case study of work placement

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Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning

ISSN : 2042-3896

Article publication date: 11 November 2020

Issue publication date: 10 August 2021

The aim of this paper is to report the motivations and perceived benefits of companies that collaborate with universities by offering student work-placement positions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study follows a mixed methodology based on (1) a literature review on the topic, (2) a case study survey including companies that collaborate with one Spanish university in student work-placements and (3) meetings with collaborating companies in different countries and universities.

The most important reasons for collaborating in student work-placements were related to social duty, the opportunity of training students in company needs and as a source of staff recruitment. Conversely, the less rated motivators were improving the company's position within the sector, benefitting from university services and saving time in the selection of personnel.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should include a bigger corpus of the number of universities and companies, as well as the type of collaborations with universities, in order to identify any resulting differences.

Practical implications

The conclusions highlight the need to define/improve the mechanisms that contribute to a win-win context. This is the only way that collaboration can advance towards a genuine partnership that will provide an effective framework for universities and companies to effectively share the same objectives in training future employees.

Originality/value

These results are relevant because of the lack of quantitative and qualitative research on this topic.

• Higher education
• Education work relationship
• Employability
• Partnership in education
• Student work-placement

Acknowledgements

Funding : Project EMBI: University-Enterprise Partnership. Motivations, Benefits and Impacts (UJI-B2016-04) was funded by Jaume I University in its Research Promotion Programme.eme.

Ferrández-Berrueco, R. and Sánchez-Tarazaga, L. (2021), "Student work-placements from the company perspective: a case study", Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning , Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 888-907. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-02-2020-0023

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Case study: How Marks & Spencer helps young people into work by opening up vocational training and work placement opportunities

As a global retailer with over 1,300 stores worldwide, employing 83,000 people, M&S is well-placed to address the issue of youth unemployment, creating, through Plan A 2020, vocational training and work placement opportunities for young unemployed people.

This case study is based on the 2015 Plan A Report by M&S published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database  that can be found at this link . Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate that CSR/ sustainability reporting done responsibly is achieved by identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment and stakeholders and by measuring, managing and changing.

M&S has launched a range of employability programmes aimed at unemployed young people.     Tweet This! M&S did this in order to give them the skills and confidence needed to find a job and, more specifically, took  action to:

• support youth employment at M&S through the Make Your Mark and Marks & Start programmes
•  promote youth employment outside M&S
• create vocational training and work experience opportunities for young people through Movement to Work

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Please subscribe to the SustainCase Newsletter to keep up to date with the latest sustainability news and gain access to over 100 case studies. These case studies demonstrate how companies are dealing responsibly with their most important impacts, building trust with their stakeholders  (Identify > Measure > Manage > Change).

With this case study you will see:

• Which are the most important impacts (material issues) M&S has identified;
• How M&S proceeded with stakeholder engagement , and
• What actions were taken by M&S to help young people into work by opening up vocational training and work placement opportunities

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What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2015 Plan A Report M&S identified a range of material issues, such as climate and GHG emissions, energy efficiency, employee diversity, environmentally efficient food packaging, water consumption, promoting healthy food. Among these, tackling youth unemployment stands out as a key material issue for M&S.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.

Key stakeholder groups M&S engages with:

M&S engaged both internal and external stakeholders to identify their interests and concerns and define M&S’s most important impacts upon them and the environment.

What actions were taken by M&S to help young people into work by opening up vocational training and work placement opportunities?

In its 2015 Plan A Report M&S reports that it took the following actions for helping young people into work by opening up vocational training and work placement opportunities:

• Supporting youth employment at M&S through the Make Your Mark and Marks & Start programmes
• 2015: M&S offered Make Your Mark work placements to 1,479 people aged 25 or under and a further 564 through Marks & Start, bringing the total number of people participating in the programmes to over 3,800 in two years, with 62% going on to find permanent work. The plan is to expand the programmes to six countries, including Greece and France, by 2020.
• Promoting youth employment outside M&S
• Since 2014 M&S has worked with 94 of its suppliers (the vast majority, 83 of them, from M&S’s Food supply chain) to tackle youth unemployment, providing training and work placement opportunities for young people. More than 1,700 young people, aged 25 or under, were offered work placements with M&S’s Food suppliers and 90% of those who completed them found work.

• Creating vocational training and work experience opportunities for young people through Movement to Work
• 2013: M&S helped found Movement to Work, joined, so far, by almost 200 employers, including Asda, Barclays, BT, HSBC, Manpower, Tesco and Unilever. Since Movement to Work was launched, almost 15,000 vocational training and work experience opportunities were created for young people, with an into work rate of 50%.

Which GRI indicators/Standards have been addressed?

