All posts by Althea Taylor-Salmon

Press Releases

Nearly 20% fall in use of hard hats to depict engineers

The  SMF Hard Hat Index shows a 19.6% tumble in the use of hard hats in articles – the first fall in four years.

Hard Hats dominate the image of engineers says the Sainsbury Management Fellows Hard Hat Index which has tracked such images in 17 engineering publications over five years. In that time 1,181 images of hard hat-wearing engineers have appeared in advertisements and articles. Images that SMF believes damages the image of engineers by reinforcing stereotypes and giving a very narrow view of the profession.

But change is in the air. The SMF Hard Hat Index shows a 19.6% tumble in the use of hard hats in articles – the first fall in four years.

In the Index’s launch year (2012/13), there were just 67 hard hats in articles in the monitored publications, but this figure climbed every year until this present Index.

The 2016/17 Hard Hat Index recorded 127 hard hats in engineering articles compared to 158 in the previous year.

After years of seeing the figures yo-yo infinitesimally, there is a breakthrough as engineering magazines start to use more imaginative visuals to communicate more thoughtful images of engineering.

But the image portrayed in articles is only half the story. The opposite has happened to the number of hard hat images used in advertising. The latter has soared by over 30%, from 99 hard hat images in the 2015/16 Index to 129 in the current Index. This is the largest number of hard hats used in advertisements since the launch of the Hard Hat Index.

SMF President, David Falzani MBE said,“This hike could be due to an increase in the volume of ads, the study currently does not track this information, but will in the future.

“Another interpretation of the big difference between the editorial and advertising use of hard hats might be that publishers are embracing the idea of promoting more diversified images of engineers, whereas they do not have input into advertising content; companies control their advertising messages.

“Our sector needs to show diverse images and role models of engineers so that influencers, gatekeepers, and young people understand that we work across all industry sectors, in different environments and that engineering offers dynamic, creative and rewarding careers. The ‘no hard hats’ message is gaining momentum. In the last couple of years, high-profile figures in the industry have spoken about the proliferation of hard hats, and competitions are being run by institutions to raise awareness of the problem and to inspire the use of better images.”

What happens to the Hard Hat Index when the advertising and editorial results are combined?

Whilst it is important to applaud the reduction of hard hats in articles, adding the advertising figure tips the scale in the wrong direction. Combined 256 hard hats were published in the titles monitored. Just one hard hat image less than the 2015/2016 Index.

In our workshops with engineering undergraduates, there was a consensus that advertisers should stop using hard hats and other stereotypical images and replace them with inspirational photos that tell better stories about the opportunities in engineering.

Hard hat images influence people’s view of engineers. Use of the term ‘hard hat’ rose rapidly between 1960 and 2000 (source: Google’s N-gram) most likely due to a focus on health and safety. While hard hats are essential in some industries, their relentless use to portray all engineers is misleading.

When the SMF YouGov survey asked 2,000 people what items they thought engineers primarily wear on an average working day, the hard hat came top with 63% of the votes, whereas a business suit received 25% of votes. Asked where engineers predominantly work, building and construction sites come top (69% of votes), followed by industrial sites (66% of votes), while offices came fifth. Most people picture engineers working on building, industrial or manufacturing sites, yet the reality is that many thousands of engineers also work in other locations such as offices. The image portrayed influences people’s thinking so ridding the media of the ubiquitous hard hat will help to change perceptions.

Blog

What sectors can we expect AI to transform?

Perhaps one of the biggest transformations unleashed by the AI revolution is that of customer insights. James McCormick, writing for Forrester, predicts that AI will be “rapidly assimilated into analytics practices” by the end of the year, offering businesses “unprecedented access” to powerful, contextual, data-driven insights. Up until now, unstructured and undifferentiated ‘big data’ has been difficult to navigate, much less tie to a customer base. AI is becoming more and more relevant to every sector.

With investment in AI predicted to triple across sectors, as well as the emergence of cognitive computing solutions better able to unpick and integrate data into analytics, this will provoke a sea change in how business is conducted in many sectors. In a 2015 survey, 80% of business leaders stated they believe AI will create more jobs and increase productivity. Let’s take a look at some of the sectors already feeling its impacts.

Insurance
AI’s ‘smart’ grasp on data is already having big impacts on the insurance sector, as one story earlier this year demonstrated. Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance, a firm based in Japan, made the headlines when over 30 of its employees were made redundant and replaced with an AI system. Capable of analysing and interpreting any data, IBM’s Watson Explorer calculates insurance payouts to policyholders at such an accelerated rate that the firm predicts it will increase productivity by 30%, saving the firm about £1 million per annum. It’s a good example of how AI in its current form is drastically increasing efficiencies while altering the structure, size, and skill set of different organisations.

Education
Education is already being transformed by VR and AI technologies, among other things. The rise of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), such as those run by Udemy, are a prime example of how large ‘classes’ can be run online with hundreds of students. AI is set to make these courses more and more effective. We are already seeing specially-trained AI programmes (an ‘e-rater’) mark and grade exam papers, as well as virtual teaching assistants being deployed throughout universities and schools to help answer student questions about the course. With the global market in education-based applications of AI set to grow exponentially over the next four years, it’s clear that AI is not only getting better at learning but teaching too.

