Impact Case Studies

These case studies give real examples of how business and management research is driving economic growth and social change, as demonstrated by our member schools.
If you are interesting in writing a case study please email our Research Manager, Ramin Bokaian, at Ramin.Bokaian@charteredabs.org

Improved effectiveness and impact of an international microfinance programme

Wed 13th Sep 2023

Institution: University of Portsmouth, Faculty of Business and Law Authors: Joe Cox, Joana Silva Afonso, Salem Chakhar, Liz Ford, Alessio Ishizaka, Wolfgang Luhan, Thang Nguyen and…

Tackling financial storms with the Bank of England

Mon 14th Aug 2023

Background and purpose The global financial crisis of 2007-2009 was the most turbulent event in the history of the world’s financial markets for nearly a century. The crisis…

Improving place-based economic and social outcomes through engaged research

Mon 14th Aug 2023

Impact Areas: Inclusive regional economic development policy; local industry competitiveness and resilience; workplace productivity and skills; R&D commercialisation and…

How a business school is helping to improve performance management and staff wellbeing in NHS Ambulance Services

Tue 11th Jul 2023

Institution: Edge Hill University Business School, UK. Leading Academic: Professor Paresh Wankhade Introduction Ambulance services play an essential clinical role in delivering…

Using digital technology to increase trust in politics

Tue 11th Jul 2023

Institution: School of Management, University of Bradford Grant Details: EMPATIA: Enabling Multichannel Participation Through ICT Adaptations. European Commission H2020 Programme.…

Boosting SME productivity and growth through research into entrepreneurship and people management

Tue 11th Jul 2023

Institution: Manchester Metropolitan University Business School Leading Academics: Jennie Shorley and Katherine Roycroft   Summary of the Impact Small and medium sized enterprises…

How a business school is helping Greater Manchester reach ambitious net-zero targets

Mon 9th Jan 2023

Institution: Manchester Metropolitan University Business School; The Centre for Enterprise Leading Academics: Dr. Graeme Heyes and Chris Taylor Introduction The magnitude of the…

Designing policies to harness the benefits of foreign direct investment (FDI) for sustainable development

Fri 27th May 2022

Project Background Foreign direct investment (FDI) and the related activities of multinationals companies (MNCs) have an important part to play in sustainable development,…

Transforming the vitality and viability of the UK’s high streets

Tue 1st Mar 2022

Project background UK town centres are experiencing a period of turbulent change. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) forecast the closure of…

Corporate leadership on modern slavery

Tue 18th Feb 2020

Background Addressing modern slavery is becoming a business-critical issue – essential for the credibility and legitimacy of a business in the eyes of all its stakeholders. On…

Using Commercial Big Data for Economic & Social Development

Thu 5th Sep 2019

A business school used high-tech digital modelling to help improve social policy-making in Tanzania.

Smart Parks

Thu 5th Sep 2019

Find out how the Internet of Things is improving management of green spaces.

NHS Quicker: Informing attendance choices for urgent care

Thu 5th Sep 2019

A high-tech solution helps improve the allocation of healthcare services.

Health and Social CareGovernment Policy

Working with the Welsh Government to change policy and practice in the delivery of adult social care

Tue 9th Jul 2019

The team from Manchester Metropolitan University Business School take on challenges in recruiting domiciliary care workers.

Government Policy

Calculating the trade-off between short and long-term benefits in policy-making

Mon 8th Jul 2019

Background There is significant expert disagreement on how the distant future should be valued relative to the present. In general, people have a strong preference to consume now…

Public Policy and Social InclusionEqual OpportunitiesEmployment

Helping individuals into employment through improved policies and programmes

Wed 8th May 2019

Find out how research into labour market policies has improved access to work.

Sport integrity: informing policy to tackle corruption in professional sports

Wed 13th Feb 2019

Business and management research creates new tools for analysing match fixing, leading to real policy change

Government PolicyHealth

New index measuring the strength of patent systems shapes the decision making and strategic responses of firms and policymakers

Wed 13th Feb 2019

Research from the University of Liverpool Management School results in an innovate new Index for assessing patent strength

Health and Social Care

Transforming palliative and end-of-life care for service users

Wed 13th Feb 2019

Research connects providers to bring efficiency and dignity to palliative care

Delivering value through collaborative working in social housing

Wed 13th Feb 2019

A new procurement model developed by business academics transforms the social housing sector

Public Policy and Social InclusionSmall businessesEqual Opportunities

Making diversity everyone’s business: multi-level changes in institutional policy and practice

Fri 11th Jan 2019

The University of Birmingham’s Enterprise and Diversity Alliance uses expertise to tackle the issues BAME entrepreneurs have in accessing finance.

Widening Access to HE in Scotland

Wed 12th Sep 2018

A team of Scottish researchers shed light on barriers to higher education with a rigorous evidence-based approach.

Addressing organisational challenges to improve malaria health care in southern Africa

Wed 12th Sep 2018

Teaching a sustainable, regional approach to management empowers local health groups.

Cutting Carbon Footprints in the Service Sector

Wed 12th Sep 2018

Training influenced by research from Southampton Business School now saves a typical hair salon £5,300 a year.

Business StrategyDecision Making

Improving decision making in organisations

Thu 16th Aug 2018

Strathclyde Business School develops a high-tech solution for effective group decision making.

Government PolicyHealth

Delivering ‘public value’ through collaboration with policymakers & public service leaders

Wed 11th Jul 2018

Cardiff's demand led approach to research enables policymakers to access and apply research evidence that improves policy making and delivery.

