University of the West of Scotland’s Business School held a joint conference at its Paisley Campus yesterday with one of China’s leading business education institutions, the Business College of Beijing Union University (BCBUU). 

The event, which took place on 13 June 2012 at the University’s Paisley Campus, saw over 20 academics from both institutions come together to present joint research papers and discuss future collaborative research opportunities. 

Papers were presented in the areas of small business development, accounting and finance, family business, hospitality management, supply chain management, and research funding.

It is hoped that several joint research funding applications will be developed as a result of the conference.

UWS’ Business School has a wealth of research expertise and in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) the University achieved representation in the highest possible 4 star rating in six areas – including Accounting and Finance; Business and Management Studies - signifying quality that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour.

BCBUU is benefiting from UWS’ business research expertise and it is anticipated that this partnership will lead to significant benefits not just to BCBUU and UWS but to Chinese SMEs and businesses.

The annual research conference builds on over 10 years of partnership working between the two universities and last year saw the inaugural event being held at BCBUU.

Commenting on the conference Ron Livingstone, Head of University of the West of Scotland’s Business School, said: “We are committed to deepening our relationship with international partners to ensure we can maximise the benefits not just to the institutions but to the respective local economies. 

“We have a long standing relationship with BCBUU and this conference provided a great opportunity for academics from both institutions to exchange their latest research findings and develop new research avenues to pursue which will ultimately result in economic and cultural benefits for both universities as well as, in the wider sense, China and Scotland.”