The P&Q Interview: Nottingham Business School Dean Baback Yazdani On Theory In Action

If you ask, Baback Yazdani will tell you that Nottingham Business School has its own way of doing things. He calls it the NBS way: A mission to combine academic excellence with a positive impact on people, business, and society coupled with an almost zealous commitment to extend business education beyond the classroom.

It’s experiential learning and innovation at scale, but with a conscience.

“We operate like a business – not in the sense of profit-driven motives, but in how efficiently and purposefully we serve our three constituencies: students, business, and society,” Yazdani, Nottingham’s executive dean, tells P&Q.

ONE OF THE UK’S LARGEST BUSINESS SCHOOLS

Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University, is one of the largest business schools in the UK. It enrolls more than 8,000 students per year, including 6,000 undergrads, 1,550 masters and MBA students, 200 doctoral students, and 400 executives. This scale allows it to offer a wide range of programs at all academic levels – each with personalized learning opportunities that few business schools can match.

NBS is a leader in providing degree apprenticeships, allowing students to combine academic study with on-the-job training. Each year, around 500 students take part in year-long paid placements with industry partners, while another 200 complete six-month internships with local companies. Graduate students engage in consultancy projects with businesses, and 250 students study abroad annually at one of the school’s partner institutions. This hands-on approach – supported by NBS’ strong connections to industry, non-profits, and other organizations – emphasizes putting theory into action.

Nottingham’s MBA recently ranked No. 18 in Corporate Knights’ 2024 Better World MBA Top 40, one of just 12 UK business schools to make the list. It dedicates at least 25% of its core MBA curriculum to sustainability topics like carbon pricing, corruption reduction, and employment equity.

Beyond its MBA, the school offers sustainability-integrated undergraduate projects, stackable micro-credentials on climate solutions, and has served as a PRME (Champion for five years. (Principles for Responsible Management Education is a United Nations-supported initiative with a mission to better incorporate responsible management practices in business school classrooms.)

NBS also has the elusive triple crown accreditation achieved by less than 1% of the world’s business schools. It is accredited by the three main business school agencies — AMBA, AACSB, and EQUIS.

FROM ACADEMIC TO PRACTITIONER TO DEAN

In his career, Yazdani has been both an academic and a practitioner. He is a mechanical and industrial engineer by training, and spent years researching and developing robotics and automation systems to help drive innovation. This work, along with a desire to create impact through education, brought him to Nottingham Business School (NBS) over a decade ago.

Yazdani champions the idea that business schools must serve communities, not just corporations. In the wake of Brexit, he has pushed for British business schools to cultivate global connections and diversify their perspectives beyond Western business models. As such, NBS recently launched a new Global Executive MBA featuring immersive learning experiences in the UK, Brazil and South Africa.

Poets&Quants sat down with Yazdani last month to talk about the NBS way, the need for constant innovation, and how the school differentiates itself in an ever crowded market. Our conversation, presented below, has been edited for length and clarity.

Let’s start with an introduction, and your professional journey to Nottingham Business School.

I studied mechanical engineering in Wales, and then did my master’s in Manufacturing Systems Engineering – what the Americans call industrial engineering – at Warwick University. After that, I started working with robotics. I did research on robotics a long time ago, back when industrial robots were just becoming a thing. I’ve always been interested in industry because, to me, it was obvious that places with industry are prosperous and advanced. Technology improves lives and creates progress, so it seemed like the thing to pursue.

While doing robotics research at Warwick, mostly for the car industry, I met my wife. She’s Greek and, after finishing her master’s, she went to Greece to work for Shell. I then found a job in Greece running a foundry and a forging plant. It was a stroke of luck – I was in the right place at the right time.

When we returned to the UK, I found a job setting up the design of automation systems. Through that work, I realized that making industry more efficient wasn’t just about robotics and automation; you also needed to design the product in a way that supports proper automation. I researched this and discovered that the first 20% of a product’s design determines almost everything – whether it will sell, whether it’s cheap to produce, whether it’s desirable, and so on.

This idea intrigued me, so I returned to Warwick University and approached my former professor about setting up a design and development center. I worked with industries ranging from automotive to electronics to compress their time-to-market. I helped companies reconfigure their processes and organize product development to improve success rates.

I worked closely with the car industry, including Toyota, and conducted a major government-funded study comparing Japanese and European approaches. Around 2000, Ford invited me to join their team in the U.S. to help revitalize Lincoln as part of the Premier Automotive Group, which also included Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Volvo. We set up major design and engineering centers in Irvine, California, and Dearborn, Michigan. Meanwhile, Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University was searching for someone with a mix of academic and industrial expertise.

The school has always had a close relationship with industry, and Sir John Peace, the chair of the Board of Governors, headhunted me for the role. The goal was to grow the business school into something distinct from its peers, and that’s what brought me here.

