December 2014

Dr Horace He (former BISC member, now working at Coventry University) and Dr Teslim Oyegoke Bukoye presented their research in the BISC research seminar held on 16^th December 2014.

Dr Horace Qile He presented his work on identifying what Drives Firms' Isomorphic Change towards Corporate Sustainable Development and Sustainable Supply Chain Management from An Institutional Theory Perspective.

The importance of adopting Corporate Sustainable Development (CSD) and extending sustainable development strategies along the supply chain has attracted increasing attentions from researchers and practitioners. Dr He's study empirically examined whether institutional pressures, namely coercive, mimetic and normative pressures, will transform CSD and Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) practices and how such pressures will facilitate firms' adoption of CSD and SSCM. Based on multiple case study interviews with firms in China and UK, his study attempts to provide a more systematic understanding of the diffusion process of CSD practices along the supply chain of contemporary firms.

Dr Teslim Oyegoke Bukoye's presentation was about the applicability of Best Value in the Nigerian public sector based on his PhD thesis. His research critically examines the applicability of Best Value practices in the Nigerian public sector and presents a Best Value Model for Nigeria (BVMN).

The study finds extant literature does not extend to the Nigerian context. However, contributions were made towards understanding stakeholder perceptions of public service delivery best practices and highlighting Best Value as a significant initiative for improving public service delivery. The mixed methods survey reveals Nigerian Best Value initiatives do not exist significantly, but are applicable. Outcomes are exploration of a new area for Best Value application, incorporation of implementation issues into the model and the seven-stage process for its implementation.

Both presentations were followed by interesting discussions and debates among twenty staff and students who attended the seminar.

Workshop on the use of Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA)

BISC organised a half day workshop on the use of Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA) method on 8th December. The workshop was conducted by Dr Meysam Poorkavoos who is our former PhD student and now works as a researcher at Roffey Park Institute. The workshop provided an introduction to Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and hands on practice on the basic uses of the fs/QCA software package.

Many organization theories conceive organizations as configurations of multiple interacting elements (e.g. activities, resources, practices). However, conventional statistical methods are often less suited to analyse these multiple interdependencies, mostly focusing on the additive, net effect of single variables.

Differently, set-theoretic methods -such as Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA)- explicitly conceptualize cases as combinations of elements, providing tools for assessing the combined, configurational effects of multiple (organizational) elements and for evaluating the equifinality of different organizational configurations (i.e. when different configurations lead to the same outcome).

Fs/QCA uses Boolean algebra to systematically compare the configurations of conditions leading to an outcome of interest. Fs/QCA is well-suited for the analysis of configurational phenomena both with medium-N (e.g. from 10 to 40 cases) and with large-N datasets (e.g. 100+ cases). FsQCA has received growing attention and use recently in organizational and management studies.

Over twenty staff and students attended the workshop.

August 2014

Business School Expert collaborates with China to Help Cambodia Improve Knowledge Transfer in Agri-Business Sector using Mobile Internet Technologies

Professor Yanqing Duan in the Business School has visited China and Cambodia recently as part of a research project activity on improving Cambodia' Information and Knowledge Transfer in Agriculture Sector using Mobile Internet Technologies'. The ten-month project is part of the AgriTT Programme which is funded by the UK's Department For International Development (DFID).

The project involves four partners from China (Foreign Economic Cooperation Centre of China's Ministry of Agriculture, SuperMap), the UK (UoB) and Cambodia (Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute). AgriTT brings development practice and research expertise from China, the UK and developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia together to improve food security through technology transfer and knowledge sharing.

The key theme of the research is Innovation in Knowledge Sharing and Communication which aims to develop a platform to share knowledge and experiences on technology transfer partnerships between China, the UK and developing countries with policy-makers, agricultural practitioners and researchers.

The specific objective of the project is to improve the knowledge and information dissemination flow in the rural area of Cambodia by adapting China's experience on the use of mobile internet and other latest ICT technologies. Professor Duan, as a UK expert in transnational knowledge transfer using ICTs, visited Agriculture Information Service Centres in Hunan Province and Beijing in China in May 2014, to review the current development in China and identify the best practice and transfer models. She also visited Cambodia in June 2014 to understand the knowledge transfer needs and current information services provided to farmers in Cambodia.

