Alumni Magazine for Durham Business School September 2010 Issue 18

IN THIS ISSUE: CAREER PROGRESSION WITH GREATER LEADERSHIP PURPOSE//RISK MANAGEMENT THROUGH CHARTING//THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD PERFORMANCE WHEN PUBLIC SPEAKING

“The Global Learning Centre...Durham Business School comingto you wherever you are.”

see page 6

agora NEW

S Business School

CONFERENCESELECTIONDurham Universityoffers you a widechoice of venuesranging frommodernpurpose-builtconferencefacilities tothe HistoricDurham Castle.

To make a booking for a particulardate, arrange a visit or request furtherinformation on any of our conferencevenues, call the Sales Office on:0800 28 99 70 or e-mail:event@durham.ac.ukwww.durham.ac.uk/event.durham

Business School

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Dean’s Welcome

Alumni – UpdateAs the end of the academic year approaches, we have much to celebratehere at Durham Business School – the prospect of the improved andextended School building, the launch of the Global Learning Centre (page6), exciting new appointments including Dr Lutao Ning (page 15), and afond farewell to one of our most recognisable faces at DBS from the pasttwenty years, Alan Jessop (page 14).

In this issue we have alumni input fromtwo ladies who completed an MBA inthe 1990’s and 2000’s respectively.Mary Goldsmith, who moved to Australiaand set up her own consulting companytalks about life after Durham (page 20)and we have an article written by alumnaLiz Hughes who inspires us with herthoughts on achieving greaterleadership purpose (page 8).

Also in this issue, Professor Tim Clarkshares his insight into the art of publicspeaking (page 16) and after requestsfor more articles focusing oneconomics, alumnus Maxie Islamillustrates the power of charting todetermine market trends in riskmanagement (page 10).

Over the past six months I have had the pleasure of travelling to Shanghai,Beijing and Hong Kong to meet withmany alumni. It is always fascinating tohear about their Durham experience andwhat they have gone on to achieve inboth their personal and professionallives. I would like to say a big thank you to our Local Association Leaders,Gemma Pan, Abby Wang, Eddy Yu and Tina Chiu, who helped coordinatesome wonderful events, especially the Shanghai BBQ in July (page 22).

The coming year promises to be anotherexciting one with lots of opportunities totravel and meet with more of the alumninetwork. Please see page 22 for detailsof my forthcoming trip to India.

I am also very happy to announce that2011 will be the 25th Anniversary ofthe Durham MBA. To celebrate thiswonderful occasion, the school will behosting an ‘Anniversary Weekend’ onJune 3-5 2011. The merriment willcoincide with the third DurhamConvention whereby business leaderswill be invited to address students,alumni and corporate partners of theSchool covering a range of topicalbusiness issues. Over the weekend wehope to offer a range of short lecturesdelivered by faculty past and present,as well as lots of fun activitiesculminating in a formal dinner.

Finally, for the next issue of Agoranewswe are contemplating reducing ourcarbon footprint, by only posting hardcopies of the magazine to those who are registered members of our onlinecommunity and those who specificallyrequest it. In this way we can reducecosts in-house, do our bit for theenvironment and encourage alumni toregister for our Agoraweb all at once. If you haven’t taken the opportunity to

join our online community please do so to take advantage of our careersresource section with tools and tips forobtaining jobs in specific sectors. Manyof you may also be interested to listento our weekly ‘Management Issues’podcasts waxing lyrical about the latestbusiness matters. This is a fantasticway for a busy professional to absorbvaluable snippets on a particularbusiness issue with a 5 to 10 minutelong podcast.

As ever we hope you enjoy this read andwelcome any feedback or suggestionsyou may have on improving ourcommunication to the Agora network.

Alexandra SedgwickAlumni Relations & DevelopmentManager

Welcome to this, the latest issue of your alumnimagazine, Agoranews.

More than ever the challenges facingbusiness schools and organisations are inextricably linked. Both need to be agile, adapt quickly and avoidcomplacency in what is a changedeconomic landscape.

When I attended the latest AACSBConference earlier in the year it wasapparent that a number of the bigbusiness schools are struggling toimplement change because they havecomplex structures and vested interests.

There may also be cultural impedimentto change, some business schools will bemuch more flexible in their thinking andit is these that will be able to provide amore relevant curriculum, an improvedstudent experience and, importantly,more relevance in their research. Here atDurham Business School we continuallyreview our curriculum to ensure that ourprogrammes reflect what is happening in the wider business world.

Noteworthy changes have recently beenmade to the School’s leadership team.Following Professor Timothy Clark’smove from Deputy Dean of DBS to Deanof the Graduate School, the decisionwas taken to create two Deputy Deanposts. Consequently, I am pleased totell you that Professor Geoff Moore hasbeen appointed Deputy Dean (Learning& Teaching) and Professor Martin Laffinappointed Deputy Dean (Research). I am sure that everyone will join me incongratulating both Geoff and Martin as they take on these exciting andchallenging new roles.

I am pleased to report that plans todevelop the Mill Hill Lane campus areprogressing well. A series of consultationswith staff will be continued over thecoming months and the design team arepreparing for a planning application to besubmitted in September. This is in linewith the original programme which wouldensure the first phase of the project iscompleted by September 2012. Thefunding approval will be considered inOctober by University Council and thiswill finally determine the timescale forcompletion. Further information andmore architects drawings are available on the School’s website atwww.dur.ac.uk/dbs/about/development

I would like to extend my personalcongratulations to the latest group of newly graduated alumni followingtheir congregation ceremonies atDurham Cathedral in July. I wish all of them every success for the future.Photographs of the day’s celebrationscan be found on page 18.

Finally, I’d also like to take thisopportunity to thank every one of you for your continued support andcommitment to the School.

Professor Rob Dixon, Dean

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THE GLOBAL LEARNING CENTREDurham Business School coming to you… wherever you are

Durham Business School has a long history of innovation in supporting the needs of postgraduate students for whom traditional on-campus study, whetherfull-time or part-time, is simply not an option. Presently, the School has over 900 students undertaking Masters programmes around the world, representingaround two-thirds of Durham University’s total part-time student body.

MBA ProgrammesMBA provision is the cornerstone of theGlobal Learning Centre’s portfolio, withno less than three major programmesavailable world-wide.

Durham’s now well-establishedExecutive MBA programmes in Germanyand the Caribbean represent thedistance-taught element of the Centre’sactivities, with around 125 studentscurrently enjoying the benefits of a high-quality MBA experience deliveredin a location convenient to them. Apartnership with the European BusinessSchool, the DBS/EBS Executive MBAprogramme is a dual-site offering thatcombines modules delivered inFrankfurt with opportunities to studyalongside colleagues on the Durham-based EMBA, expanding the networks ofparticipants and enhancing the learningexperience through interaction both withMBA peers and faculty members fromtwo of the world’s leading businessschools. Further afield, the CaribbeanMBA programme enjoys the benefits of Barbados as its stunning location,attracting participants from across theCaribbean and North America. Deliveredin association with the CaribbeanManagement Education Centre(CariMEC), the programme mirrors theDurham EMBA in content and delivery,with almost a decade of success inproducing high-calibre MBA graduatesattuned to the demands of the globalmarketplace.

By far the largest student body withinthe Global Learning Centre, are thoseundertaking the recently re-launchedand rebranded Global MBA programme,with around 600 students currentlyparticipating. For almost 25 years,Durham Business School has operated a cutting-edge distance learning MBAprogramme, consistently listed withinthe FT Top 40, which now forms theplatform for a truly innovative new MBA experience.

Students on the Global MBA now have a very real opportunity to fit learningaround their lifestyles. Traditionaldistance learning modules are deliveredin parallel with taught modules,enabling students to “mix-and-match”delivery modes in order to bettermanage completion and blend the typeof MBA experience that best fits theirindividual needs.

Substantial investment is underpinningall of the Centre’s activities, bucking thetrend in terms of the current financialconstraints on higher education. Fromonline seminars and podcasts to high-quality printed materials, the LearningResources Team are driving upstandards in supporting the needs of off-site learners across the globe andproviding new arenas within which MBA participants from all three of theCentre’s programmes can come togetherto study and socialise in a state-of-the-art learning environment. With theintroduction of enhanced career supportservices for off-site learners and a newcontinuous professional developmentprogramme, Durham’s ambitions arevery clear – to build a truly world-classGlobal MBA programme that does notaccept that delivery at a distance shouldin any way involve compromise in thequality of MBA experience a studentshould expect.

MA ProgrammesOriginally conceived of as a way toimprove accessibility to Durham’s full-time “conversion” Masters programmes,the distance learning MAs inManagement and Marketing have beenthe success story of the past five years,achieving growth of around 50% overthe past twelve months alone. Theprogrammes have also very much takenon a life of their own, rapidly establishingthemselves as the MA-of-choice for early career managers and high-calibregraduate management trainees,particularly within the retail and services sectors.

Recently re-branded as Durham’s Part-time MA programmes, the Managementand Marketing offerings will soon bejoined by a new Financial Managementdegree and a Retail and Servicesspecialism of the existing MAManagement. Content is being tailoredmore to the needs of early careerbusiness professionals, with majorinvestments in both course developmentand technology, and a morecomprehensive approach to careerdevelopment is being introduced. Withoff-shore study opportunities, taughtmodule options and a new InternationalMA Summer School, the GlobalLearning Centre will further develop itsMasters portfolio to better fit the needsof pre-MBA graduate managersworldwide.

Further DevelopmentsThe MBA and MA programmes at theheart of the Centre’s activities are a starting point for a range of newinitiatives that will further enhance thereputation of the School as a whole.Durham has a well-established traditionof interfacing with the corporate sectorand the Global Learning Centre is nowcomplementing the work of theManagement Development Centre with arange of blended learning short-courses,open enrolment and client-specificExecutive Education products, and in-house degree programmes to fit therequirements of the modern globalorganisation, including a major newCorporate MBA development initiative.For alumni, there will be a growingportfolio of options through which to“top up” and update managementknowledge, all employing the Centre’sblended-learning philosophy in order toreaffirm Durham’s commitment to high-quality life-long learning. Overall, theGlobal Learning Centre aims to utilisethe latest technology in order to offersomething for everyone, wherever theyare in the world.

From May 2010, these students have a new home in the Business Schoolwith the establishment of the GlobalLearning Centre, a dedicateddepartment for the delivery andmanagement of degree programmestaking place away from Durham itself.The Centre has been formed throughthe integration of the School’s distancelearning and distance taught units,bringing together Masters-levelprogrammes delivered off-site, from theprestigious Executive MBA programmein partnership with the EuropeanBusiness School in Frankfurt, to the

worldwide network of early-careermanagers undertaking Durham’srapidly-growing MA Management and MA Marketing degrees.

Quality of the student experience isparamount in the Global LearningCentre. Students and their sponsors can expect the highest standards of support from the Centre’s veryexperienced Client Services Team, withdedicated Programme Coordinatorsthere to look after the needs of studentsfrom initial application through to finalgraduation, underpinned by a newLearning Resources Team, there to

lead developments in programmedelivery and to connect students with world-class faculty wherever they are based around the globe.

With substantial investments in coursedesign, e-learning technologies and a full-time Centre Director (Dr MikeNicholson) reporting directly to theDean, the Global Learning Centrerepresents a significant commitment byDurham University to satisfy the needsof part-time postgraduate students andcreating a global learning communityfor the twenty-first century.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATIONon The Global Learning Centre and its products and services,contact the Centre Management Team on glc.director@durham.ac.uk

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LET’S CONSIDER THE DYNAMICS!Competition for roles in our shiftingmarket place is intense. Given thepessimistic employment dynamics in aperiod of recession, there still remainsthe expectation that to grow your career,a positive promotion must be achievedevery 3 years, often outside of yourexisting organisation. This is hugelyexpensive. Massive sums are spent onrecruitment and training, not to mentionthe time (consider it a period of lowproductivity) it takes to gain tractionwhen embedding a new employee into acompany culture and processes. A moreeconomical approach would be toprovide high potentials with significantopportunities for advancement. Wouldthere be significant accretive benefits ifhiring and training costs were spent onemployee development, where top talentis encouraged to take on challengingpositions? In reality, companies pay lip service to their model employees.They over-promise and under-deliver, orworse, send them headlong into a careerblock. This will inhibit organisationalgrowth. Why? Because high potentialemployees will look outside fordevelopment.

ARE YOU LOOKING FORA GREAT OPPORTUNITY?The July/August 2010 edition ofHarvard Business Review: “ManagingYourself: Job Hopping to the Top andOther Fallacies” by Monika Hamoricomments on 4 Fallacies that arepertinent to today’s job market. Theyprovide a healthy jolt to your thinkingaround career dynamics.

Fallacy 1:Job-Hoppers Prosper

Fallacy 2:A Move Should Be a Move Up

Fallacy 3:Big Fish Swim in Big Ponds

Fallacy 4:Career and Industry Switchers ArePenalized

LET’S CONSIDER FURTHER…Internal promotions deliver greatopportunities up to a point, but watchfor the career cul-de-sac, often near the top. This delivers a risk to theorganisation. People generally hop when faced with frustrating barriers.

Are upward moves the only option?Generally yes, but sometimes ahorizontal move may be considered,either internally or outside of yourorganisation. Be confident, have a

defined future strategy, and considerthis approach only with a targeted end point in mind.

Corporate leading companies haveoutstanding internal developmentalopportunities but 64% of executiveswho left an admired company (measuredon Fortune’s Most Admired) transferredto a firm not included on the list.Opportunities in smaller organisationscan be advantageous. There may befrustration with a rigid succession plan;do people have to morph to progress?Smaller companies may deliver careerenrichment for those that thrive ondexterity and rapid growth.

