New nationwide prize to award innovation in UK business and management

A new national prize recognising the UK’s leading voices in business and management launches today.

The Management Publication of the Year 2024, a collaboration between the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), the British Academy of Management (BAM), and the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) will celebrate an existing piece of published work that brings fresh thinking to some of the UK’s most pressing challenges around management and leadership. 

Submissions must have been published in the previous 18 months and can be in any format, including a podcast, article, blog series, research paper, or piece of academic research.

The awards, launched in association with the British Library, will celebrate the prize winner at an exclusive ceremony at this world-famous national library in early 2025.

The aim of the awards is to raise the understanding of the value that business and management research brings to tackling major economic challenges of our time, including achieving the green transition, fostering SME growth, and advancing social enterprise and innovation. 

The winning entry will demonstrate the impact of the publication – or its longer term ability to deliver impact if given a platform – in transforming practice or addressing the UK’s pressing policy challenges through research, wider thought leadership in policy, and the media. The prize organisers have a strong desire to recognise research that is impacting the enduring socio-economic and environmental concerns of our society.

The new prize comes as an analysis of the UK labour market and management finds that leadership skills are undervalued in the UK compared to many of its competitor nations. 

According to the World Management Survey’s ranking of how well private industry and government perform in quality management skills, the UK currently sits in sixth place. CMI analysis found that employers in the US, which ranks first in the world for management performance, are 10% more likely than those in the UK to require candidates applying for management positions to already have proven management skills. The same analysis also finds that had the UK invested in recent decades to the same level of Germany, which currently sits third in the world rankings, UK GDP would have been c£127 billion higher.

Nominations for the prize are open and close on 5th July at 4pm.  A long list of nominations will be announced at the British Academy of Management 2024 Conference on Wednesday 4th September, and a short list at the Chartered Association of Business Schools conference in early November. The winners will be announced at an event hosted by the British Library in early 2025.

Professor Robert MacIntosh, Chair, Chartered Association of Business Schools, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Business and Law at Northumbria University, said:

“Good leadership and management is a powerful force which can shape whole organisations and, in turn, influence people, productivity, profitability and ultimately the planet’s sustainability. We are proud to be shining a light on the work of colleagues in our business schools whose academic research transforms practice, produces innovation, and generates a more productive and equitable economy and society.”

Professor Katy Mason, President, British Academy of Management, said:

“This is a great opportunity to celebrate and promote academic research that generates new ideas and ways of doing things, which is grounded in empirical evidence and expert knowledge. BAM is delighted to join forces with CABS and CMI to showcase the wonderful work of our business and management community.”

Ann Francke OBE, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute, said:

“The difference that skilled management can make, and the results it can deliver, cannot be overstated. Developing these skills needs to be the starting point for a new story of British innovation and growth. But to achieve that we need to identify and promote fresh ideas. CMI is incredibly proud to join forces with other business leaders and academics to put a spotlight on the innovative thinking that’s happening across the country.