Academic: Professor Mario Kafouros, Leeds University Business School
Companies are repeatedly advised of the benefits of seeking out new opportunities overseas but face the same old problems in developing a strategy. Research carried out at the Centre for International Business at the University of Leeds (CIBUL) has helped businesses understand how to make the best decisions when locating operations overseas and to assess the impact of their activities abroad.
CIBUL’s research is having a tangible impact on the ground in many ways. It has improved the services offered by intermediaries such as the investment-promotion arm of the British government (UKTI) and the UN body for economic development (UNCTAD). It has also benefited the businesses that these bodies serve by identifying factors that help them internationalise and derive greater value from international expansion.
Nestle, the world’s largest nutrition company, has used CIBUL’s research to improve its corporate communications and evaluate how its investments create value and influence economic development, innovation, environment, society and different stakeholder groups.
Read more about research in Leeds University Business School at: http://business.leeds.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/research-centres