Going from strength to strength
Newcastle-born Professor Rob Dixon reflects on the year and a bit since he was appointed by Durham University to lead the Business School in its drive to maintain and enhance its position as one of the best in the UK and Europe.
DESPITE the global economic downturn, Durham Business School has continued to preserve its focus, offering students and the business community a progressive and dynamic approach to business education and research.
The school has achieved a variety of accolades over the last 12 months, receiving hallmarks of excellence from major national and international governing bodies.
It was recently awarded the Association of Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation, which means Durham has joined an elite group of academic institutions worldwide, which are endorsed by three major bodies – the AACSB, Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS).
The Business School is now one of only 11 in the UK to carry all three, internationally recognised, quality kite marks. The accreditation from the AACSB was awarded following a rigorous assessment process and demonstrates Durham's commitment to quality and continuous improvement.
This year the school has been judged a world leader in its research activity and use of research income by the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 (RAE).
In the leading Financial Times European Business School rankings, Durham is 11th in the UK and 28th in Europe.
The school is continuing to support and provide value for businesses in many different ways, including Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), Business Projects, Recruitment Support and Professional Development.
As well as its core activities, the school places great emphasis on its impressive links with regional, national and international businesses and organisations.
It provides support and advice through quality training, academic research and knowledge transfer.
Networking within the business community is also a major activity for the business school, which hosts a calendar of key events including the Durham Business School Corporate Forum and the Durham Convention, which launched in June this year to great success.
More than 90 students, alumni and external business leaders attended the speaker and networking event, which featured three very different and inspiring speakers, including Sahar Hashemi, co-founder of Coffee Republic, Alan Wilkinson Chambers MBE and Lesley Everett, international authority on Personal Branding.
There was also a session led by Newcastle-based Nigel Wright Recruitment Consultants dedicated to career development and giving information on the current job market and portfolio careers.
The last 12 months have seen great progress in the continued development of the business school as we continually strive to bring greater benefits to our students and the business community.
Going forward, our aim is to consolidate in our core areas of strength as we look to the next phase of development.
This will include building on our research and business activities and strengths in management and entrepreneurship to reinforce our position as a leading international business school with a strong regional presence.
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