Medicine and healthcare
AI has seen a lot of investment partially thanks to its huge potential number of applications for medical research and front-line healthcare. AI chatbots, such as WoeBot, are now being offered as a way of augmenting mental health treatment. Meanwhile, the analytical power of AI is being used to help make cancer diagnoses earlier and more accurately, with Vinod Khosla, cofounder of Sun Microsystems, even predicting that human oncologists will become obsolete in the face of much more data-competent AI systems. “I can’t imagine why a human oncologist would add value, given the amount of data in oncology,” he told an audience at MIT this month. IBM’s Watson is likewise being introduced to the doctor’s office.

Law
From processing deeds to identifying relevant documents, the traditional work of lawyers is slow and painstaking. Law firms are now using AI technology (often a version of IBM’s Watson) to augment their legal research functions, empowering lawyers towards more comprehensive and efficient analyses of legal precedents, contracts, and cases. The first ‘top five’ law firm to sign a deal with an AI service provider was Linklaters, early in 2016, with other firms quickly following suit. Some of the systems in use can reduce tasks that usually take three hours down to three minutes, which could lead to cheaper access to legal services and even redundancies of paralegals, as one legal consultant predicts – although some are more sceptical. Robert Morley notes that training contract numbers have increased, so lawyers are not becoming redundant – AI is, rather, a “remarkable tool”.

Blog

What next for the sharing economy? – SMF President, David Falzani

While conventional markets and brands were under financial siege by the recession, the concurrent development of a global, data-driven, mobile infrastructure provided an answer to the strife: the sharing economy. Billed as a radical new, ‘alternative’ socio-economic system based on the values of ‘sharing’ and ‘collaboration’, the sharing economy seemed like a fluid, big-picture response – one which some commentators have described in utopian terms since.

Benita Matofska, of The People Who Share, defines the sharing economy as, “A socio-economic ecosystem built around the sharing of human, physical, and intellectual resources. It includes the shared creation, production, distribution, trade, and consumption of goods and services by different people and organisations.” It is, in other words, a new, ‘alternative’ market which “Embeds sharing and collaboration at its heart” – a ‘hybrid economy’ enabling different forms of value exchange using shared physical or human assets. Matofska points to the ‘gig economy’, social media, peer-to-peer (P2P) trade and exchange, upcycling and recycling, as examples of economic sharing in action.

At the core of the sharing economy is the principle of people renting things they need from each other, The Economist argues, “The big change is the availability of more data, which allows physical assets to be disaggregated and consumed as services.” Apps and data, therefore, act as conduits for people to get in touch with one another and share what they need within this economy. Technology has reduced transaction costs, making the sharing of assets cheaper and easier than ever – or so the story goes.

The Economist is right in noting the significant disruptive effects of the sharing economy, which seem only to be increasing as these P2P markets develop. The consumer peer-to-peer rental market alone is worth around $26 billion. However, in their bid to market the sharing economy as a collaborative, user-first way of delivering services and products, the major players that make the sharing economy possible, and by claiming to be merely middlemen for ‘independent contractors’, large corporations like AirBnB and Uber understate their own involvement and responsibility for the sustainable development of the sharing economy.

This has impacts not just on ‘conventional’ rental markets but gives way to a whole host of regulatory and workers’ rights issues. Bike couriers for Deliveroo, said to be paid a mere £4 per delivery, receive no hourly rate from the company. This has led to spontaneous strikes and collective action from their drivers, followed by an aggressive response by the corporation. The adverse effects of AirBnB on local rental markets is well-documented, particularly in small cities such as Reykjavík, Iceland, which, in the context of a massive tourism boom, has seen a huge increase in rents and property values as a result of the sharing economy and has reportedly led to a major housing shortage in the capital.

As we get swept up in the excitement of this new means of meeting demand, we are arguably losing sight of the important question that must be asked of the sharing economy: what is being shared, and for whose benefit? Uber and AirBnB may claim to be middlemen for ‘independent contractors’, but they take huge amounts of commission from their contractors and have even been described as, “Giant corporations pursuing monopoly power.” They have not just disrupted the markets and the profit margins of their competitors, but it could be said that their desertion of responsibility has, in some ways, led to the disruption of the lives of the people who work with them by escaping regulation and giving them only precarious ‘access’ to work, rather than solid, reliable jobs. As the sharing economy develops and brands consolidate their grip on markets, its once seemingly-liberatory potential seems to be surpassed by many of the problems facing the ‘old’ ways of doing things. As the casual workers that make the sharing economy possible become increasingly organised, the sharing economy must reckon with its responsibilities and duty of care to contractors and consumers. The regulatory battles they already face with cities such as New York and Los Angeles will set the stage for what’s to come in this regard.

This is not to say that the sharing economy requires more regulation. It is the lack of broad state regulation which has generated many of its advances and entrepreneurial development, after all. What the major players in the sharing economy must do is to put their money where their mouth is and open up their brands as well as their services. That means sharing not just some more of the wealth (revenue at AirBnB increased by 80% during 2016), but the infrastructure and technology that makes the sharing economy possible.

