WMREDI Policy Briefing: Financial Resilience During Economic Decline

In this policy briefing, Dr Amir Qamar, Dr Emma Gardner, Professor Anne Green and Professor Simon Collinson review the financial health of the largest 50 manufacturing firms within the West Midlands. Introduction The ongoing impact of the UK’s departure from the EU, the aftermath of the pandemic, and the recent depreciation of the pound provide … Continue reading “WMREDI Policy Briefing: Financial Resilience During Economic Decline”

The 2018 Retail Crisis Catches Up With Marks and Spencer

Recently, the UK retail industry has been facing six challenges, namely: 1) a squeeze in incomes; 2) the shift to online shopping; 3) changing tastes; 4) rising overheads; 5) high debt; and 6) simply too many shops. Following the closure of Toys R Us, Maplin and certain New Look stores, approximately 5,500 people are already … Continue reading “The 2018 Retail Crisis Catches Up With Marks and Spencer”

The University of Birmingham’s Impact on the Local Economy

Birmingham was recently ranked as the UK’s number one destination for foreign direct investment – creating over 12,000 jobs in the last 10 years. The West Midlands ranks as the UK’s number one region for manufacturing technology jobs, accounting for 60% of the country’s exports. The focal point for explaining the region’s success often surrounds … Continue reading “The University of Birmingham’s Impact on the Local Economy”

Flexibility Differences between Lean and Agile Production in the West Midlands Automotive Supply Chain

The majority of studies which have investigated lean and agile production have explored each of these production concepts in silos, which is a growing trend in the recent literature. Given that a number of studies assert that flexibility is an essential factor for differentiating lean and agile production there is an important need to explore … Continue reading “Flexibility Differences between Lean and Agile Production in the West Midlands Automotive Supply Chain”

The 45th Academy of International Business Conference – Birmingham Business School

On the 12th – 14th April 2018, the Birmingham Business School successfully hosted the 45th Academy of International Business Annual (AIB UK&I) Conference. As the contemporary world is currently experiencing pivotal forces of change, particularly related to uncertain and turbulent political environments, the theme of the conference was to explore international business strategies in a changing … Continue reading “The 45th Academy of International Business Conference – Birmingham Business School”

Boosting productivity to reduce low pay

On the 6th April, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation released a report called “Raising productivity in low-wage sectors and reducing poverty“. The report was produced by Professor Anne Green and Dr Amir Qamar, City-REDI, University of Birmingham, Dr Paul Sissons and Dr Kevin Broughton, Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University. The report looks at the role … Continue reading “Boosting productivity to reduce low pay”

Part B: The Consequences of Carillion’s Collapse

Carillion, the second-largest construction firm in the UK, were proud of their commitment to support regional growth and small-scale suppliers. As part of this commitment, they directed 60% of project expenditure to local economies. Following the collapse of the firm, this positive multiplier effect became a significant, negative multiplier effect, particularly damaging to small-scale suppliers … Continue reading “Part B: The Consequences of Carillion’s Collapse”

Part A: The Causes of Carillion’s Collapse

Racing to secure bids over rival construction companies, Carillion, the second-largest construction firm in the UK, hit a financial tipping point, lost the backing of the banks and collapsed. Its aggressive growth strategy and the diversification of its business portfolio increased the complexity of its internal structure. Coupled with poor oversight of its day-to-day operations, … Continue reading “Part A: The Causes of Carillion’s Collapse”

UK Automotive Supply Chains Are Not Lean!

With its origins traceable to the Japanese Toyota Production System and the publication of one of the best-selling books amongst both academics and practitioners, ‘The Machine that Changed the World’, the concept of lean production has received substantial attention and has become well embedded within automotive studies in Operations Management (OM) and Supply Chain Management … Continue reading “UK Automotive Supply Chains Are Not Lean!”

City REDI publications series – Amir Qamar

As part of a new blog series, we will be highlighting the excellent research produced by the City-REDI team since 2015, with the aim of creating an online searchable library. You can view this work by searching the blog with the relevant tag, either using the name of the author or the year of the publication. The … Continue reading “City REDI publications series – Amir Qamar”