As we are nearing the end of the challenging year of 2020, we are taking a look back at the positive ways the Faculty of Business and Law have made an impact on society. Below is a round-up of some of the top stories, successes and impactful research that has been achieved by the faculty.
Inside the black box: the public finances after coronavirus
Bristol Business School economist and Associate Professor Dr Jo Michell, alongside a colleague from the University of Greenwich, conducted a study acknowledging that the UK can afford to keep fighting Covid-19 crisis and have created an interactive tool to model the likely economic scenarios from COVID-19.
Business Schools for Good
The Chartered Association for Business Schools have launched a series entitled ‘Business Schools for Good’. It features Bristol Business School’s collaboration with Bristol City Robins Foundation. Students on the programme, Sports Business and Entrepreneurship, talk about the course and the sense of community they gain from undertaking IT. It is a great example of the work we do with a key faculty partner.
Business successes
A group of 40 entrepreneurs that we trained through our partnership with ChangeSchool and Mowgli Mentoring in February 2020, have gone on to secure £2.4m in sales and funding and are now seeing their businesses go from strength to strength.
AI software could help construction industry achieve net zero target
Bristol Business School’s Big Data Laboratory is leading an £800,00 project to develop software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help construction companies reduce the amount of embodied carbon in their building and infrastructure projects. It is a two-year project and is in collaboration with Winvic Construction, Castain and start-up company Edgetrix.
CIMA award wins
The department of Accounting, Economics and Finance have won two Charted Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Excellence awards; the CIMA Prize-Winner Excellence award and the CIMA Global Excellence award. These awards celebrate university partners with outstanding students, pass rate and excellence in the CIMA exams and the highest number of CIMA students on campus.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Bristol Leadership and Change Centre’s Professor Peter Case has secured a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to assist the Ministry of Health & Child Care in Zimbabwe to improve HIV prevention. The project is in collaboration with the Malaria Elimination Initiative at the University of California and will run until December 2022. The overall aim is to integrate prevention services and move them forward in a more sustainable way. Further details of the project are available on UWE Bristol Leadership & Change Centre blog.
SAGE Prize for Innovation and Excellence 2020
Dr Jenna Pandeli won the SAGE Prize for Innovation and Excellence 2020 for her co-authored paper ‘ Captive Cycles of Invisibility? Prisoners’ Work for the Private Sector.’ The article critiques a case of modern prison-labour by exploring prisoners’ attitudes towards the prison-work they undertake while incarcerated and received the award due to its innovation – excellence in the field.
Systems Leadership Development in Public Health
Professor Richard Bolden and Professor Carol Jarvis (alongside an interdisciplinary team) conducted a review of systems leadership development in public health. The aim of the project, which was funded by Public Health England, was to inform the development of public health registrars and consultants in the UK. The insights support the capacity of public health leaders to respond to public health crises such as Covid-19.
Faculty Professional Service Team
The Professional Service Team in the faculty is a small but close group who have not only been incredibly flexible in taking on different duties this year but also genuinely look out and support one another and the Faculty community. We are so proud of this team and all they have achieved this year. We couldn’t do it without you!
Post-Occupancy Research Report
Dr Harriet Shortt, Dr Svetlana Cicmil and Dr Hugo Gaggiotti published their Post-Occupancy Research on Bristol Business School. The report captures how users feel about the building and how it used, all through one of the largest qualitative visual field studies in the field of Organisational Studies. The project was funded by Stride Treglown and ISG.
Combating Malaria in Namibia
Professor Peter Case’s research focus has expanded to Namibia during 2020. Three recent Zimbabwean graduates from our Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice in Change Leadership programme have worked on the project with Namibia’s Vector-borne Diseases Control Programme to combat malaria by improving frontline prevention and treatment of the disease in Kavango Province.
Criminal Justice Natters
Dr Ed Johnson from Bristol Law School has a podcast series called Criminal Justice Natters. His research interests centre on criminal justice and procedure; in particular, he has an interest in the law of disclosure, fair trial rights and adversarialism. In the series, he talks to people such as Chris Daw Q.C. about his bestselling book Justice on Trial and Liam Allan, who was wrongly arrested 2016.
Virtual Christmas Tree fundraiser
During December we have been fundraising for Shelter with our BBS | BLS virtual Christmas tree. You can see the running total and donate here and write a message on our tree here.