Author Archives: Isobel

“Who are we – and why are we here?” Corporate Purpose, and why it matters.

Profile of Prof. Sue KonzelmannProfessor Sue Konzelmann explores the history of corporate purpose and its potential to support small business growth.

Ever since the Limited Liability Act of 1855, UK companies opting for that status have effectively owned themselves, and in the process, acquired a legal identity of their own. This of course, begs the question of what sort of identity – or personality – that should be, an idea that underpins the concept of organisational branding, and the wider question of corporate purpose.

People who are obsessed with money, tick-box checking or espousing values that they do not – or cannot – live up to, tend to have rather limited popularity. It’s not so very different for businesses, with the likely effect of having a negative impact on customer retention and the ability to recruit the best talent, not to mention damaging effects on the environment in which they operate.

Corporate purpose encompasses many of the same questions; but it takes a wider perspective than organizational branding, including questions such as “what are businesses actually for; and how should they relate to society and the environment?”

Corporate purpose is not a new idea. The purposes of early companies were typically public, such as building cathedrals and universities and developing much-needed economic infrastructure including transportation and finance.  But by the turn of the twentieth century, for most businesses of the time, corporate purpose had shifted decisively from public to private.

Following the First World War, however, the question of whether companies should serve a public purpose was reawakened by the huge uncertainty accompanying a world depression, recurring financial crises, rapid social change, growing inequality and, of course, a devastating pandemic. If any of this sounds familiar, it’s hardly surprising that the question of corporate purpose is now firmly back on the agenda. It also strongly suggests that we didn’t get the answers right the last time we thought about it – and that we should do better this time round.

So, if it’s not about having a laser-like focus on money and doesn’t refer to window dressing, then what exactly is corporate purpose?

What it’s not may be easier to define. It’s certainly not a rigid ‘one size fits all’ approach; and perspectives often vary with role. The CEO of the world’s largest asset management company, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, for example, in his 2019 Letter to CEOs, suggested that:

“Purpose unifies management, employees, and communities. It drives ethical behavior and creates an essential check on actions that go against the best interests of stakeholders. Purpose guides culture, provides a framework for consistent decision-making, and, ultimately, helps sustain long-term financial returns for the shareholders of your company.”

In the same year, the Business Roundtable published its own perspective – a “new Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation”, signed by 181 CEOs. In it they declared that companies should serve not only their shareholders, but also deliver value to their customersinvest in employeesdeal fairly with suppliers and support the communities in which they operate.

What then does all this mean, and why does it matter to SMEs? Well, with confidence in both politicians and businesses shakier than it’s been in at least half a century, defining how your business fits in is a great way to maintain the confidence of your customers, people and the places where you operate. That will do long term sustainable development no harm at all. And with SMEs often being more agile than their larger corporate counterparts, as well as contributing massively to both employment and the UK’s economy, this is clearly an area where smaller businesses can take the initiative, and drive forward positive change.

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Securing the Future of the NHS. A Missed Opportunity? Or Dodging the Issue?

Dr Walter Beckert’s research examines patient choice and competition in healthcare. He reflects on the future of the NHS and the Tory Leadership candidates’ proposals to secure it.

The NHS is an almost universally revered institution in the UK. It is built on principles of social justice and equity, and arguably it embodies the nation’s social conscience.

But as the constraints under which the UK as a society and economy operates dynamically evolve — reflecting years of austerity, Brexit, the COVID pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis –, so do our experiences with the NHS, as a healthcare provider, as a system preventing people from poverty due to ill health, and as our collective capacity to care. It is difficult to make GP appointments, patients face long waiting lists for many elective and also urgent procedures, A&E units are often overwhelmed, and the system exhibits outcomes that are middling relative to health systems of similarly developed countries. There is also recent evidence of an accelerated drive of patients toward self-funding some of their medical treatments, as a means of bypassing the constraints in the system. The system’s public funding (10.2% of GDP in 2019) lags behind the levels seen in countries like France (11.1% of GDP in 2019) and Germany (11.7% of GDP in 2019), with austerity leading to cumulative underinvestment in the NHS and social care over decades.

This raises the question of whether this system in its current form is fit for purpose, constitutes value-for-money, and how it could gainfully be adapted and improved.

