All posts by Althea Taylor-Salmon

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Jack Welch: The Best Boss by SMF Patrick Macdonald

Sainsbury Management Fellow, Patrick Macdonald,Chairman, School for CEOs
Sainsbury Management Fellow, Patrick Macdonald,Chairman, School for CEOs

Patrick Macdonald, a Chartered Engineer, won a Sainsbury Management Fellowship to support his MBA at INSEAD in 1992. While at business school, several of his professors cited General Electric (GE) as the exemplar of US, and indeed global, business leadership. Patrick seized the opportunity to move to the USA and work at GE a few years later. Jack Welch, GE’s legendary boss, put a huge emphasis on developing business leaders. Jack, who has just died, had a profound impact on Patrick’s career. Amongst other roles, he’s now Chairman of the School for CEOs, a business dedicated to help the next generation of leaders succeed.

In this blog article, Patrick reflects on Jack’s exceptional leadership and legacy.

I was lucky enough to work for Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, at the height of his powers. Sadly, Jack died this week. Thousands of words were written about him during his 20 years at the head of General Electric and thousands have been written since. He has gone through a familiar cycle of huge admiration and praise at first – ‘Manager of the Century’ according to Fortune magazine – followed by a slow trashing of his reputation since. GE’s performance and profile suffered badly under his successor, Jeff Immelt. Jack recently gave himself an A for his leadership of GE and an F for his choice of successor, Jeff Immelt. I’d agree with that assessment. Indeed, I’d give Jack an A++ for his leadership. He was the most complete boss I’ve worked for, a fantastic leader. Like most of his team, I would have run through walls for him.

Let’s take his leadership first. Sure, Jack could be incredibly tough. Sure, he took some potentially good ideas beyond the point where they made sense (such as ‘rank and yank’, firing your lowest 10% performers every year, year after year). But he took the slow, unwieldy, bureaucratic GE he inherited – already the most admired company in America – and turned into a nimble, agile, exciting business whose value he grew by 29x to $410bn. Many of the concepts he espoused – be #1 or #2, fix/close/sell, 6 sigma – have been widely copied and are now part of the business lexicon. He ruled GE like a tidal wave. It was astonishing how much he knew about the most obscure corner of the business, and equally astonishing how quickly he got a 300,000-person organisation to respond to his ideas. GE was built around the idea that Jack was right, and the only issue was how quickly you got it. Fortunately, Jack usually was right – and was good at course corrections when he was wrong – and life was good.

But the weakness in this model, of course, was its reliance on that one exceptional leader. It was vulnerable to a successor who wasn’t right as often as Jack. The enormous resources of GE would follow the boss in the wrong direction just as readily as the right one, and that vulnerability came home to roost under Immelt’s leadership. Unfortunately, Jeff’s judgement turned out not to be as sound as Jack’s. He churned through GE’s multifarious businesses, becoming the first person in history to buy and sell $100bn of assets, paying nearly $1.7bn in fees along the way. The businesses he bought often did not endure. Pricing discipline was lost and execution lacked focus. Disaster loomed, with GE’s valuation dropping 90% from its 2000 peak. Jeff left in 2017.

It’s fashionable now to lay the blame for GE’s subsequent problems at Jack’s door. As I said above, Jack took full responsibility for picking his successor. But it seems unfair to hammer him for mistakes made more than a decade later. With that logic, the successes you’re racking up today are not down to you at all – they’re down to your predecessor and whoever picked you. I don’t think life works that way. Jack built the most valuable company on the planet and changed the way we all do business. That’s enough for me.

 

Blog

What is an MBA? – by EIBF President David Falzani MBE     

Benefits of Studying for an MBA

The MBA has been around since 1908 when the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration was established in the USA. Across the world today, the MBA is the watchword for business career success, and prospective students are spoilt for choice as to where and how they study – from the world-leading schools like Harvard and London Business School (which was the first UK business school) to virtual online schools, from full-time courses to part time study.

MBA programmes prepare professionals for senior management roles in business.  Typically, MBAs are taken by those who have already been working for several years, but that’s not always the case.  Some people go straight from their first university degree to study for an MBA degree and this is the beauty of the business school offering; there are options to suit everyone.  This includes MBAs at premium business schools, like LBS or Harvard, and, for want of a better term, ‘mainstream’ business schools.  Courses are available either full-time (30-60 hours per week) or part-time (one or two days per week) and there are Executive MBA programmes for senior corporate executives and managers who study whilst working, and sometimes their study is partially or fully funded by the employer.