Successful leaders analyse and usemodels from different industries. Theastute leader develops transferrableskills and understands how they can be applied. This broadens prospects forgrowth. After all, 29% of moves takepeople across industries and another23% across different segments of thesame industry’

How daunting it is to navigate thecomplexity of career management.However, there is something that is of proven significance and shouldperhaps be considered first.

Career Progression withGreater Leadership PurposeLiz Hughes is an internationally experienced leadership coach and strategist who fundamentally believes that the need to grow exists within every individual. Her focus rests solely on her client’s personal and organisational improvement.Developmental needs are addressed through crisp, concise methodology, using tried and tested techniques. This framework is then aligned very specifically to the detailed aspirations of the individual. Executives, who have been supported by her, have gained key international roles in market leading organisations.

Her approach actively challenges managers to first lead themselves in order to better lead their organisations. This can be difficult, but without doubt unlocks the potential for growth, bringing about accelerated and brilliant results.

An award winning MBA graduate from Durham Business School, she has almost 20years experience in leadership roles delivering growth in multifaceted organisations.

CAN YOU IDENTIFY,UNDERSTAND AND VERBALISEYOUR GREATER LEADERSHIPPURPOSE?Probably not – it’s a unique expressivedeclaration where words can be tricky to find, but once nailed, is massivelypowerful.

Your purpose defines you. It is uniquelyyours, and will enable you to exceedyour potential. It will release asignificant, inspirational, emotional shift and will expose your true value.

Here are some examples of clear,uplifting and potent purpose statementsfrom DBS students and alumni. All carryan impressive expectation of success.

‘To help improve the life of women in Africa’

‘

To help charitable organisations improvetheir income’

‘To unlock the potential in leaders to deliver growth for them and theirorganisation’

HOW TO GET STARTED.Appoint someone you know and trust as your greater leadership purposeguide/partner. Start a series ofconversations where you considerspecifically designed questions.

Below is a selection, not an exhaustivelist!

• What are my most significantcapabilities?

• Where have I made a real differenceto those around me?

• What values expose my inner identity?

• What do I do that brings me the mostjoy at work?

• What am I most proud of?

• What am I good at that makes otherssucceed?

• In which situations have I always beensuccessful?

Reflect on the information. Express yourideas. Are you energised and motivated?

OUTCOMEThe results will be outstanding to you in terms of personal experience, andoptimistically expressive to those youhope to influence.

Use your greater leadership purpose forpersonal advancement and to engagewith those around you. You will revealyour differentiated advantage, andgrowth will be the outcome for you and your future employer.

A deeper level analysis would lead tosuch charting techniques being analysedto determine entry and exit points of amarket. In this article I shall attempt tointroduce these charting techniques to a relatively new audience and perhapsdemonstrate the kind of tools a frontoffice uses in order to aid execution of proprietary trades.

Allow me to introduce to you the humblecandlestick. It looks like a bar from anybar chart but in essence comprises of a body rather than a skeleton. Like on a bar, a candle shown to the right ofFigure 1 has open and close values and also high and low values are all depicted.

So what’s the point of this you may beasking? Well, one major advantage ofviewing a candle chart vs a bar chart is that it allows you at a glance to seewhether a particular trading period hasbeen bullish or bearish overall. Take alook at the following charts. The dailychart in Figure 2 shows the FTSE 100trending downwards – all very clear sofar. But what is happening during eachindividual day? At a glance, the barchart is not so clear and we have toidentify which is the open and which is the close for each and any bar youchoose to analyse.

Candlesticks remove the need to dothat. Look at Figure 3, the equivalentcandle chart. Immediately you’ll noticethe latter chart provides a more visuallyinteresting record of the price action;you can see what is happening at eachindividual trading period where it iseither an uptick or a downtick. However,you will see two colours of candles inFigure 4. One is black-bodied (bearish)and the other is white (bullish). Notehow on the black candle the open andclose points are opposite to the white.(The blue candles in the FTSE chartsare the black equivalents).

So now that we know candlesticks canbe black or white, what else could theypossibly tell us? It’s a little known factthat candlestick charting was first usedby Japanese rice traders in the 18thcentury. In particular, candlesticks havemore visible bullish/bearish reversalsigns compared to bars and up untilrecently, this type of charting was aclosely guarded secret by the Japaneseuntil the West started utilising thismethod for its own trading activities.

So what is it we must look for to makeus all wealthy? Ah, if life was only thatsimple...

Candlestick charting is an art ratherthan a science, so over the next coupleof issues of PMCRR I will introduce toyou the most common of the candlestickchart patterns and, more importantly,how to use these against other technicalindicators.

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The candlestick and the hanging man:Risk management through charting

Maxie Islam, Durham Business SchoolMBA alumnus 1994–95, explains howcharting techniques can be used byfront offices to aid the execution ofproprietary trades.

Maxie works as Vice President for BNY Mellon Asset Servicing in theirPerformance and Risk division in the City of London.

In the world of performance measurement and reporting,risk management appears very much a new kid on theblock. Since 1995 I have been involved in riskmanagement in one form or another across multiplemarkets including commodities, FX, fixed income andequities. In almost all of these asset classes there is oneunderlying tool that some risk managers utilise – the powerof charting. In its most elemental form, charting is used todetermine a market’s trend and therefore conclude someform of analyses in order to control one’s risk appetite.

The full version of this article first appeared in Performance Measurement and Client ReportingReview (PMCRR ) Vol: 2.4 and is used with the kind permission of Osney Media. It is the first in a series which will be published in PMCRR, to read the full article or find out more visit:www.pmcrreview.com

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THE HANGING MANYou may be thinking if there is acandlestick that also tells of animpending downturn after a bullish run? You would be right. Allow me tointroduce you to the ‘hanging man’ inFigure 9. Hanging men can sometimesbe found at the peaks of markets andusually foretells of a change in direction.Much like the hammer, the tail (orshadow) must be at least twice as long as the body in order to qualify as a reversal signal.

Examine the following hanging mancandle formations in Figure 10: Bed, Bath & Beyond stock price andFigure11: FTSE100. Notice how each of the hanging men are close to thepeaks of the markets before theimpending downturn. A hanging manusually signifies that the market is closeto its highs and is due a correction.

The interested among you might think,‘Well, I never knew about hammers andhanging men’. If so, I would encourageyou to have a look at these the next time you are sitting in front of yourBloomberg terminal or Reuters screen.Instead of looking at bar charts, selectthe candlestick option and see if youcan determine these patterns at theirrespective peaks and troughs. Have thecandlestick signals worked each andevery time?

For the sceptics out there – and therewill be quite a few who remain to beconvinced – you may think I haveselected a few carefully chosen charts to demonstrate the points I am making.Indeed, you would be right in thinkingthis. At this stage, these charts are onlyto demonstrate how candle patterns workand one should never use these signalsin isolation, as I have said before.

As the series progresses, I will show youhow to use hanging men and hammersin conjunction with other analyses inorder to form a more complete pictureand one that tells a fuller story of what a market is doing (or not doing).

Once you have grasped a few of thesepatterns and they become familiarterritory, I can assure you that you will automatically be looking for them in future. I first stumbled acrosscandlesticks while completing my MBAat Durham during the summer of 1995and started using them in a professionalmanner the following year. Whilecandlestick charting is not part of mycurrent work domain, they remain an interesting part of my personalinvestment analyses. For those who are not able to access any of the datavendors that include charting as part of their services, you can subscribe to a free forum called Interactive Investor(www.iii.co.uk) and the site will supplycharts (albeit a few minutes delayed) in both bars and candles.

THE HAMMERAlong with candlesticks, be prepared forthe weird and wonderful names thatcome attached with them. Please meetthe ‘hammer’. It takes on either of thefollowing forms seen in Figure 5 (a) &(b). The hammer is a single candlestickwith either a black or a white body andis a bullish reversal signal sometimesfound at the troughs

of a trending market. To qualify as ahammer, the tail of the candlestickmust be at least twice as long as thebody that hangs underneath it (oftenreferred to as a ‘shadow’) – see Figure 5(a) & (b). A hammer usually means thatthe market cannot find any more lowsand is now ready for an upturn inaction. Have a look at the followingcharts on page ? and verify thehammers:

• Figure 6: Hammer example 1

• Figure 7: Hammer example 2

• Figure 8: Hammer example 3

Even though all these hammerformations have black bodies, theycould have been white as well. Thereare other bullish reversal signals that wewill discuss and these will be reservedfor a future article.

A point to note here is that thesereversal signals must never be looked atin isolation. A number of other factors(both technical and fundamental) mustalso be used before a decision is madeon either entering or exiting a market.

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The depth and breadth of Durham Business School’s faculty continues toexpand highlighting the School’s commitment to excellence in teaching andresearch. Here we introduce you to a recent addition to the School’s faculty.

Introducing… Dr Lutao Ning, Lecturer in International Business Lutao’s multidisciplinary research, teaching and consulting background ranges frominternational business and management to law, political economy and developmentstudies. He holds a PhD degree from the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College),together with an MBA from the University of Liverpool and an MA from the Schoolof Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

What is your current role?My main role is to conduct research in the field of international business and disseminate my research results to the wider society. I am currently an MBA and MA module leader for developing and teaching theGlobalising Strategic Management and Global Business courses.

What are the most challengingparts of your job?It is both challenging and exciting for academics to conduct research thatallows them to explain new commercialphenomena to the business communityas well as making theoreticalcontributions to business research. I certainly find this knowledge creationprocess an important and enjoyable part of my job as well a challenge.

What do you want to achieve?I hope my research can create a positive impact on the way our businesscommunity understands today’sturbulent global economic environment,as well as provide practical applicationsfor the international business communityand regulatory bodies to ensureglobalisation work for the common good promoting the idea of ‘freedom,fairness and responsibility’ for all.

What drives you?Today’s world has become increasinglyintegrated but polarised. We are yet todevelop a mindset for global collectiveaction toward effective and democraticglobal development. As a scholar, I amdetermined to make a difference byproviding research and teaching to thewider international business community

and help them to understand globaldevelopment, particularly the pressingissues faced by developing countries. Ibelieve the business community couldplay a leading role to make globalisationwork for all or at least much better bothfor the developing and developed world.

What was the best career adviceyou were given?Learning does not end when you finishstudy at university. I have learned a greatdeal from the scholars, friends,colleagues, clients and students I havemet all over the world. Constantlyreading, thinking and learning fromothers would be my ‘secrets for success’.Of course, the crucial thing for your own career development is that you enjoy what you do!

What advice can you offer to studentsand alumni thinking of an academiccareer?Looking back at my scholarly journey so far, I hope some of this advice may be helpful:

Passion for your research and teaching:you need to be very enthusiastic aboutyour own research field and instil thispassion in people who you teach andcommunicate with. You also need totransform such passion into strong self-motivation as working long hours is sometimes necessary to get through some difficult research and lengthyadministrative processes.

Meaningful and beneficial research for society: this could be the greatestchallenge you face in being an academic,but it can be extremely fulfilling when

stakeholders can draw practicalimplications from your research toimprove their work and our society.

People skills: as an academic you willneed to work with a diverse range of people. These might include yourstudents, peers around the globe, people from the business community,institutions and funding bodies. Good ‘people skills’ enable you tocommunicate with them effectively and efficiently for mutual benefit.

What are you currently working onat Durham Business School?My main research interests are on the strategic development issues of multinational enterprises fromdeveloping countries and particularlyChina and East Asia. I have recentlypublished research in a book calledChina’s Rise in the World Informationand Communication TechnologyIndustry: Industrial Strategies and the Catch-up Development Model byRoutledge (2009 New York and London).

My latest research examined the rapidinternational expansion of Chinesemultinationals during the current globalfinancial crisis. In it I have discussedwhether Chinese companies can takeadvantage of the crisis to improveinternational competitiveness throughthe acquisition of strategic assets overseas.Additionally I havepresentedmy researchat SOAS, University of London and willbe presenting at Oxford and HarvardUniversities in the coming months.

Youcan readmore aboutLutao’s researchin thenext issueofAgoranews.

introducing......14

Faculty member Alan Jessopreflects on his time at DBS

Durham Business School was a verydifferent place when I joined in 1987,and very different from teaching in anengineering department in London.Moving to the North East was prettyeasy not just because of my GeordieGranny but more from my parents-in-law, refugees from Newcastle, who hadintroduced me to the joys of firstfooting (Google it), Newcastle BrownAle (drink it) and also, vitally, to thelocal version of spoken English.

In 1987 we had a full-time MBA ofabout thirty students, almost all ofwhom were British (well, English, then)which made for an ‘ambiance’ aboutthe place very different from themulticultural bustle of 2010. However,back then it wasn’t called an MBA, itwas called an MSc because this wasthought in some quarters to be morerespectable. The name change cameswiftly and I pretty quickly foundmyself director of the programme, thefirst of two stints. The support staffwas, incredibly it now seems, oneperson – my secretary Ena Whittle. We also delivered the first year of the part-time MBA when that wasintroduced. Happy days!

The School ran executive educationprogrammes for British Gas and forother local and national businesses,and taught undergraduates too, butonly as contributors to bachelorsprogrammes in engineering, Chineseand others. It was firmly our belief that management education was bydefinition a post-experience as well as a postgraduate activity.

Well, you know how we have grown inthe intervening twenty three years,expanding in all directions – studentnumbers, programmes, building and,inevitably, my waistline too. There havebeen growing pains of course, but lifehas never been dull and I think we canbe pleased with what must always be a work in progress.

