Business Studies student, Amanda Nye, is one of only 20 students to progress successfully through three rounds of the World Collegiate Sales Open to reach the finals held in the USA in February. 

120 competitors from around the world registered for the competition, which is designed for undergraduate students studying courses with a sales option.   Twenty-one year old Amanda was one of 60 to make it through to the second round and is now one of the final 20 who will travel to Chicago next month.

She said:  “I wanted to do something different in my final year and really make the most of it.
My original interest lay in project management but then I had some sales experience in my placement year and it appeared to be one of my strengths.  But I didn’t think I’d get so far in the competition so I’m very excited.”

The World Collegiate Sales Open is a world-wide competition designed to provide an educational opportunity for sales students regardless of their location in the world.  Tasks mimic real activities that a sales representative would need to master and may not be part of many course curriculums.

The competition is based on communicating with a ‘prospect’ in different ways to achieve a sale.  In round one Amanda had to leave two voicemail messages in a pitch to a prospective customer.  As part of the second round she then faced a live telephone call with a receptionist acting as a robust ‘gatekeeper’ for the client.

The final challenge involves multiple activities including two 15 minute role play exercises.  At all stages the contestants are judged on several criteria including creativity, articulation and creating a value proposition while demonstrating industry knowledge – all valued sales skills.

Amanda, who is in her final year of studying, said: “You have no idea what scenario you’ll be faced with or what the customer will say so it’s important to be prepared for everything.  But the bottom line is that selling is all about understanding individual needs and being resourceful.

“My placement year transformed my understanding of the sales environment and allowed me to develop and build on the knowledge I learned from my Business Studies course.  The blend of academic and practical knowledge has been the best possible combination.”

Amanda travels to Chicago in February where she will compete for the top prize of $2000.

Beth Rogers, Sales expert and Amanda’s tutor, said:  “Our undergraduates have the opportunity to study professional selling and key account management, which Amanda has combined with her natural flair and creativity to make the crucial difference.

“Sales is also about perseverance and Amanda worked hard to get through against stiff competition from students from across the globe.  It’s a fantastic experience and I wish her every success.”

Beth Rogers, principal lecturer in sales management at the Business School, received the accolade in a ceremony today at the Chartered Institute of Marketing headquarters in Berkshire.

She joins honorary fellows Neil Rackham, a globally recognised consultant on sales topics and visiting Professor at Portsmouth, and Emeritus Professor Malcolm McDonald of Cranfield School of Management, who has also been a visiting speaker on Portsmouth programmes.

The Association was established in 1954 to promote the exchange of ideas and best practice on the topic of sales performance. It brings together sales professionals from a diverse range of industrial, service and consumer industries along with a number of training consultancy businesses.

Ms Rogers was awarded the fellowship in recognition of her many years of influential contribution to the sales profession and her commitment to sales education. She chaired the National Sales Board from 2005-2009, which established national occupational standards for sales, and has held a number of other roles for professional institutes, including being an advisor to the committee of the Global Sales Science Institute.

Adrian Logan, Chairman of the SPA said: “Beth has been developing and disseminating knowledge relevant to the SPA for many years and is a popular member of the sales performance community.  The committee decided to recognise her and her work which has been influential in raising the aspirations of sales professionals and demonstrating to other professions that selling and sales management is a discipline in its own right. 

“We would also like to thank the University of Portsmouth Business School for pioneering sales education.  It is an outstanding centre of excellence in Europe for our profession.”

Professor Malcolm McDonald spoke to an audience of business people and students, including this year’s cohort of MA Sales Management students, about the ten questions boards are asking their senior marketing colleagues and the answers they should be receiving.

Professor McDonald said: “Following the latest DeLoitte report setting out the deep unease felt by Chief Executives and Finance Directors over the widespread lack of financial accountability for their often substantial marketing budgets, this session will address this issue head on.”

He went on to discuss the necessity for deep understanding of customers and the ability to measure the contribution that customer relationships make to shareholder value. The session was based on a number of years of cross-functional research at Cranfield School of Management.

Professor McDonald has given similar sessions for the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He is author of 43 books, is chairman of Brand Finance plc and five other companies and spends much of his time working globally with the operating boards of the world’s biggest multinational companies

Quick links

MA Sales Management

The MA Sales Management is designed for account managers and sales managers with several years work experience. As the pioneer Master’s programme for sales managers in Europe, this course has acquired a national and international reputation that will enable ambitious sales managers to differentiate themselves and advance their careers. Portsmouth is the only UK business school listed by the University Sales Education Foundation.

