UK industrial strategy impact rests on implementation

Subject UK industrial strategy. Significance The UK government's industrial strategy responds to concerns about poor productivity, Brexit and the profound structural changes the economy is undergoing. ‘Building a Britain fit for the future' rests on five policy-area foundations -- ideas, people, infrastructure, business environment and places. Published on November 27 last year, the strategy was shaped by more than 2,000 responses to a green paper published in January the same year. Impacts Increasing R&D is key to narrowing the gap between the country's success in start-ups and its weakness scaling them up. R&D as a percentage of GDP is below the US, Chinese and German levels, undermining the goal of being the world’s most innovative nation. The STEM funds and the focus on technical as well as higher education will help fill possible post-Brexit labour and skill shortages.

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-220
Author(s):  
Max Menkiti ◽  
Trevor Ward

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide first-hand experiences of running a hotel business in Nigeria from the perspective of an entrepreneur. Design/methodology/approach An informal interview was carried out via email. Max Menkiti is an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry with extensive experience in bootstrap start-ups and operations in the UK and Nigeria. He is currently the Director of Millennium Apartments and Studios in Lagos. Before that, he developed and operated the @venue series of boutique hotels. Max has over 11 years experience in the hospitality industry in Nigeria. Findings The interview offers valuable insights for researchers in hospitality industry entrepreneurship so as to understand the rationale for business decisions. Originality/value The backdrop for this paper is the business environment in Nigeria. The transcript makes available an insider’s view of the number and form of issues that entrepreneurs face in emerging economies.


2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 635-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Millican

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of rising fees and the increasing privatisation of higher education on the expectations of its students. It compares experiences in Canada, Australia and the US with conversations carried out in a UK university in 2012 (after the UK fee rise). Design/methodology/approach – The research was informed by Burns Systemic Action research (2007), following emerging lines of enquiry and responding to resonance in these. It brings together conversations held with new undergraduates, second and third year students and staff tasked with introducing engagement into the curriculum. Findings – Findings indicate that student expectations are heavily influenced by secondary schooling and a target-driven consumer culture but that change has been gradual over a number of years. Alongside wanting “value for money” and “a good social life and a good degree” students are heavily motivated by experience and keen to be challenged. Research limitations/implications – Because of the research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Practical implications – By comparing banking or transactional approaches to teaching and learning with critical pedagogy this paper hopes to highlight the importance of opening up rather than closing down opportunities for social engagement and experiential learning. Social implications – This paper makes a plea for social engagement that properly responds to the needs of communities resisting market-driven forces that treat students as consumers and expecting more rather than less from them in return. Originality/value – Lecturers are encouraged to rethink the pressures placed upon them by the current economic era and the tensions between competing agendas of employability and engagement.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Maritz ◽  
Quan Nguyen ◽  
Sergey Ivanov

PurposeDespite the significance, university student start-ups and student entrepreneurship ecosystems (SEEs) have been subject to little research. This study aims to apply a qualitative emergent enquiry approach to explore best practice SEEs in Australia, complimented by narratives from leading scholars in higher education institutions with the aim of delineating the integrative components of SEEs.Design/methodology/approachAdopting the entrepreneurial ecosystem framework and aligned to the social cognitive theory, this paper explores the components and dynamics of SEEs, contributing to an understanding of how such components can better support the growth, sustainability and success of student start-ups. The authors extend entrepreneurship research on social construction using narrative research.FindingsThe findings provide guidelines for researchers, entrepreneurship scholars and educators, entrepreneurship students, policymakers and practitioners to enhance the impact and success of university student start-ups by adopting a student ecosystem approach.Research limitations/implicationsThe narratives represent a limited number of universities with an opportunity for further research to empirically measure the impact and outcomes of SEEs. The research is exploratory, inherently conceptual and emergent, providing an opportunity for validation of narrative frameworks in future studies.Practical implicationsThe findings may assist university managers to be more aware of their own subconscious preferences to student entrepreneurship and start-up initiatives, which may be useful in refining their impact and offerings regarding a quest toward the entrepreneurial university.Social implicationsFrom social perspectives, the alignment of the components of SEE has the ability to enhance and shift the entrepreneurial mindset of entrepreneurship students, notwithstanding enhancement of intentionality and self-efficacy.Originality/valueThis is the first study of SEEs in Australia, highlighting the importance of the integration of entrepreneurship education programs, entrepreneurship education ecosystems, the entrepreneurial university and specific start-up initiatives such as university accelerators. Furthermore, students may enhance their entrepreneurial mindset by actively engaging in such ecosystems.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1279-1298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remmer Sassen ◽  
Dominik Dienes ◽  
Johanna Wedemeier

