The Renaming of Manchester Business School and Other MBA News Snippets

By Tim Dhoul Updated Dec 04, 2019

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Introduction
Naming rights acquired in Manchester Business School donation
Ross School of Business recognizes further gift-giving
Formula One fuels talk at Cass Business School
Cross-continental MBA students win business plan challenge

Manchester Business School to undergo name-change

Discover Europe's top business schools in a regional report

Naming rights acquired in Manchester Business School donation

Manchester Business School is to become known as ‘Alliance Manchester Business School’ in recognition of a £15 million (c. US$24M) donation it has received from Lord (David) Alliance, a Liberal Democrat peer.

The name-change will take place at the start of the next academic year, when the school will celebrate its 50th anniversary. It intends to put the money towards a new building and facilities, as well as to invest in its research capacity, making provisions for PhD scholarships and hiring new faculty, according to The Financial Times.

“Manchester as a city has done so much for me and this is my opportunity to make a meaningful difference to the next generation of managers and entrepreneurs who will come to our superb business school to develop their leadership skills and contribute to the prosperity of our society in the future,” Lord Alliance said in a statement for Manchester Business School.

Arriving in the UK from Iran at the age of 17, Lord Alliance made his fortune in textiles and is now the chairman of internet and catalogue home shopping company, N Brown Group.

His sizeable donation ranks among the highest single donations received by business schools in the UK, such as that bestowed on Imperial College Business School, enabling it to open a new financial center last month.

Ross School of Business recognizes further gift-giving

Of course, Manchester’s windfall pales in comparison to the US$200 million pledged in two installments by real estate developer, Stephen Ross, to the University of Michigan business school that bears his name – the latest of which came just last year.

Recognition for gift-giving continues at the Ross School of Business. Yesterday, the University of Michigan’s board approved proposals to name a new building at the Ross School of Business (when constructed) after Jeff T Blau, following a US$5 million donation made earlier this year, as well as in recognition for his previous support, which includes a US$4 million donation made in 2006.

Blau, an MBA alumnus of Wharton, attended the University of Michigan at undergraduate level and is the CEO of Related Companies, a real estate firm founded and chaired by Stephen Ross.

Formula One fuels talk at Cass Business School

A former Formula One CEO was at Cass Business School this week to give a talk to full-time MBA students.

Nick Fry, CEO of the Mercedes team until last year, drew from his 11 years of experience in Formula One in outlining 20 lessons for his audience at Cass Business School.

These included: emphasizing that the difference between leadership and management lies in decision-making; being approachable and available in a company; and advocating a 90-day rule: “You have to make decisions in the first 90 days in any new role or you become a part of the furniture.”

Fry is best known in Formula One for his role at Brawn GP, for whom Jenson Button won the world title in 2009. The team was sold to Mercedes the following year, with both Ross Brawn and Fry staying in their respective roles.

Fry attributed his own success to hard work, seizing opportunities and having just the right amount of brainpower, reasoning that “too much and you can see all the problems, which just adds complexity.”

Cross-continental MBA students win business plan challenge

A team of MBA students from business schools in the US, Singapore and Spain have won a business plan challenge run by The Financial Times.

The challenge was to submit a 12-page business plan outlining how World Child Cancer (WCC) could increase access to affordable treatment and medication in Ghana.

The winning plan, ‘Doin it for the kids’ was the product of MBA students from Fuqua School of Business, Esade Business School, Yale and NUS Business School collaborating remotely over a period of five months.

They outlined five practical initiatives that WCC will now consider implementing in its bid to improve cancer treatment for children living in locations that lack adequate resources.

Written by

Tim Dhoul

Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).