|
Could you be in
the wrong job?
|
|
|
|
|
Current research
internationally suggests that more than one in two people
are in the wrong job. Could you be one of them? If so,
Brian McIvor can help you by identifying transferable
skills, what motivates you and what options you have in
the future. Brian will hold a one-day workshop on career
and life planning in Milton Keynes on 17 October - a must
for anyone looking for a new perspective, to change jobs,
retrain or be inspired. For more details about the event
and to make a booking, click
here.
|
|
|
Professional Development Friday Workshops - Guests welcome,
Certificate of attendance available.
For more information or to make a
booking, click on the events below or ring Janet or Sarah on
+44(0)1908 652874
|
14
November - Powerful Presentations: Do you ever have to give
presentations at work, in front of small or even large audiences? Is it
important to you that these presentations go well and are successful? Do you
sometimes feel that your presentations could be better, but you're not sure how?
Have you noticed that really good presenters seem to be able to speak
effortlessly, and still have the audience in the palm of their hand? Do you feel
nervous at the thought of standing on your feet and speaking to an audience, and
would like to feel more comfortable instead? Would you like to be able to give really
powerful presentations that appear effortless, and convince your
audience? And, are you prepared to do what it takes to be able to do that? Join
our next Powerful Presentation workshop and whatever your existing level
of ability and experience - this course will help you towards the next level.
Workshop held in East Grinstead (UK) - For more details, click
here
28
November - Less Pain, More Gain (Solutions Focus, an approach to change):
This workshop will provide you with an insight in to Solutions Focus (SF), an
approach to change that is simple, effective and subtle. You will take away
practical tools to help you create change at an individual, team and
organisational level. SF helps you to effect systemic change rather than analyse
what isn't working. Solutions Focus can be used to discover what is working and
build on this, even in apparently difficult situations. It is enjoyable and
motivating and leads to useful realignments and rapid positive steps towards the
end goal. Organisations including Lufthansa, Royal Bank of Canada, BSkyB and
Nationwide are already using these ideas - now you can brief yourself on the key
principles, see some useful applications and discover some of the fascinating
and radical thinking behind the approach - all in one day. Whether you want some
new ideas on strategic planning, negotiation, team development or simply to
breathe in the new winds of change, this will be a useful, interactive and
stimulating day. Bring your own business issues and challenges, and make
progress with them, on the day. Workshop held in Milton Keynes (UK) - For more
details, click
here
|
|
|
|
Regional
events
-
Guests welcome, Certificate of
attendance available.
For more information or to make a booking, click on the events
below or ring Janet or Sarah on +44(0)1908 652874
|
|
|
News
(Click
here for the News section of the Alumni website)
Advice for small businesses to beat downturn
Professional business advice and increased marketing spend could help small and
medium enterprises steer through the worst of the economic downturn. This is the
latest findings from two separate surveys by the Small Enterprise Research Team
(SERTeam) at The Open University Business School. Professor Colin Gray, Chairman
of SERTeam says: "In the midst of this turbulent churn, there are thousands
of small firms that have stood the test of time, surviving various cycles of
downturns and upturns. This it is not just a matter of luck. Our surveys reveal
that resilient small business owners have adapted to managing the vagaries of
business life and that they help carry the whole economy through the bad times,
as they are now." Read more at http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/fullstory.aspx?id=14409
OU's
Tremendous Achievement in National Student Survey 2008
The Open University has been ranked second in the annual Student Survey of
Higher Education Institutions in the UK. Ninety-four per cent of our students
said they were satisfied overall. This is a tremendous achievement. Almost
7,000 of students took part in the survey - far more than any other
institution. This year 259 Institutions were surveyed, which included for the
first time higher education courses in further education colleges. We have
cause to take pride in our consistently outstanding results at such a large
scale. The Open University has been at the forefront of the rankings since
they were introduced in 2005 and it is gratifying that we maintain such a
commanding position.
Knowledge
is key to a 21st century - The Daily Telegraph
The head of the Open University Business School values the practical side of
workplace learning. Professor James Fleck explains: "Good theory has to
capture reality. "If it doesn't, then it isn't good theory. This is
particularly relevant to management. Because of the Open University's teaching
model, there's a tight grasp on practical reality without diminishing the
conceptual structure of the course."
OU
MBA graduate makes the Top 35 Women in Business
Deborah Millett MBA has recently been named one of the top 35 women in
business under the age of 35 by the Sunday Times. Accenture's youngest
director in outsourcing also leads the human-performance team and is involved
in billion-pound deals. Deborah Millett has been voted one of the top 5% of
leaders in the UK practice for two years in a row. She recently swam the
Channel for the spinal injury charity Aspire
Click here for the Times
article >>
|
|
|
|
Professional
Development - Learn while you earn
|
The OU's Centre for Professional Learning and
Development has developed an extensive range of short online courses which allow
people to develop their skills and can be used towards their continuous
professional development (CPD). These courses cover over 50 topics in strategy,
leadership, people management, and communications as well as more specialist
areas such as travel planning and food science and technology.