Purpose This study aims to focus on the following research question: Which institutional characteristics are associated with sustainability reporting by UK higher education institutions? Design/methodology/approach To answer the aforementioned research question, this study uses logistic regression. Findings The results show that 17 per cent of the UK higher education institutions report on their sustainability (July 2014). In line with legitimacy and stakeholder theory, logistic regressions provide evidence that the larger the size of the institution, the higher the probability of reporting. By contrast, high public funding decreases this probability. Research limitations/implications The findings show characteristics of higher education institutions that support or hamper sustainability reporting. Overall, the findings imply a lack of institutionalisation of sustainability reporting among higher education institutions. Originality/value Although a lot of research has been done on corporate sustainability reporting, only a small number of studies have addressed the issues of sustainability reporting of higher education institutions. This study covers all sustainability reports disclosed among the 160 UK higher education institutions. It is the first study that investigates characteristics of higher education institutions that disclose a sustainability report.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Brown ◽  
Jenny Burbage ◽  
Joanna Wakefield-Scurr

PurposePrevious research suggests that many active females are not engaging in sports bra use, despite the positive health benefits. The aim of this study was to establish and compare sports bra use, preferences and bra fit issues for exercising females in some of the largest and most diverse global underwear markets (the US, the UK and China).Design/methodology/approachA survey covering activity levels, sports bra use and preferences, bra issues and demographics was administered via Qualtrics and completed by 3,147 physically active females (aged ≥ 18 years) from the US (n = 1,060), UK (n = 1,050) and China (n = 1,037).FindingsIn general, participants were 25–29 years, 121 to 140 pounds, 34B bra size and pre-menopausal. “I cannot find the right sports bra” was the most frequent breast barrier to exercise (25.4%). Three-quarters of women wore a sports bra during exercise, with significantly higher use in China (83.9%), compared to the UK (67.2%). A third of all participants reported sports bra shoulder straps “digging into the skin”. Sports bra preferences were: compression sports bras with a racer back, wide straps and thick straps in the US and the UK; thin straps in China and adjustable straps and underband, no wire and maximum breast coverage in the US and the UK, including nipple concealment and with padded/moulded cups.Originality/valueInformation provided on differences in sports bra use, preferences and bra issues across three major global markets could be utilised by brands and manufacturers to optimise bra marketing and fit education initiatives and inform future sports bra design and distribution strategies.


Kybernetes ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 629-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Wiltshier ◽  
Michael Edwards

Purpose – This paper aims to propose a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) model, using higher education (HE) students researching in the UK. It is focused on community engagement via charitable trusts, New Opportunities Wirksworth (NOW) & Ecclesbourne Valley Rail (EVR). The researchers designed and implemented a pilot study that explored the potential of a small, yet attractive and active, market town to diversify and regenerate using tourism. This project, which has been funded by the UK Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), has been devised to operate and monitor a KTP in the culturally important heritage market town of Wirksworth, in Derbyshire. Design/methodology/approach – A systems-thinking constructivist approach is used and employs problem-based learning (PBL) through engagement of students in research and data collection. The authors identified that skills for sustainable development within the community are dependent on the reintegration of complex, inter-dependent and inter-disciplinary factors. A holistic approach to the learning and knowledge shared within the community underpins UK initiatives to promote capacity development in ways to change knowledge applications across product and service boundaries. Therefore, in addition to encouraging diversification and regeneration through tourism, this project supported the University of Derby's academic agenda to promote experiential and entrepreneurial learning in students working at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This paper accords with the current university initiatives to meet the student employability agenda through the application of PBL and knowledge management. Findings – The creation of outcomes and recommendations for Wirksworth's stakeholders provides sustainability through the knowledge creation and sharing processes. There are seven outcomes that chart a path to development and knowledge transfer (KT) and sharing. The authors simultaneously provided an environment for students to gain skills and a community to acquire new knowledge, and these are the outcomes and output of this project. New learning styles may support inclusive academic practice (see related samples of PBL such as Ineson and Beresford in HLST resources 2001). Implications for building a KT community through the social capital accumulated in the project are explored. Originality/value – In taking PBL from the classroom to the community, the authors have created a new KT environment in which skills can be acquired and a regeneration strategy can be tested in a work-or-practice-related setting. Students recognise that they are building learning for themselves that is unique in that it cannot be recreated in a classroom setting. The authors see this project developing into a robust long-term partnership between communities and institutions with KT benefits to teaching staff in addition to students. These benefits will include new skills for PBL, working collaboratively with partners in the community to develop key skills in HE students, innovation in assessment, inclusive learning and teaching, experiential and entrepreneurial learning in practice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Pigden ◽  
Andrew Garford Moore

