Anglia Ruskin launches institute for business research

Press release issued: 7 March 2013



Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC, Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University

Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC, Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University

Event showcased key aims of Institute for International Management Practice

Anglia Ruskin University officially launched its Institute for International Management Practice (IIMP) on Wednesday, 6 March.

The event, held on Anglia Ruskin's Cambridge campus, included a talk by Charles Leadbeater, a former advisor to the Number 10 Policy Unit, the Department for Trade and Industry, and the European Commission. Leadbeater delivered a talk entitled 'The new economy, digital technologies and the changing global innovation landscape: the role of university research'.

Establishing and growing the IIMP is central to one of the key aims of Anglia Ruskin's Lord Ashcroft International Business School, which is to conduct research that is as valuable to professional practitioners and policy makers as it is to academics.

Supported by a generous donation from Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC, the Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin, the IIMP consists of five Postdoctoral Researchers, six Research Professors and a Professor of Management Practice. The IIMP's advisory board is chaired by economist Kate Barker CBE, a senior advisor to Credit Suisse and formally an external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee.
Dr Trevor Bolton (Dean of the Lord Ashcroft International Business School), Professor Simon Down (Director of the IIMP) and guest speaker Charles Leadbeater.

Dr Trevor Bolton (Dean of the Lord Ashcroft International Business School), Professor Simon Down (Director of the IIMP) and guest speaker Charles Leadbeater

Professor Simon Down, the Director of the IIMP, said:

"Managing organisations is a complicated business. Organisations need to generate surpluses, be efficient, keep investors and stakeholders happy, invest in the future, motivate and train staff, innovate, have a conscience and deal with an ever changing and, of late, very challenging environment.

"The IIMP, with its focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, wants to say useful things, based on exciting research, about this creative process. We are interested in innovation both in terms of developing technologies and professional practices, and in relation to entrepreneurial responses to changing organisational environments.

"Thanks to the generous support of Lord Ashcroft and the vision and drive of the senior team within the Lord Ashcroft International Business School, the IIMP has grown quickly, with new Professorial and Postdoctoral appointments."

Professor Down is currently preparing journal articles based on the ESRC-funded project he led between 2009 and 2012 on the topic of whether regulation is really a burden to small firms. Other research being carried out by the IIMP includes investigating the use of mobile technology at work, the impact of business-based television programmes such as Dragons' Den, and the relationship between SMEs and banks.

For further information about the IIMP, please visit www.anglia.ac.uk/iimp
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