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A central role of UK higher education institutes is preparing graduates for the global economy. However, UK outward mobility targets for students set in 2017 remain lower than the original set by the Bologna Process in 1999; with other European countries achieving substantially higher outward mobility. Research in this field concentrates primarily on studying abroad, prompting exploration of the work placement context. The purpose of this paper is to examine employability and outward mobility in the context of the perceived reluctance of UK students to undertake work placements abroad.

The views of undergraduate business management students at the Brighton Business School were compared with those of German students studying at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. Staff from Brighton Business School and other UK universities were also surveyed to gather data on attitudes towards work placements abroad.

Students from Brighton and Frankfurt displayed similar barriers to going abroad but were motivated by different drivers. The difference in these drivers is further echoed in the variations of their definitions of “employability”. The research also found that lack of staff awareness or interest in placements abroad could negatively affect the students’ decisions about going abroad.

A small-scale study such as this presents only indicative findings. Further research is necessary to explore its implications in more depth.

The research provides more scope to the existing literature on outward mobility by addressing work placements rather than typically focusing on studying abroad. It adds value to the debate by examining placements and mobility through two different cultural lenses.

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study centred on steps taken at a Business School in a UK university, to improve local work placement provision, respond to student demand and engage more productively with local businesses. It is situated against renewed focus on universities’ engagement with local economies and the graduate labour market context as demonstrated by the government’s Industrial Strategy (BEIS, 2017) and the OfS (2018) business plan. It aims to emphasise how moving the focus back from graduates to placement students could offer a useful collaborative opportunity for local businesses to articulate what they want from future employees.

The paper follows a mixed methods approach, drawing upon a case study on a new intervention piloted in the Business School as well as qualitative research gathered from questionnaires and interviews with students. Responses to questionnaires and interviews were analysed thematically in the Grounded Theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) tradition.

The paper highlights the lack of literature on local placements and also demonstrates findings which echo existing research on typical barriers and drivers to placements in general. It offers original outcomes such as how for some students local placements offer a convenience value but for others they are part of committing to living and working locally after graduation.

The small-scale nature of the study means that only indicative findings are presented. Further research is necessary for a more detailed examination of its implications.

Recommendations are made for a systematic approach to developing, or establishing for the first time, university–employer relationships in order to future-proof local placement opportunities.

The paper fills a gap in the literature on local placements and also provides a fresh approach to how universities and employers might work together to identify local skills gaps and increase the provision of local placements. It also offers ways in students’ often negatively framed reasons for not undertaking a placement can be mitigated through engaging with the local context.

The purpose of this article is to analyse MBA students' actual experiences of both good and bad leadership and the resulting emotional responses; to determine which emotionally intelligent competencies, if any, have greater importance in times of change.

The paper follows a deductive approach: moving from the general to the particular based within the phenomenological paradigm, extending Goleman's inductive research into emotional intelligence competencies. Goleman's framework was adopted because his research was based upon competency models from both private and public organisations, which matches the MBA students' experiences.

The findings suggest that bad leadership equates to a lack of self‐management and relationship management competencies; however good leadership is not the exact opposite. If a person has developed self‐management competencies it does not follow that he/she will be considered a good leader. Leaders should aim to have a clear focus on their followers; in other words, highly developed relationship management competencies. It also appears that face‐to‐face communication is relevant.

The research adopted a qualitative approach, with a small sample, which limits the generalisability of the findings. Also, the interpretation of the responses was based on the researchers' knowledge of Goleman's model, which could be considered to be subjective.

This research could be used to support HRD professionals in the design of both selection and developmental programmes for managers, including competency descriptions, introduction of testing and developmental activities.

The paper discusses the role of emotions in management and adds to the evidence that the competencies within the relationship management quadrant could be used as selection and developmental criteria.