingdom: In October, the Southern UK International Chapter held an event at the Gable in central London. More than 40 alumni registered to attend the event. The event proved to be a great opportunity to welcome the 2014/15 graduating students into the Chapter. To find out more about upcoming events in London and Southern England, please contact International Chapter Leaders Ugo Isiadinso - info@ugoeye.co.uk, or Claudio Stahnke – claudio.stahnke@gmail.com.

Thailand: In November, Mango Learning Express Co. Ltd hosted a large alumni event in Bangkok for Durham alumni. The event was a great success seeing more than 50 attendees. Everyone had a great time meeting their old friends and catching up on the latest Durham news. This is the second event of this kind that Mango Express has organised.

Toronto: In January, Adam Rennison from DUBS met with alumni and current students at the Grand Hotel and Suites in Toronto.

The event was well attended despite poor weather. We are currently recruiting an International Chapter Leader for Toronto – if you think this might be for you, please contact the alumni relations team at business.alumni@durham.ac.uk.

China: On 14th June 2015, 45 alumni gathered at the Noodlista in Shanghai, (see full article on page 15) to discuss My Investment Philosophy in the China Stockmarket. Contact ocean.wang@ kornferry.com to join future get-togethers.

Chinese alumni can now keep up-to-date through our new WeChat page.

Access here

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CLASS NOTES Lorraine Rankin Quality Management Supplier Development 1994/98

DUBS is delighted to welcome alumna Lorraine Rankin as Senior Programme Manager overseeing all postgraduate taught programmes, including the MBA and Masters within the Business School. She works closely with programme managers Anne-Marie Nevin, Erin Adams, Judith Lines and Vicky Welsh to ensure DUBS continues to deliver high-quality programmes.

Andrew Smith Andrew Smith who began his MBA in 1996, is now Chief Finance Officer of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, MBA a biopharmaceutical company, based in Maryland, USA. Andrew joined Sucampo in 2011 and previously was Vice President for Operations and Finance. He has also held finance director positions at Retroscreen Virology Ltd and Clearlab Europe.

Dr Sylvana Storey As part of the University’s Celebrations of Women’s Day on 8th March 2016, the Business School MBA welcomed Dr Sylvana Storey, Managing Director of Global Organizational Integrators, to speak on the 1997/2005 ‘Interplay between Leadership and Diversity’ to the current MBA class. The Durham University MBA class was recognised in the Financial Times Global ranking as the best in the world for its gender balance and in the top ten for international diversity.

ALUMNI NEWS

Kevin Spreitz MBA 2002/03

Congratulations to this MBA alumnus on the wonderful news about his engagement to Solé Meza on 9th December 2015.

Manoj Adhikari MBA 2008/09

Congratulations to Manoj Adhikari and his beautiful wife Madhuri (nee Vidaya) who married on the 28th January 2016.

Perin Bradley MA 2007/10

Perin Bradley will succeed Stanley Reid as Deputy Governor of Anguilla when the post becomes vacant in July 2016. Mr Bradley is currently Comptroller of the Department of Inland Revenue.

Ralf Morawietz MBA 2009/11

Ralf was appointed Chief Information Officer of Panalpina, one of the world’s leading supply chain solutions providers. He started his career as an IT professional in 1998. In 2002, he joined Deutsche Post in a senior management role and since 2010 he worked for Kuehne + Nagel.

Travis Callaway MBA Finance 2012/14

Congratulations to Travis on securing the role of Senior Investment Officer at Hemisphere Capital Management in Calgary, AB Canada. Travis is an outstanding ambassador for Durham University Business School. In addition to organising alumni events, Travis is a DUBS mentor.

David Pallash MBA 2011/12

David gained an exciting new job in September when he moved from Hanon Systems to become Senior Manager – Child Engagement at Lego.

Abhijit Nandukar MBA 2012/13

Congratulations to Abhijit Nandukar who married in Mumbai in December. Many thanks to Yugkirty Singh (MBA 2012/13) who attended and shared this picture of him on the happy day.

Ravi Kiran MBA 2002/03

Ravi Kiran MBA 2013/14 was recently promoted to Chief Executive (Corporate Affairs) at Trium Resorts.

