Inspiring solutions for business through our ‘Ideas in Practice'

Leeds University Business School’s 2023/24 Ideas in Practice programme and engagement activities inspire solutions for business and economic challenges.

Our Ideas in Practice seminar series has been showcasing academic research to external audiences for eight years, and continues to gain traction and popularity. 

As another academic year comes to an end, here’s a look back at the events that took place in 2023/2024. 

Highlighting the positive impact of paternal involvement in childcare 

Dr Helen Norman and the Fatherhood Institute’s Jeremy Davies’ opened the autumn term with a highly successful webinar: “How do fathers affect their children’s education?”. This online event represented the culmination of their major Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded project - Paternal Involvement & its Effects on Children’s Education (PIECE) - by launching a final report and toolkit to over 200 attendees. After a welcome from MP Andrew Gwynne, panellists, including Parentkind, The DadLab and Dope Black Dads, stressed the importance of early paternal interventions.  

The team’s analysis of the findings from the Millennium Cohort Study, linked to the official educational records of children at ages five and seven, showed that fathers’ childcare involvement has a unique and important effect on the educational outcomes of children. Immediate features in both The Guardian and on ITV News emphasised the huge media interest in this topic, which resulted in over one billion views across 20 countries. 

The role of technology in addressing financial vulnerability 

Later in September, Dr Nabi Omidvar hosted “Understanding Financial Vulnerability: Challenges and Opportunities” as part of the Leeds Digital Festival at Nexus. The event centred around the crucial role that technology can play in identifying and supporting financially vulnerable consumers, and it aimed to bridge the gap between social science insights and technological solutions.  

Dr Omidvar explored his psychometric testing results with representatives from financial institutions, regulatory bodies, technology companies and non-profit organisations alongside data analytics of behaviour provided by external speakers Lloyds Banking Group and TransUnion. Start-up Serene, loan-based software company Lenvi and the Chief Executive at the Vulnerability Registration Service also offered their differing perspectives. The next step for this research is to establish a consortium of external stakeholders on the subject to foster relationships that could influence policy and practice. 

Dr Nabi Omidvar (Leeds University Business School), Helen Lord (Vulnerability Registration Service), and Deborah Fletcher and Kellie Lloyd (both Lloyds Banking Group)

Ensuring business ecosystems can lead to social value 

In October 2023, David Loseby, Visiting Professor of Research Impact, led the first co-hosted conference with the Institute for Collaborative Working (ICW) and the Social Value Portal (SVP), titled “Enabling collaboration in ecosystems to unlock social value”. Social value covers social, environmental and economic elements integral to all business ecosystems. As such, this full-day conference at the University’s Cloth Hall Court housed a variety of cross-industry speakers, debating the challenges of collaborating to meet primary business goals whilst simultaneously achieving social value requirements.  

We heard from the Transpennine Route Upgrade West Alliance, Space Hub Yorkshire, the British Standards Institute, MODUS Services and Leeds University Business School academics, amongst others. Our relationship with the ICW has proved fruitful, leading to a co-designed Collaboration Playbook to be released in the autumn of 2024, as well as them joining us in partnership for our next annual Supply Chain Summit (see below for details). 

Professor David Loseby (Leeds University Business School), Melanie Worthy (British Standards Institute), Sarah Robbins (TMS) and Irena Grugulis (Leeds University Business School).

Creating ways of working that promote wellbeing 

Dr Matthew Davis and Clare Danahay of the British Council for Offices (BCO) closed 2023 with a breakfast seminar at University House on “the importance of experience and design in ways of working”. This event focused on how we can ensure hybrid working models are effective for businesses and employees alike, while also looking at the construction of physical space as pivotal to workers’ wellbeing.  

Ann Allen, Leeds University Business School’s Director of Campus Innovation and Development, outlined the intentions of the campus redesign to create smart, hi-tech yet inviting spaces for staff and students, recognising that education provides the future workforce and therefore plays a huge part in setting expectations for future workplace design. Delegates, predominantly composed of architects, spatial designers and the BCO’s membership, shared their thoughts in a lively questions and answers session.  

