The Business School

Strategy 2023-2028

Page 2

The future holds opportunities we can’t even imagine… The only certainty is that business leaders, entrepreneurs and employees of the future will need to be adaptable and resilient; able to think creatively; and confident in challenging convention. 

Page 3

At The Business School, we help students internationally to gain the necessary skills and attributes for future success: and our global alumni are now found in more than 140 countries.

Situated in Scotland’s inspiring capital, one of the fastest growing and most productive cities in the UK, The Business School offers a distinctive, inclusive, and dynamic educational environment for business practitioners.

We deliver the skills and experience that matter, combining professional know-how with an academic approach and work-related learning that ensures our students can become the graduate of choice for employers around the world.

Whether as an undergraduate or postgraduate student, or in some form of continuous professional development, everyone who studies with us benefits from the help of our expert academic staff and the experience of our many industry partners. 

Page 4

Established links with professional bodies mean many courses offer direct accreditation for professional recognition,  and 88% of our students  benefit from the opportunity to gain work-related experience while studying.

The Business School at Edinburgh Napier University is applied, global, and dynamic. We are a home to students, staff, and researchers who are all inspired by the world around us: and we provide creative, sustainable solutions to the immediate economic challenges and needs of society. 

Page 5

In The Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2023, Edinburgh Napier is ranked as the number one modern university in Scotland (and ranked 401 – 500 in the world)

In the recent UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, Edinburgh Napier University was rated as the top Scottish modern university for research power and impact

The UK wide National Student Survey (NSS) lists Edinburgh Napier as the number one university in Edinburgh for student satisfaction (of four universities), three years running (2020, 2021 and 2022)

We help the difference makers of tomorrow develop the essential skills of critical thinking, reflective analysis, and emotional intelligence today.

Page 6

Our vision: “To be the Business School for empowerment, enterprise and employability for all.”

Page 7

• The Business School aims to empower those who study, work, and interact with us to achieve the best outcome that they can. 
  
  
• The School empowers colleagues to be able to undertake research that has an impact on our communities in a range of different ways.
  
  
• We are enterprising in our outlook, evidenced in the programmes we teach, their different modalities, and the choice of delivery locations, all underpinned by the research we undertake. 
  
  
• The Business School also encourages enterprise through Edinburgh Napier’s start-up incubator, Bright Red Triangle, which promotes entrepreneurial endeavour. 
  
  
• Employability: Future jobs will require an evolving skill set: as Artificial Intelligence is deployed more widely; Big Data brings new, disruptive insights into more and more sectors; and the Circular Economy becomes embedded, we provide a myriad of ways to help our students develop appropriate subject and generic skills to navigate the challenges of tomorrow. Our distinctive graduate signature enables our students to find high-quality work after graduating,  and to build successful careers as evidenced by the most recent review. According to the latest HESA findings,  95% of graduates from The Business School were in work or further study within 15 months of graduation (2019/20).

Page 8

Our Strategy to 2028

Our Dean, Professor Christine Cross, took up her appointment in August 2022. She engaged an external consulting company to facilitate sessions around strategic planning with senior academic and professional members of the School,  the wider University, and the Edinburgh Napier Student Association (ENSA). The outcomes of these sessions were combined with the feedback from all staff and stakeholders to produce a  School Strategic Plan  with clear priorities, goals and objectives covering the next five years.  The plan is underpinned by three cross-cutting themes: student and employee experience; societal impact; and Equ(al)ity, Diversity & Inclusion.

Page 9

The draft also created a new mission statement for The Business School: 
“Empowering our communities to apply business knowledge for positive societal impact”.

The word communities was chosen specifically to reflect and embrace the many communities the School serves, including:

• Student learning communities (undergraduate, postgraduate, research, upskilling, CPD)
• Scottish ‘home’ students 
• Students from the rest of the UK
• International students who are studying on campus
• Online student community 
• Faculty teaching community 
• Faculty research community 
• Professional services community encompassing the wider University 
• Professional services community based at Craiglockhart Campus
• Local communities based in Edinburgh – both businesses, and through public engagement
• National business communities 
• International business communities 
• Further and Higher Education Institutions; local, national and international 
• Accreditation bodies 
• Alumni in Scotland, the wider UK and internationally.

Page 10

The Business School’s extensive engagement with business and industry - through channels such as the Advisory Board and our many academic links to external stakeholders - enhances our student experience and the quality and employment readiness of our graduates. Across all our activities, a focus within our modules and programmes on the world-of-work helps ensure graduates leave with a sound knowledge base in their field of study, are highly employable, and are well prepared to work in a range of environments. 

The Business School also aims to ensure that our students develop the confidence and skills required to be successful leaders; with a developed ability to solve complex problems, communicate effectively, think creatively, as well as evaluate, analyse, and become reflective practitioners.

The Business School’s vision and mission lend themselves readily to the development of employable graduates who add value to their constituent communities and society at large. 

Page 11

Our mission: 

“Empowering our communities to apply business knowledge for positive societal impact.”

Page 12

Our mission helps us all to focus our thinking on the strategic priorities and objectives for the next five years.
 
Empowerment 

Empowerment reflects the ability of our students and staff to take control of their learning, as well as their employment environment, to exercise power to achieve their individual goals. Within the framework of Independent Learning, we offer our students a high degree of self-determination and control that encourages them to make their own learning decisions, thereby enabling the achievement of individual goals. 

Enterprise and Employability 

Our approach to student development is designed to ensure our students are ready to take up employment in whatever sector they decide. Many students today also aspire to be entrepreneurs and run their own businesses. We encourage this and recognise that applied knowledge of enterprise represents a learning opportunity. 

The programmes and modules we offer to students enable them all to develop a range of skills, along with specific business knowledge across both professional and academic areas. These attributes can then be used when applying for jobs.