Over drinks and canapés, the open evening reception will provide an opportunity for business professionals and students to meet lecturers, current and past students and discuss the benefits of studying at one of the south’s best business schools.

The open evening is from 6.00 – 8.00pm in Richmond Building at the Portsmouth Business School.

Please register online at www.sharpenyourcompetitiveedge.com. Any questions, please contact Becky Miles on becky.miles@port.ac.uk or +44 (0)23 9284 4323

It is the second trip the managers have made to Portsmouth as part of their MBA (Masters of Business Administration) degree programme which they are studying at the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering (MIIT). The visit to the Business School is also run in partnership with global accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The partnership between the organisations came about through Language School International and was set up by principal lecturer in the Department of Accounting and Finance, Dr Peter Andrew, after a visit to Moscow in 2009.

Russian Railways (RZD) is the second largest rail network in the world with 85,200km of track and is the country’s largest employer with more than a million staff. It carries more than one billion passengers a year in addition to a billion tonnes of freight over 11 time zones from St. Petersburg in the west to Vladivostok in the east.

RZD is one of Russia’s most profitable companies and is a major contributor to the economy with assets worth more than £55bn. The students at MIIT undertake part of their course in the UK because fluency in English is part of RZD’s corporate policy. Whilst in the UK they also learn about the privatisation of British Rail.

Dr Andrew, said: “MIIT is the largest university specialising in railways and transportation in Russia so we’re very pleased to be working in collaboration with their students. The company was keen to link with Portsmouth Business School because of the high national ranking of our accounting and finance courses. It is an excellent partnership as the students benefit greatly by learning about global finance from a western perspective and improving their English language skills at the same time.”

Portsmouth Business School is actively involved in teaching students and developing courses for industries in Eastern Europe, with relationships in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania, as well as Russia.

The managers received their certificates in a ceremony at the top of the Spinnaker at the end of their study week.

Quick Links

Full-time International MBA

David Smith said: “Although the economy and HE sector are facing uncertain times, in many ways there has never been a more opportune moment for universities to be engaging more actively with the business community, the public and the third sector.

“A University is a unique organisation that combines a wealth of expertise from areas such as business, technology, science and the creative industries – so utilising skills internally as well as facilitating business engagement externally is a challenge I am looking forward to.”

David gained 16 years industrial experience, encompassing international marketing, operations, strategic management and consultancy, before joining the Portsmouth Business School in 1996. His specialist research interests include exit strategies and strategic alliances.

He graduated in 1980 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College London, followed later by an MBA from Cardiff Business School.

Peter takes a particular interest in the role of the client executive, and used his MA in Sales Management to examine how client executives could build close and integrated relationships with clients.

He said: “The key to being successful as a Client Executive is to retain clients. Of course, these relationships need to be profitable and the Client Executive probably has sales targets too. But the fundamental building block for success as a Client Executive is to retain the commitment of clients.”

Peter identified that there was very little prior academic research into client relationships in corporate insurance, so he synthesised academic research from other sectors, cross-sectoral studies and books about best practice in business relationships, service quality and the nature of customer engagement to form a foundation for his research within Marsh.  Peter then interviewed several Client Executives in Marsh and asked them directly how they did their job and the nature of relationships they struck with their clients.  Adding this insight, he built models for Marsh that provide a blueprint for the development of the right competencies for client executives and a programme of action for each client executive to focus on customer commitment.  These are now widely used throughout the company.

The dissertation he submitted in completion of his MA Sales Management was well-received. Supervisor Jill Brown, an expert in services marketing, said “Peter was thorough in every stage of his research and wrote a comprehensive, interesting and actionable thesis.”

Course Leader Beth Rogers added: “One of the principles of the MA in Sales Managers, which is a part-time “top-up” degree, is that the study can be used to address challenges in the workplace.  It is very gratifying to see how Marsh Ltd has made use of Peter’s work.”

Marsh UK provides global risk management, risk consulting, insurance broking, alternative risk financing, and insurance program management services for businesses, public entities, associations, professional services organizations, and private clients. Marsh is a unit of Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), a global professional services firm with approximately 52,000 employees and annual revenue exceeding $10 billion.

