We have long known the power, reach and impact of Lancaster University Management School’s research – and Fifty Four Degrees has served to demonstrate this in recent years, by sharing our work with you. This strength and depth of our research culture was emphasised by the recent Research Excellence Framework 2021 results. Once more, we have been recognised as the top business school in the UK for research power – a measure of both the quality of research and the number of high-level researchers in our team. We are also one of only three business schools with a 100% rating for our research environment, and one of just two to have received that rating in the last two REF, demonstrating the longevity of our standards. This level of research excellence is presented in every issue of Fifty Four Degrees, and this one is no different. It features work from researchers early in their careers and those with a strong track record dating back many years – all are able to flourish and succeed within LUMS. We are delighted to be hosting leading macroeconomists from around the world in the School for the annual Dynare Conference this summer. They will be discussing key issues facing the world’s economies, and Lorenza Rossi, Stefano Fasani and Giorgio Motta explore those factors – such as the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine – in our cover article. It is always a pleasure to welcome colleagues and experts from across Europe and beyond to LUMS, as was the case in our recent Resilience and Family Business seminar in the wonderful surroundings of Lancaster Castle. Researchers from Italy, France and New Zealand were among those to take part, alongside representatives from the family business sphere. The event was a collaboration between four of our research centres, and their Directors – Jan Bebbington, Allan Discua Cruz, Ben Harrison and Valerie Stead – explore the issues in an expanded article. Bingbing Ge was one of those to attend the event, and you can read Bingbing’s research with Alfredo De Massis on the importance of family history for these firms in these pages too. As well as making you think, their work on the family behind a successful Chinese restaurant firmwill likely leave you keen for a meal out some time soon as well. Within LUMS, we pride ourselves on tackling difficult and important issues. Judith Fathallah’s work certainly falls into both categories. Judith has looked at the online forum 4chan, where a culture of misogyny has not prevented female users establishing a presence. By looking at how and why these users operate in a hostile environment, Judith learns many important lessons about the value of belonging, and about howmany different people can hold differing views – no matter how uncomfortable they may be to others. Our former PhD student David Fasanya’s work provides similarly telling insights into why western views should not be imposed on our perceptions of the rest of the world. David, working alongside colleagues in our Department of Economics, explored how and why firms in Sub-Saharan Africa are internationalising. What he found showed that these firms have motives beyond what we might expect in Europe and North America, and demonstrates just why we must find out first-hand what motivates people in these geographies, rather than foisting our assumptions upon them. Finally, you can enjoy research fromGerry Steele on the Islamic banking system; Margaret Hogg – whose recent retirement has not stopped her output – on how children develop environmental behaviours; Argyro Panaretou on how accounting can help assess credit risk; the Work Foundation’s Trinley Walker on digital poverty; and James Faulconbridge and Martin Spring’s exploration of Artificial Intelligence in professional services firms. I hope you enjoy this insight into our work, and we look forward to bringing you more in the future. Professor Claire Leitch is the Executive Dean, Lancaster University Management School c.leitch@lancaster.ac.uk Foreword Welcome oncemore to Fifty Four Degrees. FIFTY FOUR DEGREES | 5 Subscribe online at lancaster.ac.uk/fiftyfour SUBSCRIBE
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