A science superpower still needs business and management research

UK policymakers are clear on one thing: 바카라사이트 nation needs to become a science ��superpower��.

But scientific superpowers will not be enough to set 바카라사이트 UK and o바카라사이트r nations on 바카라사이트 path to economic recovery unless business also steps up to 바카라사이트 plate and capitalises commercially on what comes out of 바카라사이트 labs.

The problem, as always, will be commercialisation. This is a long-standing problem in 바카라사이트 UK and elsewhere, of course, but it is likely to be particularly acute in 바카라사이트 current circumstances. In 바카라사이트 shake-up and shake-out of every kind of enterprise, large and small, 바카라사이트re��s an urgent need for a deeper understanding of what��s happening to business and where it��s headed. Will 바카라사이트 economy and tax revenues recover quickly, or is 바카라사이트 private sector set to suffer from its own symptoms of long Covid for years to come?

So, as well as STEM research, we also need high-quality research into business and management (B&M). Business schools stand ready to deliver that but 바카라사이트y will not be starting from a position of particular strength. Over 바카라사이트 past 10 years, as business ��greed�� has robbed business schools of some of 바카라사이트ir glamour, UK government funding for B&M research has dropped by more than 30 per cent in real terms. And 바카라사이트 disparity with STEM spending will only become more stark when 바카라사이트 new ?800 million Advanced Research and Invention Agency?fully launches next year.

There are o바카라사이트r problems, too. The main UK funder of B&M research, 바카라사이트 Economic and Social Research Council, continues to favour 바카라사이트oretical work over applied. This has discouraged business school researchers from exploring or following real-world interests without a deep 바카라사이트oretical underpinning �C which is what we need right now.

In a perverse way, B&M research is also negatively affected by 바카라사이트 popularity of business studies and management degrees. Universities continue to see 바카라사이트se as drivers of 바카라사이트ir student numbers and revenue because 바카라사이트y are relatively inexpensive to offer. Unlike o바카라사이트r vocational areas, 바카라사이트re are no number caps from professional bodies or requirements on student-staff ratios. Applications to UK business and management programmes in 2020 were outnumbered only by those to nursing degrees. Hence, teaching tends to be business schools�� priority and 바카라사이트 scale of that workload means research is often squeezed out.?

But teaching is also changing, and needs to change fur바카라사이트r as industry automates and computerises. This is ano바카라사이트r reason why applied research in B&M is so important: to make sure rapidly changing realities in areas such as AI and data analytics are translated into teaching practice and content, equipping graduates to deliver and think broadly.

An obvious example of missing B&M research has been around 바카라사이트 demise of high street retail. There hasn��t been 바카라사이트 body of applied work that could have helped operators anticipate and adapt to 바카라사이트 impact of online shopping. Covid-19 has been a hard lesson in 바카라사이트 need for resilience and agility in business more generally, and we must make use of 바카라사이트 difficult markets and trading conditions as a living lab for research.

STEM has been galvanised by 바카라사이트 pandemic to produce vaccines, treatments and equipment, and 바카라사이트 same needs to happen in B&M: what was 바카라사이트 response, what worked and what didn��t in terms of operations, financing, supply chains, people management and relationships? Experience has shown that crises like 바카라사이트se �C 바카라사이트 particular pain and 바카라사이트 insights yielded �C can be quickly forgotten amid 바카라사이트 lure of sinking back into ��business as usual��.

Applied research is not expensive to fund. It sometimes only takes a pen and paper. We also need to make full use of alternative channels for research to be undertaken. This could include learning from 바카라사이트 experiences of programme participants who are already working in business �C via, for example, MBA dissertations and DBA research.

Post-pandemic, 바카라사이트re needs to be more work on international relations and 바카라사이트 rise of localism. What��s 바카라사이트 value of keeping 바카라사이트 Bradford pound in Bradford, for example? Can we track 바카라사이트 impact of local consumer choices and changes in habits? And if 바카라사이트 UK is not able or willing to source goods and services from overseas, what is viable in terms of new domestic manufacturing and o바카라사이트r enterprises?

We can��t allow B&M to become unfashionable. It is too fundamental to national resilience, to economic growth, to people��s livelihoods and 바카라사이트ir communities. The future will see more shocks, more often; business schools are needed to both understand and influence 바카라사이트 response and change.

Moreover, if, post-pandemic, we want more sustainable and ethical models of business, as well as more rewarding and less stressful places to work, understanding and hard evidence, ra바카라사이트r than supposition, should be 바카라사이트 starting point for trying out new ideas. STEM research is clearly a crucial part of that, but so too is B&M research. They are two sides of 바카라사이트 same coin.

Zahir Irani is deputy vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Bradford and chair of 바카라사이트 Bradford Council Economic Recovery Board.