I stop teaching full-time at the end ofSeptember but will continue part-timefor a little longer. As the Queen Mothersaid when asked what it was like beingthe last Empress of India, it was funwhile it lasted. I thank those of you who attended my classes; it would havebeen rather lonely without you. Moreimportantly I thank you for thestimulation which teaching you has given me.

After twenty three years at Durham Business School Dr AlanJessop is preparing to slow down and scale back on hiscommitments. Currently Senior Lecturer in Operational Research,Alan has previously held roles including Director of the full-timeMBA programme and Chair of Board of Studies and he is wellknown for his ready wit and love of small sports cars!

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WHEN IT COMES TO PUBLIC SPEAKING –HOW IMPORTANT IS A GOOD PERFORMANCE?

The Party Leader Debates were asignificant innovation in the last UKGeneral Election. Their novelty attracteda lot of media attention before and aftereach debate and large viewing figures.As each debate was broadcast it wasaccompanied by numerous blogs and a “worm” (a line that fluctuated as it indicated the level of audienceagreement or disagreement with thestatements being made). After the first debate on Thursday 15th April theinstant polls showed that Nick Clegg(Liberal Democrat) was rated the bestperformer on the night. Some instantpolls put him over twenty percent aheadof Gordon Brown (Labour) and DavidCameron (Conservative).

Running up to the debate mostcommentators agreed that as the leaderof the smallest party Clegg had themost to gain given his general lack ofexposure and profile with the electoratewhen compared to other two partyleaders. Up until that event he had not been treated as an equal inParliamentary exchanges between party leaders, such as Prime Minister’sQuestions. For the first time he wasafforded the same profile as the otherparty leaders. His enormous success inthe first debate partly emanated fromhis much increased profile with manyviewers who had little previousfamiliarity with him, but his positivepoll ratings also benefited from anumber of features from the debateitself. First, it was very noticeable thatBrown sought to align himself withClegg by mentioning on a number ofoccasions that Clegg and he were inagreement with one another. AlthoughClegg rejected Brown’s assertion thatthey agreed on reform of the Houses of Commons and Lords, Brownnevertheless kept pointing out theirsimilarities whilst attacking Cameron.Indeed, on several occasions Brownclearly tried to unsettle Cameron byinterrupting his answers and notpermitting him to develop his answers. In contrast, Cameron attacked Brownand occasionally Clegg. Thus Clegg was

attacked the least. He was thereforedistanced from the occasional close-quarter skirmishes between Brown andCameron that reinforced his generalpoint that he represented somethingdifferent. This was reinforced by hisposition to the left of Cameron andBrown which gave him the opportunityto turn and become an onlooker as the other two party leaders debatedamongst themselves.

Clegg also made the greatest and mostsuccessful attempts to connect with theaudience. He built a stronger rapportwith the audience members than theother party leaders and this is reflectedin much subsequent comment abouthis natural and engaging style. In hisinitial answers to each question heconsciously mentioned the questioner’sname. He listed the questioners byname in his final summary. He alsosought to make eye contact when thequestioner was not always visible. Bydoing this he was seeking to reduce the social distance between himself and the audience members and usinghis connection with a single audiencemember to build rapport more generally.As the closing credits rolled it wasinteresting to see Brown walk directlytowards the audience and shake thehands of those seated in the front row.Perhaps a late attempt to connect with the audience.

By the time of the second debate Brownand Cameron had started to learn anddeploy successfully the practices thatClegg had used so successfully. Theydropped the use of anecdotes andfamiliarity with one another and soughtto actively engage the audience, lookdirectly into the camera and focus moreon policy differences than similarities.The changes were reflected in the pollsfor the second debate which showedthat although Cameron and Clegg viedfor first position the three leaders’performances were not rated too farapart. In the final debate Cameron and to a lesser extent Brown furtheramended the way they presented so

that the differences with Clegg werelessened. Once again the polls suggestthat either Cameron or Clegg won with Brown coming third. Thus, the conventions that Clegg used sosuccessfully in the first debate weregradually been adopted by the otherparty leaders reducing their stylisticdifferences. As this has happened thependulum perhaps swung away from a focus on performance to policy.

Overall, these three televised partyleader debates show that live oratory is still a powerful tool and remains animportant source of the public’sperception of a politician’s image andabilities. They have perhaps raisedawareness of the importance ofeffective political oratory as the partyleaders and their messages are exposedto an audience of millions rather thanthousands and the instant criticalscrutiny of bloggers, commentators andthe “worm”. Apart from their novelty akey reason for the importance of thesedebates is that they provided audiencemembers with an opportunity to use the verbal and non-verbal cues of eachparty leader to ascertain their leadershipability. Therefore each party leader’soratorical skills become a proxy for theirleadership skills. As Matthew Parriscommented in The Times newspaper“Who would have thought that at thebeginning of the 21st century we wouldbe playing out this political battle inwhat — for all its novelty — is really soancient a format? The frame may havebeen your television screen, but on it weplayed a game that was familiar to theAncient Greeks. This contest has beenjudged on the art of Public Rhetoric. It proved to be stunning”.

This article is based on a blog on ‘TheGreat Debate’ written by ProfessorsClark and Greatbatch for the ReutersUK’s website.

*Matthew Parris “How TV became the lightning rod for voters’ rage with politicians” The Times, April 30, 2010.

1.Professor Timothy Clark is Professor ofOrganisational Behaviour and Dean ofDurham University’s Graduate School.

2.Professor David Greatbatch is a VisitingProfessor at Durham Business School.

1. 2.

To be regarded as a good public speakerhas long been an aspiration of businessleaders, politians and great thinkersalike. Since time immemorial the abilityto capture the imagination of anaudience and win their support hasbeen crucial to success – especiallypolitical success.

Here Professors Timothy Clark andDavid Greatbatch explore the impactthat live oratory can have on publicopinion, using the UK’s recent, andnew, experience of Party LeaderDebates on live TV as an example. Does live debating bring issues to life or can it kill them stone dead?

Announcing the death of live speakingis perhaps a little premature. Despitethe plethora of media, live oratorycontinues to remain important and can significantly influence our opinionsabout an individual. To a large extentsignificant historical political figures areremembered through recordings of theirspeeches that are shown to subsequentgenerations. President Kennedy isremembered for his inaugural speech as well as that he delivered at the Berlinwall in which he declared ‘Ich bin einBerliner’ (an ambiguous phrase whichcould be taken to mean ‘I am a donut’as well as ‘I am a Berliner’). SimilarlyWinston Churchill is remembered morefor his war time oratory (e.g., ‘We shallfight on the beaches’, ‘Blood, toil, tearsand sweat’, ‘Sinews of peace – Ironcurtain’) than his actions as apeacetime Prime Minister. MartinLuther King is forever associated withhis “I Have a Dream” speech.

The Party Leader debates in the recentBritish General Election havedemonstrated that people’s evaluationof an individual’s oratorical performanceinfluenced perceptions of theirleadership abilities. Grace WyndhamGoldie, who, as a producer at the BBC,did much to change television coverageof UK General Elections, points out thattelevision is watched singly or in smallgroups in people’s homes with theconsequence that ‘communication ontelevision… had to be, direct, informaland friendly, and that its style wasbound to be appropriate to theappearance of the speaker as atemporary guest in somebody’s house’(1977, p. 331)*.The point is thatpoliticians have had to develop to a more constrained, low-key andpersonal style in order to successfullycommunicate with the TV audience at home. As the three main UK partyleaders discovered after the first PartyLeaders’ Debate, the rewards for thosewho master these techniques can beinstant and significant.

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On the first of July the School was pleased to extend a warmwelcome to graduates, following congregation ceremonies atDurham Cathedral.

Graduates across all programmes, including many from theSchool’s Management Development Centre, some of whomhad travelled from Gibraltar, joined with family and friendsto enjoy the special atmosphere that only a Durhamgraduation can provide.

The conferring of degrees ceremony was followed by a barbeque at the Business School, providing an idealopportunity for graduates to catch up with fellow students and staff, enjoying the sun and celebration.

GRADUATION

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Durham MBA alumna Mary Goldsmith, talks about life post-MBA.

Mary lives and works in Melbourne, Australia, combining her extensive corporate and governmentexperience in Human Resources, Executive Search and Selection, Executive Education and CareerTransition consulting, to offer services for individuals and groups at every career stage. She completedher Durham MBA in 1994.

Q. How do you feel your Durham MBAprepared you for your current role?

A. After I returned to Australia, myDurham MBA gave me the passport I needed for my perfect job. Whilemy corporate HR and consultingexperience were important, Iwouldn’t have been considered forthe position of Program Director, Mt Eliza Business School (Australia’sequivalent of Ashridge, now part ofMelbourne Business School), withoutmy MBA. That experience gave methe expertise, confidence andcredentials to work in my currentcapacity as a Career and LeadershipDevelopment consultant to a diverserange of clients.

Q. Can you describe your typical day?A. Given I’m self-employed, no day isthe same! This week I spent a day at one of Australia’s leading banksworking with managers whosedepartment had been abolished. As I am currently involved with therecruitment of a board director for

a Not-For-Profit organisation, I spent acouple of days interviewing candidates.This morning I met with the firm whichhosts my newly developed 360 degreefeedback tool.

Q. What would you say has been themost satisfying aspect of your careerso far?

A. I love working with and encouragingthe development of talented people.At Mt Eliza Business School Idesigned and delivered executivedevelopment programs for middleand senior managers. Now I enjoymentoring professionals who need acareer boost or who are experiencingcareer transition and change.

Q. What do you do to unwind? A. I have a gorgeous spoodle calledChica, who needs walking twice a day. Although we live in the city, I love to clear my mind by walkingthe dog around Melbourne’sfabulous gardens.

Q. Where do you envisage your careermight take you in the future?

A. I’m keen to spend the next few yearscoaching and developing our futureleaders. In particular I hope tomentor women who are pursuingsenior leadership opportunities in corporate and governmentorganisations across Australia. Nowwe have both a female GovernorGeneral and Prime Minister, thefuture is very exciting!

Q. If you had one piece of career advicefor Durham graduates starting outwhat would it be?

A. While your Durham MBA will give you access to some greatopportunities, it’s just the next phasein your career journey. It doesn’tstop there… it’s important to applywhat you’ve learned and commit to your ongoing professionaldevelopment.

Q&A21

Mike Burrett – Mentor of the YearThe ‘Mentor of the Year’ award was launched in Agoranews last autumn.We are delighted to announce that Durham Business School ‘Mentor ofthe Year’ 2010 is Mike Burrett.

Mike, who is a member of the School’s MBA Advisory Board, has providedvaluable mentoring support to his three mentees as well as informal supportto other students outside of the formal mentor scheme.

In his role as mentor, Mike keeps inregular contact with his studentsthrough one-to-one meetings going thatextra mile by forwarding suitable jobpostings to assist with their careerplanning. Whilst this is not explicitly an objective of the mentor role it hasproved most valuable to his mentees.

Mike first came across his group ofmentees through the Boardroom Activityduring the MBA programme’s term one.This innovative initiative integratesacademic learning from the coremodules into a live boardroom situation.It is designed to replicate the tensionsof a real leadership challenge in order to develop the life skills required in abusiness environment. The activityculminates in a role-play of a boardroommeeting. Mike put to use his experienceas a company executive, chairing ateam session and providing guidance,direction and feedback.

Commenting on the success of one of his mentee matches Mike said;“Mentoring initially was to provide (thementee) with confidence that he can,and will succeed, later we honed itdown to CV preparation, job search,type of role and industry he would like to work in.”

The Mentoring Scheme expandedfurther this year with 99 successfulmatches compared to 70 last year.These included students from the full-time MBA, part-time MBA, GlobalMBA, MSc and MA programmes. Many mentees have commented very positively on their experience of the scheme.

“Very good. I got a lot of support afterthe first communication with mymentor, such as how to reduce thepressure during the exam period andhow to get support for proof reading of assignments.”

You can find out more about MikeBurrett and his peer Ambassadors onAgoraweb – www.agora.org.uk

If you would like to become a mentor,we would like to hear from you. Pleasecontact dbs.alumni@durham.ac.uk for a registration document.

1. GIBRALTAR AGORA The Gibraltar Local Association has

been assisting MDC with the logisticsof ensuring that graduating studentsmade it to Durham in July. The MAgraduates, with family and friends,made the 4,000 mile round trip toattend the congregation ceremony at Durham Cathedral.See photograph on page 18.

The group will be hosting a global get together on 10 September, whichis also Gibraltar National Day, wherealmost all of the 400 alumni in thearea will be in attendance. We wishthem all the very best with theirsterling efforts which demonstrate to the world their allegiance toDurham Business School. They make us proud!

2. BEIJING AGORA We are pleased to report that the

Beijing group is getting bigger andbigger with each event. The mostrecent, taking place at RafflesBeijing Hotel, welcomed new facesto the network. Due to the success ofthe recent events, the Beijing LocalAssociation will be going ‘on theroad’ with a weekend out-of-townevent. They are also in the process of

working with Agora on a mini websiteto sit within Agoraweb for theexclusive use of Beijing members.For more information please contactthe group’s leader Abby Wang.

3. SHANGHAI AGORA The Shanghai group recently hosted

a fun BBQ event with DBS staffAlexandra Sedgwick, AlumniRelations Manager and Claire Roper-Browning, Marketing Manager inattendance. The event took place atO’Malley’s on a sweltering day in Julyand was organised by group leaderGemma Pan. Alumni, both from DBSand the wider University community,had an afternoon of great food, drinkand laughter.

