Collaboration between business and academia delivers results
As our celebration of 25 years of philanthropy at Saïd Business School continues, we’re very grateful to our corporate partners who support our research centres and initiatives. These centres and initiatives, which address world issues across a variety of business areas, are vital to the success of the School, and collaboration with corporate partners ensures industry-relevant outputs.
The wide range of centres and initiatives at Oxford Saïd – studying business taxation, corporate reputation, marketing, real estate, artificial intelligence, and performance – have benefitted greatly from a wealth of support from business, and the strong partnerships that have been created have been mutually beneficial. By engaging with business leaders, we ensure that we’re addressing the challenges that they face in their day-to-day lives, and that our research is relevant and impactful.
The Centre for Business Taxation
The Centre for Business Taxation (CBT), led by Professor Michael Devereux, aims to promote effective policies for the taxation of business.
Launched in 2005, funding initially came from the Hundred Group, a group representing the views of the Finance Directors of FTSE 100 companies. A number of these companies still continue to support CBT, including AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, and Schroder Investment Management.
The Centre for Corporate Reputation
Under the direction of Rupert Younger, the Centre for Corporate Reputation (CCR) was launched in 2008. It aims to understand how the reputations of organisations are created, sustained, enhanced, destroyed, and rehabilitated. The support of Eni S.p.A and Intesa Sanpaolo has been vital in developing the CCR, with Intesa Sanpaolo’s support facilitating a research fellowship for Rita Mota.
Future of Marketing Initiative
The Future of Marketing Initiative (FOMI) led by Professor Andrew Stephen, was launched in 2016 and is supported by industry partners representing major brands, agencies, and technology companies including L’Oréal, WPP, and Reckitt Benckiser.
In our increasingly digitised and technologically complex world, their work looks to address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for marketing. Speaking on their partnership, Teradata, who has supported the initiative with their software, Vantage, and by funding the Teradata Research Fellow in Marketing and AI, said:
'What the Future of Marketing Initiative has accomplished in five short years under the direction and leadership of Professor Andrew Stephen is nothing short of astounding. FOMI is grounded in research and guided by relevant industry practice. It is an ideal combination that many others reference, yet FOMI lives up to their promise. Teradata is an inaugural partner to FOMI. Our collaboration and the powerful networking gets stronger and stronger.'
Mary Gros, Director Business Relations – Teradata
Future of Real Estate Initiative
Launched in 2018, the Future of Real Estate Initiative, led by Jamie Alcock, is an industry-supported research programme investigating the impact of innovation and technology on the global real estate industry. Partners include Arcadis UK, Redevco, and Pictet. Speaking on the initiative, Executive Director Jamie Alcock said:
'The real estate industry currently faces some of the most daunting challenges in modern history: Covid-related changes to office life, demographic shifts, the move to online retailing, the development and uptake of PropTech, Big Data, rapidly changing infrastructure and transport technology, and an intense focus on sustainability, among many others. Rigorous and independent research is vital to making sense of the future of real estate. This is the primary role of the Future of Real Estate (FoRE) initiative.'
Jamie Alcock, Executive Director – FoRE
Oxford Initiative on AIxSDGs
In 2019, the AIxSDGs initiative led by Professor Andrew Stephen was launched. The initiative seeks to determine how artificial intelligence can be used to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The initiative is supported by partners Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
Oxford Initiative on Rethinking Performance
The School’s newest initiative, Rethinking Performance, led by Professor Richard Barker, looks at how to transform business practices and leadership to become more purposeful, and seeks to develop a holistic performance measurement and valuation framework. The aim of this project is to encourage and facilitate sustainable business behaviours that benefit the economy, investors, planet, and society. Launched in 2021, this initiative is supported by partners including Neuberger Berman, Asahi Breweries, and Holcim.
We’re enormously grateful to our industry partners for their philanthropic support, but even more so for their interest in and dedication to the research these centres and initiatives conduct.
As the challenges we face become increasingly complex, dedicated research on single issues is an effective and efficient way to make progress. Now, more than ever, we rely on scientific evidence to make informed decisions for the future. The strong and lasting partnerships that have been created between academics and industry as a result of collaboration within Oxford Saïd’s centres and initiatives drive advancement and facilitate relevant and impactful research outputs.