Small businesses

Revealing the factors which drive innovation, growth and productivity in small and medium-sized enterprises

Wed 11th Jul 2018

Producing intelligence on SME growth and performance for UK and international policymakers and practitioners.

Regional Economie

Regional economic impacts: input-output models and spatial econometrics

Wed 4th Nov 2015

This impact case study is based on research concerning the estimation of regional economic impacts through input-output models (IO models) and spatial econometrics.

Developing and implementing ‘extended Business Reporting Language’ standards for online corporate reporting

Wed 4th Nov 2015

Research by Birmingham Business School academics has contributed to the successful use of XBRL as the standard for mandatory on-line filing of company statutory accounts and tax…

Improving carbon accounting to drive better corporate carbon performance

Tue 6th Oct 2015

Research from Francisco Ascui and Craig MacKenzie, Centre for Business and Climate Change Centre at Edinburgh Business School has improved the international practice of carbon…

Modelling economic impact for national governments

Tue 1st Sep 2015

BU researchers, Professor John Fletcher and Professor Adam Blake, have developed and pioneered new approaches to estimate the economic impacts of tourism activities.

Digital destinations and marketing technology for SMEs

Tue 1st Sep 2015

Research conducted by Dr. Philip Alford at Bournemouth University is transforming small owner-managed enterprises into more entrepreneurial and innovative businesses, enabled by…

Migrant workers and vulnerable employment

Fri 21st Aug 2015

Research by Dr Steve French has influenced UK employment law and changed how policy makers and practitioners think about vulnerable employment.

Encouraging innovation: A changing framework for the financing of small-to-medium enterprises

Mon 17th Aug 2015

Research led by Professor Paul Nightingale has been involved in working with policy-makers to evaluate the most effective schemes to provide finance and other support for SMEs.

Ensuring credit unions are fit for purpose

Wed 12th Aug 2015

Professor John O. S. Wilson's research has sought to understand the growth, development, scale, scope, governance and performance of credit unions in different countries.

New Directions for Local Economic Renewal

Wed 1st Jul 2015

Research conducted by the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) at Manchester Business School has been used to develop a new approach to economic regeneration.

Employer Sponsored Volunteering

Tue 30th Jun 2015

Dr Joanne Cook at the University of Hull and Dr Jon Burchell from the University of Sheffield led a research project on Employee Sponsored Volunteering (ESV).

Addressing inequalities in health: Shaping the allocation of resources in the National Health Service

Wed 3rd Jun 2015

Research conducted by Professor John Wildman at Newcastle University Business School highlighted the issues with data and calculations used to understand the relationship between…

Improving the governance of sport organisations

Tue 2nd Jun 2015

Research undertaken by the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre on the broader sports sector has been used to improve governance practices across national governing bodies of sport.

Improving Mental Capital and Wellbeing: A Foresight Programme

Mon 4th May 2015

Professor Cooper was appointed lead scientist on the Mental Capital and Wellbeing Foresight project, commissioned by the UK Government Office for Science to inform its vision and…

Towards Fairer Compensation

Mon 4th May 2015

Academics from Cass Business School have created a better model for calculating compensation which has resulted in fairer compensation for people making claims in the civil or…

Improving Labour Relations in Global Ports

Mon 4th May 2015

The research of Cardiff Business School’s Professor Peter Turnbull has been central to port employers, trade unions and governments meeting challenges and has helped to establish…

Sports Integrity

Tue 28th Apr 2015

Two academics from Salford Business School provide solid contributions in sports business through their research on sports integrity.

Social Enterprise Growth and Development

Tue 28th Apr 2015

Research findings from Middlesex University Business School have influenced how government measures the size of the social enterprise sector and the supply of social investment…

Cost-effectiveness of a gender-neutral vaccination against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)

Tue 28th Apr 2015

Kingston University Business School's Professor Giampiero Favato joined and contributed to a multidisciplinary research programme (BEST), aimed to demonstrate the…

Sustainable environmental management in smaller ports

Tue 28th Apr 2015

This impact case study profiles research to build the capacity of smaller ports to perform economically and grow more sustainably through interfacing the knowledge and skills of…

Achieving economic and environmental improvements in organisations through low carbon supply chain resource modelling

Tue 28th Apr 2015

This research by Sheffield University Management School into supply chain resource modelling has had economic and environmental impact, helping businesses adapt operations to…

Working with Acas – informing advice, policy and guidance

Tue 28th Apr 2015

The research has been undertaken in an economic and political context in which issues of workplace conflict resolution and downsizing have been central to public policy concerns

The Role of Women Entrepreneurs in UK Economic Development

Tue 28th Apr 2015

This research demonstrates that women entrepreneurs make important contributions to economic development, but are disadvantaged by initial under-capitalisation.

Performance Partnering on the Astute Submarine Programme

Tue 28th Apr 2015

This research focused on the defense industry investigated how the power structures underpinning particular buyer-supplier relationships affected the supplier’s willingness to…

Increasing gender diversity in the boardroom by influencing national policy

Tue 28th Apr 2015

Our research highlights the business case for women on boards, as well as seeking a better understanding of the reasons for lack of progress.

New Sustainable Business Model for Low-Volume Car Manufacturing

Tue 28th Apr 2015

Mass car production is the world’s largest manufacturing sector, yet its historical development is poorly understood.

Evolution of business knowledge helps SME’s

Fri 17th Apr 2015

This case study focuses on research led by Professor Richard Thorpe and Ossie Jones on management learning and leadership in small and medium‐sized enterprises.