On Friday 19 May alumni and their guests were welcomed back to campus for the 2023 alumni conference ‘A Resilient Future: Building organisational and societal resilience’.

The event follows our previously successful alumni conference ‘Inclusive Talent Management – towards a new norm’ hosted at HSBC in London in 2018. The event was reintroduced after a short break due to Covid-19 based on feedback that alumni wanted to have access to content and professional networking opportunities.

Hosted by Cranfield School of Management’s Professor David Denyer, this year’s conference explored two interrelated questions:

  • What does it take to build a more resilient organisation?

  • What role does business play in societal resilience?

Bringing together Cranfield academics, alumni and industry experts, attendees unpicked the opportunities and challenges to better preparing organisations and society for future disruptions in a series of talks.

Panel sessions encouraged attendees to explore connected resilience by considering all five capitals – natural, financial, social, human and built – and how they impact each other. Industry experts from across finance, aviation and tourism, and cyber also shared cross-sector lessons in a set of parallel sessions. 

A drinks reception closed the interactive day of learning, giving guests the opportunity to catch up with classmates and meet more of their alumni community.

Key highlights:


  • Boldness in business - Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL (BGP 1998, Honorary Graduate 2009), Founder, Cobra Beer and Vice President, CBI

  • Panel session: Natural and built capital - Dr Rosina Watson (PhD School of Management 2018), Head of Sustainable Business Group and Associate Professor of Sustainability, Professor Jim Harris, Chair, Environmental Technology

  • Keynote: Outlook for the global and UK economy - Professor Joe Nellis (PhD School of Management 1990), Professor of Global Economy and Deputy Dean, Cranfield School of Management

  • Parallel sessions: Building resilience - Cross sector lessons from industry

    • Finance
      Professor David Denyer, Professor of Leadership and Organisational Change and Lead, Cranfield Resilience Institute
      Paul Williams, Managing Director, Phoenix Resilience

    • Cyber
      Richard Archdeacon (MBA 1982), Advisory Ciso, Cisco International
      Mike Sutliff (MDes Design Strategy and Leadership 2019), Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Change

    • Aviation and tourism
      Anita Mendiratta, Special Advisor to the Secretary General UNWTO
      Dr Fabian Steinmann (PhD Transport Systems 2022), Lecturer in Organisational Resilience and Change
  • Is the UK prepared for the unthinkable and the uncertain? - Lord Toby Harris, Chair, National Preparedness Commission

 

Continue the conversation

Access all the post-event resources, read the session slides and find out more about the newly launched Resilience Institute on the event webpage.