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The body of research on responsible and sustainable business education has shaped the policies of key institutions working in the area of responsible business education, notably the Academy of Business in Society (ABIS) and the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (UN PRME). It has also contributed to the guidance that UK higher education bodies give to Business Schools through the Higher Education Academy. ICCSR's research has also made available guidance and examples of best practice to these policy institutions through which business schools have been able to access evidence-based resources in their endeavour to develop effective practice.
Multi-disciplinary research in strategic management and marketing at Northumbria University's Newcastle Business School has helped Renown Engineering Group (RE) to reposition itself from a "product manufacturer" to a "knowledge based high margin service provider". The direct impact of the university/RE partnership is a significant £4 million increase in sales; a 30% increase in sales margins and a significant increase in profits. Applying insights from the same body of research the Business School has also assisted NE-based companies TASS and Modrec (through different KTPs) to implement successful business and brand development as well as product and market diversification strategies and helped Sunderland City Council (SCC) develop their branding tools and values.
Research published by Pugh, Wyld and Tyrrall (2001) was adopted by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) to provide the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of their lobbying campaign for a sliding scale of excise duty for small breweries (also known as "progressive beer duty"; henceforth, PBD). This campaign led to the introduction of PBD in the 2002 Budget. Subsequent evaluation (Wyld, Pugh and Tyrrall, 2010) established that PBD has helped to generate new businesses (well over 100) and new jobs (at least several hundred) that otherwise would not have been brought into existence.
Since its inception in 2005, Bangor Business School's Centre for Business Research (CBR) has developed a research agenda focusing on the North West Wales (NWW) EU convergence region, which is dominated by Small-to-Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) with a distinctively bilingual (Welsh/English) flavour operating in a rural setting. This research has had a significant impact on both local and regional economies by changing the strategies for innovation and growth of individual SME's. The achieved impact came in the form of tangible growth (5% in one instance), successful bidding & grant acquisition (£400K in one case), improved marketing and customer-management, and enhanced knowledge transfer partnerships, which are reflected in greater employment opportunities as evidenced from the supportive statements of the main users of this research
This case study focuses upon enterprise and enterprise education. It describes the impact of intellectual endeavours in this area, mainly surrounding the production of a framework to foster entrepreneurial behaviour, and the emergence of an enterprise support approach that continues to support entrepreneurs.
Impact includes:
University of Reading research produced a tool to measure the key drivers of stakeholder behaviour. This has been applied in a wide range of situations — notably when organisations have set out to improve relationships with stakeholders in complex and potentially high risk situations.
Four examples are given here.
Research by University of Huddersfield Business School has delivered regional and national impact in the field of entrepreneurship and enterprise. It has informed the award-winning delivery of business start-up and growth support programmes across Yorkshire and the Humber, contributing to the regional economy through additional business and job creation. It has helped to shape policy on national entrepreneurship and enterprise education for undergraduates, graduates and postgraduate research students. It has also influenced policy and guidance in the areas of enterprise and entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship support and social enterprise across the UK through researchers' involvement with national incubation, education and research-based organisations.
Research undertaken by Starkey and colleagues has informed the development of a particular philosophy and practice of research. This has informed policy debates about the nature of effective management research for engaging with practice — now widely referred to as co-production — and led to new insights into the practice of policymaking in government. The research informed (1) the development of a new approach to policymaking adopted by the previous administration in work conducted for and with the Cabinet Office with senior civil servants and representation from the House of Lords; (2) collaborative work on the development of low carbon communities which was conducted with the Department of The Environment and Climate Change.
This case study demonstrates how the application of GRBOM has been used to deliver a national e-student system. Key impacts include:
Strathclyde research demonstrates that women entrepreneurs make an important contribution to economic development, but are disadvantaged by under-capitalization at start-up. Working with UK and devolved governments, leading banks and finance institutions, and regional enterprise support organizations, the researchers have stimulated and influenced the framing of policy debate; helped shape policy with regard to the participation of women entrepreneurs in economic growth; improved our understanding of factors underpinning access to finance opportunities for diverse enterprises; and influenced the work of business support organizations and commercial banks.