Requirements to Study an MBA
To study for an MBA, you will usually require an undergraduate degree.  Most MBAs require a 2:1 or above, but there are some that will accept 2:2 degrees so long as they are paired with an exceptional application and a set of relevant skills and experiences.  Some work experience is generally required; this being the case most MBA students are between the ages of 27 and 30. One important entry criterion to meet, particularly for top schools, is the GMAT exam score. The Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT, is designed to test your abilities across a wide range of areas. A good score will often facilitate entry into leading schools, and each school’s GMAT averages are widely published.

Benefits of an MBA
MBAs expose students to many areas of business including accounting, finance, marketing, people management and leadership skills, and full-time courses do so in an intensive, immersive way that challenges and stretches students’ perspectives and thinking.  The MBA experience often pushes candidates hard – the speed and sheer amount of work faced is sometimes described as a re-wiring of candidates’ brains, such that they can think critically and quickly analyse information, filtering out what is important from the irrelevant. The skills taught in an MBA programme enable you to read, assess, structure and plan rapidly; skills that will enable you to find innovative ways of dealing with big problems.  An MBA graduate also gains an up to date and razor-sharp ‘tool kit’ to apply to any business challenge. These aspects are some of the reasons why the MBA has become so highly regarded by employers.

People from all walks of life want to gain an MBA qualification in order to improve their understanding of business and to accelerate their career.  Developing your business skills is not only good for your personal and career growth, but it is also good for companies and organisations and essential for the economy – enhanced knowledge and skills leads to better solutions to problems which can increase productivity, as well as transform products and services that affect people’s lives.

If you are at that pivotal point in your career where you want to learn more about business and the decision-making processes, it’s important to know that as valuable as the MBA is, the programme is not a final destination, it’s very much the start of a longer journey.  In an MBA you will be introduced to many facets of business and gain a foundation that enables you to confidently delve deeper into areas of interest across a range of subjects as you need to.  Because of this solid framework, when you are back in the world of work, it will be easier to go deeper into subjects that are needed in your job. You will be able to understand business issues and explore them at a level you were unable to do before your MBA.

A Wealth of Choice of Business Schools
Every year thousands of professionals start their search for the right business school for them.  At the top of the MBA tree are the premium schools – these are equivalent to Ivy League ranked universities, which often have long histories, coveted brands, outstanding facilities and attract the best staff and candidates.  The institution’s brand, the quality of faculty and quality of student admissions are all perpetuated by each other, creating an institution designed to offer the very best environment for business education.

Gaining a qualification from a top international business school will open new opportunities.  However, their prestige and resources mean they command high fees – some can be as much as 10 times more expensive than mainstream business schools.  On the upside, their brands add considerable value to the graduates’ own personal brand, giving them an additional asset when they go back into the job market.

There is fierce competition to secure a place at the top business schools – because their brands are so revered.  Unsurprisingly, these schools are often 7 to 10 times over-subscribed for places, so getting-in requires some real work.  Candidates must be very driven and highly organised to maximise their chances. Having access to the necessary funds also helps – some will seek assistance with fees by applying for a scholarship (eg through charities) to supplement their private financing arrangements.  Many candidates have a risk profile that allows them to take on loans, confident that their future income growth will resolve any debt soon afterwards.

There are many fantastic mainstream business schools that do not cost the earth.  More and more, universities are developing high-quality MBA programmes.  Excellent business education is on offer but, being newer into the MBA market, these do not have the same historical pedigree and reputation enjoyed by their premium counterparts.

While those who attend the mainstream business schools may not come away with quite such a prestigious brand to append to their own, they receive a rounded business education (perhaps with less of the heightened level of induced stress that the premium schools engender into their programmes) and can use their new skills to further their career goals.

The Enduring Power of the Alumni
Apart from the new skills propelling your career prospects and salary (it’s not uncommon for business school graduates to double their pre-MBA salary), there is a huge ‘hidden’ benefit.  During the MBA, students develop a network of peers that become long-term associates and lifelong friends.  The business school Alumni is a powerful asset – because of their shared experience, members will reach out to each other when they need help or advice at any stage in their business career, whether that’s as a senior-level employee or as an entrepreneur.