The GRI indicator addressed in this case is: G4-EC8: Significant indirect economic impacts, including the extent of impacts and the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 203-2 Significant indirect economic impacts

References:

1) This case study is based on published information by M&S, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page

3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

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Student work-placements from the company perspective: a case study

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to report the motivations and perceived benefits of companies that collaborate with universities by offering student work-placement positions.Design/methodology/approachThe study follows a mixed methodology based on (1) a literature review on the topic, (2) a case study survey including companies that collaborate with one Spanish university in student work-placements and (3) meetings with collaborating companies in different countries and universities.FindingsThe most important reasons for collaborating in student work-placements were related to social duty, the opportunity of training students in company needs and as a source of staff recruitment. Conversely, the less rated motivators were improving the company's position within the sector, benefitting from university services and saving time in the selection of personnel.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should include a bigger corpus of the number of universities and companies, as well as the type of collaborations with universities, in order to identify any resulting differences.Practical implicationsThe conclusions highlight the need to define/improve the mechanisms that contribute to a win-win context. This is the only way that collaboration can advance towards a genuine partnership that will provide an effective framework for universities and companies to effectively share the same objectives in training future employees.Originality/valueThese results are relevant because of the lack of quantitative and qualitative research on this topic.

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Work Experience: My Arts Marketing Internship with the Dukes Theatre

Toby is a third-year BA Sociology student and is an editor for the student newspaper, SCAN. While he’s had an interest in Arts for years, he had never considered a role in Marketing. Then, in his second year, Toby had the chance to do a 14-week summer internship in the Marketing team at the Dukes – a professional producing theatre in Lancaster. Working in the lead up to the opening of the summer outdoor production, this role helped him explore the field of marketing within the Arts, and opened his eyes to a career path he wouldn’t have otherwise considered. Here he describes his experiences of the show’s opening week.

I’m only in my fourth week at The Dukes and it already seems like I’ve been here for months! There can be anywhere between two to seven people in the marketing office at once, so every day is different. The Dukes is so much bigger and does so much more than you’d imagine, especially some really cool work with the community from their Creative Learning department.

My week starts with a regular meeting with marketing colleagues, the Head of Development and the Head of Box Office. We discuss our plans for the week, how the productions are selling and what could be done to improve.

After the meeting, I create a mailer promoting one of the flagship plays for the autumn season. I really enjoy using MailChimp to design emails, following the Dukes’ template.

Opening night

Most of my work up to now has surrounded this year’s Williamson Park show, and I have been put in charge of running of The Dukes’ Instagram account to help promote it. When it opened, I was there to post live throughout the night and assist the onsite photographer and filmmaker. After the show, we approached members of the audience to film short reviews to use as vox pops in a trailer to promote the production.

The following morning, I made the most of the sweltering weather by delivering autumn season guides and park show flyers to local businesses around town. I’ve learned that while most marketing happens online, print distribution is still very important, because it gives something for customers to pick up and browse.

I’ve also been writing a marketing plan for two of the Autumn Season’s more niche productions. These shows look really interesting, but might not inherently appeal as much to mainstream audiences. To help with writing my plan I’ve been introduced to the Audience Finder Spectrum Groups – profiles of the types of people that might attend the theatre, based on cultural interests and socioeconomic class. I look at different ways that we could target each group, and then research contact details of relevant community groups and university societies that may be interested in each production, aiming to attract a wider audience.

After a successful press night, I had to think about the key messages from The Three Musketeers that could be used to market the show. Due to the gender-spin of this particular production, I summarised this mostly to be surrounding acceptance, equality and community which are important principles to teach younger people in a family show. I used this theme – along with some of the fantastic early audience reviews – to produce an emailer about how the opening week has been going.

This week, I finished by going through some of the production shots of the park show taken by the professional photographer, to create a schedule for next week’s Instagram posts.

Looking forward

I’m really grateful to be on the Internship scheme, it’s been brilliant to be a part of. It’s made me fully aware of what I want to do in the future, and has propelled me leaps and bounds into it. I’ve also been offered a permanent part-time job at The Dukes!

Why Lancaster?

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Lancaster has so much to offer. On our campus, in our city and in our community, you’ll find your place – whoever you are.

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Lancaster is easy to get to and surrounded by natural beauty.

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Our campus and the surrounding area is a great place to call home.

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• About Services for Young People
• Work experience case study March 2024

Young person builds confidence and skills through a supportive work experience placement

28 march 2024.

Services for Young People has supported a young person with special educational needs to complete a 70-hour work experience placement with a local business, building his confidence, self-esteem and skills for the future.

The SfYP Adviser initially met Shane at home, with his sister there for support, and then subsequent meetings were outside the local library. As he built his confidence, he gradually became comfortable enough to meet the Adviser inside the library, as well as walking and travelling independently on the bus to meet her. 

With her support, he researched different jobs and thought about his skills and interests. They discussed work experience opportunities in the retail sector as this would help him to develop practical, social and communication skills for future employment.