The trip to Cambodia involved fields surveys with farmers in different villages, interviews with extension officers, focus group with experts, and workshop with practitioners, researchers and policy makers.

Professor Duan said that "Emerging ICTs are playing an essential role in facilitating information dissemination and knowledge transfer. I am fascinated by the China's achievements in transferring information and knowledge to the hands of farmers using emerging ICTs, especially using smart phones, and the impact of the knowledge transfer on improving agricultural productivity. It is very important for low income countries in South Asia, such as Cambodia, to learn from China's experience and adapt their best practice. The field visits in China and Cambodia were eye-opening experience and provided me with unique insights that enable me to understand the farmers' needs and to establish the most suitable knowledge transfer solutions using ICTs"

During Prof Duan's visit to China, she was invited to give a talk on "Big Data and Analytics in Agriculture Sector" in China Agricultural University. Agriculture Sector is experiencing a revolution with the applications of Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics. The new technologies are transforming traditional farming practice to a new era, so technology and innovation transfer is the key for speeding up this transformation.

June 2014

ECIS 2014 Best Paper Award Nomination for BISC Research on the Impact of Business Analytics on Competitive Advantages

Dr Guangming Cao and Professor Yanqing Duan have received the best paper award nomination in the 22nd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2014), which took place on 9-11 June 2014, Tel Aviv.

The full research paper titled "A Path Model Linking Business Analytics, Data-Driven Culture, and Competitive Advantage" was one of eight papers nominated. ECIS is the most prestige conference in the Information systems field. This year conference has received 548 submissions and among them, only 188 papers were accepted (34.3% acceptance rate). Over five hundreds delegates from 45 countries attended ECIS 2014.

Dr Cao and Prof Duan were very delighted with the nomination and, most importantly, the recognition of their research in the area of Big Data and Analytics. Their paper aims to advance our understanding of the impact of Business Analytics.

Drawing on contingency theory and the resource-based view, they have developed a research model that specifies the paths from Business Analytics to competitive advantage, which was empirically tested using structural equation modelling. Their analysis demonstrates that Business Analytics, through the mediation of a data-driven culture, positively impacts on information processing capabilities, which in turn have a positive effect on competitive advantage. Their findings advance our understandings of the mechanisms through which Business Analytics can be used to enhance information processing capabilities and finally to gain competitive advantage.

The research was funded by the University's Research Investment Programme.

May 2014

N-vivo Training Workshop

Ms Patsy Clarke, an educational developer, researcher and N-vivo trainer from the company Qualitania, hosted a brilliant and intensive N-vivo workshop in the Postgraduate Centre on day 1 (13 May) and for day 2 (14 May) the Campus Centre.

Day 1 was an introductory session, where Patsy covered areas such as creating a new N-vivo project along with the sample data she had provided, importing source documents, working with external data, creating memos and annotations, creating and managing nodes and coding own data. Students and academic staff were able to use the N-vivo software on the computers in the room as she demonstrated these different areas on her laptop, which made the session very interactive.

On Day 2, Ms Clarke covered areas in the software such as queries, modelling and showing relationships in your data. On both days she left an hour before the end of the workshop in order to answer any questions students had regarding their research. Some students who brought in their work to analyse really benefited from the workshop as Patsy steered them in the right direction.

The main feedback from both students and staff about the workshop was that the facilitator was knowledgeable, well prepared and responded to their questions. They were also impressed with the hands on training and the fact that the notes were easy to follow along with her presentation of the N-vivo software.

April 2014

BMRI Research Workshop on Writing Proposals for Research Funding

Professor Kulwant S Pawar of Nottingham University Business School delivered a very useful workshop in Luton on writing proposals for research funding on 24 April 2014.

He started the workshop introducing various funding sources in the UK, European and international contexts. Using his immense experience in being successful in securing research funding over the last two decades, he elaborated on the contents of successful bids, giving examples of successful and unsuccessful bids. He also explained the proposal evaluation process for EU and EPSRC funding.

The workshop was well attended by academic staff members and PGR students of BMRI.

