BMRI Business and Management Research Institute - to April 2016
The BMRI is committed to producing high quality research that is applied and applicable, and relevant to the needs of the business community. It has a strong record in collaborative research with both UK and international partners and are committed to producing and promoting research of the highest quality.
Collections in this community
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Centre for Advances in Marketing (CAM)
CAM concentrates on streams of research into branding, cross-cultural marketing and marketing communications. -
Centre for Leadership Innovation (CLI)
CLI aims to explore the nature of leadership needed for healthy, effective, high performing and sustainable organisations, stimulate research and research-related activity within the sphere of management, in particular ... -
Centre for Research in Law (CRiL)
CRiL developing research activities in the areas of Law and Terrorism, Investment Treaty Arbitration, International Commercial Arbitration and Aviation Law. -
The Research Centre for Contemporary Accounting and Finance (ResCAF)
ResCAF aims to maintain a continuing enhancement of the research profile of the Division of Accounting and Finance.
Recent Submissions
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Agricultural information dissemination using ICTs: a review and analysis of information dissemination models in ChinaOver the last three decades, China’s agriculture sector has been transformed from the traditional to modern practice through the effective deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Information processing and dissemination have played a critical role in this transformation process. Many studies in relation to agriculture information services have been conducted in China, but few of them have attempted to provide a comprehensive review and analysis of different information dissemination models and their applications. This paper aims to review and identify the ICT based information dissemination models in China and to share the knowledge and experience in applying emerging ICTs in disseminating agriculture information to farmers and farm communities to improve productivity and economic, social and environmental sustainability. The paper reviews and analyzes the development stages of China’s agricultural information dissemination systems and different mechanisms for agricultural information service development and operations. Seven ICT-based information dissemination models are identified and discussed. Success cases are presented. The findings provide a useful direction for researchers and practitioners in developing future ICT based information dissemination systems. It is hoped that this paper will also help other developing countries to learn from China’s experience and best practice in their endeavor of applying emerging ICTs in agriculture information dissemination and knowledge transfer.
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Linking operations, marketing and environmental capabilities and diversification to hotel performance: a data envelopment analysis approachThis study examines the impacts of marketing capability, operations capability, environmental capability and diversification strategy on performance of hotel industry in the UK. We conceptualize these impacts by drawing on the resource-based-view of a firm as the theoretical underpinning. We use the financial archival data and information obtained from websites. We use content analysis, regression analysis and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Our results show that operations capability and environmental capability have significant positive effects on performance, marketing capability has a significant negative impact but diversification strategy does not impact on performance. Additionally, there is no evidence of the moderating effects of efficiency on these impacts. Our study suggests that hotel industry in the UK ought to focus on developing operations and environmental capabilities especially by exploiting the synergies between them but reduce excessive reliance on marketing. This paper makes two important contributions to the literature. First, it applies a framework linking the three capabilities (operations, marketing and environment) and diversification to the specific case of the hotel industry. Second, unlike similar previous studies, ours is the first to incorporate environmental capabilities in the analysis.
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The challenge to Western consultancy by gulf Arab cultureThis article provides an empirical, comparative study of the consultancy skills available from expatriates in relation to those required by the Emirati vision and their current and evolving culture. A rigorous quantitative study of consultancy skills applied to a carefully selected—and as representative as possible—sample of more than 100 senior management consultants from both Emirati and expatriate background demonstrates potential blocks to progress and the need for more specific communication abilities to overcome them. Set in context of real work experience through the analysis of a work diary and in more strategic context by the analysis of a range of consultancy job descriptions, findings are placed alongside current and classic cultural literature.
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Jaloud v Netherlands and Hassan v United Kingdom: time for a principled approach in the application of the ECHR to military action abroadThe aim of the present piece is not to undertake an examination of which of international human rights law (IHRL) and international humanitarian law (IHL) is ‘better’ or more appropriate to regulate the conduct of States in situations of armed conflict. Advocates of IHRL argue that it provides heightened protection for individuals, and that, by its own terms, it applies to, and is perfectly equipped to deal with situations of exception, including armed conflicts.[1] On the other hand, supporters of IHL focus on the need not to place unnecessary fetters upon the freedom of States to pursue their military objectives in situations of armed conflict, and argue that IHL provides an adequate level of protection, whilst being more pragmatic, better suited to the specificities of armed conflict and more likely to be observed by the parties to the conflict.[2] Insofar as they prioritise different values, proponents of the two opposing camps to a large extent talk past each other and the debate is therefore necessarily somewhat sterile.
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Individual and organisational leadership: the shared approachPurpose - this paper focuses on reducing the margin for leadership error in meeting strategic aims by forming a more robust approach to developing a broader and more reliable set of leadership skills to provide a greater likelihood of strategic alignment between corporate and individual need, increasing both of their respective shelve lives. Design and Methodology - underpinned by empirical studies as well as conceptual argument, a new and original model of shared leadership is formed from six previous publications by the same authors as well as selected leadership literature reviews resulting in interesting and novel propositions. Findings – the examination presented shows that these skills, therefore, need to be embedded in every day practice and shared at every strategic level in order to provide necessary strength and yet be flexible enough to adapt to survive in differing environments. These push the modern leader into developing softer skills to really get to know themselves and their company in a more holistic manner with the purpose of increasing the long range planning and survival of both. Originality and Value - the resulting original model demonstrates the value of leadership through collaboration which requires a different approach from developing self to acquiring and sharing critical organisational information for more informed decision making through a deliberative inquiry approach, before aligning all effort towards the organisational vision.