Some have argued this should take the form of open brand APIs. The sea change in the relationship between producers, marketer, and consumers has turned brands into ‘platforms’, ‘ecosystems’, and the collaborative nature of this relationship and the role of consumer participation makes the possibilities for scaling different aspects of the sharing economy endless. For the sharing economy to prosper and grow, it requires the active participation and input of the people doing the sharing. By making their processes and insights open-source in a genuinely transparent developmental dialogue, a true sharing economy might finally emerge. By placing the locus of organisational power in the hands of a few small, closed-off and increasingly powerful companies, the sharing economy risks lapsing into the same old patterns that made conventional corporate culture no longer able to compete or meet the demands of consumers as efficiently.

The battles around regulation and consumer and worker rights are not mere teething problems –they will determine the shape of what’s to come. The cooperative nature of the sharing economy comes from the technology, and it is the technology which must change to be more inclusive and open to innovation in order to meet the sharing economy’s increasingly unstable demands on local economies and workers.

Blog

How to make the most of your alumni network

The SMF alumni annual networking dinner 2017

Whether you’ve done an MBA or a regular degree programme, your qualification is not the only valuable asset of your course. Your alumni network is an invaluable resource and can have as much, if not more, bearing on your future than the degree itself – if you take full advantage of it, that is. Building relationships with other alumni will give you a chance to discuss your options, find courses and other information, locate business partners, and crucially, to pursue job and business leads.

So how do you make the most of your alumni network? How can you get involved and nurture these vital relationships – and why do they matter?

Keeping in the loop
There are a variety of ways to keep in the loop with the activities of your alumni network. The most obvious are, of course, the alumni newsletter, which you will hopefully already be subscribed to – if not, you can contact the alumni office of your alma mater to sign up.

The alumni offices are a valuable resource for both current and former students.  They represent the views of members; maintain a database of members’ contacts by industry and location (making it easy for you to be connected with other members), and develops activities for the alumni community which creates fantastic networking opportunities.  It’s worth checking in every few months to see if there are any events that could benefit your career ambitions whilst enjoying the company of like-minded people.

Building relationships
It’s important to not just build contacts, but relationships. At the end of the day, it’s real people you’re interacting with, so the personal relationships you cultivate with them will ground any opportunities that emerge.

Pay attention to what a fellow alumnus talks about. Keep a mental record of their interests and look out for relevant ideas, reading, and events that you can share with them. This doesn’t just demonstrate an interest in their lives – ongoing conversations form the basis of a collaborative relationship, and people are much more likely to give you a tip or introduce you to the right contact if they feel a strong connection with you. Approaching someone through name-dropping, anecdotes, and reminiscing is an easy way in and keeps things informal, but cultivating professional relationships based on genuine interest will be better in the long-term. Start a conversation, not an interview – give something back before you start asking about jobs!

There is no substitute for face to face contact.  If you want to get the most out of your alumni network and build relationships, make sure that you attend at least one event every year.  This way you will be able to cultivate acquaintances beyond your year group.

Looking for jobs
Whilst it’s important to use good judgment when asking about jobs through the alumni, of course, you should use your alumni network to look for jobs. Your alumni network, whether on Linkedin or through your former institution, should allow you to see where your former classmates are working. Actively mentioning that you’re looking for new opportunities in conversations with other alumni is a plus – even if they don’t have anything for you themselves, they almost certainly will know someone who does.

Reaching out early
Whether you’ve just graduated from your programme, or you still have two years to go, it’s never too early to reach out and get involved in your alumni network. Organising conference events, informal socials, breakfast meetings or even a Facebook group are all steps you can take to maximising the power of your alumni network. You might even be surprised at the level of feedback and interest you receive – an alumni network is mutually beneficial to all of its members, and people are more than willing to welcome you into it.

Press Releases

Engineers in Business Award becomes part of the UK’s Leading Entrepreneurship Competition

First prize winner, Emma Hartley of Pulse AED is presented with her prize by EIBF President, David Falzani.

Engineers in Business Fellowship is the latest organisation to join the University of Nottingham’s Ingenuity Business competition.

The Engineers in Business (EIB) competition run with Nottingham University Business School for the last three years inspired over 80 students to learn about and put into practice the entrepreneurship process.  The competition led to eight teams winning an EIB Award for developing a novel product concept, ranging from the Water Porter, a barrel that allows people in developing countries to transport large quantities of water from wells to their homes to the SenSei sensory glove designed to help blind people navigate safely around nearby objects/obstacles.

David Falzani, President of EIBF said, “We’ve been encouraged by the students’ passion for innovation and entrepreneurship and wish to give many more would-be entrepreneurs with an engineering qualification the chance to win an Engineers in Business award, so we rolled our £3,000 prize fund and mentorship by our Fellows into the University of Nottingham’s Ingenuity 17 competition.”

Ingenuity is the University of Nottingham’s (UoN) tri-campus international entrepreneurship competition.  It is open to all UoN undergraduates, postgraduates, alumni and early-stage researchers in the UK, Malaysia, and Ningbo.  It is now one of the biggest entrepreneurship competitions in the UK – 334 people competed in the 2017 event.  The appeal is obvious:  an opportunity to receive expert guidance from academics and entrepreneurs, a three-day conference to help entrants enhance their business plans and the chance to win a share of the £100,000 prize fund to support their business idea.

