Keele Business School

Muggles do Accounting and Finance

In this interactive session we will prove the value of studying accounting and finance and explore how the skills gained can support careers in all sorts of professions and sectors, even the world of Harry Potter! 

Morning session: 10:30 - 12:00

Afternoon session: 13:00 - 14:30

Cross-cultural Working in International Business

This taster session is for prospective business management and International Business students. Following a brief introduction to the study of these subjects in Keele Business School, Dr Paul Forrester will deliver an excerpt from a final year module entitled " Comparative Business Cultures". The main focus will be cross-cultural working in Contemporary international businesses.

In this session, we will explore the importance of cultural intelligence in the makeup of managers in addition to technical competences and emotional intelligence – and how this is only going to increase into the future. We will explore business and national culture as concepts, explore how cultures differ, and how these cultural distance affect management and international business.

You will be introduced to some basic models of culture in the session and how the subject is taught at Keele. There will be an interactive exercise based upon a video and the session will end with a demonstration of assignment work produced by this year's students on this theme.

Morning session: 10:30 - 12:00

Afternoon session: 13:00 - 14:30

Saturday 8th February
Introduction to Game Theory and Some Applications
In this taster session, we will briefly introduce strategic games – using examples from Economics and real life applications. We begin a more systematic and analytical approach to this issue. While the timing of the players’ action – simultaneous or sequential – can influence the outcome of the game, we start with simultaneous move games. We introduce some basic concepts of strategies, payoffs and equilibrium. We will solve for the equilibrium of some games.

Saturday 14th March
From Barter to Bitcoin: The Evolution of the Monetary System
We analyse the evolution of the monetary system, which we can explain using the economic concepts of transaction costs and economic efficiency. Starting from a definition of money based on the function it performs, we illustrate the different types of money "accepted" in different societies, from peppercorns (commodity money) to bitcoin. Disclaimer: how to mine bitcoin is not part of the syllabus!

Saturday 6th April
Grand challenges: crises, austerity, and public sector funding
This talk will look at a number of topical and challenging, inter-related issues. The financial crisis of 2007-9 and the subsequent slow recovery has re-awakened criticism of both the capitalist/market economy and 'austerity' policies. In parallel, debate has also begun on the required size of the public sector that can meet the challenges of climate change or regional regeneration. We shall be exploring aspects of the 2007-9 crisis and subsequent (slow) recovery, the increased deficits and indebtedness of the last 10 years and the rationale for and the dilemmas associated with 'austerity'. We will also talk about various views on the role of and appropriate size of 'government' (public sector) in the economy. We shall highlight with information about health and education spending in the UK. 

Morning session: 10:30 - 12:00

Afternoon session: 13:00 - 14:30

Saturday 8th February
Why are women paid less than men?
This taster session will explain some of the contemporary theories explaining the reasons for the gender pay gap with the labour market. It will also introduce the contextual information of pay inequality, and what the public, the government, employers and employees have responded to the consistent gender pay gap phenomenon. Practical examples will be given to show the implications of gender pay disparity, and the prospect of eliminating gender pay inequality at the workplace.

Saturday 14th March
The Gender Pay Gap
This session looks at the meaning, causes and impact of the gender pay gap. Actions to close the gender pay gap are also considered.

Saturday 6th April
What is HRM?
This session provides an insight into some of the main features of Human Resource Management, its underlying principles and the factors that have contributed to its growing popularity in recent decades.The presentation will begin by inviting members in the audience to consider what they understand by the term Human Resource Management. This will help engage and encourage interaction early on in the session. From here, attention will turn to some of the main drivers for HRM and this will again, call for contribution from the audience with a view to teasing out issues such as increased global competition, the quest for greater efficiency in the public services and the dominance of the free market narrative in western economies in recent decades. Having spent time considering context, the presentation discusses some of the core practices that are associated with HRM including appraisal, performance management, reward systems and mechanisms through which to secure employee commitment, fulfilment and well-being. This will be located within a wider debate about the role of HR in implementing policy and the challenges that they may face in this sense. I will here draw on some of the tensions that are inherent within staple HRM doctrines that for example, seek to secure commitment alongside contingent forms of employment.The presentation then moves on to showcase some of the HRM-based modules within the Keele HRM programmes. In doing so it will highlight the advantages of studying this field in an environment that allows students to interact both academically and socially with a range of businesses and business experts. The session closes with an insight into the career paths open to HRM graduates and the types of salaries and benefits that these attract.