MBA – A Cause for Celebration!
The tremendous success of the MBA is a cause for celebration: the diversity of schools (some offering campuses in several countries as part of the curriculum), programmes and study timetables allow many people to attain business education in a way that suits their ambitions and circumstances.  The timescale over which one can study an MBA has transformed access – there are full-time courses that run from nine to 21 months depending on the school, and part-time learning up to five years. Schools can be physical or virtual.  And, there are prices to fit almost all budgets.

It’s come a long way since its origins in 1908, adapting and evolving to meet the market needs. Accessible, flexible and current – today’s MBA is a truly wonderful platform to boost business education.

If you are an engineer considering an MBA, visit or scholarship page for details on how to apply for a £50,000 award.

 

case studies

Engineering a Finance Career in Green Energy

Chris Gifford is one of our 375 Sainsbury Management Fellows – he has complemented his engineering qualifications and experience with an MBA from INSEAD and used these additional skills to propel his career into an exciting new direction in the world of finance, whilst using his engineering know-how in his work.

Chris explained, “When looking to broaden my work experience, I found that potential employers frequently ‘pigeon-holed’ me as a techie and they found it difficult to look past my engineering undergraduate degree.  Obtaining an MBA was the way around this obstacle.  Not only that, it has been a significant self-improvement opportunity. The MBA provided not only business skills, but also accelerated an improvement in my interpersonal and management skills, which are essential for more senior roles in any industry sector.”

A Growing Passion for Engineering
Looking back at Chris’ early passion for engineering, one would not have predicted that he would one day use those skills as the Chief Credit Officer for an impact-focused bank, advising on the benefits and risks of complex projects such as businesses transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.  But that is the beauty of having both engineering and MBA skills sets.

From childhood Chris had an innate fascination with how things worked and spent much of his youth tinkering with electronic circuits, disassembling and reassembling bicycles and then, motorbikes.  This was a clear signpost that Chris was destined for an engineering career even though his schooling provided little practical experience of engineering.

Having set his heart on an engineering career, he wanted to gain industry experience as soon as possible so did a Year-in-Industry as a trainee engineer working in the water industry, just before and during his studies at Oxford University.  The work experience gave him a valuable foundation and the realisation that he wanted to work in a less mature sector, one with great potential for innovation and change. On graduation, he switched from the water sector to power generation.

Chris said: “I worked around the UK and internationally helping to operate and maintain the control and instrumentation systems of fossil-fuelled power stations.  I progressed into a commercial role, analysing the financial performance of the power stations. This experience helped me to understand that a broader perspective, beyond the technical, is required for success and career progression.”

At this point, Chris decided to take his career in a new direction. He wanted to be at the cutting edge of the transition from fossil-fuel to green technology but wearing a business and finance hat, and he recognised that he needed additional skills to take him into the board room of a major corporation.  That’s when Chris made the pivotal decision to take an MBA degree to help achieve his goal.

Combining Engineering and Finance to Create a New Career
Giving up a secure position and salary requires not only self-belief and determination, but also funding. With a place at INSEAD and a £30,000 (or EUR 42,000) Sainsbury Management Fellows scholarship, Chris was on his way to altering his career path.  However, he said, “Although I knew I wanted to work in finance, I kept an open mind on post-MBA opportunities.  The point of an MBA is to open oneself to new horizons and I didn’t want to have fixed ideas, after all the course may have revealed a previously hidden interest or skill.”

The MBA has been transformative for Chris. Today he uses his combined engineering and business skills to assess the viability and robustness of complex renewable energy proposals from businesses seeking finance.  Chris’ arsenal of skills removes the necessity for his company to bring in third party professionals to carry out additional observations and assessments.

“My engineering skills are typically applied to evaluate whether businesses trying to access financing have properly unravelled the complexities for themselves.  There is a bias for optimism and sometimes blind spots when it comes to risk assessment; my main contribution is to provide an objective and pragmatic view on how likely a project is to succeed.”

In addition to identifying problems that could prevent a project delivering results and financial returns, Chris uses his expertise to recommend improvements and efficiencies that allow important renewable energy projects to be funded.

Chris reinforces this point: “My engineering and finance skills are complementary in terms of helping to make sure that worthwhile projects attract financial support.  The world faces many challenges and engineers have a significant contribution to make in dealing with them.  However, we cannot do it alone and having an ally in the world of finance helps with the teamwork required to deliver engineering solutions.”

