Recent Grant Successes
Patent use, Technology Licensing and IP management in UK firms
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
This joint project with the Intellectual Propert Office (IPO) and Prof. Ashish Arora, Duke University will gather evidence on the role of patent protection in the UK economy - particularly the use of patents by firms and the strategies being used by firms to manage their IP and circumvent the problems caused by overlapping patent rights or ‘patent thickets’. The team will bring new academic thinking on these issues through a small-scale (US and UK) survey project where the user community is involved in generating and gathering the data needed. By doing this the team will be able to plug important evidentiary gaps about the recourse to patenting by innovative firms and also the use of patents though licensing and cross-licensing in the economy. In addition, a detailed survey of UK IP management practices based on similar surveys conducted in the US will enable a deeper understanding of the patent thicket question as well as the measures UK firms are taking to gain 'freedom to operate'. The team expects that this understanding and analysis of IP management practices will be a valuable input in IPOs training programmes, will raise awareness in small and medium firms and will also inform IP policy in the UK.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
- ESRC
www.esrc.ac.uk
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Suma Athreye at Suma.Athreye@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
ESRC
SMPs' role in the internationalisation efforts of UK SMEs
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
The project will investigate the internationalisation advisory services that Small and Medium-sized Accountancy Practices (SMPs) provide to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and how these advisory services equip SMEs with the adequate knowledge to assist their engagement in international expansion. Brunel University’s academic researchers will collaborate with The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) on this ISBE project (sponsored by Barclays, ESRC and National Council Graduate Entrepreneurship).
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Cristina Stoian at Cristina.Stoian@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
ISBE
ESRC
Barclay's Bank
BIOPOOL: Services associated to digitalised contents of tissues in biobanks across Europe
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
The main objective of the project is to build and to provide access to a linked pool of digital data managed by biobanks (comprised by histological digital images of the biologic material and the data associated to these images), demonstrating to its end users (the health community) the potential and the possibilities of this data pool for medical research, diagnosis and educational activities. BIOPOOL will establish a complete intelligent biobank network, being a basis for cooperation in diagnosis and medical research. In the mid-term, this project will be the first step towards finding ways to improve the diagnostic processes and research facilities. Another important benefit will be the creation of a training basis for studying clinical cases over microscopic image diagnosis which can be extended to the field of education.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
- The European Union
europa.eu
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Francesco Moscone at Francesco.Moscone@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
Seventh Framework Programme
European Commission
SHEQuIP - Sudan Higher Education Quality Improvement Project
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
This two year project is in collaboration with the School of Management Studies (SMS), University of Khartoum. The aim is to develop a rigorous programme for quality improvement at SMS with knowledge transfer and support from Brunel Business School (using the MBA programme as a demonstration vehicle) to improve curriculum development processes; teaching methods; research and industrial/executive education. The project outcomes will directly lead to improved quality of the MBA programme at SMS and will further establish their quality framework. The collaboration between the two academic teams will go beyond the project and will lead to joint publications and other funded programmes.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
- The British Council Sudan
www.britishcouncil.org/africa-sd-contact-us.htm
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr Wafi Al-Karaghouli at Wafi Al-Karaghouli@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
The British Council Sudan
Daiwa Foundation sponsored project with Tokyo University
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Recently Finished
Project Outline
This award will support research collaboration between Dr. Gabriella Spinelli and Tokyo University. The research will investigate how technology is used, rejected and adjusted to fit with the everyday life of the ageing users. Particular attention will be dedicated to the coping strategies used by elderly users with different cultural background when dealing with technologies. Coping strategies represent important starting point to foster innovation and inform inclusive designed artefacts.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
- Daiwa Foundation
www.dajf.org.uk
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Gabriella Spinelli at Gabriella.Spinelli@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
Daiwa Foundation
Innovation at work: Psychological well-being, processes and outcomes
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
The International Collaborative Research Network (ICRN) will initially run for a 24-month period and will investigate creativity and innovation in the workplace and their effects upon performance, human resource management policies, and psychological well-being across three countries in the EU – the UK, the Netherlands, and Spain. Collaborating groups will be based at Maastricht University and the University of Valencia. This Centre has been fully-funded by the Leverhulme Trust and will examine both the positive and negative causes, effects, and outcomes of workplace innovation attempts. A particular emphasis of this Centre will be to further our understanding of the relations between creativity and innovation in job roles and different aspects of psychological well-being for employees, and the way in which these processes can best be managed in order to improve workgroup and organizational performance outcomes.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