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BOOK REVIEW

BY DR BRAD ATKINSON DUBS Alumnus, Dr Brad Atkinson (DBA 2002/6) encourages us all to improve our understanding of economics by reading a book by Dr George Cooper (BSc Physics 1987/90, PhD Electronic & Electrical Engineering 1993/6), Chief Investment Officer of Equitile Investments Ltd. I started reading George Cooper’s Money, Blood and Revolution: How Darwin and the doctor of King Charles I could turn economics into a science (2014 Harriman House Ltd) in early December during a period when I was keeping up with daily news reports describing whether my agency would be shuttered, yet again, as a result of the US Congress arguing over political differences. The media frames these differences in terms of political ideology; as a working government economist, however, and to my great frustration, I see those political differences resulting from vastly different, though equally highly-flawed, economic models that appear to exist as binary alter-egos on the political stage.

While both the standard neoclassical and the Keynesian models may explain small movements in market outcomes, or large thought experiments, both models fail to account for real conditions within markets such as, group behavior, degree of government or other institutional involvement, source of innovation, and many other forces in the market.

There is much within current economic models that simply require so many assumptions to be true which, a priori,

Money, Blood and Revolution: How Darwin and the doctor of King Charles I could turn economics into a science

BY GEORGE COOPER

we know not to be true. So much so that we have to question whether these models are scientific descriptions of the status quo or ideological beliefs held by their proponents. If the models are not satisfactory descriptions of the status quo, then they must provide flawed predictions of the future.

Much to my pleasure, Cooper shared similar frustrations and he took the scientifically creative step to build a unifying theory of circulatory growth that models the whole economy, describes the current state of performance, and ‘fits’ within dominant theories from other behavioral fields. His thesis is that economic growth is generated by the circulatory flow of wealth through society – wealth moving up the societal pyramid by the activity of the private sector and then recirculated back downward via the activity of the state sector (p192).

“…Viewed in this way, it becomes possible to reconcile the apparently conflicting agendas of the state and the private sectors. The state and private sectors are indeed antagonistic to one another but it is a creative antagonism and this antagonism is necessary to power the hedonic treadmill which, in turn, is responsible for generating economic growth.” (p192) I want to compare Cooper’s work with that recent work of Thomas Piketty 1 which received much media publicity. My read is that Cooper is taking a similar but different position from Piketty. While Piketty labours through 685 pages to describe

the historical effects of accumulation of capital, the inequalities of wealth outcomes, and to describe and prescribe the dynamics that drive those processes across economies and small groups, Cooper within 204 pages is providing a model building process that describes a dynamic capital creation model. Both are attempting to explain the economic world based on real data, both are working to break out of paradigms of traditional thought. In their zest to have economic models that reflect reality, they appear to share a core value of informing readers.

Cooper’s book is lovely in that while the scope of the work involves questions such as essence of dynamic equilibrium; propensities to save, spend, and invest; and, marginal and effective tax rates; the book is a well-written and entertaining narrative.

In the preface, the author describes writing this book for his daughters to help them understand how confused and broken the study of economics is today, yet he intended to provide an optimistic assessment of where it can go. I applaud that aim and add that functioning, thriving democracies require a well-informed public – Cooper’s work should be considered required reading for anyone wanting to assert an active voice as a citizen.

Book offer Alumni can purchase George’s book from his publisher Harriman House for the special price of £14 + P&P for the hardback (RRP usually £18.99) or £11 for the ebook (RRP: £14.99). Go to harriman-house.com select the book you want and enter the promotional code DURMBR16 at check out.

Piketty, Thomas (2014), “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” Harvard Press (English Translation) ISBN 9780-674-4300006 2014.

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ALUMNI NEWS

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Interim Alumni Relations Manager Penny Hawley Alumni Coordinator Lindsay Young

Alumni Relations Office Durham University Business School Mill Hill Lane Durham DH1 3LB UK T: +44 (0)191 334 5277 F: +44 (0)191 334 5218 E: b usiness.alumni@ durham.ac.uk

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