Benefits of an MBA
Having secured his MBA and his ‘dream job’, what does Chris feel is the greatest benefit of the MBA experience?  He said, “Apart from the tool kit of new skills, for me, the biggest benefit is being part of the business school alumni network –  it has been instrumental in accessing my most significant employment opportunities.  Of course, it is a two-way street; it is also satisfying helping other alumnus access opportunities and fulfil their potential.

“Likewise, becoming a Sainsbury Management Fellow and being part of the SMF Alumni provides a mutual support network.  We have more in common with each other than our peers in our respective business schools, so although there are fewer SMFs, the willingness to help each other is much stronger.”

Asked for reflections on his career path, Chris said, “From the first time I donned overalls at work in 1991 at a water treatment plant, to monitoring performance of 230MW gas turbines in 1997, flying to Singapore for my MBA in 2002, moving to Canada in 2006 to open a bank branch, and now providing financing for the green economy; I have not regretted for a moment that engineering has been the common thread throughout my journey.”

Pearls of Wisdom for Engineers
With this diverse and exciting career experience under his belt, we asked Chris if he has any advice for young people considering a career in engineering and for qualified engineers who may be getting itchy feet in their current role.

He shared these pearls of wisdom: “Budding engineers should take comfort in the wide range of careers that engineering can prepare them for, as well as access to varied roles within the engineering sector. The world of work is changing, and career paths are less linear, but a strong engineering foundation provides the resiliency and flexibility to see you through an uncertain future.

“My advice for young people considering a career in engineering is to ignore any negative stereotypes they may see and talk to real engineers about how interesting and rewarding their working lives are.  By doing this, they will have the confidence to pursue their dreams.

“And for professional engineers deciding their next career move, I would suggest they think carefully about how best to take the next step and what their goals are.  Smaller, multiple steps can be easier to make (and reverse if things go wrong) than giant leaps. Also, taking multiple steps means they can navigate around obstacles rather than gambling on one significant change getting them to an ideal destination.”

The SMF MBA Scholarship
If you are a professional engineer considering an MBA as one of the stepping-stones towards a business leadership career, visit our MBA scholarship application page, you could become one of our successful awardees – today the individual scholarship is £50,000.

Press Releases

Simfoni Raises $3M to Accelerate US Expansion of Its Spend Analytics and Spend Automation Platform

Serial entrepreneur and Sainsbury Management Fellow (SMF) Chirag Shah raises Series A for Simfoni

 Simfoni, a next-generation digital solutions provider for Spend Analytics and Spend Automation, today announced that it has raised $3m in Series A financing. The investment was led by BOOST&Co, a global leader in Venture Debt with support from private investors.

Simfoni has established itself as a technology innovator in the field of Spend Analytics and Spend Automation, It works with leading enterprises globally and partners with consultancy firms, GPO, BPO and private equity organizations to deliver spend visibility, cost reduction assessments and risk management. Simfoni operates from regional headquarters in Chicago, London and Dubai.

Its Analytics platform deploys state of the art machine learning to harmonize and auto-classify large and complex data more accurately and much more quickly than was previously possible. The Artificial Intelligence powers out-of-the-box performance measures (KPIs & Benchmarks) on cost, risk and process optimization and delivers insights using beautiful visualization within pre-configured dashboards & proactive alerts.

Simfoni also offers an innovative and award-winning spend automation platform that uses artificial intelligence to automate the process of buying for tactical and occasional spend. It combines an out-of-the-box marketplace of the most common items with a requisitioning tool that leverages the analytics to predict product requirements and identify suitable vendors. Ideal for use in tail-spend management, the platform cuts the long tail of vendors, reduces process and purchase costs and supports vendor diversity and other CSR objectives.

The cloud-based SaaS solutions are also offered through a disruptive subscription-based commercial without the licensing and implementation fees associated with traditional procurement technology.

“I am absolutely delighted to have secured Venture Debt through BOOST&Co,” commented Simfoni Executive Chairman, Chirag Shah. “BOOST&Co stands out as a venture debt financier that is truly global in outlook and that is a perfect fit for us given Simfoni’s global profile as well. Of course, the criteria to qualify for Venture Debt is much higher than for Venture Capital – requiring technology companies to have not just strong growth but a demonstrable runway to profitability. I am extremely proud of the Simfoni team and in particular our senior management in successfully managing against both these criteria. I would like to thank all our customers for their continued support and much-appreciated feedback.”

