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  • OUBS establishes True Potential Centre - 22nd July 2013

    Managing debt, organising household budgets and increasing awareness of personal money matters are set to form the basis of a new research centre dedicated to improving public understanding of financial issues.

    The new centre is the result of a partnership between the OU Business School (OUBS) and Financial services organisation True Potential.

    The True Potential Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance (PUFin) has been made possible through support by True Potential LLP and the commitment of David Harrison Managing Partner and OU MBA...

  • OUBS develops initiative to help African managers run companies in Africa - 17th June 2013

    Francis Cattermole, Lecturer in Business Development (Africa) and Rob Paton, Professor in Social Enterprise are developing a programme to meet the capacity building needs of management development in Africa. This involves working with public and private sector organisations to develop and trial various methods of content, pedagogy and delivery. It is a great opportunity for the OU to engage in sustainable management development.

    “Africa has great growth potential but currently 14 million young people are unemployed. Current population predictions are that by 2020 we will need 600 million new jobs to cope with the...

  • Open University Business School links with Africa are strengthened - 17th May 2013

    The woman behind plans to open a girls’ school in South Sudan, where 90 per cent of women are illiterate, has visited the Open University Business School (OUBS).

    Almost six years ago, on the banks of the Nile, Bridget told John Benington, husband of Professor Jean Hartley, Professor in Public Leadership at the OUBS, of her dream to build a residential school in Ibba.

    Jean and John, who were in pre-independence South Sudan running workshops for the interim government, agreed to help her develop a plan and raise the money.

    The university invited Bridget, one of just two women commissioners out of 79, to...

  • SMEs embrace mobile and cloud-based computing - 30th April 2013

    Smaller firms are turning to third-party ‘cloud-based’ providers to run ‘back office’ services like invoicing, business planning and customer relationship management.

    The Quarterly Survey of Small Business in Britain produced by The Open University Business School, examined the use of mobile and web-based services and found that more than 21% of respondents are now using ‘cloud-based’ providers to run their back office services, compared with two years ago when just 8% of respondents reported using them.

    SMEs are also showing the way by embracing mobile internet technologies but security, privacy and technology are still major challenges in moving a...

  • 20th EDiNEB Conference: "Future Skills for Competitive Business Education" - 19th April 2013

    EDiNEB is a network of professionals in educational institutions and corporate learning centres, who strive for innovation in developing learning platforms and pedagogy for economics and business higher education.

    Early bird registration (including day rates) is still available for the 20th International EDiNEB conference, hosted by The Open University Business School, 5-7 June 2013. The Educational Innovation in Economics and Business membership association connects international academics and practitioners to discuss a wide variety of educational innovations. This year's conference theme relates to 'Future Skills for Competitive Business Education', and features keynote speaker, Ronald van den Hoff, a Dutch entrepreneur, 'disruptive business concept explorer' and...

  • Can you pass The Big Money Test? - 19th March 2013

    ThinkstockHow do you feel about money? Are you an impulsive shopper? Led by Professor Mark Fenton-O’Creevy and published last week by the BBC and the Friends Provident Foundation, The Big Money Test results show that there is far more to managing our money than financial know-how.

    What’s The Big Money Test?

    In 2011 over 100,000 people took part in the BBC Lab UK’s Big Money Test, a survey launched on the consumer affairs programme Watchdog. The survey, designed by Professor Mark Fenton-O’Creevy of the Open University and Professor Adrian Furnham of University College London aimed to find out how people’...

  • Top international experts form taskforce to advise NHS on keeping patients safe from harm - 15th March 2013

    NHS logoProfessor Jean Hartley, Professor of Public Leadership at The Open University Business School is one of the world-class panel of experts invited to join the Berwick Advisory Group which will advise the Prime Minister and the NHS on how to keep patients safe from harm.

    Following the Francis Report on the crisis at Mid-Staffs Hospital, world experts in the cultures and processes of keeping people safe have been asked to advise the NHS in England on how to prevent patients being harmed while receiving healthcare.

    The National Advisory Group on the Safety of Patients in England will be chaired by Professor Donald Berwick, President Emeritus and...

  • Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards 2013 - 5th March 2013

    Santander Universities Logo

    Open to both students and alumni who graduated with the OU within the last two years, the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards offer a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the success of our student and graduate entrepreneurs. Not only could the awards potentially bring significant cash investment to aid your business idea, but the winners will also benefit from valuable press coverage from taking part in the nationally recognised awards.

    What are the prizes?

    As one of the 66 partner universities, the OU has been invited to submit two student or alumni business plans for the national...

  • The European Financial Review publishes Professor Elizabeth Daniel’s research on IT benefit management - 5th March 2013

    Professor Elizabeth Daniel was recently invited by The European Financial Review to contribute her expert opinion on the strategic uses of Information Technology.

    Her article “How to Deliver More Business Benefits from IT Investments”, co-authored by Professor John Ward from Cranfield University School of Management, looks at why many organisations fail to achieve benefits from their IT projects or programmes, and how to ensure the expected benefits are realised. It outlines a proven approach that many organisations are using to improve identifying, planning, and managing the delivery of benefits from IT investments.

    The article is based on Elisabeth Daniel and John Ward’s book 'Benefits Management: How to increase the business value of your IT projects...

  • Doing Business Responsibly with Myanmar: Seminar Invitation - 22nd February 2013

    Myanmar (Burma) is now opening up. So many businesses are flying into the country in search of opportunities. Many are also faced with dilemmas on corruption and infrastructure limitations. Thuta Aung, an entrepreneur from Myanmar, who is also the Co-President of The Open University Society of Entrepreneurs (OUSEN) will lead the discussion on how you can do business with Myanmar in the most responsible manner.

    Seats are very limited. Kindly send your interest to hello@hamsahub.com

    Date: Monday, February 25, 2013 - 17:00 to 22:00

    Location: The Open University, London Campus