To lobby or not to lobby? New research club launches.

Picture courtesy of Alexander Kharlamov

To lobby, or not to lobby? That is not the question. Determining the needs of UK business is a complex area, with changes to legislation coming thick and fast – some having the potential to impact on existing business models and sectors: energy, defence, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, fast moving consumer goods, UK manufacturing – to name just some of the areas high on the political agenda.To what extent should organisations flex, adapt and reinvent themselves to adjust to today’s dynamic and rapidly changing political landscape? To what extent should they fight to both resist and affect those changes to improve the likelihood of growth in their business? Both play an important role in the strategy process.

Lobbying is often portrayed as a guilty secret, best kept in the shadows – but if we are to enable the best possible political environment for UK business to prosper, this important activity needs to be developed to inform policy with evidence ‘from the shop floor’. Responsible, ethical and transparent government affairs strategies are key to this process. So the question is: How to lobby?

Cranfield School of Management and The Open University Business School – both highly ranked, triple-accredited business schools – are currently inviting expressions of interest in membership to a new Government Affairs Research Club.

The club and its corporate members seek to develop strategic foresight and practical strategic problem solving techniques which will enable the development of the voice used to communicate more persuasively with oversight bodies and government in general.

An inaugural symposium will take place on the 20th November at the Institute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London for CEOs, Directors and Vice Presidents of Corporate Affairs, Government and Industry Affairs. Participating in this event will enable you to be a part of this important conversation and experience how you could enhance your firm’s government affairs strategies. The discussion will inform a White Paper that will be published in January 2015.

To be a part of this important conversation and to develop your government affairs strategy with this unique new club, visit the web page at www.cranfield.ac.uk/som/garc

Advertisement

A customer at a time

Tim Crick, Managing Partner at Decblue explains how decisioning can enable firms large and small to make the most of every touchpoint – and the management challenges this creates, particularly with regards to strategy, culture and customer data.
More via CCMF blog post: Shepherding our customers along their journeys

Cranfield Customer Management Forum

Developing Key Account Management Talent

Professor Graham Jones talks about high performing talent in the worlds of elite sport, military and business, highlighting the importance of creating the right environments for talent to thrive. Graham presents a model, comprising three key requirements, to guarantee sustainable top performance in any organisation: 1. Be clear what the expectations are regarding performance. 2. Create an environment where people can thrive and deliver on these expectations. 3. Provide the leadership to enable both of these requirements.

Cranfield Key Account Management Best Practice Research Club

Webcast: A transformation – my DBA story: Dr Peter Saxton

Dr Emma Parry, Director, International Executive Doctorate (DBA) and Reader in Human Resource Management welcomes a valuable contribution to this DBA webinar series by Dr Peter Saxton, DBA Alumnus (1999 cohort) & Owner-Director at Capstick Saxton Associates Ltd.

Having completed his DBA in 2003, Peter was one of the very first to undertake the programme at Cranfield, back in 1999, with a thesis entitled `The impact of consensus on performance in monopolistic supply situations in the air transport industry`, supervised by Dr David Partington, Prof Cliff Bowman and Prof Mark Jenkins.

In this webcast, Peter talks us through his research and DBA experience, explaining how it has contributed to his career so far. Professor Mark Jenkins contributes from a faculty support perspective.

Cranfield International Executive Doctorate (DBA)

Next Doctoral Open Day – Monday 17th November 2014

Cranfield’s Top 40: Jun, Jul, Aug 2014

Here are the top downloaded pieces of content from the Cranfield Collection of E-Research throughout the months of June, July and August 2014.