The winners of the Engineers in Business awards are:

First Prize of £1,500 and an SMF mentor was scooped up by UoN alumna Emma Hartley (Product Design graduate) who founded Pulse AED: Pulse is an automated external defibrillator that is easy to use, requires no training, is lightweight and affordable by everyone.

First and second prize winners
First and second prize winners
Second prize winner, Dan Simmons of Quensus

Second Prize of £1,000 was awarded to UoN Alumnus Dan Simmons (Electrical & Electronics Engineering graduate) who created Quensus which offers intelligent water management solutions using the internet to decrease water bills and prevent damages caused by leaks.  Amongst its many features, Quensus automatically detects water leaks, provides valuable insights into when and where water is used, diagnoses problems and automatically checks bills.

Third prize of £500 was won by the Bottle by Bottle team which created a sustainable solution to the housing crisis in Nepal. Bottle by Bottle is a social enterprise, which aims to provide safe and affordable housing to disadvantaged communities. Using a unique technique in which the bottles are filled with sand, tied together with string and then secured with mortar and wire, Bottle by Bottle has built all the components necessary for a safe and impressive plastic bottle home.

Third prize winners, the Bottle by Bottle team
Third prize winners, the Bottle by Bottle team

BOTTLE BY BOTTLE PHOTO

David Falzani concluded: “After three years’ running the Engineers in Business competition with Nottingham University Business School, making eight awards for inspiring product concepts, and seeing how much students benefitted from learning the ‘ingenuity process’, it was a logical next step to integrate our award into the Ingenuity17 competition.

“The scale and popularity of Ingenuity17 gave us an amazing opportunity to engage with a larger and diverse range of students who share a passion for entrepreneurship.  Our charity works to inspire and support young engineers who want to take on leadership and entrepreneurship roles, so Ingenuity17 is a good fit for the Engineers in Business award and we look forward to continuing our sponsorship in future years.”

Blog

What to avoid on your graduate job hunt

Get set and go footprints intrapreneurship January 2017 Coloured text With more people going to university than ever before, the graduate job market is incredibly competitive. It’s pushing firms to demand that candidates arrive at a job interview not only with a degree under their belts, but internships and references to boot. As a result, so-called entry-level graduate positions now seem to be anything but.

Graduates now need to beat the odds in order for their first job searches to prove fruitful. Whether you’re looking for a graduate leadership programme or an entry-level junior management role, these odds can be stacked in your favour if you avoid a few common pitfalls and mistakes. So what should you avoid doing during the hunt for that first full-time role?

Don’t start by only looking for your dream job
Say, for example, that your dream is to become a senior consultant for a ‘Big Four’ firm or an editor at a well-established newspaper like The Times or The Guardian. You might be tempted to look at only one role within your dream organisation, and ignore other openings as a result.

This is a huge mistake. One of the things that major employers are looking for in their graduates is transferable skills, a breadth of experience and adaptability. Narrowing your job search to your perfect role and neglecting other jobs that could provide you with those necessary transferable skills could hurt your prospects in the long-term. The path you take to your dream role is often not straightforward. It helps to instead ‘go sideways’: look for roles at different levels in a range of industries and gain some necessary skills and experience first.

Don’t get the dress code wrong
One of the easiest ways to ensure you don’t get the job is turning up to an interview in the wrong attire,  not looking the part for the job.  There are many instances of promising candidates who are turned away because they attend an interview in casual wear or are inappropriately dressed for a particular company. Find out the dress code in advance of the interview – employers should inform you about this when they offer the interview, but if not, ask.  Failing that, do some research, for example, look at the interviewing organisation’s website, brochures and social media. Even for more creative environments, it’s probably wise to err on the side of caution and wear a smart suit.

 Don’t neglect your digital CV or portfolio
These days, a lot of recruitment takes place online and you may have already put a lot of time and effort into designing a great LinkedIn profile or personal website portfolio. The purpose of having a digital CV is that it makes networking and applying for jobs extremely streamlined – but if you don’t do anything with it, you might as well have not spent the time creating it. LinkedIn is a great way of networking with recruiters and potential employers, so get involved in discussions, promote your achievements, build your connections, and add testimonials. The more detail and engagement you put in, the greater chance there is of your digital CV making an impact. Don’t neglect your existing contacts either – the more people relevant to your job search that you connect and engage with, the more potential opportunities.

Don’t lose confidence
Here’s a fact: most successful people have been rejected countless times in their lives. You will, one day, be rejected or ignored after you apply for a job – even after spending hours or days on the application. Rejection is inevitable. It’s what you choose to do with rejection that counts.

Even if you’ve applied for many jobs and not secured a post, don’t give up. Ensure you get feedback from your interviewers, after all, you’ve invested your time, it’s only reasonable to get feedback. Find out if anything specific went wrong, use each interview as a learning experience and figure out how you can improve for the next one. Employers often receive hundreds of applications for a position and only one candidate can be successful. So what are you going to do differently next time you send an application or attend an interview?

Don’t ignore internships
You might be gearing up for a full-time job, but ignore internships at your peril. Most employers expect you to have some level of work experience, to the point where internships are quickly becoming the new ‘entry-level’.  Not all internships are unpaid, and three months of working full-time will definitely boost your chances in the long-term.  Some salaried entry-level jobs are even listed as ‘internships’, so, again, it’s worth looking further afield for your first role.