PurposeIn the UK, the vast majority of university students specialise and study just one subject at bachelor degree level, commonly known in the UK as a single honours degree. However, nearly all British universities will permit students if they wish to study two or even three subjects, so-called joint or combined honours degrees, internationally known as a double major. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether the study of a joint rather than a single honours degree had an impact on employment outcomes six months after graduation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analysed the complete data set provided from the Higher Education Statistics Agency Destination of Leavers from the Higher Education survey. The data were analysed to establish whether there was a difference in the highly skilled graduate employability of the joint honours students. The authors established whether there were any differences inherent in completing a joint honours degree in a post-1992 higher education institution, by nation within the UK or within a Russell Group higher education institution.FindingsThe authors found an approximately consistent 3 per cent point negative gap nationally in the highly skilled employment rates of joint compared with single honours graduates. This gap was at its lowest in the highly selective Russell Group universities (−1.52 per cent points) and highest in post-1992, vocationally oriented universities (−7.13 per cent points) and in Northern Ireland universities (−12.45 per cent points). Joint honours graduates of Scottish universities fared well, with a +3.09 per cent point advantage over the national average for joint honours. The authors found that universities that had a higher proportion of joint honours graduates generally had a lower employability gap between their joint and single honours graduates.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focussed on joint honours degrees in the UK where the two or three principal subjects fall into different JACS subject areas, i.e. the two or three subjects are necessarily diverse rather than academically cognate. Future work will consider the class of joint honours degrees where the principal subjects lie within the same JACS subject area, i.e. they may be closer academically, although still taught by different academic teams. This grouping will include, for example, pairs of foreign languages, some social sciences pairings such as politics and sociology, and pairings such as history and theology from the historical and philosophical subject area.Originality/valueThe potential disbenefits of studying for a joint honours degree are apparent in this study. Joint honours students may face organisational, academic and cultural challenges that require a positive, conscious and sustained effort to overcome, on both the part of the student and the higher education institution. In particular for graduates of the post-1992 universities, it appears that there is a negative relative impact on highly skilled employment. This impact is lessened if the university is Scottish (four-year degrees with in-built breadth of study) or where the proportion completing joint honours degrees is relatively high.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-20
Author(s):  
Mouza Said Al Kalbani ◽  
Ahmad Bintouq

Funding of higher education institutions is a major growing expense for the Oman government (13–14% of the total spending in 2016) and is at par with that of other governments (e.g., 11% in the UK and 15.5% in the US). However, there has been little investigation into the funding of quality higher education in Oman. The present research project aims to explore the sources of funding at Oman universities after it opened the private education sector in 1996. The research methodology includes conducting interviews with leaders in higher education to explore different types of funding (e.g., gifts, tuition fees, government support). This will enhance our understanding, as well as that of decision-makers, regarding universities' funding sources and of the higher education landscape.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T. Miller

Purpose This study was designed to address the problem of how higher education institutions, as organizations designed to promote learning, responded to the COVID pandemic and the suspension of in-person instruction. The purpose of this paper was specifically to explore how institutions go about learning from the pandemic to better prepare themselves for the future that they will face. Design/methodology/approach A researcher-developed survey instrument was distributed electronically to 300 faculty leaders at randomly selected universities in the USA. With three follow-up e-mail requests, the survey had a 31% usable response rate. Findings Survey results indicated that institutional leadership did not make strong use of shared governance in responding to the COVID pandemic in creating operational response strategies. Further, institutions did not alter their policies or make structural changes to be more adept in facing the challenges of a global pandemic and its impact on the financial well-being of the institutions. Although institutions did make changes to their attitudes about students, these were not developmental changes but rather behavioral modification expectations. Originality/value This study drew upon data collected after the first three months of the global COVID pandemic, providing an important first-look at organizational behavior in response to a largely unplanned global event.


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