By Professor Tony Dobbins, Professor of Employment Relations and HR Management President of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association Covid-19 is already having devastating effects on work, both in the UK and globally, with decreased employment and rising unemployment. In the UK, the state Job Retention Scheme is the only thing protecting many people from … Continue reading “Why a new future politics of work is paramount after Covid-19”
How do collective and individualistic societies respond to the challenge of social distancing orders?
By Professor Xiaohui Liu Department of Strategy and International Business, University of Birmingham We have witnessed how coronavirus has spread rapidly and become a global pandemic in just a few months. Governments around the world have taken drastic measures to stop the virus transmission and save lives. Following advice from scientists and medical professionals, it … Continue reading “How do collective and individualistic societies respond to the challenge of social distancing orders?”
How COVID-19 has made the invisible silent killer of air pollution visible
By Dr Nana Osei Bonsu, Research Fellow Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business, University of Birmingham In the battle to slow the spread of COVID-19, countries around the world are restricting social gatherings, encouraging working from home, closing schools and restricting public events. As a result, this brutal pandemic has inadvertently made the invisible … Continue reading “How COVID-19 has made the invisible silent killer of air pollution visible”
The Maths Behind Lockdown Nation and the Social Distancing Exit Strategy
By Professor John Bryson Department of Strategy and International Business, University of Birmingham How does one forecast the future? The answer is that the future is too often unpredictable, but it might not be unexpected. On Thursday 26 March 2020, I wrote the following and left this text to one side. This was a ‘forecast’ … Continue reading “The Maths Behind Lockdown Nation and the Social Distancing Exit Strategy”
COVID-19: Where to go for reliable and accurate data
By Dr Agnieszka Chidlow The Department of Strategy and International Business As strict lockdown measures are being put in place in countries around the world to minimise the spread and impact of COVID-19 on both health and economic systems, we all closely monitor, compare and contrast the data around the number of deaths, as well as … Continue reading “COVID-19: Where to go for reliable and accurate data”
Struggling for trust: banks and government grants
By Professor Andy Mullineux Department of Finance, Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business The government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic provides the UK’s banks with a real opportunity to re-build their reputations. The 2007-9 financial crisis and subsequent miss-selling and market-rigging scandals, like PPI and Libor, did enormous damage to the industry. But by … Continue reading “Struggling for trust: banks and government grants”
The ‘Nationalisation’ of Labour
By Professor John Bryson Department of Strategy and International Business, University of Birmingham Something astonishing has happened that will go down in British history as an example of an inflection moment in British governance. I have already argued that the Covid-19 pandemic represents an inflection point producing radical and long-lasting social, cultural, economic, political and … Continue reading “The ‘Nationalisation’ of Labour”
Retailers on a Mission for Transformation
By Dr Pilar Rojas Gaviria, Department of Marketing, University of Birmingham and Professor Domen Bajde, University of Southern Denmark Crouched at my desk in Sao Paulo At my house in the rua Lopes Chaves In a trice, I felt a chill inside me. I shivered, deeply moved With the stupid book looking at me. Can’t … Continue reading “Retailers on a Mission for Transformation”
Staying present, at a safe distance, for local craft businesses
By Dr Scott Taylor Department of Management, University of Birmingham State intervention during the coronavirus pandemic is focused on two areas: first, healthcare and second, the economy. There can be tensions between the aims of these two policy spheres – large busy workplaces producing goods and retail outlets selling those goods are spaces where … Continue reading “Staying present, at a safe distance, for local craft businesses”
Urgent government action needed to avoid debt explosion
By Karen Rowlingson, Professor of Social Policy Department of Social Policy Sociology & Criminology, Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management, University of Birmingham Even before the current COVID-19 crisis hit, research by the University of Birmingham showed that 3 million people in the UK were behind with key bills such as: gas, electric, water, … Continue reading “Urgent government action needed to avoid debt explosion”