Recently launched CPD courses include Mentoring
at Work, How to Use Coaching at Work and Effective Virtual Teams,
which are now open for registrations.
For more information, visit www.open.ac.uk/cpd
which features online courses in the section called 'Flexible Online courses'.
OU Alumni are entitled to a 10% discount on course fees
|
|
|
|
New
OU Business School Prospectus available
|
The 2008/09 OU Business School course prospectus is now
available to download on the alumni
website. The second part of the prospectus lists all our
qualifications and courses by subject, so you can easily find the information
you need. If you have any questions, please call The Open University Business
School Information Line on +44 (0)845 366 6035, or email oubs-ilgen@open.ac.uk
|
|
|
|
Quick
Links
|
Membership directory
This secure online directory
is a great tool that will enable you to network with fellow OU
Business School alumni. The directory is an opt-in service only, so
if you would like to give us permission to publish your details,
please register online.
|
|
|
OU
Business School group
1680
members |
Your alumni association has
launched a dedicated OU Business School group on Linkedin. Linkedin
is an online professional networking service, used by over 8 million
professionals worldwide. It allows members to connect with each
other and expand their business contacts. Through this website you
are able to search and view OU Business School group members'
profiles as well as their networks. You see much more than a
name. All connections are controlled by you, this is an opt in
only.
How to join: Joining
LinkedIn is free, as is membership of the OU Business School group
in Linked In. You are pre-approved as a member of the OU MBA
alumni association and can join the group immediately by clicking on
this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/2297/739F3E3270B6/
You will need to use the same e-mail address with Linkedin as the one to which
this e-newsletter is sent. You can add this address
additionally to your existing
LinkedIn account.
|
|
Other Useful Links
Read newsletter online
Browse
past newsletters
Latest News
OU Business School alumni Website
OU Business School
Website
OU Alumni
website
|
|
Update your details!
If you wish to receive our monthly
e-newsletter, annual 'Open Business' magazine and other regular
communications such as invitations to relevant events, please register
or update your details online now and keep connected to this
thriving international network!
|
|
|
|
Alumni
Offers
|
Magazine subscription
offers
Take advantage of the lowest prices available on subscriptions to
magazines such as The Economist, Time, National Geographic, Vogue and
many others. www.alumni-subscriptions.co.uk
Continuing Professional
Development
Make the most of your OU Alumni status by taking advantage of a special
course fee with the OU which allows you to study our short, online CPD
courses at a discount of 10% off the published course fee. For more
details, visit http://www.open.ac.uk/cpd/p7.shtml
|
Get your own website for £99 -
ideal for
small businesses and consultancies, add pages and features as your
business expands. Details and enquiries: www.getsetup.net/oubs.
All off peak landline
phone calls + free Broadband (up to 8 Meg) + International calls now only
£5.89 per month. See www.getsetup.net/isp
to check availability on your number and to join online. Other
tariffs available with free broadband.
|
|
|
|
About
this newsletter
|
This newsletter's purpose
is to keep you updated on news about the OU/OU Business
School and its various products, the alumni association,
offers and affinity deals, alumni events and just about
anything else that you request. Offers have been
selected as appropriate for our readership. The
companies and people offering them are not necessarily
connected to or endorsed by the OU Business School.
You will see that many
of the items link back to the alumni website www.open.ac.uk/oubs-alumni,
where you will also find news and events listings, the
detail of all our services and benefits, as well as
useful links and the online membership directory.
If your details don't
appear in the directory, it is probably because you have
not opted in yet. For data protection reasons, we need
your permission to publish your details in the
directory. You can register online at (check link)
We would also like to
receive news from you (with web links) that we can
circulate to the rest of the alumni association, as well
as your comments and ideas for improvement. Please send
your suggestions using our online feedback form (check
link), or email me at c.sargent@open.ac.uk
E-mail
newsletter format and unsubscribe requests
You are receiving this
newsletter because you have supplied your e-mail address
to the OUBS Alumni team. Your e-mail address will not be
passed to a third party without your permission. We
would like as many people as possible to be able to view
this newsletter in formatted HTML (i.e., with a better
layout, colours and links to online resources). If your
e-mail program cannot read this, or you would prefer to
receive a text-only version please click here or e-mail oubs-alumni@open.ac.uk.
If you use AOL to receive your e-mail you will need the
latest version of AOL software to view HTML newsletters
correctly.
|
|
Christine Sargent (c.sargent@open.ac.uk)
Alumni Relations Manager
OUBS Alumni Office,
Michael Young Building,
Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Tel +44 (0)1908 652874 Fax +44 (0)1908 655102
|
Newsletter designed
and distributed in association with
© The Open University Business
School 2007
+44 (0) 845 300 6090
|
|
Unsubscribe
If you would prefer not to receive
future e-mail newsletters from us please click here or
email oubs-alumni@open.ac.uk |
|