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Shah pursued a career in engineering which was followed by an MBA funded by Sainsbury Management Fellows. He remains an active supporter of the scheme.

“We have been really impressed by Simfoni’s ability to deliver rapid cost reduction opportunities for its customers. The customer feedback we received was amongst the best we have ever heard and Simfoni’s growth demonstrates the fact that their products are quick to deploy and are loved by their customers. It is a very experienced team whose track record repeatedly establishes market leadership through innovation,” said Lauren Couch, Principal at BOOST&Co. “We also like how the business is run with an experienced management team and an amazing global presence achieved in a short space of time.”

About Simfoni
Simfoni provides spend analytics and spend automation products to leading global enterprises. Products employ machine learning and artificial intelligence to accelerate and automate key aspects of the procurement process, saving customers both time and money in the process. Based in USA, Europe and Middle East, Simfoni works ‘in harmony’ with its customers and their vendor community to improve vendor diversity and other CSR objectives.

About BOOST&Co
BOOST&Co is a UK-based independent asset manager specialising in growth-lending solutions for UK SMEs. It has offices in London, Manchester, Bristol, Cambridge and Cape Town. Its funds come from large pension funds, as well as insurance companies.

Press Releases

Libertine demonstrates intelliGEN opposed piston 2-stroke developer platform

SMF Sam Cockerill, CEO of Libertine announces that the company has completed a lab demonstration platform that it hopes will accelerate the development of a new generation of clean, high efficiency opposed piston 2-stroke (OP2S) engines for distributed power and transport applications.

Initial testing of the demonstration engine started in December 2019, aiming to validate the mechanical build, align simulation models with test performance, and demonstrate opposed piston synchronisation and motion control. So far the intelliGEN platform has exceeded performance expectations and demonstrates exceptionally low vibration which will be a key feature for automotive applications.

The platform has now completed a series of short commissioning runs operating at 20Hz and is expected to be capable of operation at frequencies up to 50Hz with compression ratios in the range of 10:1 to 50:1. Such flexibility makes this an ideal platform for both conventional and advanced combustion methods, as well as for low carbon fuels such as biogas, bioethanol and methanol.

Each run generates a detailed quantitative output data set describing the system condition and trends, and which Libertine expects will form the basis of transient control, advanced diagnostics and predictive maintenance functions implemented by its OEM clients.

Libertine’s intelliGEN platform will allow engine developers to ditch the crankshaft, instead using its linear electrical machines and advanced control software to deliver real-time compression ratio control. This feature, not practical with conventional engines, is believed by Libertine to be a key tool for developers of advanced ‘Low Temperature’ combustion systems – as well as to reducing harmful tailpipe emissions formed when an engine starts from cold.

The potential of opposed piston 2-stroke engines has recently caught the attention of Formula 1’s chief technical officer Pat Symonds, who says that the best way forward for the sport’s future engine development might lie in opposed piston two-stroke engines.

“The opposed piston engine is very much coming back, and already in road car form at around 50 per cent efficiency” he is quoted as saying by Motorsport Magazine. “We need to look at what our future power units will look like. At F1 this is what we are engaged in at the moment. I’m very keen on it being a two-stroke,”

Sam Cockerill, Libertine’s founder and CEO, is presenting at the Smart Mobility Start-up Forum in Automotive World at Tokyo Big Sight on 17 January 2020.

You can see an example run here and an animated concept for the engine platform here.

Motorsports Magazine article.

Blog, Blogs & News

A Decade of Achievements for EIBF

As we say goodbye to 2019 and welcome a new decade, we reflect on some of our milestones.  We would like to thank our Patron, Lord Sainsbury of Turville and his Gatsby Charitable Foundation, our Sainsbury Management Fellows, partners and associates, who have helped us achieve so much in the last 10 years.

2009/10: Published Re-engineering the Board to Manage Risk and Maximise Growth, promoting multi-skilled engineers as business leaders.

2011: The Sainsbury Management Fellowship becomes incorporated and a company limited by guarantee.  The legal name becomes Engineers in Business Fellowship.

2012: Engineers in Business Fellowship becomes a registered charity.

2013: Executive Fundraising Committee is formed and plans to raise an initial target of  £5 million.

2014: Launch of Engineers in Business Competition Prize Fund for university enterprise education.

2015:  Published Engineering New Horizons, promoting the exciting careers of 25  Sainsbury Management Fellows.