4. INDIA AGORA DBS Career Development Manager,

Marcia Hoynes and Alumni RelationsManager, Alexandra Sedgwick arecurrently working on plans for a tripto India in November. As well asmeeting with the ever-growingalumni population in the country,they are coordinating excitinginitiatives and events in Hyderabad,Mumbai and Delhi. More informationwill shortly be available on Agoranet(agora.org.uk)

Local Associations are the perfect way to join in the DBS Global Get Togetherevents. Forthcoming dates include: 10 September and 10 December 2010. We particularly look forward to hearingabout your events and receivingphotographs.

If you are interested in joining these orany other groups throughout the world(your location or perhaps a business areayou frequent), please email us and we will put you in touch. New groups are in the pipeline for Canada (Vancouver)and Jordan.

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The Agora network goes from strength to strengthlocal association news

Colin Theakston, Durham Business School’s Librarian,shares with us his view on this recent publication.

I enjoy these book reviews and wanted,if I were able, to combine an academicbook AND some element of popularculture. The things you do to prove toyour children that librarians are cool!

Well this month I think I might havesucceeded. Yes, a book that combinesboth marketing AND my children’sfavourite character, Harry Potter.

So what can Harry Potter teach us, in this case, about branding?

According to author Stephen Brown, theHarry Potter brand can teach us a greatdeal indeed. Harry Potter may not bethe biggest brand in the world, or themost established, but his story iscertainly one of the most dramatic.Brown’s book tells the story of the HarryPotter brand and how it has taken theentertainment world by storm.

J.K. Rowling and her fabulous money-spinning creation is a contemporaryfairytale in more ways than one. Animpoverished single parent writes anaccidental bestseller, whose book salesgrow exponentially. The book begetsmore books, which beget movies,merchandise and huge media coverage.

Today, Harry Potter is as much a brandas Brad Pitt, McDonalds or Dyson. TheHarry Potter "franchise" is a fascinatingstory in itself, but it is a story that canbe woven into all the other Harry Potterstories, and that is what Brown doeshere – stories about Joanne Rowling,stories about the readers, stories aboutthe sceptics. This book unpicks thevarious narrative strands that make upthe Harry Potter story, and provides afascinating insight into how HarryPotter became one of the world’s mostrecognised brands in an extraordinarilyshort time period.

BOOKREVIEWWizard!: Harry Potter’s BrandMagic by Stephen Brown

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COMPETITIONFor your chance to win a copy of the book visit: www.agora.org.uk/agoranewsand follow the competition links.Closing date: 30 October 2010

ALLY WICKHAMEXECUTIVE MBA 2005–07After ten years at Sage I am now theB2B/Depth Marketing lead for theDeveloper Platform and EvangelismGroup at Microsoft UK, getting to gripswith a truly global corporate structureand a dizzying array of newtechnologies.

LUCY WINSKELLEXECUTIVE MBA 2004–06I completed my Executive MBA courseat Durham in 2006. At that time I wasa partner at Sintons LLP – one of NorthEast England’s leading law firms.Following my MBA I have combined my professional legal practice with non-executive directorships and governanceroles in public and private organisations.These have included the GovernmentOffice North East, Business EnterpriseNorth East, Darlington Building Societyand the regional investment anddevelopment company ING. I am now Pro Vice-Chancellor (Region,Engagement and Partnerships) and Ilead the development of NorthumbriaUniversity’s relationships withgovernment and public bodies, shapingits contribution to regional economicand social development, and furtherstrengthening its links with schools,businesses and the professions.

ANURAG DHAWANAND MITSU THAKOREFULL-TIME MBA 2006–07Our ‘Big Fat Indian Wedding’ tookplace three years after we graduatedfrom the Business School. It startedwith innocent walks around the cobbledstreets of Durham, late nights at FisherHouse and group studies in the MBAlibrary. Mitsu and I married on 23August 2009 in Jaipur amongst closefamily and friends in a traditionalIndian wedding. Classmates fromDurham who attended the weddingmade it even more memorable for us. We now live in New Delhi, India;married for almost a year, we bothare proud to have our Durham degrees,friends across the globe, memories for a lifetime and, more importantly,each other.

BARB KRAL-HASTYFULL-TIME MBA 2008–09Firstly, I greatly miss Durham! I cherished my time there and I cannot believe that it was one year ago when we were frantically finishingdissertations. I am living in myhometown of Kansas City and havechanged sectors in my professionalcareer. Today I am working in healthcarefull-time. I also have part-time jobs inchild care, writing and editing, apparelretail, teaching children how to play thepiano, and providing translation services(translating documents from Spanish toEnglish). I have been in contact withmany students from my cohort as wecontinue to stay closely in touch, eventhough we are spread across the globenow and congregation in Januaryprovided the opportunity to seemany of them.

2524

TIM CARPENTERFULL-TIME MBA 1988I’m working as a consultant providingprogramme and project managementservices to large organisations. In recentyears this included a variety of sectorsincluding Oil and Gas andPharmaceuticals. My currentassignment is providing a big brandfood manufacturer with programmemanagement services designed toprovide assurance of business growthdespite current economic conditions.On a personal note I’ve an adventureplanned in Sulawesi this summer –some diving and R&R in the northfollowed by trekking in the rainforestamong the mountains in the centre,finishing up in the south of the country.

HEATHER ROBINSON(NEE MCDOWALL)AND NICK ROBINSONBA BUSINESS FINANCE 2003–06Nick (Robinson) and I met on our firstday at Durham University. We begandating and in January 2008 Nickproposed via a treasure trail ofpersonalised clues which culminatedwith an engagement ring. We married at the spectacular Culzean Castle inScotland and spent our honeymoon inthe Maldives. Friends from the BusinessFinance cohort played a huge role at thewedding, Tony Teece was our best man,Rebecca Brophy read for us and JamesMonro attended as part of our guest list.

TONY NEWTONCURRENT DBA STUDENTI won first prize in the 2010 DurhamUniversity Research Poster Competition.My doctoral research focuses on tryingto determine just what makes somepeople much more effective networkersthan others. In my working life, I runworkshops to a range of clients whowant to improve their staff’s networkingeffectiveness. I am pictured herereceiving congratulations from DurhamUniversity’s Professor Tom McLeish,Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research).

OLAMEILEKAN PAUL KAYODECURRENT GLOBAL MBA STUDENTBefore beginning the Durham MBA I headed up the Investment andPortfolio Unit of Fresh Trust InvestmentLtd, a company whose core activitiesinvolve the stock market. DurhamBusiness School has certainly addedvalue to my intellectual thinking and it is a privilege to be a DBS student.Since December 2009 I have beenworking with Global Tides EnergyServices Ltd as Finance andAdministration Manager.

NISHANT PANDEYFULL-TIME MA 2009–10In August I started at the London WallJP Morgan offices and soon jet off toNew York for their (in)famous trainingprogramme for nine weeks. Upon myreturn, over the three year analystperiod, I will be rotated around threedifferent areas of the business egmergers and acquisitions, corporate,specialities etc. I am fortunate enoughto live in London with other Durhampostgraduate students who work atRBS and Accenture.

CLASS NOTES

1 Tim Carpenter

2. Tony Newton

3. Nishant Pandey

4. Lucy Winskell

5. Anurag Dhawan and Mitsu Thakore

6. Barb Kral-Hasty

1 2 3 64 5

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School NewsFD ELLIS SCHOLARSHIP The winner of the 2010 FD EllisScholarship is Daniel Crouch. Currentlyworking as an English teacher in Korea,he will be taking up his place on the full-time MBA programme in September this year. To earn his full fee scholarshipplace Daniel had to explain in 500 wordshow he would apply the learning gainedon the programme to his own career.This is the second year that the FD EllisScholarship has been awarded. It isfunded through the generosity of Dr David Ellis and his family, and named in memory of his late father.

AMBA STUDENT OF THE YEARAWARD 2010Current full-time MBA student ChinyereUdechukwu was successful against top-notch competition to make it to theshort list of this year’s prestigious AMBAStudent of the Year Award. This annualaward is fast becoming established asthe ultimate accolade for MBA studentsfrom accredited business schools.

WELL DONE PURPLE PLATOONIn July a group of more than 30 ladiesfrom the Business School took part inthe Cancer UK Race for Life in Durham.The team, appropriately named The

Purple Platoon, came into being inmemory of Jackie Rafferty, the School’sMarketing Officer, who died in Januarythis year. The team raised over £2,000,a magnificent effort, congratulationseveryone!

HONORARY DOCTORATE Professor David Croisdale-Appleby, amember of Durham Business School’sAdvisory Board, has been awarded anhonorary Doctor of Civil Law by DurhamUniversity. Professor Croisdale-Applebyis a prominent campaigner for socialjustice and has been a lay member of Durham's University Council since2001. He received his degree at aceremony at Durham Cathedral.

BEST PAPER AWARD DBS faculty members Dr Daniel Hung,Lecturer in Finance and Dr AnuragBanerjee, Reader in FinancialEconometrics have won the Best PaperAward at the 8th NTU InternationalConference on Economics, Finance and Accounting which took place inTaipei, Taiwan in June. Their paper wasentitled The Value of Past Stock ReturnInformation in the Formation of theMomentum Strategies.

University NewsGOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATEDCoinciding with Graduation week thissummer, the University’s OrientalMuseum has launched a major newpublication to commemorate its GoldenJubilee. The book, called Treasures ofthe Oriental Museum, comprises shortessays which offer a different view on anobject from the Museum’s collectionsand are accompanied by all new colourphotography of these stunning objects.Copies of the book can be obtained by visiting www.durham.ac.uk/oriental.museum/goldenjubilee

DURHAM – NATIONAL GREEN GOWNAWARD WINNERDurham University has won a much-coveted Green Gown award for“Sustainable Procurement”. The GreenGown Awards, now in their 6th year,recognise exceptional initiatives beingtaken by universities and colleges acrossthe UK to become more sustainable.With sustainability moving up theagenda, they have become establishedas the most prestigious recognition ofbest practice within the further andhigher education sector. Durhamrepresentatives received the accolade in June at the annual award ceremonywhich was held this year atShakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.

DRUM RHYTHM ON SONG FORWORLD CUP SUCCESSPeter Okeno Ong’are (pictured left),a researcher in Durham’s MusicDepartment, has developed a newnotation system for drums to overcomea modern-day problem where the familytradition of teaching African drummingis being lost. The notation method isbased upon a series of universal, easy-to-read and easy-to-write symbols andhas been used for the first time in thecomposition of ‘Vuma! Unity, Harmony,Goal!’, a song promoting a ‘rhythm forsuccess,’ intended to inspire footballersto score more goals during the recentFIFA World Cup in South Africa.

news news news news news news news news 27

Dates for the Diary SPEAKER EVENTS

DURHAM CORPORATE FORUM

27 October 2010 Durham Business School, UK

DURHAM SPEAKER SERIESEQUILIBRIUM WORKSHOP WITHSTEPHEN PAYNE

18 November 2010 Durham Business School, UK

MARTIN WOLF, FINANCIAL TIMES

02 December 2010 Durham Business School, UK

ENTREPRENEUR PANEL INCONJUNCTION WITH THEENTREPRENEUR FORUM

03 February 2011Durham Business School, UK

MICHAEL IZZA, INSTITUTE OFCHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS INENGLAND AND WALES (ICAEW)

10 March 2011Durham Business School, UK

25 YEAR MBA REUNION

03–05 June 2011 Durham, UK

DURHAM CONVENTION

03 June 2011 Durham Business School, UK

SAVE THE DATES

Continuing our successful speakerseries, the following dates have beenset for the coming academic year.Further details will become availablevia the website: www.agora.org.uk

07 April 201113 May 2011

RECRUITMENT EVENTS

PROVISIONAL DATES AND VENUESFOR 2010 INCLUDE:

WORLD GRAD SCHOOL TOUR Buenos Aires, Argentina 10 SeptemberParis, France 09 OctoberAthens, Greece 13 OctoberThessaloniki, Greece 14 OctoberBerlin, Germany 19 OctoberLondon, UK 23 OctoberWarsaw, Poland 28 OctoberIstanbul, Turkey 30 OctoberKuala Lumpur, 18 NovemberHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam 24 November

WORLD MBA TOUR

San Francisco, USA 12 SeptemberSeattle, USA 14 SeptemberRio de Janeiro, Brazil 15 SeptemberLondon, UK 23 OctoberMadrid, Spain 26 October

ACCESS MBA

St Petersburg, Russia 11 OctoberAlmaty, Kazakhstan 14 October

CONNECT 1-2-1

New York, USA 20 NovemberLondon, UK 27 November

PREVIEW/OPEN EVENTS

MBA PREVIEW EVENTS

01 September, 11.00–15.00hrsDurham Business School

Durham Business School, UK

DOCTORATE IN BUSINESSADMINISTRATION (DBA)OPEN EVENTS

25 September, 12.00–14.00hrs27 November, 12.00–14.00hrs

Durham Business School, UK Contact Anne Bailey on+44 (0)191 334 5226

Please note that dates and eventsare subject to change.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATIONTo book places for these events, contact the person named, or the Alumni Team on: Email: dbs.events@durham.ac.ukTelephone: +44 (0)191 334 5277

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP PROMOTE DBS?Prospective students, as well as the School, benefit from having alumni assist Durham academic staff with recruitment activities. If you feel able tovolunteer to help in this way please visit the events page at www.agora.org.uk

CONTENTS

IN THIS ISSUE...