No	Title	Author(s)	Jun 2014	Jul 2014	Aug 2014	Total
1	Women directors on corporate boards: A review and research agenda	Terjesen, Siri; Sealy, Ruth; Singh, Val	75	6670	10991	17736
2	Managing and measuring for value: the case of call centre performance	Marr, Bernard; Neely, Andrew	865	762	745	2372
3	Corporate marketing and service brands – Moving beyond the fast-moving consumer goods model	McDonald, Malcolm; de Chernatony, Leslie; Harris, Fiona	476	545	679	1700
4	What do we mean by corporate social responsibility?	Moir, Lance	413	502	583	1498
5	The Impact of Regulation on Economic Growth in Developing Countries: A Cross-Country Analysis.	Jalilian, Hossein; Kirkpatrick, Colin; Parker, David	469	449	493	1411
6	The impact of board size on firm performance: evidence from the UK	Guest, Paul M.	434	457	517	1408
7	A mixed method study of airline brand equity	Nakaprasit, Ayudh	545	405	442	1392
8	Relationship marketing: bringing quality customer service and marketing together	Christopher, Martin; Payne, Adrian; Ballantyne, David	433	401	508	1342
9	The Development and application of a bespoke organisational learning competency framework in a global organisation	Tarrini, Mauro G.	559	378	357	1294
10	The Agile Supply Chain: Competing in Volatile Markets	Christopher, Martin	424	412	446	1282
11	Towards a definition of a business performance measurement system	Franco-Santos, Monica; Kennerley, Mike; Micheli, Pietro; Martinez, Veronica; Mason, Steve; Marr, Bernard; Gray, Dina; Neely, Andrew	378	370	398	1146
12	Thirty Years of Mergers and Acquisitions Research: Recent Advances and Future Opportunities	Cartwright, Susan; Schoenberg, Richard	378	345	413	1136
13	Development and implementation of preventive-maintenance practices in Nigerian industries	Eti, Mark C.; Ogaji, S. O. T.; Probert, S. D.	393	399	274	1066
14	Passengers’ perceptions of low cost airlines and full service carriers: A case study involving Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines.	O’Connell, John F.; Williams, George	343	342	362	1047
15	The attitude behaviour relationship	Mostyn, Barbara	336	291	395	1022
16	Dynamic capabilities: An exploration of how firms renew their resource base	Ambrosini, Veronique; Bowman, Cliff; Collier, Nardine	394	300	305	999
17	Key Account Planning: Benefits, Barriers and Best Practice.	Ryals, Lynette; Rogers, B	304	351	290	945
18	Airline Jet Fuel Hedging: Theory and practice	Morrell, Peter; Swan, William	331	344	262	937
19	Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains of Global Brands: A Boundaryless Responsibility? Clarifications, exceptions and implications	Amaeshi, Kenneth; Osuji, Onyeka Kingsley; Nnodim, Paul	308	278	263	849
20	Integrating deductive and inductive approaches in a study of new ventures and cutomer perceived risk	Ali, Haider A.	236	266	334	836
21	The role of networks in the entrepreneurial process	Birley, Sue	336	264	235	835
22	An analysis of the use and success of online recruitment methods in the UK	Parry, Emma; Tyson, Shaun	96	287	449	832
23	Building the resilient supply chain	Christopher, Martin; Peck, Helen	268	267	282	817
24	Relationship marketing: The six markets framework	Payne, Adrian	296	205	308	809
25	Supply chain risk management: outlining an agenda for future research	Juttner, Uta; Peck, Helen; Christopher, Martin	268	241	279	788
26	The impact of bundles of strategic human resource management practices on the performance of European firms	Gooderham, Paul; Parry, Emma; Ringdal, Kristen	278	210	278	766
27	Warehouse design: A structured approach	Baker, Peter; Canessa, Marco	219	287	230	736
28	Growth curve prediction from optical density data	Mytilinaios, Ioannis; Salih, Magdi; Schofield, Hannah K.; Lambert, Ronald J. W.	210	307	211	728
29	Creating agile supply chains in the fashion industry	Christopher, Martin; Lowson, Robert; Peck, Helen	206	234	285	725
30	Footsteps across time : the evolution, use and relevance of battlefield visits to the British Armed Forces	Caddick-Adams, Peter	107	288	319	714
31	The Guaranty Trust Bank of Nigeria: From niche positioning to mass-market branding	Maklan, Stan; Knox, Simon; Michel, Stefan	275	224	211	710
32	Segmentation and customer insight in contemporary services marketing practice: why grouping customers is no longer enough	Bailey, Christine R.; Baines, Paul R.; Wilson, Hugh; Clark, Moira	210	285	205	700
33	Welding process impact on residual stress and distortion	Colegrove, Paul A.; Ikeagu, C.; Thistlethwaite, A.; Williams, S.; Nagy, T.; Suder, Wojciech; Steuwer, A.; Pirling, T.	234	220	223	677
34	Feature based design for jigless assembly	Naing, Soe	246	206	177	629
35	A dynamic theory of leadership development	Mostovicz, E. Issac; Kakabadse, Nada K.; Kakabadse, Andrew P.	224	208	188	620
36	Evaluation of aluminium-based coatings for cadmium replacement	Chalaftris, George	161	234	211	606
37	An investigation into the notions of ‘success’ and ‘failure’ held by senior UK airline executives and their perceptions of the causes of ‘success’	Beech, J. G.	171	210	212	593
38	Cost engineering: why, what and how?	Roy, Rajkumar	185	213	178	576
39	Market segmentation: organizational archetypes and research agendas	Jenkins, Mark; McDonald, Malcolm	194	165	206	565
40	Stakeholder engagement: A road map to meaningful engagement	Jeffery, Neil	207	323	32	562