Today Translations helps University of Glamorgan expand to Lithuania

As the world of Higher Education becomes increasingly global, Universities are faced with developing students and programmes to meet with the challenges of skills gaps, labour shortages and an increasingly migrant and transient labour force.

In order to meet these challenges, the International Business School (IBS) in Vilnius and the University of Glamorgan Business School, the largest Business School in Wales, have signed a partnership agreement to foster the development of exciting new programme and common research interests.

The Glamorgan Business School has a long history dating back nearly 100 years. The University has driven a successful strategy of expansion with recent strategic partnerships with the Welsh College of Music and Drama and with Merthyr Tydfil College. The University has recently invested  35 million pounds in its new campus in Cardiff where the Cardiff School of Cultural and Creative Industries is located.

As part of this expansion, the Glamorgan Business School is aiming for a competitive advantage strategy firmly rooted in key partnerships. While the Glamorgan Business School has a long history of delivering its programmes in Europe, the Middle East and Far East, the Business School is now keen to build key strategic partnerships that can help shape Business Education for the years ahead.

In February and July 2007, Professor Duncan Lewis who is Head of Business Development and External Relations at Glamorgan Business School visited Lithuania to seek out prospective partners.

Professor Lewis said "I first visited Lithuania during the very cold month of February when even local Lithuanians indicated that it was particularly cold. The -32 C greeting of Vilnius was certainly a chilly welcome but that soon melted away in the warmth and hospitality of the people we met. The Lithuanian hospitality and genuine warmth of welcome made us at once feel at home."

After a number of visits, excellently organised by a London business associate Jurga Zilinskiene of Today Translations there was no hesitation in identifying the International Business School (IBS) as the key partner for the Glamorgan Business School.

The IBS has the facilities and expertise to meet our strategic developments and we hope to benefit mutually from working together across a range of initiatives. This partnership now begins in earnest and an ambitious range of activities have been set for the next 18 months. These include joint development of a range of postgraduate programmes, a joint conference to be held in Vilnius themed around economic regeneration, student and staff exchanges, research grants and a whole lot more.

Glamorgan Business School are a recognised Centre of Excellence for Purchasing and Supply Chain Management and have recently been approved to deliver world-wide the on-line programme for the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. These courses coupled with professional courses for Personnel Managers, professional Marketers and Accountants could be very appealing to the Professionals of Vilnius and Lithuania.

Entrepreneurship education is also a key driver for this partnership. Glamorgan Business School has a track record in delivering on-line entrepreneurship education through its BlackBoard   portal. Students will be increasingly in demand from employers worldwide and delivering education at a time and medium that best meets their learning needs is a key development area for the university.

"We are genuinely thrilled to be taking forward our joint vision for business and management education. The Glamorgan Business School-IBS strategic partnership offers significant potential and we are keen to see this maximised wherever possible." said Professor Duncan Lewis.

A return journey to Vilnius took place in July 2007 involving Professor Lewis and the Dean of Glamorgan Business School, Professor Alan Lovell. This aimed to cement the relationship and develop a range of strategic plans.

Professor Alan Lovell also commented "Establishing a network of six or so European Business Schools who share our passion and commitment for exciting and creative business education programmes is a strategic priority for us and in IBS we believe we have met a business school that shares our beliefs and commitment."

"We believe that the creation of this network will facilitate the development of undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes in which students have the opportunity to study different parts of the programme in different countries, thereby obtaining a truly international perspective on their studies. We also have the opportunity to collaborate in research areas of mutual interest and importance. I truly believe we both have much to gain from this relationship and I look forward to contributing an update on our partnership in twelve months time."

http://bus.glam.ac.uk/news/en/2007/nov/22/university-glamorgan-business-school-and-ibs-strik/