04 I DEAN’S WELCOME /ALUMNI UPDATE 06 I THE GLOBAL LEARNING CENTRE 08 I CAREER PROGRESSION WITH GREATERLEADERSHIP PURPOSE

10 I RISK MANAGEMENT THROUGH CHARTING 12 I RISK MANAGEMENT THROUGH CHARTINGCONTINUED…

14 I FACULTY FOCUS

16 I HOW IMPORTANT IS A GOOD PERFORMANCE? 18 I GRADUATION 20 I ALUMNI Q&A /MENTOR OF THE YEAR

22 I LOCAL ASSOCIATION NEWS/BOOK REVIEW 24 I CLASS NOTES 26 I NEWS/DATES FOR THE DIARY

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Dean’s Welcome

Welcome to this, the latest issue of your alumnimagazine, Agoranews.

More than ever the challenges facingbusiness schools and organisations are inextricably linked. Both need to be agile, adapt quickly and avoidcomplacency in what is a changedeconomic landscape.

When I attended the latest AACSBConference earlier in the year it wasapparent that a number of the bigbusiness schools are struggling toimplement change because they havecomplex structures and vested interests.

There may also be cultural impedimentto change, some business schools will bemuch more flexible in their thinking andit is these that will be able to provide amore relevant curriculum, an improvedstudent experience and, importantly,more relevance in their research. Here atDurham Business School we continuallyreview our curriculum to ensure that ourprogrammes reflect what is happening in the wider business world.

Noteworthy changes have recently beenmade to the School’s leadership team.Following Professor Timothy Clark’smove from Deputy Dean of DBS to Deanof the Graduate School, the decisionwas taken to create two Deputy Deanposts. Consequently, I am pleased totell you that Professor Geoff Moore hasbeen appointed Deputy Dean (Learning& Teaching) and Professor Martin Laffinappointed Deputy Dean (Research). I am sure that everyone will join me incongratulating both Geoff and Martin as they take on these exciting andchallenging new roles.

I am pleased to report that plans todevelop the Mill Hill Lane campus areprogressing well. A series of consultationswith staff will be continued over thecoming months and the design team arepreparing for a planning application to besubmitted in September. This is in linewith the original programme which wouldensure the first phase of the project iscompleted by September 2012. Thefunding approval will be considered inOctober by University Council and thiswill finally determine the timescale forcompletion. Further information andmore architects drawings are available on the School’s website atwww.dur.ac.uk/dbs/about/development

I would like to extend my personalcongratulations to the latest group of newly graduated alumni followingtheir congregation ceremonies atDurham Cathedral in July. I wish all of them every success for the future.Photographs of the day’s celebrationscan be found on page 18.

Finally, I’d also like to take thisopportunity to thank every one of you for your continued support and commitment to the School.

Professor Rob Dixon, Dean

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Alumni – UpdateAs the end of the academic year approaches, we have much to celebratehere at Durham Business School – the prospect of the improved andextended School building, the launch of the Global Learning Centre (page6), exciting new appointments including Dr Lutao Ning (page 15), and afond farewell to one of our most recognisable faces at DBS from the pasttwenty years, Alan Jessop (page 14).

In this issue we have alumni input fromtwo ladies who completed an MBA inthe 1990’s and 2000’s respectively.Mary Goldsmith, who moved to Australiaand set up her own consulting companytalks about life after Durham (page 20)and we have an article written by alumnaLiz Hughes who inspires us with herthoughts on achieving greaterleadership purpose (page 8).

Also in this issue, Professor Tim Clarkshares his insight into the art of publicspeaking (page 16) and after requestsfor more articles focusing oneconomics, alumnus Maxie Islamillustrates the power of charting todetermine market trends in riskmanagement (page 10).

Over the past six months I have had the pleasure of travelling to Shanghai,Beijing and Hong Kong to meet withmany alumni. It is always fascinating tohear about their Durham experience andwhat they have gone on to achieve inboth their personal and professionallives. I would like to say a big thank you to our Local Association Leaders,Gemma Pan, Abby Wang, Eddy Yu and Tina Chiu, who helped coordinatesome wonderful events, especially the Shanghai BBQ in July (page 22).

The coming year promises to be anotherexciting one with lots of opportunities totravel and meet with more of the alumninetwork. Please see page 22 for detailsof my forthcoming trip to India.

I am also very happy to announce that2011 will be the 25th Anniversary ofthe Durham MBA. To celebrate thiswonderful occasion, the school will behosting an ‘Anniversary Weekend’ onJune 3–5 2011. The merriment willcoincide with the third DurhamConvention whereby business leaderswill be invited to address students,alumni and corporate partners of theSchool covering a range of topicalbusiness issues. Over the weekend wehope to offer a range of short lecturesdelivered by faculty past and present,as well as lots of fun activitiesculminating in a formal dinner.

Finally, for the next issue of Agoranewswe are contemplating reducing ourcarbon footprint, by only posting hardcopies of the magazine to those who are registered members of our onlinecommunity and those who specificallyrequest it. In this way we can reducecosts in-house, do our bit for theenvironment and encourage alumni toregister for our Agoraweb all at once. If you haven’t taken the opportunity to

join our online community please do so to take advantage of our careersresource section with tools and tips forobtaining jobs in specific sectors. Manyof you may also be interested to listento our weekly ‘Management Issues’podcasts waxing lyrical about the latestbusiness matters. This is a fantasticway for a busy professional to absorbvaluable snippets on a particularbusiness issue with a 5 to 10 minutelong podcast.

As ever we hope you enjoy this read andwelcome any feedback or suggestionsyou may have on improving ourcommunication to the Agora network.

Alexandra SedgwickAlumni Relations & DevelopmentManager

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THE GLOBAL LEARNING CENTREDurham Business School coming to you… wherever you are

Durham Business School has a long history of innovation in supporting the needs of postgraduate students for whom traditional on-campus study, whetherfull-time or part-time, is simply not an option. Presently, the School has over 900 students undertaking Masters programmes around the world, representingaround two-thirds of Durham University’s total part-time student body.

From May 2010, these students have a new home in the Business Schoolwith the establishment of the GlobalLearning Centre, a dedicateddepartment for the delivery andmanagement of degree programmestaking place away from Durham itself.The Centre has been formed throughthe integration of the School’s distancelearning and distance taught units,bringing together Masters-levelprogrammes delivered off-site, from theprestigious Executive MBA programmein partnership with the EuropeanBusiness School in Frankfurt, to the

worldwide network of early-careermanagers undertaking Durham’srapidly-growing MA Management and MA Marketing degrees.

Quality of the student experience isparamount in the Global LearningCentre. Students and their sponsors can expect the highest standards of support from the Centre’s veryexperienced Client Services Team, with dedicated Programme Coordinatorsthere to look after the needs of studentsfrom initial application through to finalgraduation, underpinned by a newLearning Resources Team, there to

lead developments in programmedelivery and to connect students with world-class faculty wherever they are based around the globe.

With substantial investments in coursedesign, e-learning technologies and a full-time Centre Director (Dr MikeNicholson) reporting directly to theDean, the Global Learning Centrerepresents a significant commitment byDurham University to satisfy the needsof part-time postgraduate students andcreating a global learning communityfor the twenty-first century.

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MBA ProgrammesMBA provision is the cornerstone of theGlobal Learning Centre’s portfolio, withno less than three major programmesavailable world-wide.

Durham’s now well-establishedExecutive MBA programmes in Germanyand the Caribbean represent thedistance-taught element of the Centre’sactivities, with around 125 studentscurrently enjoying the benefits of a high-quality MBA experience deliveredin a location convenient to them. Apartnership with the European BusinessSchool, the DBS/EBS Executive MBAprogramme is a dual-site offering thatcombines modules delivered inFrankfurt with opportunities to studyalongside colleagues on the Durham-based EMBA, expanding the networks ofparticipants and enhancing the learningexperience through interaction both withMBA peers and faculty members fromtwo of the world’s leading businessschools. Further afield, the CaribbeanMBA programme enjoys the benefits of Barbados as its stunning location,attracting participants from across theCaribbean and North America. Deliveredin association with the CaribbeanManagement Education Centre(CariMEC), the programme mirrors theDurham EMBA in content and delivery,with almost a decade of success inproducing high-calibre MBA graduatesattuned to the demands of the globalmarketplace.

By far the largest student body withinthe Global Learning Centre, are thoseundertaking the recently re-launchedand rebranded Global MBA programme,with around 600 students currentlyparticipating. For almost 25 years,Durham Business School has operated a cutting-edge distance learning MBAprogramme, consistently listed withinthe FT Top 40, which now forms theplatform for a truly innovative new MBA experience.

Students on the Global MBA now have a very real opportunity to fit learningaround their lifestyles. Traditionaldistance learning modules are deliveredin parallel with taught modules,enabling students to “mix-and-match”delivery modes in order to bettermanage completion and blend the typeof MBA experience that best fits theirindividual needs.

Substantial investment is underpinningall of the Centre’s activities, bucking thetrend in terms of the current financialconstraints on higher education. Fromonline seminars and podcasts to high-quality printed materials, the LearningResources Team are driving upstandards in supporting the needs of off-site learners across the globe andproviding new arenas within which MBA participants from all three of theCentre’s programmes can come togetherto study and socialise in a state-of-the-art learning environment. With theintroduction of enhanced career supportservices for off-site learners and a newcontinuous professional developmentprogramme, Durham’s ambitions arevery clear – to build a truly world-classGlobal MBA programme that does notaccept that delivery at a distance shouldin any way involve compromise in thequality of MBA experience a studentshould expect.

MA ProgrammesOriginally conceived of as a way toimprove accessibility to Durham’s full-time “conversion” Masters programmes,the distance learning MAs inManagement and Marketing have beenthe success story of the past five years,achieving growth of around 50% overthe past twelve months alone. Theprogrammes have also very much takenon a life of their own, rapidly establishingthemselves as the MA-of-choice for early career managers and high-calibregraduate management trainees,particularly within the retail and services sectors.

Recently re-branded as Durham’s Part-time MA programmes, the Managementand Marketing offerings will soon bejoined by a new Financial Managementdegree and a Retail and Servicesspecialism of the existing MAManagement. Content is being tailoredmore to the needs of early careerbusiness professionals, with majorinvestments in both course developmentand technology, and a morecomprehensive approach to careerdevelopment is being introduced. Withoff-shore study opportunities, taughtmodule options and a new InternationalMA Summer School, the GlobalLearning Centre will further develop itsMasters portfolio to better fit the needsof pre-MBA graduate managersworldwide.

Further DevelopmentsThe MBA and MA programmes at theheart of the Centre’s activities are a starting point for a range of newinitiatives that will further enhance thereputation of the School as a whole.Durham has a well-established traditionof interfacing with the corporate sectorand the Global Learning Centre is nowcomplementing the work of theManagement Development Centre with arange of blended learning short-courses,open enrolment and client-specificExecutive Education products, and in-house degree programmes to fit therequirements of the modern globalorganisation, including a major newCorporate MBA development initiative.For alumni, there will be a growingportfolio of options through which to“top up” and update managementknowledge, all employing the Centre’sblended-learning philosophy in order toreaffirm Durham’s commitment to high-quality life-long learning. Overall, theGlobal Learning Centre aims to utilisethe latest technology in order to offersomething for everyone, wherever theyare in the world.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATIONon The Global Learning Centre and its products and services,contact the Centre Management Team on glc.director@durham.ac.uk

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LET’S CONSIDER THE DYNAMICS!Competition for roles in our shiftingmarket place is intense. Given thepessimistic employment dynamics in aperiod of recession, there still remainsthe expectation that to grow your career,a positive promotion must be achievedevery 3 years, often outside of yourexisting organisation. This is hugelyexpensive. Massive sums are spent onrecruitment and training, not to mentionthe time (consider it a period of lowproductivity) it takes to gain tractionwhen embedding a new employee into acompany culture and processes. A moreeconomical approach would be toprovide high potentials with significantopportunities for advancement. Wouldthere be significant accretive benefits ifhiring and training costs were spent onemployee development, where top talentis encouraged to take on challengingpositions? In reality, companies pay lip service to their model employees.They over-promise and under-deliver, orworse, send them headlong into a careerblock. This will inhibit organisationalgrowth. Why? Because high potentialemployees will look outside fordevelopment.

ARE YOU LOOKING FORA GREAT OPPORTUNITY?The July/August 2010 edition ofHarvard Business Review: “ManagingYourself: Job Hopping to the Top andOther Fallacies” by Monika Hamoricomments on 4 Fallacies that arepertinent to today’s job market. Theyprovide a healthy jolt to your thinkingaround career dynamics.

Fallacy 1:Job-Hoppers Prosper

Fallacy 2:A Move Should Be a Move Up

Fallacy 3:Big Fish Swim in Big Ponds

Fallacy 4:Career and Industry Switchers Are Penalized

LET’S CONSIDER FURTHER…Internal promotions deliver greatopportunities up to a point, but watchfor the career cul-de-sac, often near the top. This delivers a risk to theorganisation. People generally hop when faced with frustrating barriers.

Are upward moves the only option?Generally yes, but sometimes ahorizontal move may be considered,either internally or outside of yourorganisation. Be confident, have a

defined future strategy, and considerthis approach only with a targeted end point in mind.

Corporate leading companies haveoutstanding internal developmentalopportunities but 64% of executiveswho left an admired company (measuredon Fortune’s Most Admired) transferredto a firm not included on the list.Opportunities in smaller organisationscan be advantageous. There may befrustration with a rigid succession plan;do people have to morph to progress?Smaller companies may deliver careerenrichment for those that thrive ondexterity and rapid growth.

Successful leaders analyse and usemodels from different industries. Theastute leader develops transferrableskills and understands how they can be applied. This broadens prospects forgrowth. After all, 29% of moves takepeople across industries and another23% across different segments of thesame industry’

How daunting it is to navigate thecomplexity of career management.However, there is something that is of proven significance and shouldperhaps be considered first.