The life of a “working-class hero” 

For the beginning of 2024, our focus shifted to encompass a range of external engagement activities beyond the Ideas in Practice (IiP) banner, the first of which was Visiting Professor Gregor Gall’s launch of his latest book, “Mick Lynch: The making of a working-class hero”. This on-campus launch welcomed University and College Union (UCU) and UNISON members; activists from West Yorkshire, including the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Unite; and academic colleagues from the University and other Leeds higher education institutions. It was supported by funding from the Centre for Employment Relations Innovation and Change (CERIC). 

Previously the little-known leader of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), Gall’s biography celebrates and critiques the “working-class hero” spotlighted during the summer of 2022 who faced down media pundits with aplomb. Excerpts from the biography were read and stimulated conversation exploring Lynch’s persona and politics, as well as the political period he operates in and the power of his members. 

A growing presence in LegalTech 

In April, we held our second LegalTech in Leeds Annual Conference in collaboration with Whitecap Consulting in the University’s Esther Simpson Building. Close to 200 visitors took part in a day of presentations, panel sessions, showcases and breakouts on the theme of “inclusion, innovation and inspiration” in this fast-developing sector. 

A keynote on disruptive innovation was delivered by Professor Krsto Pandza, Director of Research Impact; global law firms Addleshaw Goddard, DAC Beachcroft and Walker Morris illustrated what the future looks like for professionals merging traditional training with advanced technologies; and digital-solution experts PEXA and rradar evaluated the models underpinning the shifting legal landscape.  

Planning for an even bigger and better joint conference next year is underway, and we are aiming to have University of Leeds academics feature in Whitecap’s ongoing lunchtime learning seminars. 

Professor Krsto Pandza (Leeds University Business School)

Digital technology is changing the way we work 

Professor Mark Stuart, Pro-Dean for Research and Innovation, hosted our first initiative with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), “The Impact of Digitalisation on Work” conference. Research by the Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (Digit), a centre composed of Leeds University Business School and University of Sussex academics, was presented to initiate discussion around how digital technologies are changing work and the implications for employers, workers, jobseekers and governments. The DWP shared their latest Digital Skills Survey results, which will shape how they adapt to digital users' needs. 

It was acknowledged that the impact of the findings on the DWP is wide-ranging. Positive feedback from the conference has opened the pathway for future collaborations between academia and the public sector, and we hope to nurture this established relationship with the DWP moving forward. 

Professors Mark Stuart, Gabriella Alberti, Charles Umney and Chris Forde.

Increasing the effectiveness of export support and promotion services in West Yorkshire 

This academic season closed with the workshop on “Improving Export Promotion and Support for Businesses in West Yorkshire”, organised by Dr Emma Liu, Professor Frank McDonald and Professor Annie Wei. The event was held at the Park Plaza Leeds and attended by practitioners working in organisations that provide support to export development or engage in exporting. A follow-up to their IiP event of last year, they had built on their previous survey results with exporters in the region to include interviews with export-related organisations for collation into their findings.  

Key questions such as “What policy developments might help to better address the diversity of help and support needed by companies looking to begin or develop exporting?” were answered in roundtable discussions. The team will continue their collaboration with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) to support export development in West Yorkshire. This ongoing collaboration would be instrumental in the implementation of policy change to support exporters in the region, which has a low proportion of exports compared to some other UK regions. 

Looking forward to the 2024/2025 academic year 

For 2024/2025, we intend to amplify the Ideas in Practice seminar series, as well as our strategic partnerships with influential industry stakeholders, by working to generate more collaborative outputs to initiate or continue discussion during our engagement activities. 

Forthcoming events in the autumn 2024 term include:  

The Business of AI – a half-day, in-person event as part of the Leeds Digital Festival; Wed 18 September, 09:30 – 13:30, Liberty Building, University of Leeds, Leeds LS3 1DB 

‘Ideas in Practice’ Supply Chain Summit 2024: Collaboration, social value and sustainability in complex supply chains - Fri 29 November, 09:30 – 16:30, Cloth Hall Court, Leeds LS1 2HA 

Our events provide you with the opportunity to bring your work before business-people, policymakers, third-sector representatives and academics, prompting discussion that could lead to real-world impact.  

If you are a Leeds University Business School academic interested in hosting an Ideas in Practice event, or are external to the University and would like to join the Ideas in Practice mailing list, please contact Grace Carter (G.M.Carter@leeds.ac.uk).