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Learning CSR for sustainable corporate advantageCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a strategic and operational reality of the business and academic world. Not that the principles of CSR are always respected or that its practice is consistently applied. Bearing in mind the multi-faceted nature of both CSR and the corporate environment, as well as the paradox of what is taught in Higher Education and what is practised within its own walls, this paper provides a learning cyclical pathway to sustainable CSR implementation and progress review. As well as highlighting the role that Higher Education has to play, the paper emphasises that in order to embed CSR within the corporate environment, questions need to be raised concerning on-going CSR improvement in order to both protect and engage a wide range of stakeholders towards sustainable corporate advantage.
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Understanding complexity: the curvilinear relationship between environmental performance and firm performanceThe nature of the relationship between environmental performance (EP) and firm performance (FP) of corporations is a long standing and contentious issue in the literature. This study is intended to advance this debate by arguing for the existence of curvilinear relationship and empirically testing the same using survey data on UK manufacturing firms. FP is captured in terms of growth in sales and market share. Our results show evidence for a quadratic relationship—as firms improve their EP, they seem to achieve much higher levels of FP. These results are consistent with the resource-based view of a firm; as firms engage in EP activities, they are able to gain inimitable knowledge that helps in further learning to further improve performance. Based on our results, we suggest that new studies focus on strategies to extend the period of increasing returns and maximizing the benefits of the positive association between EP and FP.
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Intersecting inequalities in higher education: reaching out to LGBT-identified students on universities marketing communicationsThe marketisation of higher education has led to increasing emphasis on universities to market themselves to prospective students, competitions among all institutions – not just the very best to attract perspective students. Previous studies has suggested that educational qualifications, geographical mobility and financial considerations affects students choice of Universities and more likely universities will be presenting these information to attract prospective students. This research goes outside these conventional marketing appeal to consider if sexual orientation of students are considered as an advertising appeal and reaching out to prospective LGBT students, after all in the same vein as the Guardian and Times Higher Education Ranking of Universities, Stonewall, a UK charity that works for the equal rights of LGBT people, compiles the ‘Gay by Degree’ ranking of universities in UK, rating how gay-friendly these universities are. Results indicated that unlike disability or race, sexual orientation is seldom considered in University marketing communication, suggesting the need to intersect this inequalities in higher education recruitment.
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Environmental management practices and environmental performance: the roles of operations and marketing capabilitiesPurpose – The main purpose of this paper is to provide an initial analysis of the roles of functional capabilities in adopting environmental management practices (EMP) and improving environmental performance from an organizational capability perspective. Design/methodology/approach – By combing survey data and archival data from 121 UK based manufacturing firms, this study explores the relationships among functional capabilities (marketing and operations), EMP and environmental performance. Findings – The results show that marketing and operations capabilities significantly affect EMP, which in turn leads to improved environmental performance. More specifically, this study finds that EMP fully mediates the relationship between marketing capability and environmental performance. Practical implications – The results of this study provide guidance for managers considering how to develop environmental capability in order to improve environmental performance. Originality/value – This study addresses a demonstrable gap in the existing literature that few empirical studies have explored the potential effects of functional capabilities on implementing EMP.
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Constructing a leader's identity through a leadership development programme: an intersectional analysisThis article explores the notion of leadership identity construction as it happens through a leadership development programme. Influenced by a conception that leadership development is essentially about facilitating an identity transition, it uses an intersectional approach to explore school leaders’ identity construction as it was shaped and influenced by experiences on the leadership development programme. The article draws data from a mixed-methods study that evaluated the impact of the leadership training programme offered to practising school leaders in South Africa. In order to examine the process of leadership identity construction, the article draws from data where identity work was visible. It argues that categories of identity – gender, race and social class – interacted simultaneously with the contexts and backgrounds of participants to shape and influence the outcome of the leadership development programme. This complex intersection enabled unexpected outcomes where women appeared to benefit more from the programme despite their less privileged entry status. The article calls for more work that asks direct questions on leaders’ construction of identity in order to inform leadership development programmes more meaningfully.