MA Sales ManagementThe MA Sales Management is designed for account managers and sales managers with several years work experience. As the pioneer Master’s programme for sales managers in Europe, this course has acquired a national and international reputation that will enable ambitious sales managers to differentiate themselves and advance their careers. Portsmouth is the only UK business school listed by the University Sales Education Foundation.

Image Courtesy: UOP

They provide excellent support and introductions to a very wide range of graduate recruiters.  If you are interested in this opportunity please contact Paul Barnes, paul.barnes@port.ac.uk or them direct on 0207 382 4607 or 0207 588 188.

Please note they are happy to visit the University to speak to students.

Hewlett-Packard, one of the world’s largest multinational IT Corporations, has signed a deal with the University of Portsmouth to train its ‘Black Belt’ change champions.  This elite group of individuals will study a bespoke Masters programme to support ‘lean’ methodology which is designed to help them turn HP into a more responsive and efficient company.

‘Lean’ methodology is based on identifying waste within an organisation and focusing on customer needs.  The course has been tailor-made to precisely match Hewlett-Packard’s business requirements by the University of Portsmouth Business School.

Hewlett-Packard, which has approximately 304,000 employees worldwide, has already identified 22 potential high flyers from their global staff who begin the work-based learning programme this week.  Each individual will take on a specific business objective fundamental to the organisation which will form the basis of their studies.

Paul Maguire, Director of Strategic Initiatives for HP EMEA said: “By understanding process improvement and linking ‘lean’ to HP’s strategy and growth agenda we can increase value and even surpass the expectations of our top customers worldwide.  Our lean ‘black belts’ will help us achieve this by learning new concepts, tools and methods and changing the way we work.”

The MSc programme is designed to last around 18 months at which point their strategic goal should be achieved.  The individual is honoured as a ‘Black Belt’ within HP and will receive a Master’s qualification in Strategic Quality Management from the University.

Course Leader, Barbara Savage, said that the University had taken a work-centred approach to the course which supports the students through various projects core to the company’s objectives.

“The idea was to work very much in partnership with HP to deliver a bespoke course to complement the strategic objectives of a growing organisation while retaining the rigor and integrity of a Master’s qualification.  The organisation especially liked the tailored and flexible approach we were able to bring to the programme.

“We’ve avoided duplicating students’ existing knowledge and training and focussed purely on adding value.  Students will be exposed to fresh ideas from other sectors while focussing on increasing customer engagement.”

Black belt students spend just two week-long sessions at the university and the remaining study is done via distance learning with access to University facilities such as the library and on-going email and telephone support from a mentor.  Student assignments will combine academic theory with academic application through their company based improvement projects.

The agreement with the University of Portsmouth Business was signed last night by HP’s Head of Strategic Initiatives in EMEA, Maurice Fitzgerald.  During his visit he delivered a public lecture about how to make the ‘marriage’ of new acquisitions and partnerships work.

For more information about engaging with the University on a similar objective, contact Nick Capon via www.ceri.ac.uk

Quick links:

Strategic Quality Management

Juliet combined study for a Masters in Human Resource Management and work as a Sales and Marketing Manager for US multi-national corporation Seaboard Marine in the Cayman Islands. She then decided to take a year out and is currently studying for the international MBA at Portsmouth Business School.

I wanted to do something internationally recognised, with real currency, which was also challenging and well-taught. Having just completed my Masters at Portsmouth I knew how good the teaching was and the MBA seemed like the next logical step.

The MBA programme is AMBA accredited, which is crucial for me as it gives the course real gravitas. I decided to do the MBA full-time so I could immerse myself completely and this has really paid off. The studies have been challenging, stressful, infuriating at times, but above all it has been fun! It takes a huge amount of focus but the support you get is superb; staff are accessible and accommodating from day one.

I have learned so much at Portsmouth and will be leaving with deep business knowledge, which I can’t wait to put into practice. Studying here has also opened my eyes socially and politically – it was terribly exciting to be here during the general election and I now know much more about British politics and social characteristics.

The MBA is a great experience and whether I return to my role in the Cayman Islands or pursue work in the UK I know I’ll see the benefits immediately.

Quick LinksFull-time International MBA