Entrepreneurship

An exploration of global migration and development and the economics of migrant labour. The migration process is driven by social, economic, political and other forces and evolves in complex interaction with political decision making, networks, brokers and infrastructures. It has also been acknowledged that the notion of migration includes integration or exclusion on all levels of society, the labour market, the impact on those left in the homeland, and other issues that arise from the experiences on route and on arrival.

Professor Dwek explores Oxford University's strong track record of interacting with the commercial world. Oxford University has a strong track record of interacting with the commercial world. This includes both spinning out new ventures that exploit its intellectual capital in the commercial world and attracting funds from the commercial world to further develop its intellectual capital. Professor Dwek is a leading Oxford scientist who has been highly successful in both aspects. Here he reflects on Oxfords experience using several seminal cases from the Universitys spin out and industry funded research activities.

This Oxford at Said seminar was dedicated to the subject of oceans. Three researchers from the University of Oxford cover the topics oceans and the impact of climate change, understanding ocean ecology and how to generate energy from the tides. All life comes out of the ocean and is connected with the ocean. Over 70 per cent of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans earning planet earth the nick name the blue planet. Life within the sea evolved 3 billion years prior to life on land, yet much of the its ecology and life therein remains unexplored and hitherto poorly understood. Oceans also have a significant effect on the biosphere. Oceanic evaporation is the source of most rainfall, and ocean temperatures determine climate and wind patterns on land. In economic terms the seas are essential to transportation, energy production and provide a significant percentage of the world's protein. Yet, they are not limitless and many problems, such as overexploitation and pollution, have brought some marine ecosystems close to collapse.

This Oxford at Said seminar was dedicated to the topic of Ageing. Three distinguished academics from Oxford University discuss the social, biological and ethical implications for an ageing society. For the foreseeable future, population ageing is irreversible and will fundamentally affect all areas of life from the workplace to the family. Sarah Harper outlines the most important social consequences of population ageing and discuss potential policy implications. Lynne Cox explains current research strategies to find the genetic drivers of ageing which might eventually help us to slow the ageing process and Julian Savulescu finishes the seminar by discussing his manifesto on 'Why we need a war on ageing' arguing that mankind has a moral obligation to strive for a longer and better life.

This Oxford at Said seminar was dedicated to the phenomenon of stress. Sloan Mahone gives a historical perspective on the topic, Ian Brown presents latest findings on occupational stress and John Morris covers stress from a physiological perspective. Three Oxford University researchers from the areas of history of medicine, occupational health and physiology discuss how their disciplines define stress, how they approach it and what can be learned from their findings. Sloan Mahone, University Lecturer in the History of Medicine gives a fascinating insight into the social construction of mental health conditions experienced by people exposed to traumatic events. Ian Brown, Director of the Occupational Health Service at the University of Oxford, poses the question to what extent employment is a major cause of stress and anxiety and John Morris, Professor of Human Anatomy and Director for Preclinical Studies explains how stress is studied from a physiological perspective.

Three leading academics discuss emerging markets and explore both the issues faced by the economies in China and Latin America and the challenges faced by companies looking to invest in or do business with them. Emerging markets are fast growing economies in a transitional stage between developing and developed. They offer a wealth of opportunities in trade, technology transfer and foreign direct investment, but there are also risks involved. Three leading academics discuss emerging markets and explore both the issues faced by the economies in China and Latin America and the challenges faced by companies looking to invest in or do business with them.

Three speakers from the University of Oxford, Felix Reed-Tsochas, Mark Fricker and Jukka-Pekka Onnela, give an introduction and overview of the science of networks focussing on two areas: social and biological networks. Consider the following phenomena - the spread of a fungus to acquire nutrients, links between venture capital funders and innovative ideas, the pattern of email and phone traffic within organisations. It has been dicovered that some of these phenomena can be understood, modelled and applied to the design of more effective business networks and systems.

