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Novak Druce + Quigg LLP to fund Novak Druce Centre for Professional Service Firms at the Saïd Business School, Oxford

October 5, 2009

The Saïd Business School has announced that intellectual property law firm Novak Druce + Quigg LLP (Novak Druce) is funding the Novak Druce Centre for Professional Service Firms at the School. The Centre will be led by Dr Christopher McKenna, Reader in Business History and Strategy at the University of Oxford, and author of the prizewinning book The World’s Newest Profession: Management Consulting in the Twentieth Century.  

The Novak Druce Centre for Professional Service Firms conducts research into the internal and external dynamics of professional service firms, including the management of leading firms, the issues faced by people working within them, governance, leadership and innovation, and policy issues of concern to both clients and regulators. In addition to their research and publishing, members of the faculty also teach on executive education and degree programmes, and organise events for practitioners.

Greg Novak, the Managing Partner and CEO of Novak Druce, and an alumnus of the Saïd Business School’s MBA programme commented: ‘Oxford’s international outlook and entrepreneurial approach meant that it was the ideal partner for us and we are delighted to be developing our relationship by investing in academic research at the business school. We are very excited about the work of the Centre and feel privileged to be able to support the furtherance of exceptional scholarship in this field.’

Dr McKenna said, ‘We are delighted to be working with Novak Druce, which is one of the most dynamic and entrepreneurial firms in the legal market. The current economic environment is creating tremendous opportunities for ambitious, innovative mid-sized firms, and Novak Druce is an extraordinary organisation with which to be associated. Their support will allow us to expand the ongoing work of the Centre quite considerably. We are planning to recruit more postdoctoral and doctoral students and to spearhead a wide, international network of academics and non-academics who are researching the transformation of professional firms and their engagement with the wider world.’

Notes to Editors

The Novak Druce Centre for Professional Service Firms, based at Oxford University's Saïd Business School, is a hub for academic research into professional service firms. First launched in 2005, the Centre brings together academics, practitioners and policy makers with an interest in the professions, professionals and professional service firms. The members of the Centre include some of the world's foremost thinkers in the field of professional service firms. Their work has been published in leading international journals as well as prize winning monographs. For more information, see http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/centres/professionalservices/Pages/default.aspx

About Saïd Business School

Established in 1996 the Saïd Business School is one of Europe’s youngest and most entrepreneurial business schools with a reputation for innovative business education. An integral part of Oxford University, the School embodies the academic rigour and forward thinking that has made Oxford a world leader in education. The School has an established reputation for research in a wide range of areas, including finance and accounting, organisational analysis, international management, strategy and operations management. The School is dedicated to developing a new generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs and conducting research not only into the nature of business, but the connections between business and the wider world. It is ranked in the top 20 European Business Schools (Dec 08) and in the top 20 MBA programmes in the world (Jan 09) by the Financial Times.  It is ranked in BusinessWeek’s top 10 business schools outside the USA (Nov 08).  In the Wall Street Journal it is ranked in the top 25 business schools in the world (Nov 07).  In the UK university league tables it has ranked first of all UK universities for undergraduate business for the past six years in The Guardian and in seven of the last eight years in The Times.  For more information, see http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/