BISC Research Seminar on Green Supply Chain Management

BISC welcomed Dr Wantao Yu from the University of East Anglia who delivered a research seminar titled "Integrated green supply chain management and performance: An extended resource-based view" to PGR students and staff members in BMRI.

The seminar was held on 9 April 2014. The seminar discussed a questionnaire survey and subsequent quantitative analysis on automotive manufacturing plants in China.

Dr Yu's study interestingly found that internal Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) initiatives in a firm had significant positive impact on GSCM with customers and suppliers, and that GSCM with customers was significantly and positively related to both environmental and financial performance. The audience benefited from the way the theory (resource based view) was integrated in the research study and also from the presentation of quantitative analysis (such as reliability, validity, measurement model and structural model).

M-Plus Quantitative software demonstration

Dr Guangming Cao, Principal Lecturer in the Business School delivered a research seminar titled "An introduction to M-plus: Demo and Comparison with AMOS" on Friday 4 April 2014. The seminar was attended by PGR students and staff members in BMRI.

He first introduced basic concepts of quantitative analysis (e.g., EFA, CFA, Multilevel analysis, Latent class analysis, Latent Transition Analysis and Latent (Growth) Mixture Modelling) for the benefit of PhD students and then discussed the capabilities of two software packages (Amos and M-plus) to conduct these analyses. He also demonstrated some features of M-Plus software. BMRI recently purchased a licence for M-Plus. Students and staff members working in quantitative analysis found the seminar very informative.

February 2014

BISC Research Seminar - Professors of Management Practice shared their knowledge and experience on IT Business Value and Big Data

On Wednesday 22 February 2014, two of the Business School's Professor of Management Practice, Prof David Harding and Prof KP Bhimani, shared their industrial experience and personal reflections on IT Business Value and Big Data applications with staff and students. Both David and KP have extensive industrial experience and in-depth knowledge on business practice of ICT related development and deployment.

Prof Harding's presentation on "Bridging the gap between Business and IT – losing sight of the planned benefit" highlighted the challenges on realising IT business value in IT practice based on his many years industrial experience.

Prof Bhimani's talk on "Big Data - Challenges and Opportunities and Case studies from financial services" presented fascinating development in this fasting moving field and also raised questions on how to leverage the value of big data by addressing the skills shortage in Big Data applications and Business Analytics.

Their presentations simulated interesting debates and discussions. Both Prof Harding and Bhimani expressed their interests in explore any opportunities to develop new initiatives and projects with colleagues using their valuable insights and connections. The seminar had attracted university wide attention. More than 30 staff and students attended the seminar including staff from ICT, CAT and our Director of Corporate Information Systems.

January 2014

BMRI Day, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm, 16 January 2014

The Business and Management Research Institute (BMRI) held a series of brief talks to increase awareness of BMRI initiatives and policies to staff and encourage them to be more research active. About 30 participants (academic staff, Professors of Managerial Practice and PGR students) attended the event.

Prof Ram Ramanathan, Director, BMRI started the event by providing an overview of BMRI, its objectives and strategies, especially the post-REF strategy. This was followed by brief talks by three research centre leaders.

Prof Yanqing Duan discussed the achievements and activities of the Business and Information Systems Research Centre (BISC). Dr Christina Schwabenland briefly discussed the history of Centre for Leadership Innovation (CLI) and its activities. Finally, Prof Michal Kennedy discussed the activities of the Centre for Research in Contemporary Accounting and Finance (ResCAF), and highlighted the new addition of researchers in the Economics area.

The other two research centres, Centre for Research in Law (CRiL) and Centre for Advances in Marketing (CAM), were not represented due to staff illness. The presentations were followed by discussion by participants. It was generally agreed by all that the event has helped participants to know more about the activities and expertise in various research centres of BMRI. For example, the expertise on System Dynamics in ResCAF was useful to several participants. While the overview by research centre leaders was appreciated by everyone, there was a suggestion to allow more time for in-depth discussion on available research expertise within BMRI.

This could also be in the form of a research conference within BMRI where students and staff can discuss specific research studies. Dr Qile suggested that BMRI could also think about organising a conference jointly with professional bodies such as the CILT or BAM.