One avenue of ongoing gradual change has been the marketization of the system. That process introduced competition between NHS providers and also with private providers. It also decentralized the system, devolving budgetary and organisational powers to the local level. And it introduced an element of mixed public – private funding. Research (Beckert and Kelly, Health Economics, 2021) shows that publicly funded patients may benefit from privately provided capacity, albeit often in a less than equitable manner.

Mixed systems exist elsewhere, e.g. Australia and the Netherlands. And along some metrics their outcomes tend to outperform the NHS’s outcomes. However, the pre-pandemic performance within different funding models was more varied than performance across the models. The funding model itself is not the issue. What matters is the organisation of the system and the level of funding.

The contenders for the Tory leadership — and hence the next Prime Minister – so far have barely touched the NHS crisis, notwithstanding calls for an honest assessment by the head of the NHS Confederation and others, let alone have they advanced any concrete proposals for change that go beyond opaque elimination of bureaucracy. Liz Truss’s apparent commitment to reverse the recent National Insurance rise, intended to bolster the system’s funding position, appears to even aggravate the funding constraints.

But funding is just one element of a necessary national discussion of what we do and reasonably can expect from a healthcare system.  Healthcare systems only affect around 20% of our own health: The rest is due to a wider determinant set of health, including social determinants such as the level of poverty, unemployment, stress, etc. Short-term focussed policy debates typically offer headline grabbing quick fixes. They fail to acknowledge that healthcare – like education – is a long-term investment in health, the economy, and broader societal welfare.

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Five ways to focus your growth as a small business

Dr Pamela Yeow is Assistant Dean (External Engagement) in Birkbeck’s School of Business, Economics and Informatics and teaches on the Help to Grow: Management Programme. She shares five tips for SMEs to accelerate their growth.

People make your business, and this is even more true for small businesses, where people are your business. In the midst of the great resignation prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than half of businesses that are reporting a worker shortage unable to meet demands (ONS, 2021), it is getting increasingly difficult to find the right employees for the right positions.

While the idea of trying to grow your business in the midst of our post-Brexit, post-lockdown, cost of living crisis might seem daunting, there are steps you can take today to start moving in the right direction. Here are five suggestions on where to begin.

1. Authentic leadership

Leadership is crucial in all businesses. Positive leadership is not just for those right at the top of the tree, but relevant to all positions at all levels. People look to leaders for direction, for strategy, and for reassurance when things are uncertain. Employees want to know that they are respected and appreciated, and also heard. Consider how you can develop clear, consistent communications to support and reassure your teams.

2. Develop partnerships and networks

Partnerships, relationships and networks are important for business growth and development. It is important to continue creating and renewing industry relationships, but have you considered developing partnerships and establishing networks in the wider community? Universities and colleges, for example, can work with businesses to develop internships or knowledge transfer partnerships.

3. Knowing your strengths

Most of us cannot be everything to everyone (we do try!). Having a clear understanding of what your business stands for is always a strength. Try asking your colleagues what they think their strengths are. Sometimes these can come as a surprise to the senior leadership team.

4. Values and purpose

Increasingly, businesses are expected to have a clear purpose and employees are voting with their feet if their values aren’t aligned with their organization. Knowing your purpose and values enables employees to proactively relate and engage with the business.

5. Flexibility and agility

As a small or medium sized business, one major advantage is your agility and flexibility. With greater accessibility to senior management within SMEs, this means that staff can share new ideas quickly and embed new suggestions even quicker. Consider how accessible your team is today. How could you communicate to staff that you’re open to new ideas?

Keen to grow your business?

The Help to Grow: Management Programme is a 12-week course that offers 50 hours of practical business leadership and strategy training, with 1:1 business mentoring, peer-learning networks in a hybrid (face-to-face and online) format. This programme is specifically for business owners and senior leaders operating in small and medium sized businesses who want to grow.

Register for the Help to Grow: Management Programme and start creating a plan for your next stage of growth!

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Celebrating our Summer of Sport: In Conversation with Professor Geoff Walters

Headshot of Geoff Walters, Executive DeanWith the Lionesses roaring to victory in the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games in full swing, summer 2022 is set to be a fantastic summer of sport. We sat down with Professor Geoff Walters, Executive Dean of the School of Business, Economics and Informatics to discuss his research and teaching in sport management and the work still to do to promote diversity and inclusion in sport at all levels.

