The Business and Management Research Institute (BMRI) held its annual Day event on 17th January 2017. It consisted of series of brief talks to increase awareness of BMRI initiatives and policies to staff and encourage them to be more research active. Around 35 participants (academic staff and PGR students) attended the event.

Prof Ram Ramanathan, Director, BMRI started the event by providing an overview of BMRI, its objectives, achievements in the previous year, and plans for the current year. He presented a brief update on the status of proposals received for BMRI Internal Project funding. His talk was followed by brief presentations from leaders of four of the five research centres.

Prof Yanqing Duan discussed the achievements and activities of the Business and Information Systems Research Centre (BISC). Slides on the activities of the Centre for Research in Contemporary Accounting, Finance and Economics (ResCAFE) were then discussed. Dr Eleftherios Goulas and Dr Mohamed Saeudy talked about their research experience. Dr Saeudy highlighted his experience in writing impact cases and was willing to support impact case preparations.

Dr Alia El Banna discussed about research activities and plans in the Centre for Advances in Marketing (CAM). The talk involved proposals for a boot camp event on writing and publishing manuscripts. Dr Silvia Borelli presented the achievements, activities and plans of the Centre for Research in Law (CRiL). Her presentation included details on shortlisting of CRiL’s activities for the Times Higher Education (THE) awards. Dr Christina Schwabenland briefly discussed the history of Centre for Leadership Innovation (CLI) and its activities. This talk included details on shorting of CLI for an award by the Leadership Foundation, and also the BMRI-level writing retreat she organised in July 2016. The morning session ended with a discussion with Innovation & Enterprise Service on how to get support in developing research bids and commercial activities. There was a great interest in newly funded projects in the Service such as Innovation Bridge which will help businesses working with academics.

In the afternoon, Professor Ramanathan updated the audience on BMRI’s preparations towards the next REF. A mid-cycle review was completed but more targeted submissions are being undertaken. Professor Ramanathan then discussed the twelve recommendations of the Independent Review of the Research Excellence Framework by Lord Nicholas Stern in 2016. The presentation also included his commentaries on the impact of these recommendations, if accepted, for REF submissions. Some details of the University’s Open Access Policy were also included in the presentation.

Professor Yanqing Duan then presented a research seminar entitled “Understanding the Impact of Analytics - Challenges and Opportunities for Research”, where she summarised the experience gained from examining the impact of analytics on business competitive advantages, innovation, strategic decision making, and student experience management in UK HEIs. The seminar was followed by a presentation on Research Informed Teaching by Dr Christina Schwabenland. This session highlighted ways in which teaching could integrate research in all possible forms.

Finally, Mrs Hadil Al-Moosa, a PhD student from CLI, presented her research titled “Women’s entrepreneurship in Oman”. She discussed her PhD research on the experiences of women entrepreneurs in Oman to understand the meaning and significance of entrepreneurship for them. The research is based on a social constructionist theoretical foundation and used narrative inquiry.

The entire BMRI Day was very interactive. For example, there were suggestions to integrate the boot camp on writing and publishing manuscripts with writing retreats, though it was also felt that the boot camp could be organised on its own.

Several staff members expressed interest in joining the writing retreat being planned for July 2017. The participants have also suggested that senior PGR students should be invited to the writing retreats (if budget permits) as they could benefit from the availability of a dedicated mentor. Dr Mohammed Saeudy mentioned about the possibility of organising a reading club which was widely supported. Feedback from PGR students included a suggestion to add titles of research topics for selected PGR students, though it was not clear how the selection will be made. The event ended with thanks from BMRI Director.