- The Leverhulme Trust
www.leverhulme.ac.uk
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Neil Anderson at Neil.Anderson@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
The Leverhulme Trust
LiveCity - Live Video-to-Video Supporting Interactive City Infrastructure
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
The aim of LiveCity is to empower the citizens of a city to interact with each other in a more productive, efficient and socially useful way by using high quality Video-to-Video over the internet. Video-to-video can be used to save patients lives, improve city administration, reduce fuel costs, reduce carbon footprint, enhance education and improve city experiences for tourists and cultural consumers.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
- Project Website
www.livecity-psp.eu - ICT PSP Website
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/index_en.htm
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Zahir Irani at Zahir.Irani@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
CIP
European Commission
OASIS - Openly Accessible Services and Interacting Society
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
The project will facilitate access to information, public services and economic promotion by grouping online services in a unified portal following a user-centered logic. Federating services in a unique environment will enable public administrations to make better use of customer and businesses information and adapt public services (e-services) so they more often meet the needs of people and businesses.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Zahir Irani at Zahir.Irani@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
CIP
European Commission
Preparing Graduates for Business Life
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
The project will enable the UK and Indian institutions to work together to share good practices that will enhance the experiences of students in all the institutions. The project’s outputs will inform employability practices in each institution.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Ashley Braganza at Ashley.Braganza@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
UKIERI
Developing Management Training Materials for SMEs
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
The aim of project is to support the growth of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), initially in Tamil Nadu but ultimately throughout India, by the development and delivery of business and management training materials that focus on enhancing key key management skills and capacities deemed necessary for these enterprises to compete effectively both at home and abroad.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Keith Dickson at Keith.Dickson@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
UKIERI
Improving Pedagogic And Academic Leadership
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Recently Finished
Project Outline
This exchange grant will allow Prof. Ashley Braganza to visit and work with an Indian institute to help them develop and change their teaching materials and improve academic capabilities.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Ashley Braganza at Ashley.Braganza@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
UKIERI
White working class men doing 'dirty work': choices, experiences, identities
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Recently Finished
Project Outline
The study focuses on the experiences of indigenous white
working class men in two occupational groups: street cleaners and security guards. It uses a unique qualitative methodology to explore their occupational journeys, the meanings they give to their work, the challenges faced and how they manage identity. The project captures the group that has eluded systematic analysis. It is thereby positioned to further our understanding of this specific context and to have an impact beyond the immediate focus of the study.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Natasha Slutskaya at Natasha.Slutskaya@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
British Academy
eGovPoliNet
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
eGovPoliNet is an initiative supported by the European Commission that aims to establish an International Policy Community which deals with ICT solutions for Governance and Policy Modelling. 18 partners from 16 countries both within and outside of the EU are working together to share ideas, experiences and practices in the field. eGovPoliNet focuses on generating interaction amongst experts from various scientific disciplines and practitioner groups in order to provide evidence and insight into the development of new methods of Governance and Policy Modelling for those involved in the policymaking process.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Vishanth Weerakkody at Vishanth.Weerakkody@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
www.policy-community.eu
Selecting for innovation: Individual characteristics and innovation in the workplace
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
The main aim of this project is to examine the relationships between personality characteristics and cognitive abilities, respectively, and innovative behaviours at work. A matched study on nurses in England and Spain is being carried out to examine the role of individualism/ collectivism in these relationships. Whereas the UK has a strong individualistic component, Spain was found to be one of the most collectivistic European countries. Although the primary task of the nursing population is caring for patients, they also implement innovations in their daily work for different reasons, for instance to manage more effectively their high workload and improve their services in the community.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Kristina Potocnik at Kristina.Potocnik@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
British Academy
Value of the financial statements of small entities to lenders and creditors
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Started 1 Sept 2011
Project Outline
