Reciprocal exchange strengthens ties in South America

Cardiff Business School welcomed five visiting PhD students from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Cardiff this week (18-25 May 2017).

The visit is part of a reciprocal exchange with the Fundacao Getulio Vargas (FGV). It follows a visit made by the Business School’s Dr Heike Doering and 10 PhD students to Sao Paulo in May last year for a workshop titled ‘Becoming an International Researcher in Management Studies’. The Cardiff

students were drawn from the School’s various disciplines and represented the Marketing and Strategy, Logistics and Operations Management and Management, Employment and Organisation sections. The event was funded through the Santander Universities network programme.

The programme arranged for the visiting students involved academic faculty from the Business School, Cardiff University’s School of Geography and Planning and contributions from colleagues such as Professor Glenn Morgan from Bristol University, a former Cardiff academic.

Professor Martin Kitchener, Dean of Cardiff Business School, welcomed the visitors to Cardiff and gave them an overview of the School and its activities, with particular focus on its public value strategy, focused on delivering social and economic value.

The workshop sessions and discussion addressed a number of social and business themes, many aligned with Cardiff Business School’s public value agenda, including ethics, cross-cultural consumer research, sustainability and engagement. Highlights have included Dr Ishmael Al-Amoudi’s ethnography workshop and Professor Peter Wells’ talk:  Varieties of Sustainability: A Brazilian Case Study.

The visit, which included social, cultural and networking events to facilitate relationship building between Cardiff students and their Brazil-based counterparts, culminated in a visit to the Senedd in Cardiff Bay.

Dr Heike Doering, who arranged the visit, said: “Last year’s visit to Sao Paulo was an opportunity to encourage doctoral students and early career faculty to learn more about what being an ‘international researcher’ means and ways in which they can develop new relationships and collaborations to the benefit of their research, and wider society.

“We were very much looking forward to reciprocating the hospitality and kindness we were shown when we visited Brazil and it was a pleasure to host the five PhD students from FGV in Cardiff. International relationships are very important to the School and we are committed to developing meaningful research and professional interactions that help us to work together to address global business, economic and social issues.”

Find out more about Cardiff Business School’s public value strategy.