Career Progression withGreater Leadership PurposeLiz Hughes is an internationally experienced leadership coach and strategist who fundamentally believes that the need to grow exists within every individual. Her focus rests solely on her client’s personal and organisational improvement.Developmental needs are addressed through crisp, concise methodology, using tried and tested techniques. This framework is then aligned very specifically to the detailed aspirations of the individual. Executives, who have been supported by her, have gained key international roles in market leading organisations.

Her approach actively challenges managers to first lead themselves in order to better lead their organisations. This can be difficult, but without doubt unlocks the potential for growth, bringing about accelerated and brilliant results.

An award winning MBA graduate from Durham Business School, she has almost 20years experience in leadership roles delivering growth in multifaceted organisations.

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CAN YOU IDENTIFY,UNDERSTAND AND VERBALISEYOUR GREATER LEADERSHIPPURPOSE?Probably not – it’s a unique expressivedeclaration where words can be tricky to find, but once nailed, is massivelypowerful.

Your purpose defines you. It is uniquelyyours, and will enable you to exceedyour potential. It will release asignificant, inspirational, emotional shift and will expose your true value.

Here are some examples of clear,uplifting and potent purpose statementsfrom DBS students and alumni. All carryan impressive expectation of success.

‘To help improve the life of women in Africa’

‘To help charitable organisations improvetheir income’

‘To unlock the potential in leaders to deliver growth for them and theirorganisation’

HOW TO GET STARTED.Appoint someone you know and trust as your greater leadership purposeguide/partner. Start a series ofconversations where you considerspecifically designed questions.

Below is a selection, not an exhaustivelist!

• What are my most significantcapabilities?

• Where have I made a real differenceto those around me?

• What values expose my inner identity?

• What do I do that brings me the mostjoy at work?

• What am I most proud of?

• What am I good at that makes otherssucceed?

• In which situations have I always beensuccessful?

Reflect on the information. Express yourideas. Are you energised and motivated?

OUTCOMEThe results will be outstanding to you in terms of personal experience, andoptimistically expressive to those youhope to influence.

Use your greater leadership purpose forpersonal advancement and to engagewith those around you. You will revealyour differentiated advantage, andgrowth will be the outcome for you and your future employer.

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The candlestick and the hanging man:Risk management through charting

Maxie Islam, Durham Business SchoolMBA alumnus 1994–95, explains howcharting techniques can be used byfront offices to aid the execution ofproprietary trades.

Maxie works as Vice President for BNY Mellon Asset Servicing in theirPerformance and Risk division in the City of London.

In the world of performance measurement and reporting,risk management appears very much a new kid on theblock. Since 1995 I have been involved in riskmanagement in one form or another across multiplemarkets including commodities, FX, fixed income andequities. In almost all of these asset classes there is oneunderlying tool that some risk managers utilise – the powerof charting. In its most elemental form, charting is used todetermine a market’s trend and therefore conclude someform of analyses in order to control one’s risk appetite.

A deeper level analysis would lead tosuch charting techniques being analysedto determine entry and exit points of amarket. In this article I shall attempt tointroduce these charting techniques to a relatively new audience and perhapsdemonstrate the kind of tools a frontoffice uses in order to aid execution of proprietary trades.

Allow me to introduce to you the humblecandlestick. It looks like a bar from anybar chart but in essence comprises of a body rather than a skeleton. Like on a bar, a candle shown to the right ofFigure 1 has open and close values and also high and low values are all depicted.

So what’s the point of this you may beasking? Well, one major advantage ofviewing a candle chart vs a bar chart is that it allows you at a glance to seewhether a particular trading period hasbeen bullish or bearish overall. Take alook at the following charts. The dailychart in Figure 2 shows the FTSE 100trending downwards – all very clear sofar. But what is happening during eachindividual day? At a glance, the barchart is not so clear and we have toidentify which is the open and which is the close for each and any bar youchoose to analyse.

Candlesticks remove the need to dothat. Look at Figure 3, the equivalentcandle chart. Immediately you’ll noticethe latter chart provides a more visuallyinteresting record of the price action;you can see what is happening at eachindividual trading period where it iseither an uptick or a downtick. However,you will see two colours of candles inFigure 4. One is black-bodied (bearish)and the other is white (bullish). Notehow on the black candle the open andclose points are opposite to the white.(The blue candles in the FTSE chartsare the black equivalents).

So now that we know candlesticks canbe black or white, what else could theypossibly tell us? It’s a little known factthat candlestick charting was first usedby Japanese rice traders in the 18thcentury. In particular, candlesticks havemore visible bullish/bearish reversalsigns compared to bars and up untilrecently, this type of charting was aclosely guarded secret by the Japaneseuntil the West started utilising thismethod for its own trading activities.

So what is it we must look for to makeus all wealthy? Ah, if life was only thatsimple...

Candlestick charting is an art ratherthan a science, so over the next coupleof issues of PMCRR I will introduce toyou the most common of the candlestickchart patterns and, more importantly,how to use these against other technicalindicators.

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The full version of this article first appeared in Performance Measurement and Client ReportingReview (PMCRR) Vol: 2.4 and is used with the kind permission of Osney Media. It is the first in a series which will be published in PMCRR, to read the full article or find out more visit:www.pmcrreview.com

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THE HAMMERAlong with candlesticks, be prepared forthe weird and wonderful names thatcome attached with them. Please meetthe ‘hammer’. It takes on either of thefollowing forms seen in Figure 5 (a) &(b). The hammer is a single candlestickwith either a black or a white body andis a bullish reversal signal sometimesfound at the troughs of a trendingmarket. To qualify as a hammer, the tail of the candlestick must be at leasttwice as long as the body that hangsunderneath it (often referred to as a‘shadow’) – see Figure 5 (a) & (b). Ahammer usually means that the marketcannot find any more lows and is nowready for an upturn in action. Have alook at the following charts on page ?and verify the hammers:

• Figure 6: Hammer example 1

• Figure 7: Hammer example 2

• Figure 8: Hammer example 3

Even though all these hammerformations have black bodies, theycould have been white as well. Thereare other bullish reversal signals that wewill discuss and these will be reservedfor a future article.

A point to note here is that thesereversal signals must never be looked atin isolation. A number of other factors(both technical and fundamental) mustalso be used before a decision is madeon either entering or exiting a market.

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THE HANGING MANYou may be thinking if there is acandlestick that also tells of animpending downturn after a bullish run? You would be right. Allow me tointroduce you to the ‘hanging man’ inFigure 9. Hanging men can sometimesbe found at the peaks of markets andusually foretells of a change in direction.Much like the hammer, the tail (orshadow) must be at least twice as long as the body in order to qualify as a reversal signal.

Examine the following hanging mancandle formations in Figure 10: Bed, Bath & Beyond stock price andFigure11: FTSE100. Notice how each of the hanging men are close to thepeaks of the markets before theimpending downturn. A hanging manusually signifies that the market is closeto its highs and is due a correction.

The interested among you might think,‘Well, I never knew about hammers andhanging men’. If so, I would encourageyou to have a look at these the next time you are sitting in front of yourBloomberg terminal or Reuters screen.Instead of looking at bar charts, selectthe candlestick option and see if youcan determine these patterns at theirrespective peaks and troughs. Have thecandlestick signals worked each andevery time?

For the sceptics out there – and therewill be quite a few who remain to beconvinced – you may think I haveselected a few carefully chosen charts to demonstrate the points I am making.Indeed, you would be right in thinkingthis. At this stage, these charts are onlyto demonstrate how candle patterns workand one should never use these signalsin isolation, as I have said before.

As the series progresses, I will show youhow to use hanging men and hammersin conjunction with other analyses inorder to form a more complete pictureand one that tells a fuller story of what a market is doing (or not doing).

Once you have grasped a few of thesepatterns and they become familiarterritory, I can assure you that you will automatically be looking for them in future. I first stumbled acrosscandlesticks while completing my MBAat Durham during the summer of 1995and started using them in a professionalmanner the following year. Whilecandlestick charting is not part of mycurrent work domain, they remain an interesting part of my personalinvestment analyses. For those who are not able to access any of the datavendors that include charting as part of their services, you can subscribe to a free forum called Interactive Investor(www.iii.co.uk) and the site will supplycharts (albeit a few minutes delayed) in both bars and candles.

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Faculty member Alan Jessopreflects on his time at DBS

Durham Business School was a verydifferent place when I joined in 1987,and very different from teaching in anengineering department in London.Moving to the North East was prettyeasy not just because of my GeordieGranny but more from my parents-in-law, refugees from Newcastle, who had introduced me to the joys of firstfooting (Google it), Newcastle BrownAle (drink it) and also, vitally, to thelocal version of spoken English.

In 1987 we had a full-time MBA ofabout thirty students, almost all ofwhom were British (well, English, then)which made for an ‘ambiance’ aboutthe place very different from themulticultural bustle of 2010. However,back then it wasn’t called an MBA, itwas called an MSc because this wasthought in some quarters to be morerespectable. The name change cameswiftly and I pretty quickly foundmyself director of the programme, thefirst of two stints. The support staffwas, incredibly it now seems, oneperson – my secretary Ena Whittle. We also delivered the first year of the part-time MBA when that wasintroduced. Happy days!

The School ran executive educationprogrammes for British Gas and forother local and national businesses,and taught undergraduates too, butonly as contributors to bachelorsprogrammes in engineering, Chineseand others. It was firmly our belief that management education was bydefinition a post-experience as well as a postgraduate activity.

Well, you know how we have grown inthe intervening twenty three years,expanding in all directions – studentnumbers, programmes, building and,inevitably, my waistline too. There havebeen growing pains of course, but lifehas never been dull and I think we canbe pleased with what must always be a work in progress.

I stop teaching full-time at the end ofSeptember but will continue part-timefor a little longer. As the Queen Mothersaid when asked what it was like beingthe last Empress of India, it was funwhile it lasted. I thank those of you who attended my classes; it would have been rather lonely without you.More importantly I thank you for thestimulation which teaching you has given me.

After twenty three years at Durham Business School Dr AlanJessop is preparing to slow down and scale back on hiscommitments. Currently Senior Lecturer in Operational Research,Alan has previously held roles including Director of the full-timeMBA programme and Chair of Board of Studies and he is wellknown for his ready wit and love of small sports cars!

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The depth and breadth of Durham Business School’s faculty continues toexpand highlighting the School’s commitment to excellence in teaching andresearch. Here we introduce you to a recent addition to the School’s faculty.

Introducing… Dr Lutao Ning, Lecturer in International Business Lutao’s multidisciplinary research, teaching and consulting background ranges frominternational business and management to law, political economy and developmentstudies. He holds a PhD degree from the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College),together with an MBA from the University of Liverpool and an MA from the Schoolof Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

What is your current role?My main role is to conduct research in the field of international business and disseminate my research results to the wider society. I am currently an MBA and MA module leader for developing and teaching theGlobalising Strategic Management and Global Business courses.

What are the most challengingparts of your job?It is both challenging and exciting for academics to conduct research thatallows them to explain new commercialphenomena to the business communityas well as making theoreticalcontributions to business research. I certainly find this knowledge creationprocess an important and enjoyable part of my job as well a challenge.

What do you want to achieve?I hope my research can create a positive impact on the way our businesscommunity understands today’sturbulent global economic environment,as well as provide practical applicationsfor the international business communityand regulatory bodies to ensureglobalisation work for the common good promoting the idea of ‘freedom,fairness and responsibility’ for all.

What drives you?Today’s world has become increasinglyintegrated but polarised. We are yet todevelop a mindset for global collectiveaction toward effective and democraticglobal development. As a scholar, I amdetermined to make a difference byproviding research and teaching to thewider international business community

and help them to understand globaldevelopment, particularly the pressingissues faced by developing countries. Ibelieve the business community couldplay a leading role to make globalisationwork for all or at least much better bothfor the developing and developed world.

What was the best career adviceyou were given?Learning does not end when you finishstudy at university. I have learned a greatdeal from the scholars, friends,colleagues, clients and students I havemet all over the world. Constantlyreading, thinking and learning fromothers would be my ‘secrets for success’.Of course, the crucial thing for your own career development is that you enjoy what you do!

What advice can you offer to studentsand alumni thinking of an academiccareer?Looking back at my scholarly journey so far, I hope some of this advice may be helpful:

Passion for your research and teaching:you need to be very enthusiastic aboutyour own research field and instil thispassion in people who you teach andcommunicate with. You also need totransform such passion into strong self-motivation as working long hours is sometimes necessary to get through some difficult research and lengthyadministrative processes.

Meaningful and beneficial research for society: this could be the greatestchallenge you face in being an academic,but it can be extremely fulfilling when

stakeholders can draw practicalimplications from your research toimprove their work and our society.

People skills: as an academic you willneed to work with a diverse range of people. These might include yourstudents, peers around the globe, people from the business community,institutions and funding bodies. Good ‘people skills’ enable you tocommunicate with them effectively and efficiently for mutual benefit.

What are you currently working onat Durham Business School?My main research interests are on the strategic development issues of multinational enterprises fromdeveloping countries and particularlyChina and East Asia. I have recentlypublished research in a book calledChina’s Rise in the World Informationand Communication TechnologyIndustry: Industrial Strategies and the Catch-up Development Model byRoutledge (2009 New York and London).

My latest research examined the rapidinternational expansion of Chinesemultinationals during the current globalfinancial crisis. In it I have discussedwhether Chinese companies can takeadvantage of the crisis to improveinternational competitiveness throughthe acquisition of strategic assets overseas.Additionally I havepresentedmy researchat SOAS, University of London and willbe presenting at Oxford and HarvardUniversities in the coming months.