Preparation is key for successful job searches and interviews – you might find our blog, boosting your job search with social media, helpful.

Blogs & News

Does ‘Fake News’ Impact on British Business?

Fake news image 2

It’s official! ‘The internet has been named the most important human invention of all time.’  Easy to believe, isn’t it?  It’s hard to remember what we did before the worldwide web existed and what we’d do without it.

But is this true? Is this really a fact? If you ‘Google it’ you can see this ‘fact’ confirmed but further research shows that it is just a blogger’s personal view.  Fake news on a small scale maybe, but proof that we should always take what we read online with at least a small pinch of salt.

But not all fake news is as innocuous. Many articles have raised concerns about the high level of consumer trust in Google search responses given that its algorithm can and does deliver wrong and misleading ‘facts’ from third-party sites when we ask more complex questions, for example, around political issues.  Furthermore, the increasing use of internet-connected voice-activated assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Home will offer an even narrower set of responses as people come to rely on a robotic voice to deliver answers to their questions, rather than conduct internet research themselves.

In a relatively short space of time, the internet has completely revolutionised the way we receive our information, news, and views, and is the quickest research resource imaginable.  This is especially useful for those in business to have all the most useful information instantly available at their fingertips. Companies can read about market predictions online, establish the financial status of other companies before they choose to deal with them, quickly check on their reliability, read reviews about their products and services and pinpoint their physical address.  Business is now digitally driven and all the better for it.

All well and good but what happens when our trust of this information breaks down?  What are the real consequences for business when we cannot automatically believe what we read when we are faced with ‘fake news’?

Fake news has existed long before now, but became a global phenomenon in 2016 with the election of US President Donald Trump and the Brexit vote which will see the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.  With these controversial events, which both have considerable consequences for the business world, fake news has arisen from a hidden corner in the online world to reveal itself: bigger, bolder, and more scandalous than ever on mainstream media platforms.  Fake news is so predominant today that it has substantially affected the way people trust mass media.

So how do British businesses view what they read online?  Do companies view the culture of fake news/post-truth as potentially damaging to business? And how will the new rise of fake news affect their business decision-making?

A recent business poll (February 2017) undertaken by the Sainsbury Management Fellows’ research panel showed that the British business community takes the emergence of fake news very seriously and are working hard to counter it.

Asked, do business leaders have a responsibility to ensure that their senior managers separate fake and factual news when making business decisions?

  • 69.39% said yes, they do. Managers must not be swayed by headlines and ensure that decisions are based on evidence/facts (eg through research, due diligence)
  • 18.37% said yes, they have a responsibility, however, their business decisions are not influenced by media or social media headlines
  • 10.20% said no, it is a manager’s sole responsibility to ensure his/her decision is based on correct information

SMF research panellist, Nick Laird commented: “Good business decisions are always a blend of fact and judgement. The two need to be separated, but both need consideration. Subtle opinion-driven issues can change the context within which a business operates, and thereby change the objective facts: and impact the best decision to take. Leadership is about uncovering and separating the most relevant fact, balancing their value(s) and weight(s), and then adding a layer of judgement on top”.

Raivat Luthra, another panel member warned about the rise of fake news: “It’s one of the biggest issues being faced by business leaders in recent times. Fake/unreliable news is influencing the decision-making abilities of employees in (mostly) a negative way. Perhaps this is something which needs to be tackled via education”.

The panel was also asked about Brexit and recent media coverage:

Are the media headlines/emotions around Brexit affecting your business more than the underlying trading essentials?

  • 50.88% said no – despite the media headlines and lack of clarity about the form Brexit will take, they are continuing with business as usual.
  • 36.48% said yes – feeling that conflicting media headlines causes uncertainty, making them less confident about pushing ahead with trading decisions.

Panellist David Bell commented on the rise of talking points in media coverage: “Post-truth is a direct emotional appeal, where usual arguments based on facts and data are discarded in favour of talking points seemingly immune to factual rebuttal. These talking points can shift the debate on key issues for businesses, such as Brexit, through a combination of media false balance, the 24-hour news cycle, and filter bubbles created by social media. Rebuttals to post-truth arguments are commonly rejected as smears or scaremongering, without qualification, thus making regular debate more challenging”.

The overall answers showed that most UK businesspeople felt that they can continue their business despite the abundance of fake news, but the margin between those who think fake news impedes business decision-making and those who think the opposite is small.

It’s certainly a business issue we are all too aware of now that fake news has hit the headlines. Panellist Eric Duclos puts things into perspective: “Fake information, or simply wrong information, is nothing new. Any business must take careful account of sources and methodology before using any data for decision-making”.

Some, like panellist Philippe Mandangi, believe there is a positive side to the discussion: “The abundance of news, fake or truth, is a good thing for business so long as business managers take the trouble to analyse each bit of information that goes through their desks in the process of decision making. Gut feeling is not scientifically proven, but a lot of managers still use it to make business decisions”.

The final word on the topic goes to SMF Chris Ambler, who makes this shrewd observation: “Separating fact from assumption is critical to making good business decisions. If you evidence your position, fake news should not become an issue.”

if you are a business professional and would like to join our business survey panel, email askus@fortunepr.co.uk.