 

Tell us how you got into researching and teaching on sport management

I initially joined Birkbeck as a researcher in the Football Governance Research Centre in 2003, which at the time was at the forefront of research into the governance of the football industry and the supporters trust movement. Birkbeck was also the first to launch an MSc in Sports Management, so it was an exciting place to come and study for my PhD, which focused on the football industry. At that time, academic research on governance in sport, and the teaching of sport management, was in its infancy and so coming to Birkbeck was a great opportunity.

Can you give us an example of how research in this area has an impact on the world of sport?

My colleague Dr Richard Tacon and I started looking at organisational governance (boards) in 2010 and realised there was not a great deal written on this at the time. We have looked specifically at the UK context, trying to understand how policy shapes board roles, primarily in National Governing Bodies of Sport in the UK. Through sector-wide reports, in-depth case studies, workshops and training, we have helped to raise the level of public debate, improve organisational practice and more recently, through our involvement with the Diversity in Sport Leadership project with UK Sport and Sport England, contributed to greater diversity and inclusion within boards across many different sports.

Sport has traditionally been a male dominated industry – what more do you think needs to be done to increase inclusive leadership in sports?

There have been significant changes in the sporting sector due to the Sports Governance Code that was introduced in 2016. This mandated minimum gender diversity requirements on the Board of any organisation funded by UK Sport or Sport England. All funded bodies also have to implement a Diversity Action Plan. These changes have accelerated inclusion within the sector, which at board level, has historically lacked diversity. There are also things that we at Birkbeck are seeking to do. This year, we are committing to a pledge with Women in Football by hosting bi-annual career events for female students interested in the football industry alongside our annual Birkbeck Women in Sport ScholarshipNevertheless, there are still some parts of the sports industry (e.g. within professional team sports) where there is a lack of representation at board level. There is also a need for more understanding of power relations within sport (and sport organisations) and how they construct gender and race. These are important issues to address so that representation is not seen as merely a box that needs ticking.

How do you think sport can make a positive influence in society today?

I think sport is dichotomous. Yes, on the one hand it can make a positive difference to people’s lives, supporting their development or having health benefits for example. However, this requires joined up Government policy and not simply the usual platitudes about the role of sport without real commitment to supporting positive change. I think this goes for sporting events also – the legacy of the London Olympics for example has not really delivered on much of what it promised in many areas such as sporting participation and creating a healthier nation. Perhaps too much is expected of sporting events, but with competitive bids requiring a strong narrative and certain nations still using sport events as a way to exercise soft power or greenwashing/sportwashing, then the positive influence of sport events will remain a divisive topic.

Any final messages to our sports people over the next few weeks?

Good luck, and I hope you can replicate the success of the England Women’s team!

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Meet Astrea: Julie Crofts, Director of Academic Standards and Quality & Deputy Academic Registrar

Julie Crofts smiling for the camera.Astrea is Birkbeck’s staff network for women and non-binary people in professional services. We talk to Astrea member Julie Crofts about her career journey.

Can you tell us a bit about your career journey so far?

I’ve worked in and around education and universities for over 30 years now. I studied English Literature (with some grammar and old English thrown in) as an undergraduate and I followed straight on with a Master’s degree in the days when the British Academy would support students to take an MA. I started a PhD on Angela Carter’s work in the early ‘90s. There wasn’t much of a support framework then for PhD students and I think I felt a bit thrown in at the deep end. I really liked the teaching I did as a PhD student and afterwards at Birmingham University, but I didn’t really have the confidence or single-mindedness to pursue an academic career. It gave me an early brush with quality assurance as I was both a postgraduate student rep and also a teacher whose class was observed in the 1994 Teaching Quality Assessment process.

I learned to type when I was 18 – my mum’s legacy – which meant I could start temping in offices when touch-typing wasn’t a universal skillset. It gave me quite a lot of work experience in multiple sectors. In higher education, I’ve worked at or studied in (or both) around 15 different institutions across the country in my career.