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Creative execution of United Kingdom banks’ print advertisementThe place of the financial services industry in an economy cannot be over-emphasised, its utilitarian nature has made previous researchers suggest that it demands a different advertising strategy; however, the need to create an effective advertisement in this highly saturated industry cannot be overemphasised. This research aims at developing an understanding of creative strategies adopted by UK Banks’ in their print advertisement. Analysis of 1274 print advertisements in UK newspapers over twelve month period was carried out. The advertisements were analysed on the basis of their size, images used, colour, orientation and number of words used. In terms of the advert size, to create an impression, Full Centre Spread was seldom used whereas small advertisements had the largest share. Images of cartoon characters, celebrities, children, colleagues, couples and customers were frequently used. Cartoons were predominately used by the old LloydsTSB Bank and TSB Bank while Santander used the presence of sport celebrities in their advertisements. HSBC Adverts were predominantly printed in black colour on while First Direct advertisements had white text printed on black background. Natwest adverts are more likely to be in Purple, Lloyds in Green and TSB in Blue, these are their brand colours and are frequently used to reinforce their brand. The creative design, which includes the use of images and colours, has been noted to enhance the attractiveness and memorability of these advertisements which also conveys credibility. The research contributes to the study of advertisement design, providing outcomes relevant to numerous types of stakeholders.
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The French prohibition on veiling in public places: rights evolution or violation?In 2011, France introduced a prohibition on wearing face-concealing garments in all public places. Particularly captured by the prohibition was the small number of Muslim women veiling in France. The French government’s rationales for the prohibition include the protection of public social order and equality. Including all public places rather than certain public institutions shifts the focus of an earlier similar prohibition. This article suggests that this shift may be symptomatic of a disturbing polemic that sees freedom understood in a narrow sense that is largely antagonistic to religion and difference. The article provides evidence and argument to support this suggestion. It proposes that any related petition brought to a human rights court must be on the lookout for this polemic which, if influencing the prohibition, would lead to the pursuit of an aim that is dubious in terms of human rights, specifically the right to freedom of religion.
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The EU's new victims' rights directive: can minimum harmonization work for a concept like vulnerability?This is a conceptual piece. It is also, to use the latest pedagogical jargon, a reflective piece. It arose from a project which the author undertook with the National Centre for Cyberstalking Research at the University of Bedfordshire in 2012, lobbying for an explicit mention of cyberstalking in what was then the draft Victims’ Rights Directive.1
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The European private company: an opportunity from an economic crisis?The European Commission is undertaking a legal modernisation initiative in order to facilitate small and medium-sized enterprises in unlocking their full potential as active players on the Single Market, being also the backbone of the Union’s economy. The flagship of this initiative is going to be a novel European legal form - the European Private Company (EPC) or as it is known the Societas Privata Europea (SPE). Designed as an instrument to do business in the Single Market the SPE aims to be transparent, flexible and offer a strong label everywhere. As with the Societas Europea, there are certain gaps in the SPE Statute, which prompt for the application of national laws. This could result in 27 different SPE forms in the EU, which leads to financial implications regarding the formation and day-to-day operations of the company. A detailed exploration of the corporate finance issues is followed by plausible solutions based on corporate governance theories.
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Internationally wrongful acts in the domestic courts: the contribution of domestic courts to the development of customary international law relating to the engagement of international responsibilityThe rules of customary international law governing when a state or international organization will be held to have committed an internationally wrongful act, thereby engaging its international responsibility, are relatively well settled in international practice and jurisprudence. A key point of reference in this regard is the work of the International Law Commission on State Responsibility and Responsibility of International Organizations. The present paper examines relevant practice of domestic courts from a variety of jurisdictions which have relied upon the ILC's work, and discusses the extent to which domestic courts may make a contribution to the further development of the rules relating to engagement of responsibility. It concludes that, due to the operation of rules of, inter alia, immunity and non-justiciability, the principal instance in which domestic courts may actually apply the rules of international law is where it is the responsibility of the forum state which is in issue.
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In football we trust?There is a growing concern amongst football supporters, government and the wider community about the increasing level of financial and operational difficulties facing many of today’s professional football clubs. The focus of much of this concern currently centers on the many of the clubs owners and where their interests really lie. Clubs that were once the cornerstones of local communities run with sporting success as the primary motivator are seemingly becoming the ‘playthings’ of wealthy individuals with no links to the community or the clubs history. This paper details a history of club ownership in the Premier League through to present day. It then examines current regulation in the football industry and focuses on the applicability of Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006. The paper concludes by detailing alternative forms of ownership as a possible solution to one of footballs most enduring corporate governance challenges.
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Corporate governance in PolandThis article considers the traditional approach to the 'state' Models of corporate governance, namely shareholder Model and stakeholder Model. It then considers the extent to which developments in a recent accession EU country, Poland, reflects either of these Models or adopts a hybrid approach. It then offers proposals for the future development of corporate governance within Poland.
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Applying principles of biological evolution to legal development: an explorationThe application of the biological principle of evolution has found a number of contemporary applications within the analysis of business activities. The application of these scientific principles is considered appropriate in a further application within the development of legal principles particularly in the context of the ongoing development of the European Union as a significant business environment. It is proposed within this paper that direct parallels may be drawn between the evolutionary principle of biological speciation and the emergence of legal principles within separate national boundaries. Contemporary principles of biological evolution are also considered in respect of the development of primary legislation which act on the development of law in a punctuated manner. These principles are examined in respect of the continued debates surrounding company law within the European Union, in particular the persistence of national legislation dealing with corporate mobility. In examining the appropriateness of applying biological evolution to the development of EU company law consideration is given to the development and functioning of the Societas Europaea (European Company) in respect of its legal environment.