Press Releases

Nottingham University Business School Undergrads Win SMF Engineers in Business Innovation Awards

SMALLER E&B Business Module Poster Desgin Final 1 September 2016 jpeg
Competition promotional poster

Is there a better way for people in developing countries to transport water supplies long distance from a well to their homes?  How about an innovation that could help food and drink street vendors in Africa earn more money in a working day to better support themselves?  And back in the UK, can we improve communications between the hearing and deaf communities?

Three undergraduate teams (mixed teams including engineering students) at Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) have won a prestigious Engineers in Business Award for developing innovative product concepts that could solve these problems.  The winning teams share a £3,000 a prize pot, plus mentoring for the first-prize winner.

Sponsored by Engineers in Business Fellowship (awards MBA scholarships to young engineers), the competition is run in conjunction with NUBS’ Entrepreneurship & Business module.  Chris Mahon, Director, MSc Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Management at NUBS said, “The E&B module and the Engineers in Business competition take students through the ‘ingenuity process’ – from identifying a problem that needs a novel solution and brainstorming ideas, to selecting a viable concept, research, intellectual property considerations, product development and marketing processes.  This methodology develops entrepreneurial thinking.”

The Winners:

The Water Porter team took first prize for a new multi-purpose barrel that would, as its primary function, transport large quantities of water more efficiently than current methods. The Water Porter team won £1,500 prize money and each person will be assigned a career mentor by Engineers in Business Fellowship.

Water Porter Team with Chris Mahon, Director, MSc Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Management at NUBS.
Water Porter Team with Chris Mahon, Director, MSc Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Management at NUBS.

Second prize was awarded to the SpeakEasy team for its tablet that converts speech to text and vice versa to assist communication between the hearing and the deaf. The SpeakEasy team won £1,000.

SpeakEasy Team 2nd Prize SMALLER
Second Prize Winner: The SpeakEasy Team

The Sol-Ice team took the third prize for a concept that will help food and drink street vendors in Africa beat the intense heat by making their goods less perishable, prolonging their trading hours and thus increasing their daily earnings. Sol-Ice won £500.

Third Prize Winner: Sol-Ice Team with Chris Mahon, Director, MSc Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Management at NUBS.
Third Prize Winner: Sol-Ice Team with Chris Mahon, Director, MSc Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Management at NUBS.

WINNING PROJECTS IN MORE DETAILS

First Prize: Water Porter – freeing people in developing countries from hours of arduous water collection
PowerPoint Presentation

Imagine travelling 10-15 kilometres each day to collect water and carrying up to 15 kilos per trip.  According to Water Porter’s research,  in parts of Africa, women and children spend up to 8 hours per day travelling to wells to collect fresh water for the family.  Not only is this arduous work that can cause physical damage to the head and spine over the long term, but the time involved in this pursuit lessens women’s ability to participate in economic activity to earn wages and prevents children from attending school.

The Water Porter is a lightweight indented barrel that is designed to transport large volumes of water over long distances without the need to carry a heavy load on the head; instead, the barrel is pushed using a removable, extendable handle.  As well as reducing the physical burden, the ability to collect a larger volume of water per visit reduces the frequency of journeys to collect water, freeing up women to work outside the home and children to go to school.

Furthermore, Water Porter is multi-purpose – the indented cushioned side acts as a portable bed for a young child or a seat for resting during long journeys. The cushioned area provides for comfort but can be removed at the user’s discretion. Water Porter is fitted with a tap that delivers controlled water release, as well as a lid to dispense larger amounts of water as needed.

Speaking on behalf of the Water Porter team Fatin Zabidi Azhar said, “The barrel is a sustainable product that could have a life-changing impact in developing countries.  The product would be made from strong plastic so that it can sustain rough terrains, and the plastic can be recycled when ‘wear and tear’ occurs from long-term use.  We envisage the product being made locally to keep the cost low and to provide jobs.”

Second Prize: SpeakEasy – improving communication between the deaf and hearing 
SpeakEasy Poster

The SpeakEasy team set out to create an affordable tablet that translates text into speech and vice versa, to enhance communication between deaf and hearing people.

The SpeakEasy tablet would act as a personal assistant, converting the user’s voice messages into text via voice recognition software and a finely tuned microphone, as well as converting text to audio so that people without a voice can be heard.  It could also be used by people with a speech condition to communicate more easily.

SpeakEasy incorporates a personal phrasebook and dictionary, as well as multi-lingual dictionary capability.  SpeakEasy is intended to work seamlessly offline as all the data would be stored internally and any new content would be updated over the internet.

Speaking about the competition and the ingenuity process, Freddy Heppell from the SpeakEasy team said, “We learned a range of new skills, in particular, the experience taught us the importance of working as a cohesive team in order to develop an idea, as well as communication skills to present our concept with conviction.”

Third Prize: Sol-Ice – top secret idea could keep street food cool
We have all seen images of enterprising street vendors in Africa selling their wares to passers-by in sweltering heat – often without a way of keeping their stock chilled.  This means vendors are forced to cut their working day short as demand tapers off as the goods are affected by the intense heat.

The Sol-Ice team has come up with a sustainable solution to the ‘overheated’ food and drink problem, one that they believe also has the potential to create local jobs and improve people’s quality of life.  The Sol-Ice team is convinced that it has hit upon something big so the product concept cannot be revealed until it is patent-protected!

