Fromways to help encourage people to care more for their local environment and howmajor corporations can influence the sustainability practices of whole sectors, to the pitfalls of social media influencing and the challenges facing traditional news organisations in an age when social media provides an ever-increasing number of people with their information, we investigate issues very much of the now. None of this research would be possible without the talented, thought-leading, innovative researchers I am lucky enough to call my colleagues. Our Investors in Excellence programme provides us with a new avenue to ensure they continue to push boundaries and place us at the cutting-edge of impactful research. By asking for as little as £10 a month from Investors, we can open new doors, provide fresh opportunities and make a real difference in lives within and without the School. With your help we will inspire the next generation of these world-leading researchers, provide opportunities for students who might not otherwise be able to take them, increasing diversity and supporting those most in need, and build the facilities that enable all of them to thrive with us. You can find details in the early pages of this edition should you wish to discover more about becoming a member of this most valuable and inspirational group. The research you can read about within these pages includes that of Jan Bebbington, the new Director of the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business. I look forward greatly to working with Jan over the next five years as she guides the important agenda of the centre, and her piece on keystone corporations and their influence provides real food for thought. That is something that Alistair Anderson would provide in spades for any of us who were lucky enough to work or engage with him over an illustrious career. Alistair’s piece in this edition – co-written with his PhD student Funmi Ojediran – was completed shortly before his sad, sudden death earlier this year. Alistair will be greatly missed by all of us in the Management School, by those who worked with him in Uppsala and Aberdeen, and many more to whom he proved an inspirational and thoughtful colleague. Fumni’s piece with him on the potential for entrepreneurship to empower women in the Global South demonstrates how he continued to touch upon important issues right to the end. Elsewhere in these pages, Juliana Sutanto looks as the influence of news aggregators in the wake of Facebook shutting down for time in Australia; Hayley Cocker discovers how social media influencersmust be careful not to upset those people they look to influence; and Ahmad Daryanto investigates how residents and tourists take different attitudes to looking after the places they love. We hear from Paul Irvine on the importance and potential of learning while leading, while picking up new skills is also the focus of the Work Foundation’s Melanie Wilkes, albeit in the context of the government’s investment in training for workers. I amdelighted that, for the first time, we can feature research fromone of our colleagues at Lancaster University Leipzig, as Benjamin Hammer discusses the impact of diversity on private equity firms. We are able to draw on a wide LUMS community for this publication. Gerald Steele is an Emeritus Professor in our Economics Department, and he turns his expertise to fiscal policy, and one of our alumni, JP Kuehlwein, graces us with a captivating piece on brand elevation. JP is one of many of our alumni who have gone on to successful careers across the world, and we are proud to welcome his contribution. Professor Angus Laing is Dean of Lancaster University Management School and Chair of the Academic Advisory Board at Nurture Higher Education Group. a.w.laing@lancaster.ac.uk Foreword Weprideourselves in LancasterUniversity ManagementSchool onthedepthand widescopeofour researchand engagement activities, andthis editionofFiftyFour Degreesonceagain showcasesthat breadthofexpertise and its relevanceto thewiderworld. FIFTY FOUR DEGREES | 5 SUBSCRIBE
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