What is Nottingham Business School known for, and what sets it apart?

We have a mission and purpose: to provide education and research that combines academic excellence with a positive impact on people, business, and society. Every part of that mission is meaningful. Combining excellence with impact takes various forms, but one of our key differentiators is experiential learning, which we call the NBS way.

We don’t just teach theory and practice in a controlled environment through simulations, case studies, or safe exercises – although we do those too. Instead, we send students into real businesses to see theory in action. They reflect on what they’ve observed and complete the experiential learning cycle, which leads to much deeper learning. To implement this effectively at our scale, we maintain strong relationships with companies, understand their challenges, and connect students with opportunities to solve real-world problems.

Currently, we have about 7,000 students. Each year, we send around 500 of them on year-long paid placements in industry. Additionally, we facilitate around 200 six-month internships with local companies, 200 postgraduate consultancy projects with businesses, and 250 students studying abroad at one of our partner institutions. We also welcome students from those institutions. This close relationship with businesses is central to our approach and one of the things that sets us apart.

So are you targeting regional UK students, or are you really aiming for an international audience?

The composition of our programs spans undergraduate, or bachelor’s programs, postgraduate, doctoral studies, and executive education. We also do research and collaborate with numerous companies to help them improve their operations.
Our undergraduate population is around 80 to 85% home students – not just regional, but national. About 22% are from the local region, while many come from other parts of the UK, particularly London and the southeast. Nottingham’s central location makes it an attractive choice for families – it’s not too far, not too close – and it’s a great student city with a vibrant atmosphere. About 15% of our undergraduate students are international.

At the postgraduate level, the proportions flip. Among our roughly 1,200 postgraduate students, 75% are international, with only about 25% coming from the UK. These students represent a truly global audience, coming from all over the world.

Are the international students hoping to work in the UK after they graduate?

Yes, that’s one of the reasons, though it’s not always their primary goal. But it’s definitely an attractor. We were actually the first business school in the country to offer placements at the postgraduate level. Typically, a master’s course in the UK is one year, whereas in many European countries, it’s two years. So we introduced a two-year version of the program that includes a placement, which has been very appealing. While not many students ultimately take up the placement, the option itself draws them in.

Beyond that, we have about 200 doctoral students and hundreds of participants in executive education programs.

You are an advocate for business schools serving communities as well as businesses. Can you tell me how that looks at Nottingham and give me some examples?

As I mentioned, one of our key differentiators is our ability to innovate at scale. We are one of the largest business schools in the UK, and to ensure that our positive impact on people – our students – is meaningful, we focus on personalizing their experiences. Achieving this level of customization at our scale requires a strategy akin to mass customization, drawing on technology and analytics. We strive to understand each student deeply and help them shape not only what they study but also how they study, the experiential learning opportunities they engage in, and the support they receive for their personal and professional development.

Our connectivity extends beyond private businesses to include the public sector, charities, and entrepreneurial ventures. Many of our students are passionate about working in the public sector, launching their own businesses, or contributing to charitable causes. We’ve been leaders in embedding ethics and sustainability into business education and are proud to be a PRME Champion. PRME, or the Principles for Responsible Management Education, is a global initiative focused on sustainability and ethics in management education, and we’re one of only a few business schools in the UK with this distinction.

Being situated in the city of Nottingham, rather than on a secluded campus, reinforces our deep connection to the local community. Our students live in the city, engage with local businesses, and actively contribute to the social fabric of the area. Our focus on society is integral to our mission of creating a positive impact on people, business, and society.

For example, we are actively involved in addressing local challenges, such as sustainability and reducing single-use plastics, or supporting the retail sector in Nottingham. About 20 miles from here is the town of Mansfield, a community deeply affected by the decline of the coal industry. To support this area, we partnered with a local college to establish a campus, offering access to education and development opportunities.

We also have initiatives with a global reach. Our Center for Responsible and Sustainable Business has collaborated with African women entrepreneurs, empowering them to become more independent and economically active.

Additionally, we host the only national center in the UK dedicated to providing data and insights to the charity sector.

Through these efforts, we demonstrate that education is not only a public good in itself but also a force for addressing societal challenges and improving communities, both locally and globally.

In the UK, there are 62 business schools that are part of an initiative called the Small Business Charter, which I helped establish during David Cameron’s government. This was done in partnership with the Chartered Association of Business Schools and the Chartered Management Institute, where I serve as a council member and trustee. The Small Business Charter is now 10 years old and has supported over 10,000 companies through its programs.

One of these programs is Help to Grow, which follows earlier initiatives like the Small Business Leadership Program. These efforts focus on supporting SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), not just in the private sector but also across the public and charity sectors. Through these initiatives, we’ve directly supported over 500 businesses in our region, creating tangible economic impact.