2016: EIBF and the Royal Academy of Engineering launch promotions to increase the diversity of SMF applicants.

2017: EIBF President David Falzani receives the MBE for services to the engineering industry.

2017: SMF Fundraising campaign raises £2.1m to help sustain the MBA scholarship scheme.

2017: SMFs’ 30 Years Anniversary commemorated with the launch of Mentor30Engineers university competition.

 2018: Our MBA scholarship is raised from £30,000 to £50,000 and applications extended to computer sciences and tech engineers.

2018:  Engineers in Business Competition expands support for university enterprise education from four to 32 universities – £135,000 awarded already, with a £700,000 pot available.

2019: EIBF President David Falzani MBE appointed Professor of Practice in Sustainable Wealth Creation at the University Nottingham.

2019: Our Hard Hat Index reveals a dramatic 37% fall in the publication of hard hats in the engineering media.

2019: Over £9 million in Sainsbury Management Fellows MBA scholarships awarded to talented young engineers to study at the top international business schools

 2019: Our first Engineers in Business Champion of Champions Grand final sees 10 university teams compete for £10,000 in prizes with innovations in surfing, prosthetics for children, medical cell counting services and personal safety devices coming out on top.

It’s been a very fruitful and rewarding 10 years –  here’s to the next 10 years!

If you have any questions about Sainsbury Management Fellows scholarship, please get in touch.

 

Blog, MBA Tips

Why Do Companies Prefer MBA Graduates?


In a business landscape that is becoming ever more complex and difficult to navigate, a company’s ability to hire assets is important. Although candidates with business degrees are becoming more and more common, the need for experience and specific training at a higher level is becoming very desirable.

If you are looking to climb the ladder, or indeed to become an integral asset within your given sector, then you might be considering the idea of an MBA. As you may know, the MBA is no small undertaking; it requires time, funding and energy. So, here’s the question; is it worth it?

Arguably, the answer is yes. Having MBA written next to your name on your CV is a huge advantage. That is not to say that having this qualification makes you a shoo-in, as companies are also more and more interested in the type of person you are; your attitude, ethics and personality. Having said that, to succeed in the quest for an MBA qualification, dedication and resilience are required.

Let’s look at what employers like about MBA graduates, what you stand to learn by undertaking one, and which desirable specialities you may want to develop.

Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving
The advantage of being a ‘box-fresh’ graduate of any high-level qualification is how up to date their references are, and a fresh perspective on the issues surrounding their industry or subject. Two of the key skills taught by most MBAs are both critical and strategic thinking. Throughout your training, you will have come up against various simulated scenarios, some common and some rare, ensuring that your ability to think in this way is limber and informed.

This is also true with the skill of creative problem-solving. Fresh MBA graduates are drilled in solving new and uncommon problems and are extremely aware of what is going on in their industry right now. When you have been in a business with a certain focus for some time, it can be difficult to see how to deal with issues that are far removed from the original remit of said business.

Financial Training
The MBA will equip you with a comprehensive knowledge of the intricacies of the financial sector; how it works, how to operate within it and how it relates to the wider business community. This is essential knowledge. In order to take calculated risks, an excellent understanding of finance is not only desired but required. It is an essential component of a business’ success.

Leadership and Communication Skills
Leadership and decision-making skills come naturally to some, but to be truly effective in leadership, training and refinement is required. Mid-level leadership is hard to be good at; it takes balance, patience and respect for a company’s values. This is also something that MBA graduates are great at. Even if leadership is not a specific focused skill in their training, the very nature of group projects, partners and general teamwork requires one to better their leadership and communication skills.

Marketing
We live in a world where marketing is more important and more complex than ever. The market is getting ever more crowded, the platforms we market on are growing and branching off, and marketing techniques are becoming more specific. Having a solid foundation in modern marketing is essential, and something that you are guaranteed to gain by gaining an MBA degree.

Collaboration
Collaboration is tricky. In order to collaborate effectively, you need to be able to hold on to and believe in your own values, but also be able to compromise for the good of the collective cause. It requires a lack of ego, equal respect for others and a light touch. Again, an MBA, by its very nature, fosters this skill naturally. Collaboration is a skill that is often underrated or forgotten, but one that is vital to the smooth running of a business and to make wise decisions.