The study investigates the value of the financial statements of small non-publicly accountable companies and unincorporated small and micro-entities to creditor groups and intermediaries in the UK, Finland, South Aftica, Thailand and the USA in the context of globalisation and different reporting requirements in different jurisdictions
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Jill Collis at jill.collis@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
The Value of Small Company abbreviated Accounts
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Report published June 2011
Project Outline
The study draws on empirical data from the preparers of the financial statements of small companies and a wide range of users (including small, medium-sized and large companies, accountants in practice, banks, credit rating agencies and credit insurers) using online and postal surveys, and face-to-face and telephone interviews.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Jill Collis at jill.collis@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Aligning Operations Strategy
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Recently Finished
Project Outline
The project is designed to align the operations mission with the operations strategy of a rapidly growing recruitment company. This involves mapping current operations strategy metrics and the development of a robust and comprehensive strategy positioning plan. Dr. Des Doran and Dr. Tillal Eldabi will conduct a number of mapping activities to ensure that current operations are adjusted to reflect the future aspirations of the company.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Des Doran at Des.Doran@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Integrated Model for Evaluating Egovernment Services Transformation (I-MEET)
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
The project aims to develop an integrated eGovernment (EG) services evaluation framework considering perspective of citizens and service providers. I-MEET brings together Brunel University, American University of Beirut, and Qatar University. It is based on the integration of concepts in value chain management of services and business process transformation to optimise the system-wide value chain satisfaction for both providers and users versus the disintegrated approach where each stakeholder optimises its derived value of EGs at the expense of others.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Zahir Irani at Zahir.Irani@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Strategic design: Business Innovation through Inclusivity
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
With longer life expectancy, companies and organisations have become increasingly interested in this market segment, though very little research is currently available to differentiate the heterogeneous composition of this group and to understand their lifestyle and requirements. The research interweaves three streams of work, usability and design, market research and ICT to capture the diverse products and service needs elderly people have in later life, and the interaction modalities that better suit their lifestyle and choices.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Gabriella Spinelli at Gabriella.Spinelli@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Transfer In: SMEs - factors to consider when determining policy and requirements
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Recently Finished
Project Outline
IFAC Policy Position Paper No 3 International Standard-Setting in the Public Interest (2008) notes that in recent years there has been a significant shift at national level from essentially self-regulatory arrangements where policy, regulation and standards for financial reporting and assurance are controlled by experts, to independent regulation. Policy, regulation and standards for financial reporting and assurance are now often in the hands of independent non-experts, who may seek guidance in fulfilling their responsibilities. This paper is a response by IFAC to calls for assistance by some such independent non-experts for guidance on factors to be taken into account when determining policy and requirements for financial reporting and assurance.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Jill Collis at Jill.Collis@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
Travel grant - Humanitarian Supply Chain Management: Towards a Framework for Disaster Relief in Iran
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Recently Finished
Project Outline
Natural disasters, specifically earthquakes are common in Iran. Over the past decades, the country has suffered from disastrous earthquakes including: Manjil-Rudbar earthquake in 1990 that killed 40,000 people and Bam earthquake in 2003 with 26,000 fatalities. In addition to earthquakes, Iran is subject to flood and drought with massive social and economic consequences. This visiting scholarship is planned as part of long term collaboration between Brunel University and the University of Tehran in the area of Humanitarian Supply Chain Management focusing on logistics issues for disaster relief in Iran. The project objectives include: scope planning and literature review to identify the gap in humanitarian supply chain management in Iran; exchange of ideas with other researchers as well as relief organisations in the UK; dissemination of initial results through a seminar; and developing a framework for follow-up research collaborations between the visiting scholar and the host.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Afshin Mansouri at Afshin.Mansouri@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
ESRC
Intellectual Property Rights and Returns to Technology Investment
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Recently Finished
Project Outline
The project will shed light on the value of patent protection for UK innovators as distinct from the value of R&D or innovation itself. Prof. Suma Athreye will work jointly with Prof. Ashish Arora (Prof. of Strategy, Duke University) to estimate the varying level of the patent premium for different industries. This will help policy makers to identify which industries are patent intensive and also to understand the market conditions that affect the incentives to patent. The IPO contract builds upon Prof. Athreye’s work under the FP7 programme on International trade in technology services from the UK.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Suma Athreye at Suma.Athreye@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