Youcan readmore aboutLutao’s researchin thenext issueofAgoranews.

introducing......

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WHEN IT COMES TO PUBLIC SPEAKING –HOW IMPORTANT IS A GOOD PERFORMANCE?

1.Professor Timothy Clark is Professor ofOrganisational Behaviour and Dean ofDurham University’s Graduate School.

2.Professor David Greatbatch is a VisitingProfessor at Durham Business School.

1. 2.

To be regarded as a good public speakerhas long been an aspiration of businessleaders, politians and great thinkersalike. Since time immemorial the abilityto capture the imagination of anaudience and win their support hasbeen crucial to success – especiallypolitical success.

Here Professors Timothy Clark andDavid Greatbatch explore the impactthat live oratory can have on publicopinion, using the UK’s recent, andnew, experience of Party LeaderDebates on live TV as an example. Does live debating bring issues to life or can it kill them stone dead?

Announcing the death of live speakingis perhaps a little premature. Despitethe plethora of media, live oratorycontinues to remain important and can significantly influence our opinionsabout an individual. To a large extentsignificant historical political figures areremembered through recordings of theirspeeches that are shown to subsequentgenerations. President Kennedy isremembered for his inaugural speech as well as that he delivered at the Berlinwall in which he declared ‘Ich bin einBerliner’ (an ambiguous phrase whichcould be taken to mean ‘I am a donut’as well as ‘I am a Berliner’). SimilarlyWinston Churchill is remembered morefor his war time oratory (e.g., ‘We shallfight on the beaches’, ‘Blood, toil, tearsand sweat’, ‘Sinews of peace – Ironcurtain’) than his actions as apeacetime Prime Minister. MartinLuther King is forever associated withhis “I Have a Dream” speech.

The Party Leader debates in the recent British General Election havedemonstrated that people’s evaluationof an individual’s oratorical performanceinfluenced perceptions of theirleadership abilities. Grace WyndhamGoldie, who, as a producer at the BBC,did much to change television coverageof UK General Elections, points out thattelevision is watched singly or in smallgroups in people’s homes with theconsequence that ‘communication ontelevision… had to be, direct, informaland friendly, and that its style wasbound to be appropriate to theappearance of the speaker as atemporary guest in somebody’s house’(1977, p. 331)*.The point is thatpoliticians have had to develop to a more constrained, low-key andpersonal style in order to successfullycommunicate with the TV audience at home. As the three main UK partyleaders discovered after the first PartyLeaders’ Debate, the rewards for thosewho master these techniques can beinstant and significant.

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The Party Leader Debates were asignificant innovation in the last UKGeneral Election. Their novelty attracteda lot of media attention before and aftereach debate and large viewing figures.As each debate was broadcast it wasaccompanied by numerous blogs and a “worm” (a line that fluctuated as it indicated the level of audienceagreement or disagreement with thestatements being made). After the first debate on Thursday 15th April theinstant polls showed that Nick Clegg(Liberal Democrat) was rated the bestperformer on the night. Some instantpolls put him over twenty percent aheadof Gordon Brown (Labour) and DavidCameron (Conservative).

Running up to the debate mostcommentators agreed that as the leaderof the smallest party Clegg had themost to gain given his general lack ofexposure and profile with the electoratewhen compared to other two partyleaders. Up until that event he had not been treated as an equal inParliamentary exchanges between party leaders, such as Prime Minister’sQuestions. For the first time he wasafforded the same profile as the otherparty leaders. His enormous success inthe first debate partly emanated fromhis much increased profile with manyviewers who had little previousfamiliarity with him, but his positivepoll ratings also benefited from anumber of features from the debateitself. First, it was very noticeable thatBrown sought to align himself withClegg by mentioning on a number ofoccasions that Clegg and he were inagreement with one another. AlthoughClegg rejected Brown’s assertion thatthey agreed on reform of the Houses of Commons and Lords, Brownnevertheless kept pointing out theirsimilarities whilst attacking Cameron.Indeed, on several occasions Brownclearly tried to unsettle Cameron byinterrupting his answers and notpermitting him to develop his answers. In contrast, Cameron attacked Brownand occasionally Clegg. Thus Clegg was

attacked the least. He was thereforedistanced from the occasional close-quarter skirmishes between Brown andCameron that reinforced his generalpoint that he represented somethingdifferent. This was reinforced by hisposition to the left of Cameron andBrown which gave him the opportunityto turn and become an onlooker as the other two party leaders debatedamongst themselves.

Clegg also made the greatest and mostsuccessful attempts to connect with theaudience. He built a stronger rapportwith the audience members than theother party leaders and this is reflectedin much subsequent comment abouthis natural and engaging style. In hisinitial answers to each question heconsciously mentioned the questioner’sname. He listed the questioners byname in his final summary. He alsosought to make eye contact when thequestioner was not always visible. Bydoing this he was seeking to reduce the social distance between himself and the audience members and usinghis connection with a single audiencemember to build rapport more generally.As the closing credits rolled it wasinteresting to see Brown walk directlytowards the audience and shake thehands of those seated in the front row.Perhaps a late attempt to connect with the audience.

By the time of the second debate Brownand Cameron had started to learn anddeploy successfully the practices thatClegg had used so successfully. Theydropped the use of anecdotes andfamiliarity with one another and soughtto actively engage the audience, lookdirectly into the camera and focus moreon policy differences than similarities.The changes were reflected in the pollsfor the second debate which showedthat although Cameron and Clegg viedfor first position the three leaders’performances were not rated too farapart. In the final debate Cameron and to a lesser extent Brown furtheramended the way they presented so

that the differences with Clegg werelessened. Once again the polls suggestthat either Cameron or Clegg won with Brown coming third. Thus, the conventions that Clegg used so successfully in the first debate were gradually adopted by the otherparty leaders reducing their stylisticdifferences. As this has happened thependulum perhaps swung away from a focus on performance to policy.

Overall, these three televised partyleader debates show that live oratory is still a powerful tool and remains animportant source of the public’sperception of a politician’s image andabilities. They have perhaps raisedawareness of the importance ofeffective political oratory as the partyleaders and their messages are exposedto an audience of millions rather thanthousands and the instant criticalscrutiny of bloggers, commentators andthe “worm”. Apart from their novelty akey reason for the importance of thesedebates is that they provided audiencemembers with an opportunity to use the verbal and non-verbal cues of eachparty leader to ascertain their leadershipability. Therefore each party leader’soratorical skills become a proxy for theirleadership skills. As Matthew Parriscommented in The Times newspaper“Who would have thought that at thebeginning of the 21st century we wouldbe playing out this political battle inwhat — for all its novelty — is really soancient a format? The frame may havebeen your television screen, but on it weplayed a game that was familiar to theAncient Greeks. This contest has beenjudged on the art of Public Rhetoric. It proved to be stunning”.

This article is based on a blog on ‘TheGreat Debate’ written by ProfessorsClark and Greatbatch for the ReutersUK’s website.

*Matthew Parris “How TV became the lightning rod for voters’ rage with politicians” The Times, April 30, 2010.

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On the first of July the School was pleased to extend a warmwelcome to graduates, following congregation ceremonies atDurham Cathedral.

Graduates across all programmes, including many from theSchool’s Management Development Centre, some of whomhad travelled from Gibraltar, joined with family and friendsto enjoy the special atmosphere that only a Durhamgraduation can provide.

The conferring of degrees ceremony was followed by a barbeque at the Business School, providing an idealopportunity for graduates to catch up with fellow students and staff, enjoying the sun and celebration.

GRADUATION

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20

Durham MBA alumna Mary Goldsmith, talks about life post-MBA.

Mary lives and works in Melbourne, Australia, combining her extensive corporate and governmentexperience in Human Resources, Executive Search and Selection, Executive Education and CareerTransition consulting, to offer services for individuals and groups at every career stage. She completedher Durham MBA in 1994.

Q.How do you feel your Durham MBAprepared you for your current role?

A. After I returned to Australia, myDurham MBA gave me the passport I needed for my perfect job. Whilemy corporate HR and consultingexperience were important, Iwouldn’t have been considered forthe position of Program Director, Mt Eliza Business School (Australia’sequivalent of Ashridge, now part ofMelbourne Business School), withoutmy MBA. That experience gave methe expertise, confidence andcredentials to work in my currentcapacity as a Career and LeadershipDevelopment consultant to a diverserange of clients.

Q.Can you describe your typical day?A. Given I’m self-employed, no day isthe same! This week I spent a day at one of Australia’s leading banksworking with managers whosedepartment had been abolished. As I am currently involved with the recruitment of a board director

for a Not-For-Profit organisation, I spent a couple of days interviewingcandidates. This morning I met with the firm which hosts my newlydeveloped 360 degree feedback tool.

Q.What would you say has been themost satisfying aspect of your careerso far?

A. I love working with and encouragingthe development of talented people.At Mt Eliza Business School Idesigned and delivered executivedevelopment programs for middleand senior managers. Now I enjoymentoring professionals who need acareer boost or who are experiencingcareer transition and change.

Q.What do you do to unwind? A. I have a gorgeous spoodle calledChica, who needs walking twice a day. Although we live in the city, I love to clear my mind by walkingthe dog around Melbourne’sfabulous gardens.

Q.Where do you envisage your careermight take you in the future?

A. I’m keen to spend the next few yearscoaching and developing our futureleaders. In particular I hope tomentor women who are pursuingsenior leadership opportunities in corporate and governmentorganisations across Australia. Nowwe have both a female GovernorGeneral and Prime Minister, thefuture is very exciting!

Q. If you had one piece of career advicefor Durham graduates starting outwhat would it be?

A. While your Durham MBA will give you access to some greatopportunities, it’s just the next phasein your career journey. It doesn’tstop there… it’s important to applywhat you’ve learned and commit to your ongoing professionaldevelopment.

Q&A

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Mike Burrett –Mentor of the YearThe ‘Mentor of the Year’ award was launched in Agoranews last autumn.We are delighted to announce that Durham Business School ‘Mentor ofthe Year’ 2010 is Mike Burrett.

Mike, who is a member of the School’s MBA Advisory Board, has providedvaluable mentoring support to his three mentees as well as informal supportto other students outside of the formal mentor scheme.

In his role as mentor, Mike keeps inregular contact with his studentsthrough one-to-one meetings going thatextra mile by forwarding suitable jobpostings to assist with their careerplanning. Whilst this is not explicitly an objective of the mentor role it hasproved most valuable to his mentees.

Mike first came across his group ofmentees through the Boardroom Activityduring the MBA programme’s term one.This innovative initiative integratesacademic learning from the coremodules into a live boardroom situation.It is designed to replicate the tensionsof a real leadership challenge in order to develop the life skills required in abusiness environment. The activityculminates in a role-play of a boardroommeeting. Mike put to use his experienceas a company executive, chairing ateam session and providing guidance,direction and feedback.

Commenting on the success of one of his mentee matches Mike said;“Mentoring initially was to provide (thementee) with confidence that he can,and will succeed, later we honed itdown to CV preparation, job search,type of role and industry he would like to work in.”

The Mentoring Scheme expandedfurther this year with 99 successfulmatches compared to 70 last year.These included students from the full-time MBA, part-time MBA, GlobalMBA, MSc and MA programmes. Many mentees have commented very positively on their experience of the scheme.

“Very good. I got a lot of support afterthe first communication with mymentor, such as how to reduce thepressure during the exam period andhow to get support for proof reading of assignments.”

You can find out more about MikeBurrett and his peer Ambassadors onAgoraweb – www.agora.org.uk

If you would like to become a mentor,we would like to hear from you. Pleasecontact dbs.alumni@durham.ac.uk for a registration document.

1. GIBRALTAR AGORA The Gibraltar Local Association has

been assisting MDC with the logisticsof ensuring that graduating studentsmade it to Durham in July. The MAgraduates, with family and friends,made the 4,000 mile round trip toattend the congregation ceremony at Durham Cathedral.See photograph on page 18.

The group will be hosting a global get together on 10 September, whichis also Gibraltar National Day, wherealmost all of the 400 alumni in thearea will be in attendance. We wishthem all the very best with theirsterling efforts which demonstrate to the world their allegiance toDurham Business School. They make us proud!

2. BEIJING AGORA We are pleased to report that the

Beijing group is getting bigger andbigger with each event. The mostrecent, taking place at RafflesBeijing Hotel, welcomed new facesto the network. Due to the success ofthe recent events, the Beijing LocalAssociation will be going ‘on theroad’ with a weekend out-of-townevent. They are also in the process of

working with Agora on a mini websiteto sit within Agoraweb for theexclusive use of Beijing members.For more information please contactthe group’s leader Abby Wang.

3. SHANGHAI AGORA The Shanghai group recently hosted

a fun BBQ event with DBS staffAlexandra Sedgwick, AlumniRelations Manager and Claire Roper-Browning, Marketing Manager inattendance. The event took place atO’Malley’s on a sweltering day in Julyand was organised by group leaderGemma Pan. Alumni, both from DBSand the wider University community,had an afternoon of great food, drinkand laughter.

4. INDIA AGORA DBS Career Development Manager,

Marcia Hoynes and Alumni RelationsManager, Alexandra Sedgwick arecurrently working on plans for a tripto India in November. As well asmeeting with the ever-growingalumni population in the country,they are coordinating excitinginitiatives and events in Hyderabad,Mumbai and Delhi. More informationwill shortly be available on Agoranet(agora.org.uk)

Local Associations are the perfect way to join in the DBS Global Get Togetherevents. Forthcoming dates include: 10 September and 10 December 2010. We particularly look forward to hearingabout your events and receivingphotographs.