Organisational Behaviours
You’d be surprised how hard it is to find employees with excellent organisational skills. This is perhaps down to the preconception that organisational nous is something you either do or do not have. However, this is not so, it can absolutely be taught; it is a skill that can be acquired and nurtured. An MBA fosters essential skills such as this to optimise both the quality and the efficiency of your work. This is another thing that employers find extremely attractive.

The MBA is as valuable for equipping you with technical skills and knowledge as it is for helping the individual become a good team player. The skills and behaviours covered above are just a handful of the assets acquired through the study of an MBA.

Gaining an MBA is worth the considerable financial investment because it opens new career opportunities, boosts your employability, significantly increases earning capacity and allows you to develop an international network of contacts that you can call on for years to come. As well as your management skills being a draw for global employers and exciting start-ups, employers will also be impressed by candidates’ ability to build and maintain influential networks.

If you are a professional ing engineer seeking a scholarship to assist with your MBA study, visit the applications page.

Blog

Do we Love or Loathe Targeted Marketing?

Our latest survey followed up a recent blog entitled, ‘Behavioural Science: Who Decides What We Buy’ which looked at the complex marketing choices facing businesses looking at the best ways to market their products and innovations. The survey continued with the central theme of the blog…is it now completely acceptable for companies to use sophisticated targeted marketing to manipulate consumer behaviour rather than to reflect consumer demand?

As usual, the responses from our panel were insightful and revealing. We asked six questions to discover their attitudes toward targeted advertising and marketing.

Survey respondents were very clear when asked for views on the first statement: New products require significant time and investment, therefore, it is ‘fair game’ for companies to undertake targeted marketing in order to sell to consumers.

Seventy-four per cent agreed with this statement with only 7.4% disagreeing. A result which supports the notion that target marketing, especially in the digital age, is now widely accepted as an important aspect of commerce.  One survey panel member said: “Generating sales and profits is vital for a company to make future investment in product innovations.”

The respondents were asked to answer as consumers for the next question: When products have been targeted at you specifically, for example, through traditional direct mail and/or social media, typically what has been your reaction?

The question split the panel down the middle with 37% feeling happy to have been introduced to a new product/innovation while 33% took a different viewpoint, expressing concern that their preferences have been so closely monitored in order to sell to them. Eleven per cent were baffled as to why they had been selected to receive information about a product; perhaps a reflection that not all targeted marketing is as precise as it could be.  “I’m happy when the product or service is genuinely useful. Grumpy when way off, for example, free eye checks for the over sixty-fives, when I’m in my fifties,” said one respondent.

Customer satisfaction after purchasing through targeted advertising was tackled: How do you feel after you have been persuaded through advertising to buy a product you had not been considering before you saw the ad?

Overwhelming, the panel (59%) said they were happy to have bought something that they really needed.  Seven per cent felt the opposite, a further 7% were regretful for making an impulse purchase while the remaining 7% said they were happy to have been adventurous in making the purchase.  In conclusion, most of the panel (66%) expressed positive feelings about being introduced to products via online marketing.

The panel was also asked about the overall effect of marketing: Is the claim that marketing significantly influences consumer spending habits exaggerated?

Fifty-six per cent think that the claim is not exaggerated and that consumers are easily tempted into buying. Thirty-seven per cent disagreed saying that buying decisions are complex, dependent on many factors, not just clever marketing.

Another respondent commented,  “Marketing has significant influence and it is overly simplistic to cast consumers as dummies but we’re all busy and have limited headspace for decision-making.”

Although targeted marketing is now a key factor in selling products, it can also be considered intrusive. The panel was asked: Can persistent targeted marketing (eg frequent ads being shown on social media) put consumers off brands/products?

Fifty-six per cent of the panel said yes, and that today’s consumers are adept at researching and buying what they want without the need for hard-sell tactics. Only 15% disagreed stating that people ignore what they are not interested in and buy what they really want.

 Finally, the panel was asked: Does sophisticated research and marketing stimulate innovation?

Forty-one per cent agreed that it does with only 7% disagreeing. A large percentage (30%)  did not know. Perhaps an indication that this subject has not been widely researched yet.  Considering this question, a respondent said, “Sophisticated research and marketing can often create products and services that consumers have never dreamed of.”

In conclusion, the consensus from our survey panel was that targeted marketing is here to stay and is a very valuable tool for all types of companies. It’s fair to say that businesses love it as it affords quick and easy access to potential buyers. As consumers, however, our panel was understandably wary about marketing that isn’t targeted well enough and the possibility of being bombarded with repetitive and often irrelevant advertising. This is when consumers begin to loathe the feeling of manipulation through advertising.