Lord Drayson is currently Minister of Science and Innovation in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. In this lecture he will reflect on the opportunities and challenges the next generation of post credit crunch entrepreneurs will face. Lord Drayson is currently Minister of Science and Innovation in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. His track record as a highly successful entrepreneur in both manufacturing and science based businesses speaks for itself. Although his Ministerial role now precludes his direct involvement in enterprises it has given him a wonderful vantage point to reflect on the opportunities and challenges the next generation of post credit crunch entrepreneurs will face.

Stephen Bond gives an overview over issues in business taxation; Michael Devereux discusses international issues in business taxation and Judith Freedman speaks on taxing small businesses.

This Oxford at Said seminar was dedicated to the topic of corporate Governance. Professor Colin Mayer speaks on the role of investors in corporate governance; Professor Paul Davies covers the current debate about executive compensation. Good corporate governance rules are supposed to align the interests of management, shareholders and society. The value destruction caused by the recent financial crisis has brought reforming corporate governance back to the very top of the political agenda. Many commentators call for profound changes to current corporate governance regimes especially with regard to executive compensation. However, opinions diverge on the most effective reforms.

Lord Peter Mandelson gave a key-note speech following an invitation by the Oxford Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Said Business School. In his address he used an imaginary female entrepreneur to underline his argument that markets and ministerial policies need to go hand in hand in order to create the right conditions for an enterprise-led recovery.

Panel discussion during the Oxford Social Media Convention 2009 on whether the outcome of political careers and even campaigns is increasingly dependent on the successful mastery of new communication tools including social media. The outcome of political careers and even campaigns is increasingly dependent on the successful mastery of new communication tools including social media. Many MPs and members of Congress are embracing the use of social networking tools to keep in touch with their constituents, whilst Facebook, YouTube and even Twitter have potentially changed the nature of election campaigns in reaching out directly to grass-roots supporters, with the recent US presidential campaign also showing how effective these tools might be in raising funds. At the same time, it is not clear whether these tools are likely to prove effective in engaging any voters except those who are already interested in politics, or whether their apparent democratisation of traditional party structures is to be believed.

Panel discussion during the Oxford Social Media Convention 2009 on the socially egalitarian and politically democratic potential of social media. Have they lived up to the promises? Theorists such as Yochai Benkler have suggested that the accessibility and inherently social nature of Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, social networking and wikis mean that we might expect them to enhance our democratic freedoms through the opening of new channels for debate and collaboration. Academic research suggests that such new opportunities have not been equally taken up, and that in many areas, new social media are simply being used by old elites. At the same time, blogs and social media are having significant effect in enhancing accountability and transparency, particularly in repressive regimes like Burma and China. This session will ask whether we should be so quick to dismiss the socially egalitarian and politically democratic potential of social media or whether there might equally be more mundane but significant social impacts which have so far been ignored.

Panel discussion during the Oxford Social Media Convention 2008 on whether social media necessarily threaten traditional news media, and what, if anything they may have to offer in return. Among the traditional media, blogs and other contributions to citizen journalism have for a long time been regarded as posing a significant threat to quality news reporting, whilst the global recession has shown that the threatened failure of high quality local and regional media outlets was not a groundless fear. Whilst some of the most successful social media sites are professional media productions such as CNNs Twitter news feed and the Huffington Post, many critics of social media now fear that the collapse of traditional business models will see a real decline in the depth and quality of news reporting, particularly at the local level. On the other hand, blogs and social media are seen as potentially democratising the production of news, enabling fast, first-hand reporting often in areas where traditional media face political or practical restrictions. This panel session will consider whether social media necessarily threaten traditional news media, and what, if anything they may have to offer in return.

Panel discussion on how social media have changed the nature of the scientific debate among scientists, and how they have impacted on engagement with the public understanding of science. Journals and peer-reviewed publications are still the most widely used channels through which research is disseminated within the scientific community and to a broader audience. However, social media are increasingly challenging the supremacy of editors, reviewers and science communicators. Blogging about science has become a new way of engaging the public directly with researchers whilst researchers are increasingly using blogs within their own academic communities for peer-review purposes. Panellists will give their perspective on how social media have changed the nature of the scientific debate among scientists, and how they have impacted on engagement with the public understanding of science.