Intellectual Property Office
Emotional Entrepreneurs: An Exploratory Study of Small-Scale Theatre Company Founders
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Finished Sept 2010
Project Outline
The pilot project investigated the motivations, aspirations and behaviour of founders of small scale, independent theatre companies (SSTCs), via an analysis of personal narratives from these creative entrepreneurs trying to establish new SSTCs, in order to develop insights into connections between emotion, creativity and entrepreneurial identity.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Keith Dickson at Keith.Dickson@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
ISBE's RAKE Fund
(Institute for Small Business and Enterprise's Research and Knowledge Exchange Fund)
sponsored by
Sponsor
ESRC
Barclay's Bank
BIS
NCGE
Ubiquitous Participation Platform for Policy Making Processes (UbiPOL)
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
UbiPOL is funded by EU FP7 ICT and aims to develop location based citizen participation tool that allows ubiquitous citizen participation in policy making processes. Brunel Business School is leading the collaboration with eight partners in EU member states and associate countries. The two main components of the project are mobile components which run on mobile devices and the back-end components which are used by policy makers in local and central government agencies.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Zahir Irani at Zahir.Irani@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
Seventh Framework Programme
European Commission
Statistical Modelling of Interdependence in Economics
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Recently Finished
Project Outline
This project focuses on statistical methods for the representation and measurement of interdependence among economic agents. The project will contribute to the development of these techniques and their use in applied problems. In the last few years, there has been a growing literature both empirical and theoretical on the role of interdependence among agents in determining economic outcomes. The project contributes to this literature by developing new methods to measure and disentangle local interaction among statistical units from their reaction to common unobservable shocks. Monte Carlo experiments are employed to investigate the small sample properties of the proposed estimators and tests. Two empirical exercises in the field of health economics and housing market illustrate how these methods work in practise.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Dr. Francesco Moscone at Francesco.Moscone@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
ESRC
Citizen oriented Evaluation of E-Government Services: A Reference Process Model (CEES)
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Current
Project Outline
CEES project is funded by EU FP7 IAPP Marie Curie action to support knowledge exchange between industry and academia. The project aims to develop citizen oriented eGovernment services evaluation framework and sees collaboration between two academic partners, Brunel University and American University of Beirut and one industrial partner, Turksat based in Turkey. The key mechanisms for knowledge exchange among the partners are secondments, recruitments and networking events.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Zahir Irani at Zahir.Irani@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
Marie Curie Actions
Seventh Framework Programme
European Commission
The Changing Nature of Internationalisation of Innovation in Europe (GLOBIN)
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Recently Finished
Project Outline
This project will conduct new research on the propensity of firms in the UK to license their technology and services to firms abroad and the effect of such external technology purchases on the innovativeness of UK firms. In conducting this research, Prof. Suma Athreye will work closely with the Office of National Statistics, and an international team comprising Dr. Pari Patel (Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex), Prof. Luc Soete and Prof. Geert Duysters (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht), Prof. Alfonso Gambardella and Dr. Grid Thoma (University of Bocconi, Milan), Prof. Jan Fagerberg and Dr. Martin Schrolec (University of Oslo, Norway) and Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan, (Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India). This research is part of a larger study on the ‘Internationalisation of Innovation in Europe and its consequences for firms and implications for innovation policy in Europe’.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Suma Athreye at Suma.Athreye@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
European Commission
Network for eGovernment Integration and Systems Evaluation (eGISE) – A Global Uncertainties accredited research award
Status (Recently Finished or Current)
Finished
Project Outline
E-government has rapidly become a political imperative at local, national and international level. With the growth of the Internet and public access to information, government agencies at all levels rushed to publish strategies in the mid-1990s that created a muddle of information and policy with no clearly defined audience. At present evaluation is mainly volumetric or case study coverage with only vague notions of benefit to the citizen. To make adoption more successful, there is a need to better understand the issues surrounding eGovernment, in particular gaining a clearer insight into the barriers, benefit realisations, risk management or mitigation and cost management, which together provide decision makers with a realistic insight into eGovernment infrastructure planning. The purpose of the eGISE network is to promote national debate and highlight research strategies to increase understanding of eGovernment, and the processes involved in evaluating decisions surrounding human, organisational and technical components of Information Society Technologies (IST). In particular, the network will explore IST strategies and their embedded mechanisms for evaluation and integration within government and the service or public sector.
Websites (Project/Funding Source/Any other)
Contact Email for the Project
Please contact Prof. Zahir Irani at Zahir.Irani@brunel.ac.uk
Business School Team Members
Sponsor
Global Uncertainties
EPSRC