My first permanent job in London was at the Royal Society for Arts (if you ever see FRSA after someone’s name, by the way, that means they pay to be a Fellow) working on a project supporting accreditation for work-based learning through volunteering. It was a fantastic introduction to the city and to work from drug rehabilitation to Theatre Peckham. It also prompted a career in arts education and twenty years working in conservatoires. I made an active choice to work in dance and spent five years at the Council for Dance Education and Training which accredited professional dance programmes. I helped to set up the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama (created with HEFCE support in 2001) moving from a project officer to its Executive Director and from there to RADA as Secretary and Registrar. I also spent some time at City, University of London. Small institutions don’t always offer the complexity of bigger universities but do offer breadth. At RADA, along with the directors of education/training, we were switching between being the leadership team making decisions about the strategic direction to problems with a shower not working. I don’t think there is a ‘right’ career route; just opportunities to keep learning and developing your experience and judgment.

A few summers ago, I was working on two team restructurings: one at RADA and one at City. I learned then that it’s never the thing you think that will really be difficult, always the one you think will be easy.

I’ve known Birkbeck since I came to London and have always admired its ethos and the opportunities it provides for people. My role as Director of Academic Standards and Quality & Deputy Academic Registrar (surely the longest job title of anyone in the College) is ideal for me at the moment. I’ve got a lovely and talented team and work with great people in Registry and across the College. I’ve enjoyed working more closely with departments, learning more about the programmes we offer and getting to know people. I’m especially pleased to be on campus a bit more now and meeting people I’ve been working with for 15 months but am only now meeting in person.

What are some tips for success?

I’d like someone to tell me! But my personal guiding lights are:

  • Do something that interests you and perhaps scares you a little bit.
  • Serve the work, not the person: that really means do the best you can by the work you’re doing rather than play politics or try to undermine someone else. Try to be straightforward, don’t withhold information, work for the team. Be ambitious for your work, not for your status.
  • When they go low, we go high (Michelle Obama).
  • Be kind.
  • Not everyone will like you, and that’s ok.
  • Always say thank you.

What advice would you give to someone starting your career/field?

Quality assurance is about standards, about consistency and above all about good learning experiences. I think it’s really helpful for someone working in a ‘central’ quality team to have had experience working in a department or somewhere like student advice, basically having had day-to-day contact with our students and also the people who teach them.  In a variation of serving the work, remember that you’re backstage not the main show. Your job is to support the education offered and that’s an essential role, but if you’re doing it well, most people won’t notice. I’ve been on the academic path and I’m married to an academic and it’s a good reminder of what we’re here to do.

What was the last thing you read/heard/saw that inspired you?

Here’s a photo of a bench by the artist Jenny Holzer I saw at Easter in the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice:

Image of the words: savor kindness because cruelty is always possible later

Otherwise, I listened on Audible to Dr Julie Smith’s Why has nobody told me this before.  Her tip for stopping ruminating is to put your hand out in front and say ‘Stop!’ And it works! Try it.

Finally, I’ve recently re-read South Riding by Winifred Holtby. A book as much about the machinations of committees and local government as anything else. Heartily recommend.

What do you do to unwind after work?

Apart now from saying Stop!, in lockdown we took to playing Bananagrams as a reset for the end of the day. I love reading and I’ve knitted my way through a great many box sets. Now the weather’s better, I’m tending my balcony plants and looking forward to my Emily Brontë rose finally flowering. I’m not entirely sure I’m much of an unwinder, except of knitting, though.

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Management Consultancy and Organizational Change: Are you up for the challenge?

Each year, students on the MSc Management Consultancy and Organisational Change work directly with major clients of PA Consulting on a variety of challenging consultancy projects.

A unique aspect of Birkbeck’s MSc Management Consultancy and Organisational Change programme is that students have the option to complete the Consultancy Challenge in place of a traditional dissertation or research project.

Partnering with PA Consulting, the global innovation and transformation consultancy, students on the Consultancy Challenge work with PA’s major clients on a range of projects across an intense twelve-week period. For these students, it is an opportunity to deliver solutions to real problems that clients face, reflecting the work of management consultants, and experiencing a unique journey alongside team members who all offer different skills and knowledge.