Speaking for the team, Philip Cohen said, “We’re very excited by the potential of our innovation, it could make a big difference to people in Africa.  This means that the concept is under wraps for now.  Our team found the E&B experience extremely useful – the ingenuity process provides a guide to clear thinking.  We learned that in order to have good ideas, you must generate a huge amount and then sift down to the best.  Rather than a ‘light bulb moment’ or an innate skill, creativity is a long, thought out process that anyone can learn.”

David Falzani, Engineers in Business President and Honorary Professor in Sustainable Wealth Creation at NUBS said: “It’s exciting to see the winning teams aiming to solve social problems at home and abroad.  Some of the most important global challenges we face today are not just technical ones but require the ability to link technologies to an understanding of the market mechanism, business skills, and entrepreneurial commercial thinking. These challenges include delivering and growing secure and affordable supplies of clean water and of energy, to meet the needs and expectations of a fast-growing global population. The competition inspires students to think about big issues and to create potential solutions.”

Engineers in Business Fellowship is currently inviting invitations from other universities to run the Engineers in Business Competition.  For more information contact the SMF Office.

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Understanding the ingenuity process

Vector set of conceptual flat line illustrations on following themes - creativity and inspiration, idea and imagination, innovation and discovery, think outside the box

David Falzani, SMF President and honorary professor of entrepreneurship at Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) takes us through NUBS’ ingenuity process which is at the heart of its entrepreneurship module.

Ingenuity, inventiveness, originality – all these are at the heart of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs, after all, are fundamentally problem solvers that offer creative, innovative solutions and responses to problems – gaps – in organisational or market-oriented thinking.

However, creative solutions don’t just materialise out of thin air. They emerge from lateral thinking processes and problem-solving approaches which attempt to grapple with not just the problem itself, but the factors leading to the problem, the consequences of the various solutions potentially available to us, and the possibility of new, unique ideas which can be mobilised into a concrete plan of action. In other words, ingenuity is not innate. Whether we’re talking about products that fill a particular gap in the market or internal changes to a business, ingenuity is a problem-solving process that taps into a natural human capacity for creative solutions.

They say that quick decisions are not always the best decisions. That’s why the ingenuity process demands organisational time and respect to get the best results – that is, after all, why we talk about it as a ‘process’. It represents a progressive working-through of the obstacles and issues in question. So, what might this process look like?

Defining the problem
If you’re looking for creative solutions, you must already be aware that there is a problem or obstacle. The ingenuity process firstly seeks to understand the problem in its entirety by asking questions such as, but not limited to:

      • Whose problem is this?
      • How urgent is the problem?
      • How might we break the problem down into manageable parts?

In other words, ingenuity first requires a comprehensive, concrete analysis and explanation of the issue at hand—as this will form the basis of the next step, ie your strategy. Knowing the component parts of the problem should give you a clearer idea of the various objectives required to solve each element of the issue individually.

It will also allow you to test your potential strategy against the problem itself by making clear the various implications and impacts of your solution on the different factors leading to the problem in the first place. Defining the problem in this way may even solve the problem immediately by making clear the various blind spots in the organisation’s relationship with the issue thus far. To come up with an original, ingenious solution, however, requires you to document the problem – and your strategy – in its entirety. There is no single answer to a problem, and that’s why all possible avenues must be explored before action is taken.

Documenting the ingenuity process
Documentation is vital in any organisational context, as it will form the basis of any concrete, problem-solving proposal to your colleagues, shareholders, or fellow management team. It enables you to communicate the gravity of the problem and all its complexities in a way that creates a case for taking action and moving forward.

You’ve hopefully thought about the problem in depth, measuring its impacts, causes, and implications of your proposed strategy. You need to communicate this creative thinking in clear, concise terms – not only to justify your strategy but also to hit the nail on the head, so to speak. So, write a statement describing the predicament which addresses:

      • The processes involved
      • The facts as they are and why they demand action
      • The consequences of not solving the problem

This should form the basis of a concise justification as to why your strategy is not only a good potential course of action but an imperative one too. Supplementing this statement with a comprehensive analysis of root causes, a map of the different processes leading to and from the issue, and arranging different considerations according to priority, will provide a solid basis for moving forward and generating real solutions and ideas with your colleagues.

Discovering creative solutions
So, you’ve analysed the problem in its entirety, demonstrated the importance of solving the problem, and hopefully proposed a basic strategy for moving past the issue. Everyone agrees creative solutions are needed, and there are clear ideas about where the problems lie and where action needs to be taken.

If these steps represent an objective, concrete approach to a problem, one that attempts to quantify the issues at hand, then it is from here that real creativity comes into play. You need to designate a time and a place for non-judgmental idea generation.

Exercises such as looking for analogies in other markets or previous experience can be helpful in illustrating where other solutions have fallen short and what needs to be done differently. Take an example from another company, perhaps, and try to generate a set of hypothetical solutions for the problems they faced – it will give you a much-needed detached perspective while providing a focal point for new ideas. Get to the root of your current problem-solving processes. What organisational assumptions are underlying them? How might you change those assumptions to move beyond paradigmatic thinking?