Page 13

How our strategy connects into the University’s Strategy

The University’s current strategy Shaping our Future: Driving Distinctiveness, evolved from Strategy 2020 Building Success. The latter laid down the foundations for flexible and innovative delivery models of teaching to be developed, allowing different routes and opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to develop their learnings and careers.  The strategy helped pave the way for the international roll out of the online suite of programmes used by The Business School. 

Inspiring and innovative, Edinburgh Napier University is now acknowledged as a top performing modern university that prepares
students to thrive in the increasingly complex environments that will characterise future working lives. 

Page 14

The University’s vision is to: “Deliver high quality education and research to add value to the social, cultural and economic capital of our communities and shape their development”.

The University links its strategy specifically to three primary objectives:

• Build careers – create opportunities
• Grow networks – connect communities
• Advance knowledge – deliver impact

Page 15

At The Business School, we see our work as supporting the University’s strategic objectives in the following ways:

Build careers: Our flexible and innovative delivery models offer opportunities and routes to success for students and staff to shape their development, excel in their careers, and influence future policy and practice.

Grow networks: We are providing an educational portfolio that both shapes and responds to the needs of business and society through creative collaborations that support our teaching and research, locally, nationally, and internationally.

Advance knowledge: Our high-quality research and knowledge exchange addresses real-world cross-disciplinary challenges and underpins our teaching, with innovation and ideas exchange linked through our research centres to external partners, policy, and practice. 

To address the University’s objectives, the initiatives in our School Strategic Plan are also being addressed within the context of the University’s commitment to Growing Sustainably, which the University aims to achieve by growing and diversifying its income, and by taking progressive action to achieve net zero carbon in operations by 2030. The Business School is committed to help the Growing Sustainably agenda by reviewing our own operations and considering how we can assist in achieving the University’s net zero carbon target while working within the parameters of our TNE partnerships. 

Page 16

Our strategy: 

The Business School Strategic Plan was adopted in November 2022. 
Our Strategic Initiatives relate directly to our mission statement, with priorities associated with teaching, learning and research, and societal impact. 

Page 17

Our vision is: “To be the Business School for empowerment, enterprise and employability for all.”

Our Mission is: “Empowering our communities to apply business knowledge for positive societal impact”

Strategic Initiative 1: Real World Education: Develop and deliver more globally relevant academic programmes that students can apply on the job. 

Strategic Initiative 2: Robust Research: Grow our research capabilities to help our stakeholders make informed decisions on real-world challenges. 

Strategic Initiative 3: Relevant Relationships: Establish and nurture strategic partnerships with our stakeholders to help us achieve our vision and mission.

Page 18

Cross cutting Themes

Student and employee experience: Foster an inclusive culture where students, faculty, and staff are empowered and inspired to learn, teach, and contribute their best in a thriving university environment.

Societal impact: Help our faculty, staff, and students understand their responsibility to apply business knowledge for positive societal impact.

Equ(al)ity, Diversity & Inclusion: Create an environment where all members of our communities feel they belong.

Page 19

Strategic Initiative 1: Real World Education

Develop and deliver more globally relevant academic programmes that students can apply on the job

Goal 1: Enhance the focus of our academic programmes on interdisciplinary world views of contemporary business

Goal 2: Provide students with more opportunities to develop practical skillsets for the workplace

Goal 3: Introduce students to a broader knowledge of sustainable business practices

Objectives:

• Ensure that the learning outcomes of our academic programmes relate to interdisciplinary world views
• Increase international awareness by decolonising our curricula
• Increase the percentage of students with job placements by the time of graduation 
• Increase the number of sessions with industry guest speakers in module deliveries
• Discern which learning practices in The Business School best prepared our Alumni for the workplace
• Match the contents of our programmes with Sustainable Development Goals
• Model sustainable behaviours in our teaching and administrative practices

Page 20

Strategic Initiative 2: Robust Research

Grow our research capacity and capabilities to help our stakeholders make informed decisions on real-world challenges

Goal 1: Nurture a more vibrant and inclusive research culture

Goal 2: Improve the quality and quantity of our research outputs

Goal 3: Increase the societal impact of our research

Objectives:

• Strengthen collaboration and integration within our research community
• Reduce bureaucracy to increase operational effectiveness
• Increase the percentage of faculty members with outputs that are internationally excellent or world leading
• Increase the research capacity and capability of our Early Career Academics
• Increase the share of research outputs related to interdisciplinary and collaborative projects in which research users play a significant role

Page 21

Strategic Initiative 3: Relevant Relationships

Establish and nurture strategic partnerships with our stakeholders to help us achieve our vision and mission

Goal 1: Improve planning, managing, and tracking of stakeholder engagement

Goal 2: Strengthen our network of external partnerships

Goal 3: Enhance internal relationships and collaboration to maximise our effectiveness and promote a one-team culture

Objectives

• Formalise our approach to stakeholder engagement to ensure School-level consistency and higher quality
• Invest in systems, processes, and staff for improving stakeholder management
• Assess existing external partnerships for prioritisation purposes
• Increase the number of engagements with strategically appropriate stakeholders
• Improve opportunities for collaboration across departments and Schools

Page 22

Progress monitoring

Our strategy ensures we will continue to offer a distinctive but highly relevant offering for: 

• undergraduate and postgraduate study
• professional development or accreditation
• research partnership
• students in the UK or overseas, at every stage of their career.

The process for reviewing and monitoring progress on the strategic plan, which was adopted in November 2022, rests with the Core Executive. Updates on progress are reported to the University Leadership Team through the strategic planning, budgeting, and monitoring process, and to the Advisory Board on an annual basis. Faculty and support staff at the School are updated at all School meetings, which take place each trimester.