For the 2021 academic year, students formed two teams, each tasked with solving a problem in a large, complex organisation. The first team completed a knowledge governance project for a large UK animal charity. The second team completed a project advising a regulatory organisation in the medical field on implementing hybrid working.

Dr David Gamblin, programme director and module convenor of the Consultancy Challenge, said: “It was a joy to see the students in action over the twelve-week consulting cycle, from initial scoping of the briefs and defining the problem with their clients, to the final presentation of deliverables. The students tackled two challenging projects, put learning into practice, and ultimately delivered meaningful outputs for their clients.”

Throughout the project, each student team is mentored by a consultant from PA, who provides support and guidance, as well as assurance that the work is of a standard that PA would be proud of.

The consulting cycle culminated with the student teams presenting their final analyses and recommendations, which were met with positive reactions from the clients, PA consultants, and Birkbeck supervisors. The clients highlighted the “hard work and professionalism” of the students, and they were impressed with the practical advice that was offered.

The 2022 Consultancy Challenge officially kicked-off on 25 April 2022 with students working on two new client projects. If you think you are up for the challenge in future years, have a look at our Management Consultancy and Organisational Change programme page, or contact David Gamblin to learn more.

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Changing the stories we tell about creativity

Jamie Hannon graduated with distinction in MSc Management with Business Innovation from Birkbeck’s School of Business, Economics and Informatics. Working for the Barbican and Culture Mile Learning during his studies, Jamie put theory into practice and interrogated practice with theory, linking the creative arts with skills in innovation to create the Fusion Futures skills and employability programme.

Photo credit: Christian Cassiel – Copyright: Museum of London

Creativity and the arts are recognised for their contribution to innovation. Yet, space for creativity is often sidelined by business and education. Even those working in arts and culture play into this narrative that creativity exists as a separate ‘nice-to-have’. This comfortable status quo has a lot to do with how we evaluate and talk about our arts and culture initiatives.

In 2020, I was lucky that my organisation was in a position to retain its workforce. It allowed me some creative space to develop a new learning programme based on the provocation ‘how can we best prepare young people for the as-yet-unknown jobs of the future’.  To really interrogate the possibilities, I drew upon my arts background and my burgeoning knowledge of innovation as part of my studies towards an MSc Management with Business Innovation at Birkbeck.

Knowledge sharing as a tactic against future challenges

Influenced by the academic discourse, a possible solution started to emerge.  Skills in knowledge sharing might be the only ones relevant when future jobs are unknown. Knowledge sharing – the donating and collecting of information that is then utilised by the receiving individual as knowledge – is considered a key behaviour within innovation-led learning organisations. This was sounding like a promising direction to take the programme in.

Of course, it made sense to me that knowledge sharing as a learning tactic could be deployed against future challenges. But would the young participants understand this? Participants likely wouldn’t articulate it in clear academic terms.  So, how were the programme outcomes going to be measured?  I had spent a lot of time on the programme and had promised its stakeholders a full and extensive evaluation. The choice of possible quantitative and qualitative methods was, for a while, disabling.

I had to stop and cut myself some slack, as they say. I had to strip back my thinking to the level of an individual taking part. In order to evaluate the programme, what did I need to know from the young students?  Were they aware that they had experienced knowledge sharing in the workshop?

Picturing the experience

My logic was this: participants might not be able to fully articulate their experience of knowledge sharing, but they would give away clues about how they understood their experience through linguistic pictures in their responses. We often use linguistic pictures to create an understanding of something.  (For example, ‘feeling down’ provokes an understanding of a person’s mood in a picture form – we imagine a person looking down or lacking energy so therefore sitting down.)  So, I decided to conduct loosely structured interviews that allowed participants the space to fully describe their experience in their natural vocabulary.

Revealing something hidden

“I was showing my creative mind”, one said.  “There was more to it”, “I saw the meaning behind their picture”, others said.  “I delved deep into my soul”.  “I could really see”.

A common linguistic picture appeared, the experience of revealing something to others or having something revealed to them. Although the young students had not used the words share, give, or take, they were describing how they were giving information about themselves to others and then receiving information from others in return.  The donating and collecting of knowledge had been experienced, and interestingly, it was at the level of identity.