Brainstorm, argue, debate, deconstruct – and ultimately, generate as many ideas as possible in response to the problem at hand. Many of these ideas might not solve the problem in its entirety, but they might solve it partially – and if not, the point is that they open up new space for alternative, lateral solutions. This is the most important element of creative idea generation – allowing yourself to be wrong, questioning your assumptions, and making the box small enough that thinking outside of it becomes second nature.

Determine your course of action
This is the hardest part of the ingenuity process, and the part most burdened with the kind of risks entrepreneurs must take on. Firstly, you need to step back from the idea generation stage. Getting sucked into individual ideas and potential responses can mean losing sight of the bigger picture. You now need to consider all your ideas in their entirety and as a collective whole, asking yourself:

      • What kind of underlying logic characterises the different groups of ideas generated?
      • What solution does this logic point towards? Does it sufficiently address the problem?
      • Have all derivative ideas or combinations of ideas been seriously considered?

It’s time to collate your ideas and think hard about the nature of the problems they’re speaking to. The ingenuity process is then not so much about idea generation as it is about critical self-reflection on the logic and norms governing ‘business as usual’. It’s only by questioning your assumptions and considering your ideas in relation to these assumptions that a truly original, creative solution can emerge. Here, the ingenuity process transforms: it is no longer just about thinking outside of the box; it is about questioning how you ended up inside it in the first place.

Image: vasabii

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Would uSwitch your chief executive?

Would you switch your CEO2Tired of paying over-the-top rates for poor service, bad communication, and a total lack of market strategy? It might be time to switch—your chief executive, that is.

Today, thanks to ‘switching’ providers like uSwitch or comparethemarket, consumers have more power than ever when it comes to comparing and selecting utility or insurance providers. All it takes are a few clicks through these streamlined services to find, and switch to, a better deal.

If only such a service existed for selecting better chief executives. CEOs wield such a large amount of responsibility that a bad CEO could damage, if not devastate, your company in every conceivable way – even permanently, as the recent case of Phillip Green and BHS attests.

By looking at common shortcomings CEOs often face and ‘comparing the market’, so to speak, this article will hopefully outline some of the areas in which chief executives can improve.

A self-critical approach
As Ben Horowitz points out, there’s no one else to blame when you’re CEO – chief executives are ultimately responsible for every major decision within the organisation. The blame for a bad hire or a failed initiative will ultimately find its way back to chief executives as they are the ones who OK such decisions.

For this reason, better CEOs need to take a generally more self-critical approach to their position and their relationship with the company. Firstly, this should manifest in an ability to recognise one’s own weaknesses. If a chief executive is unwilling to admit that they can sometimes lack communication skills, or that their excess of ego is having a negative effect on the company, then this demonstrates stubbornness. If you ask a prospective new CEO what their greatest weakness is and their answer does not pertain to an actual weakness (e.g. “I am too detail-oriented” or “I am too friendly”), it can be a red flag for someone who has not faced up to their own limitations and is not focused on self-improvement.

This can become fatal to a company in times of strife, and this vital self-critical approach must be evident in a chief executive’s actions. If, for example, the organisation is feeling the financial squeeze and the CEO is still accepting large bonuses at the company’s expense, then this demonstrates a lack of critical reflection and a detachment from their responsibility to employees and stakeholders.

Goal-oriented strategic thinking
Companies inevitably run into a myriad of obstacles over their lifespan, and as both a figurehead and leader in practice, it is down to the chief executive to ensure the organisation weathers the storm.

No matter what industry you’re involved in, there will doubtless come a time when your company will be presented with a near-fatal obstacle or challenge. Getting bogged down in the details of these obstacles or allowing them to dominate you psychologically can make you lose sight of the path ahead. This calls for strategic, long-term thinking, rather than short-termism.

Chief executives need to be conscious of the many shifting trends in their industry and conduct a risk assessment of how these might change the landscape in which the organisation is operating in the future. This means understanding the historically unique consumer trends and new technologies emerging as potential opportunities with a place in long-term strategy, but it also requires an ability and willingness to determine which of these trends will have a contingent impact on the company’s vision and which of them are simply short-term fads. Put simply, good chief executives need to have a clear head, balancing risk against short-term challenges in order to retain a clear long-term vision and strategy for the company. Those who are susceptible to getting sucked in by the minutiae of short-term issues simply don’t cut the mustard.

Social responsibility
Does your CEO actively involve themselves in the community of the company, or are they rather more aloof? Do they skip staff parties, charity fundraisers, and local business gatherings? It could be a sign that they feel little affinity with their colleagues or immediate business community, and therefore lack a sense of social responsibility.

“People of my generation of leadership have fundamentally failed, in that corporate private sector has not delivered its contribution to society over the last 10 years,” argues Ronan Dunne, O2’s chief executive. Generating revenue for shareholders and stakeholders alike is obviously a priority for most businesses, but it’s important to remember that business people are part of a social contract with wider society. After all, it’s the community of consumers, producers, and other businesses that every successful organisation owes their success to.

CEOs need to take active, intentional action to not only exhibit but cement the company’s social responsibilities. Ask: how does their sense of social responsibility manifest? Boondoggle initiatives won’t cut it—they need to produce concrete results. O2’s Think Big scheme is a great example of a company getting social responsibility right, offering grants of up to £10,000 to young innovators looking to provide new and creative solutions to environmental problems. Does your CEO put their money where their mouth is? If not, it might be time for a switch!