We also pioneered a program called Women in Leadership. Initially, we aimed to serve 30 to 40 participants, but it has since grown to include more than 700 participants, mostly from very small businesses. This program has fostered a strong community among its participants, providing meaningful support and generating economic activity in the process.

I’ve also read about your emphasis on the importance of British business schools, especially post-Brexit, in maintaining global, international links. Can you tell me how this strategy looks at Nottingham?

We are a triple crown business school, accredited by AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA. We partner with over 104 business schools worldwide, offering exchange programs, dual degrees, collaborative research, and joint outreach initiatives. More than 50% of these partner schools are considered top institutions in their respective countries. For the others, there is always a strategic purpose to our collaboration.

Our partnerships span the globe. We work with schools in the U.S., such as San Diego, and Switzerland, like St. Gallen. We also collaborate with business schools in Australia, Canada, China, India, the Middle East, Africa, and increasingly South America. For example, our Global MBA program includes international exposure where students spend a week in Brazil, a week in South Africa, and a week in Europe.

Each year, we facilitate around 500 incoming and outgoing students through these international programs, as well as study tours and other initiatives. To support this, we have a dedicated organization within the business school that creates, manages, and activates these opportunities.

Of course, Brexit posed challenges to our international activities, particularly with the loss of Erasmus funding, which previously supported student exchanges. While the UK introduced the Newton Fund as a replacement, it has been more limited in scope.

To address these limitations, we’ve found alternative ways to maintain international engagement. One such initiative, developed during COVID, is COIL—Collaborative Online International Learning. Through COIL, our students have worked with peers from institutions worldwide on projects related to sustainability. For example, we partnered with DePaul University in Chicago and an Indian business school on activities aligned with the United Nations’ 75th-anniversary program on sustainability. These efforts exemplify our commitment to global collaboration and addressing critical global issues.

I also see that you recently launched a new Global Executive MBA. What was the need you identified for creating this program?

Our traditional Executive MBA is a physical program, with most of the coursework completed here in Nottingham. Its primary audience has been professionals from our region. However, we noticed increasing demand from beyond our local area.
To address this, we partnered with South Africa’s Stellenbosch University and Brazil’s Insper Institute of Education and Research to provide a broader international reach.

The result is a predominantly online Global Executive MBA that includes key in-person components. These face-to-face sessions are tied to our signature experiential learning approach, which is deeply integrated into all our programs.

This new program just launched and is quite exciting. It’s designed to give participants a truly global perspective – not just focused on Nottingham or any single region – while equipping them to engage meaningfully with international business challenges.

How many students are in that first cohort?

The first cohort has about 20 students, which is a great number to start with.

What are some of the exciting innovations or new programs that you’d like to highlight?

The most exciting aspect is how we do things – our experiential learning approach and personalized programming are unmatched, especially at our scale. No one else is doing it the way we do. We can also bring new programs to market much faster than other schools, leveraging principles from product development to shorten the time to launch.

Everything we do ties back to our mission and purpose. For example, two years ago, we brought in a team from Warwick University to establish our Center for Business and Industry Transformation. This center focuses on helping businesses scale using technology and new business models, and it has already made a significant impact.
Every year, we introduce innovations across our programs or within specific elements of them. There’s always something new in the works to ensure we continue offering the best possible experience for our students.

What challenges do you see for business schools in the UK, and for Nottingham specifically? And what are you doing to address them?

The challenges are significant. The marketplace is very competitive, with many business schools worldwide, so differentiation is key. One of our challenges is that we get so excited about what we do internally that we don’t always publicize it effectively. Yet, whenever people visit us – whether from London Business School, DePaul, San Diego, or China – they’re amazed by the scale and efficiency of what we achieve here.

We operate like a business – not in the sense of profit-driven motives, but in how efficiently and purposefully we serve our three constituencies: students, business, and society.

Our approach often challenges the norms of the sector, which is another difficulty. Innovating constantly and staying ahead is tough because others copy what we do, bringing more competition into our market. For example, our work on personalization and experiential learning has been groundbreaking, but now other schools are introducing similar offerings. To stay ahead, we must evolve these initiatives every year, which is no small feat.

There are also sectoral challenges specific to UK universities, such as fee and regulatory regimes, as well as the dynamics of the international student market. Many universities in the UK are facing financial difficulties, and while we are financially healthy, staying that way while remaining relevant and innovative is a constant challenge.

Despite these hurdles, these challenges also create opportunities. By continuing to innovate, staying true to our mission, and focusing on what makes us unique, we position ourselves as a leader in the sector. It’s demanding work, but it’s what keeps us moving forward.

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