If you are interested in joining these orany other groups throughout the world(your location or perhaps a business areayou frequent), please email us and we will put you in touch. New groups are in the pipeline for Canada (Vancouver)and Jordan.

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The Agora network goes from strength to strengthlocal association news

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Colin Theakston, Durham Business School’s Librarian,shares with us his view on this recent publication.

I enjoy these book reviews and wanted,if I were able, to combine an academicbook AND some element of popularculture. The things you do to prove toyour children that librarians are cool!

Well this month I think I might havesucceeded. Yes, a book that combinesboth marketing AND my children’sfavourite character, Harry Potter.

So what can Harry Potter teach us, in this case, about branding?

According to author Stephen Brown, theHarry Potter brand can teach us a greatdeal indeed. Harry Potter may not bethe biggest brand in the world, or themost established, but his story iscertainly one of the most dramatic.Brown’s book tells the story of the HarryPotter brand and how it has taken theentertainment world by storm.

J.K. Rowling and her fabulous money-spinning creation is a contemporaryfairytale in more ways than one. Animpoverished single parent writes anaccidental bestseller, whose book salesgrow exponentially. The book begetsmore books, which beget movies,merchandise and huge media coverage.

Today, Harry Potter is as much a brandas Brad Pitt, McDonalds or Dyson. TheHarry Potter "franchise" is a fascinatingstory in itself, but it is a story that canbe woven into all the other Harry Potterstories, and that is what Brown doeshere – stories about Joanne Rowling,stories about the readers, stories aboutthe sceptics. This book unpicks thevarious narrative strands that make upthe Harry Potter story, and provides afascinating insight into how HarryPotter became one of the world’s mostrecognised brands in an extraordinarilyshort time period.

BOOKREVIEWWizard!: Harry Potter’s BrandMagic by Stephen Brown

COMPETITIONFor your chance to win a copy of the book visit: www.agora.org.uk/agoranewsand follow the competition links.Closing date: 30 October 2010

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TIM CARPENTERFULL-TIME MBA 1988I’m working as a consultant providingprogramme and project managementservices to large organisations. In recentyears this included a variety of sectorsincluding Oil and Gas andPharmaceuticals. My currentassignment is providing a big brandfood manufacturer with programmemanagement services designed toprovide assurance of business growthdespite current economic conditions.On a personal note I’ve an adventureplanned in Sulawesi this summer –some diving and R&R in the northfollowed by trekking in the rainforestamong the mountains in the centre,finishing up in the south of the country.

HEATHER ROBINSON(NEE MCDOWALL)AND NICK ROBINSONBA BUSINESS FINANCE 2003–06Nick (Robinson) and I met on our firstday at Durham University. We begandating and in January 2008 Nickproposed via a treasure trail ofpersonalised clues which culminatedwith an engagement ring. We married at the spectacular Culzean Castle inScotland and spent our honeymoon inthe Maldives. Friends from the BusinessFinance cohort played a huge role at thewedding, Tony Teece was our best man,Rebecca Brophy read for us and JamesMonro attended as part of our guest list.

TONY NEWTONCURRENT DBA STUDENTI won first prize in the 2010 DurhamUniversity Research Poster Competition.My doctoral research focuses on tryingto determine just what makes somepeople much more effective networkersthan others. In my working life, I runworkshops to a range of clients whowant to improve their staff’s networkingeffectiveness. I am pictured herereceiving congratulations from DurhamUniversity’s Professor Tom McLeish,Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research).

OLAMEILEKAN PAUL KAYODECURRENT GLOBAL MBA STUDENTBefore beginning the Durham MBA I headed up the Investment andPortfolio Unit of Fresh Trust InvestmentLtd, a company whose core activitiesinvolve the stock market. DurhamBusiness School has certainly addedvalue to my intellectual thinking and it is a privilege to be a DBS student.Since December 2009 I have beenworking with Global Tides EnergyServices Ltd as Finance andAdministration Manager.

NISHANT PANDEYFULL-TIME MA 2009–10In August I started at the London WallJP Morgan offices and soon jet off toNew York for their (in)famous trainingprogramme for nine weeks. Upon myreturn, over the three year analystperiod, I will be rotated around threedifferent areas of the business egmergers and acquisitions, corporate,specialities etc. I am fortunate enoughto live in London with other Durhampostgraduate students who work atRBS and Accenture.

CLASS NOTES

ALLY WICKHAMEXECUTIVE MBA 2005–07After ten years at Sage I am now theB2B/Depth Marketing lead for theDeveloper Platform and EvangelismGroup at Microsoft UK, getting to gripswith a truly global corporate structureand a dizzying array of newtechnologies.

LUCY WINSKELLEXECUTIVE MBA 2004–06I completed my Executive MBA courseat Durham in 2006. At that time I wasa partner at Sintons LLP – one of NorthEast England’s leading law firms.Following my MBA I have combined my professional legal practice with non-executive directorships and governanceroles in public and private organisations.These have included the GovernmentOffice North East, Business EnterpriseNorth East, Darlington Building Societyand the regional investment anddevelopment company ING. I am now Pro Vice-Chancellor (Region,Engagement and Partnerships) and Ilead the development of NorthumbriaUniversity’s relationships withgovernment and public bodies, shapingits contribution to regional economicand social development, and furtherstrengthening its links with schools,businesses and the professions.

ANURAG DHAWANAND MITSU THAKOREFULL-TIME MBA 2006–07Our ‘Big Fat Indian Wedding’ tookplace three years after we graduatedfrom the Business School. It startedwith innocent walks around the cobbledstreets of Durham, late nights at FisherHouse and group studies in the MBAlibrary. Mitsu and I married on 23August 2009 in Jaipur amongst closefamily and friends in a traditionalIndian wedding. Classmates fromDurham who attended the weddingmade it even more memorable for us. We now live in New Delhi, India;married for almost a year, we bothare proud to have our Durham degrees,friends across the globe, memories for a lifetime and, more importantly,each other.

BARB KRAL-HASTYFULL-TIME MBA 2008–09Firstly, I greatly miss Durham! I cherished my time there and I cannot believe that it was one year ago when we were frantically finishingdissertations. I am living in myhometown of Kansas City and havechanged sectors in my professionalcareer. Today I am working in healthcarefull-time. I also have part-time jobs inchild care, writing and editing, apparelretail, teaching children how to play thepiano, and providing translation services(translating documents from Spanish toEnglish). I have been in contact withmany students from my cohort as wecontinue to stay closely in touch, eventhough we are spread across the globenow and congregation in Januaryprovided the opportunity to seemany of them.

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1 Tim Carpenter

2. Tony Newton

3. Nishant Pandey

4. Lucy Winskell

5. Anurag Dhawan and Mitsu Thakore

6. Barb Kral-Hasty

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School NewsFD ELLIS SCHOLARSHIP The winner of the 2010 FD EllisScholarship is Daniel Crouch. Currentlyworking as an English teacher in Korea,he will be taking up his place on the full-time MBA programme in September this year. To earn his full fee scholarshipplace Daniel had to explain in 500 wordshow he would apply the learning gainedon the programme to his own career.This is the second year that the FD EllisScholarship has been awarded. It isfunded through the generosity of Dr David Ellis and his family, and named in memory of his late father.

AMBA STUDENT OF THE YEARAWARD 2010Current full-time MBA student ChinyereUdechukwu was successful against top-notch competition to make it to theshort list of this year’s prestigious AMBAStudent of the Year Award. This annualaward is fast becoming established asthe ultimate accolade for MBA studentsfrom accredited business schools.

WELL DONE PURPLE PLATOONIn July a group of more than 30 ladiesfrom the Business School took part inthe Cancer UK Race for Life in Durham.The team, appropriately named The

Purple Platoon, came into being inmemory of Jackie Rafferty, the School’sMarketing Officer, who died in Januarythis year. The team raised over £2,000,a magnificent effort, congratulationseveryone!

HONORARY DOCTORATE Professor David Croisdale-Appleby, amember of Durham Business School’sAdvisory Board, has been awarded anhonorary Doctor of Civil Law by DurhamUniversity. Professor Croisdale-Applebyis a prominent campaigner for socialjustice and has been a lay member of Durham’s University Council since2001. He received his degree at aceremony at Durham Cathedral.

BEST PAPER AWARD DBS faculty members Dr Daniel Hung,Lecturer in Finance and Dr AnuragBanerjee, Reader in FinancialEconometrics have won the Best PaperAward at the 8th NTU InternationalConference on Economics, Finance and Accounting which took place inTaipei, Taiwan in June. Their paper wasentitled The Value of Past Stock ReturnInformation in the Formation of theMomentum Strategies.

University NewsGOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATEDCoinciding with Graduation week thissummer, the University’s OrientalMuseum has launched a major newpublication to commemorate its GoldenJubilee. The book, called Treasures ofthe Oriental Museum, comprises shortessays which offer a different view on anobject from the Museum’s collectionsand are accompanied by all new colourphotography of these stunning objects.Copies of the book can be obtained by visiting www.durham.ac.uk/oriental.museum/goldenjubilee

DURHAM – NATIONAL GREEN GOWNAWARD WINNERDurham University has won a much-coveted Green Gown award for“Sustainable Procurement”. The GreenGown Awards, now in their 6th year,recognise exceptional initiatives beingtaken by universities and colleges acrossthe UK to become more sustainable.With sustainability moving up theagenda, they have become establishedas the most prestigious recognition ofbest practice within the further andhigher education sector. Durhamrepresentatives received the accolade in June at the annual award ceremonywhich was held this year atShakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.

DRUM RHYTHM ON SONG FORWORLD CUP SUCCESSPeter Okeno Ong’are (pictured left),a researcher in Durham’s MusicDepartment, has developed a newnotation system for drums to overcomea modern-day problem where the familytradition of teaching African drummingis being lost. The notation method isbased upon a series of universal, easy-to-read and easy-to-write symbols andhas been used for the first time in thecomposition of ‘Vuma! Unity, Harmony,Goal!’, a song promoting a ‘rhythm forsuccess,’ intended to inspire footballersto score more goals during the recentFIFA World Cup in South Africa.

news news news news news news news news

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Dates for the Diary SPEAKER EVENTS

DURHAM CORPORATE FORUM

27 October 2010 Durham Business School, UK

DURHAM SPEAKER SERIESEQUILIBRIUM WORKSHOP WITHSTEPHEN PAYNE

18 November 2010 Durham Business School, UK

MARTIN WOLF, FINANCIAL TIMES

02 December 2010 Durham Business School, UK

ENTREPRENEUR PANEL INCONJUNCTION WITH THEENTREPRENEUR FORUM

03 February 2011Durham Business School, UK

MICHAEL IZZA, INSTITUTE OFCHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS INENGLAND AND WALES (ICAEW)

10 March 2011Durham Business School, UK

25 YEAR MBA REUNION

03–05 June 2011 Durham, UK

DURHAM CONVENTION

03 June 2011 Durham Business School, UK

SAVE THE DATES

Continuing our successful speakerseries, the following dates have beenset for the coming academic year.Further details will become availablevia the website: www.agora.org.uk

07 April 201113 May 2011

RECRUITMENT EVENTS

PROVISIONAL DATES AND VENUESFOR 2010 INCLUDE:

WORLD GRAD SCHOOL TOUR Buenos Aires, Argentina 10 SeptemberParis, France 09 OctoberAthens, Greece 13 OctoberThessaloniki, Greece 14 OctoberBerlin, Germany 19 OctoberLondon, UK 23 OctoberWarsaw, Poland 28 OctoberIstanbul, Turkey 30 OctoberKuala Lumpur, 18 NovemberHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam 24 November

WORLD MBA TOUR

San Francisco, USA 12 SeptemberSeattle, USA 14 SeptemberRio de Janeiro, Brazil 15 SeptemberLondon, UK 23 OctoberMadrid, Spain 26 October

ACCESS MBA

St Petersburg, Russia 11 OctoberAlmaty, Kazakhstan 14 October

CONNECT 1-2-1

New York, USA 20 NovemberLondon, UK 27 November

PREVIEW/OPEN EVENTS

MBA PREVIEW EVENTS

01 September, 11.00–15.00hrsDurham Business School

Durham Business School, UK

DOCTORATE IN BUSINESSADMINISTRATION (DBA)OPEN EVENTS

25 September, 12.00–14.00hrs27 November, 12.00–14.00hrs

Durham Business School, UK Contact Anne Bailey on

+44 (0)191 334 5226

Please note that dates and eventsare subject to change.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATIONTo book places for these events, contact the person named, or the Alumni Team on: Email: dbs.events@durham.ac.ukTelephone: +44 (0)191 334 5277

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP PROMOTE DBS?Prospective students, as well as the School, benefit from having alumni assist Durham academic staff with recruitment activities. If you feel able tovolunteer to help in this way please visit the events page at www.agora.org.uk

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Business School

Alumni Development TeamRoom 215, Durham Business SchoolMill Hill LaneDurhamDH1 3LBUK

t: +44 (0)191 334 5277f: +44 (0)191 334 5218e: dbs.alumni@durham.ac.ukw: www.agora.org.uk

UK Agora Local AssociationsNorthern Agora (based in Durham)Southern Agora (based in London)

International Agora Local Associations

Athens Beijing CanadaCaribbean Denmark FrankfurtGhana Gibraltar Hong KongHungary India JapanMalaysia Mexico NigeriaNorway Russia ShanghaiSouth Africa South America SwitzerlandUnited Arab Emirates United States of America

To be put in touch with other alumni in your area contact the Alumni Team.

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