LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS BI-ANNUAL MAGAZINE
10 DAVID LLEWELYN
AMON CHIZEMA
Interview by Ondine Barry
Interview by Ondine Barry
11
Do you think we’ll see a double-dip recession?
“HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO TOYS ’R US? I CHALLENGE YOU TO FIND ANY TOY NOT MADE IN CHINA.”
DL: “No, I don’t. I think we’ll be in a period of slow growth for a few years, but I don’t envisage going back into recession. “Make no mistake, though: the economic environment has changed and is set to change further. Free university education, free dental care, affordable housing, earnings-related pensions: they will go, indeed some have already gone. And also the demographic factors have changed: the number of pensioners is going up and up, and the number of workers relative to that is going down. In addition, you have a smaller number of people paying real resources to support the non-working population. “It will be a very different environment for our graduates, but it’s a very exciting area of business, and I think it’s set to become even more exciting. Banking and finance will undoubtedly change, and there will be a lot of challenges in this industry over the next few years, but there will also be new opportunities and new types of careers that will develop in response. It is, in fact, a very good time to be in this field.” Dr David Llewellyn is Professor of Money and Banking at Loughborough University, Honorary Visiting Professor at CASS Business School in London and Visiting Professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. He is Consultant Economist to ICAP plc and has recently been working with several central banks on aspects of the global financial crisis. His recent research includes a project at the Centre for European Studies in Brussels on the economics and role of European cooperative banks. Although announcing his ‘retirement’ this year, David will thankfully continue to lecture and conduct research into financial systems and crises and resolution strategies. He can be contacted at D.T.Llewellyn@lboro.ac.uk
Direct Link to Our Teaching Dr Regina Frank, lecturer of the final year Strategy in Banking module, lends her international investment banking expertise and her passion for applied research to her teaching of BSc in Banking, Finance and Management finalists. Past dissertations centred around two main topics: mergers and acquisitions of financial institutions and the internationalisation strategy of banks. Examples ranged from the merger of Mitsubishi-Tokyo FG with UFJ Bank and the partial acquisition of Lehman Brothers by Nomura, to the internationalisation strategies of Bank of China, Citigroup, Unicredit and Santander. The quality of the projects was such that Barry Howcroft, Professor in Retail Banking and Deputy Dean of the School, recommended the top three to be published. Says Regina: “The high quality of the output is testament to the hard work of our students, their insights gained during their placement year, as well as the exceptional maturity with which they approach final-year projects”.
A FAST TRACK
TO SUCCESS Amon Chizema, Senior Lecturer in International Business and Strategy and Programme Director of the BSc in International Business, has been living in the UK for eight years. Originally from Zimbabwe, Amon has previously spent time working in industry and teaching in both Africa and the UK. In June 2004, Amon joined the Business School and enrolled on the PhD programme with (now Emeritus) Professor Trevor Buck as his Supervisor. Amon submitted his thesis in record time – just two-anda-half years. Your career has progressed so quickly… “What made me become successful, completing my PhD so quickly, was that I was very fortunate to work with the right people, and also because I was very focused,” says Amon. “When my first child was born in 2004, I realised that if I was more focused I would use my time more effectively. I also realised that I had been underutilising my potential. You just decide it is the right time sometimes.” Amon went on to win the Michael Z Brooke prize of the Academy of International Business (AIB) for the best doctoral paper, and published a paper in International Business Review with Trevor, both of which helped expedite his completion. He was promoted to Lecturer in February 2007, and in October 2009 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer. Now the Programme Director for the BSc in International Business, Amon’s research focuses on corporate governance. What was it that drew you to corporate governance research? “In terms of my background, I’m a qualified Chartered Secretary (ICSA). Generally, Chartered Secretaries are lawyers – they advise directors in terms of strategy and legal compliance, etc. Having qualified, I developed an interest in corporate governance from the perspective of law and finance. I wanted to pursue that area, and once I was introduced to Trevor, it was a perfect fit.” And your specific focus? “Initially, I wanted to study Asian and African stock markets. But I switched my focus to comparative governance, studying the diffusion of corporate governance practices across countries – an aspect of international business. “A recent paper is on Korean corporate governance – I was approached by an academic in Korea who wanted to work with me, and I said yes, provided we change the focus of the paper.”
Before they knew it, they had published a paper in one of the leading journals in business and management: “Because of that success, we’ve submitted a follow-up paper to another good journal, so it’s been very useful”. Amon’s work has appeared in the Journal of Management Studies, Journal of World Business and Corporate Governance: An International Review. Part of this work was funded by a research grant he won from the Nuffield Foundation. What are you working on currently? “I am currently working on three projects: One with Katsu Shinozawa on Japanese corporate governance and firms’ adoption of the committee system. The second is on the empowerment of shareholders – out of a call for papers from Wharton Business School on the recent economic crisis. This paper was accepted for presentation at Wharton’s annual conference and it is being considered for inclusion in Corporate Governance: An International Review. “The third project is also based on the recent financial crisis, looking at the separation of the chairperson and the CEO in companies, the so-called ‘relational distance’, with regard to effectiveness in the job.” In addition to his research and teaching commitments, Amon is also supervising a student from the British University of Egypt – the first student to come through the programme to Loughborough. Amon is happy to supervise doctoral research on any topic of corporate governance using agency, signalling or institutional theory as an analytical lens. In terms of other professional activities, Amon has presented and chaired sessions at major international conferences such as AIB, Academy of Management (AoM) and Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE). He’s also been involved with the African Development Bank in Tunisia, a division of the World Bank, working for them as a consultant.
Dr Amon Chizema is Senior Lecturer in International Business and Strategy and Programme Director of International Business. Email A.Chizema@lboro.ac.uk