The role of identity in knowledge sharing

The artist facilitators instinctively started with teamwork activities that explored identities. One artist’s exercise was to take a polaroid of how the student saw themselves, then a second of how they thought others saw them. Each picture was an agent for discussion and became an indirect and less pressurised way to share.

I realised that before sharing complex information and before utilising it as knowledge towards challenges, participants were sharing who they were with each other.  They had been supporting each other to share their authentic selves, which created a shared psychological safety within which the rest of the workshop activities could be conducted.

This was an important revelation for me. Returning to the academic discourse, I found that identity and self-concept are linked to a person’s understanding of their own knowledge and abilities and whether they feel comfortable to share; a self-confidence to offer a contribution and a humbleness to know how others can contribute.

Empowered with these findings, I can talk about this new programme and its impact on innovation. I can say that through understanding who they are and what knowledge, insights and experiences they bring to the group, participants have practised knowledge sharing. They feel open and confident to take part in collaboration and collective problem solving.

Tailoring the learning experience

For the degree, I achieved distinction and received an award of academic excellence. But it wasn’t all hard work. I enjoyed the experience because I took the advice given to me in a Birkbeck dissertation seminar. Their recommendation was to investigate a topic that was of interest to me; that I could apply to my career or other ambitions, and that I would feel proud and empowered to know more about. This advice, coupled with the course’s flexible approach to module selection meant that I tailored my learning to me and my ambitions.

At work, the story I now tell about my new learning programme, Fusion Futures, is that it is more than ‘nice-to-have’ – it’s fundamental to innovation!

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Meet The Finalists | Pioneer 1.0 Programme 2022

Meet the early-stage entrepreneurs who will be pitching live at this year’s Pitch & Awards evening, competing for Best Business Idea and Best Business Pitch.

We are excited to introduce this year’s Pioneer 1.0 finalists who have been shortlisted to pitch their business ideas live in June in front of an esteemed judging panel and invited audience.

After two turbulent years which transitioned the Pitch & Awards evening to a virtual event, we are delighted to be back in the room to celebrate the fifth year of the programme.

Over the last five years, the Pioneer 1.0 programme has supported over 500 budding entrepreneurs at Birkbeck and continues to champion ambitious students and recent graduates who have innovative ideas that will make a difference.

Since kicking off in November 2021, participants have taken part in seven monthly workshops to develop the skills and knowledge to succeed in business, learning from a range of entrepreneurs, industry experts and each other to turn their ideas into reality.

The six finalists are in with a chance of winning either the Best Business Idea or Best Business Pitch award, each worth a £1500 cash prize to support their business, along with a bespoke package of mentoring, coaching and promotion.

This year, over 100 students and recent graduates have participated in the programme and their achievements will be celebrated at the pitch and awards evening on Tuesday 14 June at BMA House in Bloomsbury.

Meet the Finalists

Portrait of Annabel Ola looking into camera.

 

Annabel Ola

  • MSc Culinary Innovation Management
  • Business: BEKIRI

BEKIRI exists to expand the boundaries of modern luxury patisserie. The fusion classic recipes and African ingredients will offer a new dimension of cultural discovery and appreciation for customers.

 

Ella Snell smiling for the camera.

 

Ella Snell

  • MA Philosophy
  • Business: Art School+

Art School+ is a service which connects early-career and underserved artists with unique paid commissions. It further aids both artists and organisations by providing bespoke training and 360 support.

 

 

 

Picture of Kacey Ibirọ̀gbà

Kacey Ibirogbà

  • Bachelor of Law
  • Business: Kọ silẹ

Kọ silẹ (koh-see-leh) is a compounded social bookmarking platform, simplified and designed with the adaptability of restoring structured balance into every aspect of our lives.

 

 

Picture of Sonja

Sonja Bacinski

  • FDSc Computing/Information Technology/Web Development
  • Business: Zolibri

Zolibri is an online platform that finds, validates and brings together the best of ethical & eco-friendly cosmetics from numerous online shops so you can find them all in one place.

 

 

Picture of Susan Christine Wachera smiling

 

Susan Christine Wachera

  • MSc Organisational Psychology
  • Business: Black Talanta

Black Talanta is democratising access to equitable high-skilled employment by pairing internships with black heritage students and recent graduates enabling them to make an informed career decision about the professional pathways that best suit them.