However, when marketing departments take the time to hit the right targets our panel agreed that most people would be happy to be introduced to and to buy something that they really need.

 

Press Releases

Nottingham University Appoints David Falzani MBE as Professor

We are pleased to announce that our President, David Falzani MBE, has been appointed to the eminent position of Professor of Practice in Sustainable Wealth Creation at Nottingham University.  David brings to the role significant experience having been involved with a variety of programmes as an honorary professor at the University’s business school for eight years.

During his term at Nottingham University, David has had the pleasure of teaching a wide range of seminars, lectures and workshops.  Undergraduates, MSc, MBA and PhD students have been able to gain insights into many areas of business innovation and finance from sessions that challenged conventional thinking – these included Innovation Management and the role of cognitive bias, Entrepreneurial versus Traditional Management Methods, Innovation and How to  Predict Success,  Raising Funds (venture capital and private equity) and Managing Risk.

Drawing on his commercial experience, David also delivered a thought-provoking range of seminars to both the SME and corporate sectors.  These included The Importance of Strategic Sales Skills, Sales & Marketing and Negotiation Skills for SMEs, and for corporate executive education, Sales Strategy, Market Analysis and Improving the Customer Experience.

These subjects will continue to be part of David’s remit.  He said, “As a formal professor with all the duties and responsibilities of that position, I will be able to support and work more closely with colleagues.  I very much look forward to this new role and to build on the courses that I have been privileged to teach.”

Through teaching at this level for the past eight years, David has learnt the importance of infusing world-relevant entrepreneurial instinct and skills as early as possible, to give new start-ups and innovations the best possible chance of post-graduation success.

As well as being able to share his own commercial experiences and expertise, David also looks forward to helping to expand the opportunities offered by the University as a whole. He hopes to help develop executive education programmes and to try and integrate Sales and Negotiation topics into more student programmes. He also hopes to help develop the ecosystem around the university. Working with real-world businesses and other stakeholders, helping develop interactions that provide benefits for the wider community.

David has a real passion for his role in educating innovators and leaders of the future and continues to work tirelessly to improve the UK economy using his skills and knowledge of both business and engineering.  No doubt this new post will help him further this ambition and will benefit many students.

Press Releases

2019 Hard Hat Index Reveals 37% Fall in the Use of Hard Hats in the Engineering Media

In the final year of the Hard Hat Index, Sainsbury Management Fellows (SMF) is pleased to announce that there has been a 37% drop in the use of hard hats in articles in engineering magazines that were monitored between March 2018 and April 2019. This year’s Hard Hat Index recorded 84 images of hard hats in editorials compared to 133 editorials with images of hard hats in the 2018 Index.

SMF launched the Hard Hat Index to highlight the fact that hard hats have become synonymous with the engineering profession, and to raise a debate about how the industry can create more realistic, diverse and exciting representations of engineering jobs.

SMF President, David Falzani MBE said, “The launch of the Hard Hat Index was supported by independent research conducted by YouGov for SMF. The nationwide survey asked 2,000 respondents what items they thought engineers primarily wear on an average workday and the hard hat came top with 63% of votes, whereas, a business suit received just 25% of votes.  Engineers were seen to work mainly on building, construction and industrial sites – a far cry from reality. The Hard Hat Index was conceived to challenge the limited portrayal of engineers in professional media and to start a debate on change.”

The path to this year’s positive editorial result has not been consistent, as the number of hard hats featured in the media annually fluctuated during the life of the Hard Hat Index. Therefore, the 37% fall in editorial hard hats is significant and encouraging – it appears that more creative visuals are being used to promote engineers. Conversely, this year, the use of hard hats in advertising increased by 29% (from 89 to 115) from a five-year low of 89 hard hat images in the professional media.  Still some work for the industry to do in this area!

David Falzani concluded: “The Index has given Sainsbury Management Fellows, the opportunity to raise awareness of the problem of making engineers synonymous with hard hats.  We would like to thank those in the media and the engineering profession who have been supportive of the issue. It is particularly heartening to see the Royal Academy of Engineering’s ‘This is Engineering Campaign’ bring the diversity and excitement of engineering jobs to life and help to change perceptions about engineering.”