The changing face of learning and business
Nov 28 2008 by The Journal
THE Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) at Newcastle University Business School is eliminating barriers between business and academia.
Knowledge is power but for many years the twin pillars of education and business were two disparate groups treating each other with at best suspicion, at worst open hostility.
This landscape has changed tremendously over the last few years and Newcastle University Business School is one of the new breed of pioneering business educators working hard at making practical sense of the highly complex, rapidly evolving business world around them.
Kasia Zdunczyk, DBA director of Newcastle University Business School, said: “Management is an applied discipline catering to both the academic and the business community.
“In order to satisfy the high expectations of each of those stakeholders, management research needs to meet the dual requirement of academic rigour and business relevance. The DBA is a unique way of meeting that challenge.”
With this in mind research-based business courses such as the DBA have been developed to allow senior managers from the business world to take a step back and develop and expand their knowledge above and beyond their existing work remit.
Scottish business executive Ronan Brunton, 48, and Greek branding consultant Fotios Tziavaras, 27, are two of those who have begun the five-year,
part-time DBA at Newcastle University Business School in 2008. Both men are achievers in the workplace and have high expectations of what they will gain from their respective research qualification.
After studying for his first degree in civil engineering 25 years ago at the University of Paisley, Ronan embarked on a successful career in sales within the construction industry rising to the position of senior sales and marketing manager for Robert McAlpine.
Following this period he then worked in technical sales for manufacturers Firestorm and Goodyear. Later Ronan rose to become general manager of a business division for global industrial group Trelleborg, and is now an international business director for the same
group.
He said: “I enjoyed a successful career in business for many years before returning to academia to study my MBA, specialising in environmental issues. I developed a green strategic approach which I was able to apply successfully in practice.”
The research DBA qualification will be a continuation of the work Ronan began with his MBA.
“The academic rigour of the DBA is what I am looking for but applied in a more practical way. The structure of the DBA programme at Newcastle University Business School including regular workshops really appeals to executives because it gives you a frame work for undertaking your research.
“As a part-time student I will continue with my day job, often in different parts of the world, but I am assigned a supervisor and will be in regular contact via the internet providing an umbilical link to the university.
“I have had 25 years in business and I really feel you probably do have to come away from university and realise you have been driven by a particular subject that inspires you to further study.
“My first postgraduate qualification helped develop my career and of course the DBA will help me advance further still. At the time of my MBA I was general manager of the waterproofing part of the construction products business responsible for a couple of specific brands. My division became the shining star of the group in terms of profitability, growth, employee satisfaction and was directly responsible for my promotion to international business director responsible for water proofing products globally.”
Ronan explained that the business improved due to his raised awareness of three key elements that were identified with clarity due to his postgraduate studies. He explained:
“Understanding and developing a strategic focus for the business not just working from day to day but having a plan over the next three, five or ten years.
“Understanding the financial aspects of the business, as an engineer these were not necessarily things I had practised with total clarity before.
“Appreciating how the culture of an organisation can change things. Obviously after successfully applying theoretical practices into the workplace with such positive results I have high hopes for the DBA and how that will enable me to keep my employer one step ahead of the game.
“Studying the very latest in green business practice will enable me to establish what the best areas to target to improve profitability. You could have the most effective green policy there is, but if it doesn’t save the business money there will be no incentive to implement it over the long-haul.
“I have said to my supervisor at Newcastle University Business School that I have done the pilot project of moving a business forward, now I want to delve deeper and really know what makes a business tick.
“How do we make organisations perform better, using a green agenda, ethically, with corporate governance,
and cost effectively. I anticipate the DBA will help me address these vital
issues.”
Fotios Tziavaras, 27, is already his own boss back in Athens where he runs a branding consultancy called Fine Art Branding. It is a company he established two-and-a-half years ago, after completing his MBA in the US at the University of Louisville.
Prior to Louisville he studied a sports management degree here in the North East.
Business is booming, despite the global downturn, and his company, which works for clients within the leisure services and manufacturing sectors, employs five staff.
He said: “When I took the MBA it made me realise that in order to minimise risk in real terms I had to factor in numerous variables into my decision making process. It was not just the consumer but all stakeholders in a business that could be affected and impact on the performance of the business and therefore needed to be taken into account.”
Fotios now feels the DBA can take his development further through a more thorough treatment of his specialist subject – branding.
He said: “The impact of postgraduate studies in business is huge, I have already learned how much impact it has had on my current living environment, having more than a hand in the success of my business.
“Already I can talk with an informed confidence which is not only imperative in front of clients and future clients but also feeds back to my staff.
“My deliberations on the phone and in meetings are more advanced and staff hear what I say and that has a positive impact on morale and on my abilities as a leader. They appreciate I can talk with authority. I have their respect – the research and the DBA is a trip to expertise.
“The DBA will help me measure the health of clients’ brands using a holistic approach that will bridge the gap between the brand’s creator and the brands actual environment. This diagnostic model will help our clients understand their brands with more clarity – there is a definite gap for this approach in my domestic market.”
By conducting research and analysing activity whilst studying for their DBA’s both Ronan and Fotios have identified how useful applied academic research can be for their quest for effective leadership.
The North East’s universities and business schools, such as Newcastle University Business School, have a central role to play by continuing to unravel the complexities of the world around us through a process of applied learning.
Newcastle University Business School is having such success in achieving this that it is attracting DBA students from all over the world inspired to develop their own original solutions to advance management practice.
For more information regarding Newcastle University Business School please visit: www. ncl.ac.uk/nubs or e-mail DBA-Admissions@ncl.ac.uk
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