 

 

 

 

Picture of Wunmi

 

Wunmi Adebowale

  • MSc Coaching Psychology
  • Business: The Whole Woman Initiative

The Whole Woman Initiative is the social cause working to end domestic violence against women in Nigeria by providing psycho-social support and building a safe space community.

 

 

 

 

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The PhD experience: becoming an independent researcher

Seongil Han has recently completed his PhD in financial data analytics with FinTech in the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems. He shares his Birkbeck experience.

Seongil at the theatre in London

Why did you choose Birkbeck for your PhD?

Birkbeck has an excellent reputation for research. Furthermore, the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems is one of the oldest computing departments in the UK and worldwide. Because of this long academic background as well as the excellent reputation, I chose Birkbeck to broaden my research experience for PhD.

What were some of the highlights of studying in the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems?

The department provided a world-leading research lab (Birkbeck Institute for Data Analytics, BIDA) for data science with domain expertise in both theoretical and applied computer science. In addition, the research of BIDA is focused on interdisciplinary research. This environment enriched the quality of my interdisciplinary research as well as research experience.

Could you explain your PhD research for a non-expert?

My work is focused on financial data analytics using AI-based modelling within FinTech. In particular, I conducted the research with the primary objective of improving the explainable aspect as well as predictive performance of credit scoring systems, utilising big data-driven analytics and machine/deep learning techniques.

How has the PhD supported your future career?

I am currently an Analytics Manager (Data Scientist) in the AI & Big Data Analytics Team in LG Display Co. (Headquarters, South Korea). The interdisciplinary research experience based on AI-based modelling and data science for PhD broadened my academic background (MSc Financial Mathematics, BSc Mathematics, King’s College London) to the role of data scientist in the real-world, solving problems driven by digital transformational (DX) industrial environments.

What advice would you give to someone considering a PhD or just starting out on this journey?

The system of learning and researching for PhD at Birkbeck encourages a free and open exchange of views and ideas between supervisors, experts and students as well as providing students with great guidance and support. Please feel free to discuss any points about your research with your colleagues! Then you will be trained as an independent researcher.

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What is data analytics and how can it help your business?

Paul Yoo smiling for the camera.

With the surge of data volume and processing requirements, the need to understand data analytics is ever-rising.

Dr Paul Yoo, Deputy Director of the Birkbeck Institute for Data Analytics, shares how businesses can harness big data to improve their services.

What is data analytics?

Data analytics is the process of using data to solve problems. It addresses challenges relating to converting unstructured, complex, large-scale data into useful and actionable information.

Data analytics tools help in the data analytics processes, from loading data to transformation, model optimisation and deployment. Data analytics uses various tools for the analysis of unstructured, complex data, including images, texts, and graphs.

How can businesses use data analytics to improve their performance?

Many industries are involved in business data analytics applications in areas such as marketing, revenue forecasting, manufacturing, fraud detection and more. Data analytics can answer questions that help businesses by measuring marketing and advertising metrics, identifying consumer behaviour and the target audience, and analysing market trends.

At the Birkbeck Institute for Data Analytics (BIDA), we have recently helped one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing companies in Asia in designing new sensors using advanced data analytic techniques for simultaneous fault detection in semiconductor wafer manufacturing. The current technologies for semiconductor manufacturing fault detection use the big raw data (streamed by over 40K sensors implanted around their fabrication processes). As the semiconductor wafers can only be validated after fab out (when the wafers are completed with processing) which usually takes about thirty days, there was a pressing need for a rapid fault diagnosis of the cause. The newly developed sensors using advanced data analytics techniques helped maintain high process yield while minimising tool downtime in semiconductor manufacturing.

Where can I learn more about data analytics?

BIDA offers free AI and data analytics training and engagement services for business. Our AI and data analytics clinic can help you to implement AI models and data analytic solutions specific to your industry, be it banking and finance, automotive, healthcare, or any other niche.

The clinic also provides ongoing opportunities to network, gain information and seek expert advice in areas of AI and data analytics. BIDA’s training portfolio actively targets industry players across a variety of sectors that would benefit from new insights gained using data analytics techniques.

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