ISSN 2397-7795 (Print) ISSN 2397-5652 (Online) LSBM WORKING PAPER SERIES Volume 2, Issue 1 April 2017 www.lsbm.ac.uk/wps EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Dr. Nnamdi O. Madichie EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Dr. Knowledge Mpofu (LSBM) Dr. Claire Bright (LSBM) Dr. Melissa Kerr (LSBM) Achila Amarasinghe (LSBM) Arif Zaman (LSBM) Dr. Promise A. Opute (GPROM, Germany) Dr. Fred Yamoah (University of Hertfordshire, UK) Dr. Rakesh Jory (University of Southampton, UK) Dr. Kamel Fantazy (University of Winnipeg, Canada) Professor Robert Hinson (University of Ghana) Professor Sonny Nwankwo (University of East London) Professor Satyendra Singh (University of Winnipeg, Canada) DISCLAIMER The views expressed in this paper are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the London School of Business and Management. These Working Papers have not been subject to formal review or approach. They are distributed in order to make the result of the current research available to a wider academic audience, and to encourage further debate, discussions and suggestions on the topical issues in the areas covered. Editorial In this second volume of the London School of Business and Management’s Working Paper Series (LSBM WPS), a selection of papers coalesce around a range of research initiatives drawn from the LSBM community – from discussions on topics such as professional body engagement in curriculum design, a case study on an accounting firm written by a former MBA student, an exploration of servant leadership in the South African context, a discussion on the general misunderstanding of the meaning of reputation risk, and finally an exploration of management practices linked to the sports management literature. In the first paper, Usha Mistry argues that “a brilliant first class degree may not be enough to secure an employment position and at the London School of Business and Management we recognise the importance of developing an all-round graduate who has competencies in both technical skills and employability skills.” This paper explores employability skills gained by LSBM Accounting and Financial Management students through free student membership of a leading Professional Statutory Regulatory Body, The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). Elena Lukova, in the second paper, investigates the problem of recruiting new employees that a German company confronts in the market of accountancy and tax consultancy (ATC). In compliance with a resource-based view concept, scarcity of workforce may be viewed as one of the factors constraining the business growth and sustainability. By using a single case study design, the author analyses recruitment methods for three categories of potential employees, namely a trainee, a graduate and an experienced specialist. The study confirms prior researches that recruiting a trainee is a long-term investment, however it challenges earlier studies that internship can be considered a cost-saving of future recruitment costs. In the third paper Simon Taylor, explores the notion of servant leadership as an increasingly recognised effective approach to leadership, with some proponents arguing that leaders need to serve something beyond themselves. Modern Servant Leadership theory owes its origins to Greenleaf (1977) who proposed a new leadership paradigm in contrast to the ‘leader’ centred focus, which has tended to adopt a command-and-control approach. He uses a grounded theory approach, investigating the development of a philosophy and practice of leadership amongst young adults who had attended Hilton College, a private, boys-only boarding school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where they had been exposed to a Servant Leadership development programme. Arif Zaman, in the fourth paper, provides some fresh insights on reputational risk, highlighting key drivers and dimensions of both reputation and risk. He argues that reputational risk is also too often used in far too narrow a context to refer to corporate social responsibility, and while community perceptions of corporate impact are important, reputational risk needs to be understood as an outcome of relationships with key stakeholders including customers, investors and employees. In the fifth and final paper, Nnamdi Madichie, explores the exploits of Leonid Slutski - CSKA Moscow manager and Manager of the Russian National Football Team. The study is expedient in the light of the ongoing European Cup or Euro 2016, where the Club versus Country management practices are unveiled and linked to the sports management literature. The study is based on a general review of managerial exploits and football team performance at both the club and country levels. Overall the study provides a pioneering effort in exploring and celebrating management practices of football managers who are described as “unsung heroes.” Overall, this Working Papers Series would be the main conduit of the activities of the Centre for Research & Enterprise at the London School of Business and Management, and would be mapped with the research & Scholarship strategy which is currently in its final stages of development with a view to encouraging participation from all aforementioned stakeholder groups. Nnamdi O. Madichie Series Editor, April 2017 Embedding employability skills in the BA (Hons) Accounting and Financial Management via use of PSRB services Usha Mistry A brilliant first class degree may not be enough to secure an employment position and at the London School of Business and Management we recognise the importance of developing an all-round graduate who has competencies in both technical skills and employability skills. This paper explores employability skills gained by the London School of Business and Management (LSBM) BA (Hons) Accounting and Financial Management students through free student membership of a leading Professional Statutory Regulatory Body: The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. The project aim is to encourage LSBM accounting degree students to enhance their employability skills by making full usage of a broad range of services offered by the CIMA student membership. The project will evaluate usage through an analysis student’s opinions through questionnaires and a series of focus groups of first and second year students of these services. External research strongly suggests skills development should be a crucial and integral part of providing accounting education. Keywords: accounting education, personal development planning embedding employability, employability support model, PACE, CIMA student membership Introduction Debate about skills and their dearth in the employment market has been active for decades with global political, economic, social, technical, environmental and legal changes. A first-class degree may no longer be enough to secure an employment position. At the London School of Business and Management we recognise the importance of developing an all-round graduate who has competencies in both technical and employability skills; in short a graduate who is truly prepared to meet the demands of a constantly competitive changing global labour market. Our newly validated degree in BA (Hons) Accounting and Financial Management with embedded personal development plan puts students in a strong position for their future career development and building employability skills. Our employability support model PACE, supports, encourages and motivates students to gain maximum benefit from what is on offer through shared responsibility between students, Professional bodies, Academic staff, Careers advisers, and Employers. This paper explores the awareness of employability skills gained by the London School of Business and Management, BA (Hons) Accounting and Financial Management students through free student membership of a leading Professional Statutory Regulatory Body: The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. The paper addresses the following questions: What services are offered by CIMA student membership? What services did the students access? What did students gain from access to services in terms of their awareness of employment skills development? What recommendations were made by students to improve CIMA student membership services? The project evaluates usage of CIMA student membership services through an analysis of student’s opinions via questionnaires and focus group meetings with first and second year accounting degree students. External research ((Association of Graduate Recruiters, 2016, CIMA 2015, Global Risk Forum 2014, HEFCE 2011), highlights the importance of awareness of employability skills and career LSBM Working Paper Series, Vol. 2, Issue 1, 2017 Page 1 planning to enable students to shape their skills base before they even graduate i.e. enable our students to stand out from the crowd in the employment market. With the widening participation of higher education and rapid increase in graduate numbers since the early 1990s, concerns about graduate employability skills have become widely voiced. A brilliant first degree may not be enough to secure an employment position and at the London School of Business and Management we recognise the importance of developing the soft skills, personal skills, transferrable skills, behaviours and competencies that are crucial employability attributes. Recent research (CIMA 2015, Global Risk Forum 2014, HEFCE 2011) all indicate that employers want graduates who not only have sound technical knowledge, but also well-developed employability skills. The CIMA (2015) Mind the Skills