Morning session: 10:30 - 12:00

Afternoon session: 13:00 - 14:30

Saturday 8th February
Does it Matter What a Brand is Called?
Brands form a key part of contemporary consumer life. We all tend to have ones that are our particular favourites, which we can’t live without and where there is a particular longstanding relationship between us and the brand. Brands come with a lot of different types of names. Some are very descriptive and link closely with what the branded product is supposed to do functionally. For example, Northern Rail is a train company offering railway services in Northern England. Other names carry more symbolic associations and point to what we might experience on an emotional level if we purchase and use the branded product or service. For example, Caffè Nero suggests that an Italian coffee experience awaits every entrant, even in the middle of Stoke on Trent! On occasion there appears to be no relation between the name of the brand and the brand itself and we tend to only associate the name with the brand through ongoing marketing communications, such as advertisements, and regular consumer usage. What does Vimto have to do with berry flavoured soft drinks? However, does it really matter what a brand is called? In the United Kingdom there have been a number of well-known changes of name. In 1990 the chocolate bar Marathon changed its name to Snickers with no warning Subsequently Jif suddenly became Cif and the Dime bar became the Daim bar. What would you think if the name of your favourite brand changed? Indeed, do you consider that a company has the right to change the name of a brand? Do brands really even belong solely to the company that produces them or do they also belong to the consumer, whose needs are supposedly paramount?

Saturday 14th March
Culture and the influence on consumer behaviour
Do you always use the same products and brands when getting ready for the day? Do you always exchange specific types gifts at Christmas, carve a pumpkin at Halloween or go on an egg hunt at Easter? Do you associate certain styles of food and music with different places? Culture is one of the main drivers of behaviour and influences almost everything we do, including our consumption behaviour. The aim of this taster session is to delve deeper into the minds of consumers to explore how culture impacts consumption choices, preferences and behaviour. We will investigate different aspects of culture from an individual and collective perspective, exploring cultural values, norms, myths and rituals in relation to product and brand choices. We will also look at the idea of subcultures and how consumers use products and brands to demonstrate shared connections and commitments. Since culture is so deeply embedded within our behaviour and consumption decisions, it is vital that marketers today understand how culture influences consumers and how marketing can influence culture.

Saturday 6th April
Ethical production and consumption
This session offers an introduction to ethical production and consumption in both a national and international context. We will explore Levitt’s (1983) theory of standardization, discussing how relevant the theory is in today’s world of consumerism. Levitt’s theory of Standardization suggests that the world is becoming more similar and that organizations should only make alterations to products to suit changing consumer demands when absolutely necessary.

In considering Levitt’s (1983) theory, we will lend focus to the sweatshops often used by retail giants, such as many of the popular clothing retailers, in order to gain an understanding of why such organizations may choose to use sweatshops for their manufacturing processes. Furthermore, the session will encourage participants to reflect on sustainable production and consumption from the perspectives of consumers and workers, in addition to exploring the perspective of organizations. In doing so, the session aims to increase understanding of the rationale behind the three different perspectives, in light of both the positive and negative implications of organizational actions for consumers, workers and organizations.

The session also seeks to explore some of the ways in which organizations attempt to appear more ethical to their consumers, such as greenwashing and making misleading claims. In order to do so, the session will present several real life organizational examples, including vegan cosmetics and BP oil, facilitating a consideration of the ethical implications behind these organizational activities. The session will conclude with discussion around the power of individual consumers to persuade organizations to act in an ethical and responsible manner.

Morning session: 10:30 - 12:00

Afternoon session: 13:00 - 14:30