Kent Business School showcased its academic prowess and innovative research at the Annual Postgraduate Conference held on Wednesday 3 July at the University of Kent. The event, hosted by the Graduate and Researcher College (GRC), brought together staff, students, and distinguished speakers to celebrate postgraduate research and strengthen community ties.
The conference, a collaborative effort with the Division of Arts and Humanities, the Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, and the Division of Natural Sciences, highlighted the diverse and interdisciplinary research being conducted at Kent. KBS was particularly well-represented, with numerous presentations demonstrating the school’s commitment to addressing contemporary business challenges and fostering a supportive academic environment. It was also the first year when each division included student organisers. For KBS, Muthoni Mbwiria, Md Nurul Islam Sohel, and Zsofia Baruwa took on this challenging but rewarding role.
The morning started with a poster session led by Professor Benjamin Hutchinson (Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research) where first-year PhD students of KBS showcased fascinating research topics including leadership, sustainability and ESG performance, collaborative logistics, explainable AI, bankruptcy prediction, and business model failures. Maryam Ajaj won the poster prize, with her presentation entitled ‘Is there a positive impact of training on firm performance?’ receiving the most votes throughout the day.
Maxim Potepkin, a first-year postgraduate researcher in the Department of Leadership and Management at KBS, shared his insights on leadership dynamics and management practices. Reflecting on the event, Maxim said, ‘It was a great opportunity to share my research inspirations and receive thought-provoking feedback from peers and academics in a very friendly atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting many fellow peers, learning from their compelling presentations, and engaging in discussions with prominent academics during the conference.’
The day continued with four research talks by second- and third-year PhD students. Adetutu Oyenride (pictured top), a third-year Leadership and Management PhD student, discussed ‘Stakeholder engagement disclosure as a legitimacy mechanism: the case of critical incidents, such as oil spills and product recalls.’
Zsofia Baruwa, a second-year Department of Analytics, Operations and Systems (DAOS) PhD student, presented her paper titled ‘Resilience and competitiveness in the electric vehicle (EV) industry: a global corporate network analysis,’ which she had presented just a week earlier at the prestigious ISNA Sunbelt Conference. It was a collaborative work typical of the kind undertaken in KBS, developed in partnership with Dr Haiyue Yuan and Professor Shujun Li from the School of Computing and Dr Zhen Zhu (Senior Lecturer in Big Data Analytics and Director of Studies for MSc Business Analytics at DAOS), her primary supervisor from the Business School. The paper is not only the first work to analyse the global corporate network of the EV industry’s resilience and competitiveness, but it also includes a Python tool that can help draw insights from any corporate structure – a feature that was applauded by the audience.
Inah Okpa, a second-year Accounting and Finance PhD student, presented his pioneering research on ‘Artificial intelligence and agency cost mitigation: can AI enhance corporate governance in reducing agency costs?’ He has several papers derived from this research slated for publication in top-tier journals soon.
Finally, the audience enjoyed a captivating presentation from Waksh Awais, a third-year PhD student in Accounting and Finance, on ‘Accounting education and neo-colonialism: a Gramscian analysis of higher education in Pakistan.’ He was also the runner-up for the Best Researcher Award from the GRC.
The KBS sessions concluded with a Triple Insight panel discussion, chaired by Dr Samantha Evans (Senior Lecturer in HRM and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead at KBS). The panellists included Professor Paola Scaparra (Professor of Management Science at DAOS), Professor Benjamin Hutchinson, Dr Zhen Zhu, Inah Okpa (second-year PhD student at DAF), and Maryam Ajaj (first-year PhD student at DLM).
The panel session addressed the ups and downs in various PhD journeys, key challenges in academia – including the leaky talent pipeline, particularly for women – and the ongoing impact of AI on research and industry practices. Attendees were encouraged to support one another, build robust networks, and remain adaptable in the face of evolving academic landscapes, as Dr Samantha Evans summarised.
The day ended with a prize presentation organised by the GRC. Along with Maryam, who won the KBS Poster Prize, and Waksh, who was the runner-up for GRC’s Best Researcher Prize, Professor George Saridakis (Head of Department for Marketing, Entrepreneurship and International Business) won the Best Research Supervisor Award from GRC. It was a fitting conclusion to a very successful day.
