Research Consultancy for Enterprise
The University of Greenwich Business School’s research and enterprise activity is primarily applied or policy oriented. Research is seen as an essential activity for the Business School as a foundation for excellence in teaching and to enable the School to provide contract research and consultancy services to business and the wider community, both nationally and at regional level, especially within SE London and Kent. It is also vital in providing intellectual vigour within our academic community, in meeting staff career aspirations and in creating work satisfaction. This ethos is reflected in the School’s recruitment and staff development processes. The School has improved its rating in every Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) - the national evaluation of universities’ research output - to date, demonstrating steady improvement.
In the last Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) –– 60 per cent of the Business School’s research was deemed to be of international importance and 30 per cent of national importance. Fifteen per cent of the work submitted was deemed to be internationally excellent and five per cent was ‘world leading’. In terms of research esteem (e.g. staff participation in consultancy, advisory roles and board memberships), 10 per cent was deemed to be world leading. This excellent RAE result has seen research funding for the School improve significantly.
The School’s research agenda is currently structured around five main research groups:
- The Social Network Analysis Research Group
- The Public Services International Research Unit
- The Work and Employment Research Unit
- The Centre for Governance, Risk and Accountability
- The Supply Chain Management Research Group
All of the above five research groups receive funding from the RAE. In addition there are emerging research clusters in microfinance, marketing, tourism, events management and entrepreneurship. The School is currently conducting a major research project on microfinance, funded by the Leverhulme Foundation, using social network analysis techniques.
School Research and Enterprise Strategy
The school research and enterprise strategy is focused on building critical mass within the five cognate research groups identified above. This strategy is being delivered through both targeted recruitment of new staff and development of existing staff. The School is committed to increasing the ratio of research-active staff and developing research that will have direct benefits to its programmes of study and contribute to its services to the local business community, the public services and not-for-profit organisations.
The School benefits in particular from the wide range of nationalities represented among its staff. Some 44 per cent of academic staff were born outside the UK. The School has attracted a number of visiting scholars, both short-term (up to four months) and longer-term, and there are a number of Visiting Professors.
Research Degree Provision
The School was admitted into European Doctoral Programmes Association in Management and Business Administration (EDAMBA) in September 2005. There has been a steady increase in the number of doctoral students over the last ten years and today there are over 50 students registered on research degree programmes within the school.