The Adviser arranged an informal interview with KS Models, a local model making shop, for a work experience placement. Shane was initially offered a bespoke 12-hour work experience opportunity with working hours and conditions tailored to his needs, as well as a supportive member of staff allocated as his mentor. They agreed that he could travel to work outside of rush hour times, have rest breaks and a place to sit in between tasks if needed, and that his training would be clear and broken down into steps that he could follow easily.

Throughout the placement, Shane was punctual, organised and reliable, happily completing tasks and proud to show the Supported Employment Adviser the skills he had learnt, which included stock-taking, replenishing and pricing stock. Shane enjoyed working as part of a team and felt better having a purpose and structure to his week. He was keen to continue building his skills, so KS Models offered him a further 70-hours of work experience.

The SfYP Supported Employment Adviser has seen a huge impact on his confidence, self-esteem, and employability for the future. He has been able to build professional relationships, work as part of a team and speak to new people. Shane said: “I am grateful for the opportunity I had to work at KS models and thanks for adapting to my needs so I can show how hard I can work … thank you.” Shane’s sister has noticed a significant improvement in his outlook on the future since he started working: “I have seen him really be positive… He needed this opportunity to gain experience in a workplace... Thank you to his mentor for taking him under your wing…” If know a young person who would benefit from support getting into employment, please visit our page on  support getting into jobs, education and training or you can  refer a young person to SfYP . Young people can also talk about their future with SfYP Advisers at their  local young people’s centre . If you are an employer, find out about offering a work experience placement to a young person by following this link: Information for employers .

You will receive support from Services for Young People at every stage.

The SfYP Supported Employment Team helps young people with learning difficulties and disabilities  to find work and supports them in the workplace.

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Table of contents, the challenge of measuring success .

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Product Placement On The Rise

It's getting easier and easier to avoid traditional advertising. We have SKIP buttons, smartphone distractions, fast-forwarding capability and even the ability to pay  to   not have to sit through those annoying commercials. While this realization has been a #blessing for viewers (being able to binge watch an entire season of  Stranger Things with no distractions? Yes please!), it hasn't been as pleasant for advertisers.

This is why product placement continues to grow in popularity. Product placement eliminates ad avoidance by making the brand part of the content. This means you don't have to worry about capturing the attention of the consumer - you already have it! How convenient! But how do we know that product placement truly works ? How can we measure the impact made on consumers from a placement? This is where two researchers stepped in to find some answers.

Two researchers collected data on almost 3,000 product placements for 99 brands from the fall 2015 television season to measure the impact of product placement. B eth Fossen of Indiana University and David Schweidel of Emory University conducted the study focusing specifically on social media activity and web traffic. The researc hers zeroed in  on two questions:

1. How does product placement activity impact online word-of-mouth and online traffic for the featured brand?

2. What extent does product placement work independently or synergistically  with traditional television advertising to drive online behaviors?

The product placements used in the study came from 77 primetime broadcast programs during the fall 2015 TV season. Additionally, researchers collected data on the total amount of money each brand spent on traditional advertising during the same broadcast. To measure social media activity and web traffic, researchers used the number of Twitter mentions for the placed brand and volume of online traffic to the brand's website. 

The Results

According to the new research published in the INFORMS journal  Marketing Science , prominent product placement in television programming has a net positive impact of website traffic and social media activity for the featured brand.  

Overall, the results of the study support the idea that product placement can help marketers reach consumers that are adept at avoiding traditional advertising (A.K.A. those who pay to avoid ads, press SKIP the second the little button pops up, and turn to scroll through Instagram rather than watch an ad...yes, we're all guilty!).

Furthermore, the researchers found that verbal mentions had an even higher level of online word-of-mouth and website traffic opposed to visual placements. Think about the last time you sat down to watch a television show. Did you scroll through any social media apps or send any text messages while you watched? Did you have your laptop out in front of you to send an email or online shop? This is known as media multitasking.

According to a study by Parrot Analytics, 13% of Americans do nothing else when they watch television. With the other 87% of viewers admitting they multitask while watching television, undistracted viewers are a minority. While a viewer's focus may shift from screen to screen, a verbal placement can ensure that they are reached at any given moment, no matter where their eyes are focused.

A ver bal mention also requires a higher level of plot integration opposed to a product simply being seen in the backgrou nd. When an actor says the brand name or a product is connected to a storyline, the brand gets even more attention. Let's go back to Stranger Things . What if Mike had given Eleven toast every morning and she never developed her obsession with Eggo waffles? Sure, Eggo waffles could have been paced in the background of any convenience store scene, but we never would have gotten the iconic moment of Eleven running out of the convenience store with box upon box of those fluffy, golden breakfast classics (anyone else suddenly hungry?!). 

Product Placement Precautions

Researchers also warned br ands of the opposite effect: overt inclusion of brands leaving a negative impact. When a brand is placed in a scene that is doesn't necessarily fit or is blatantly obvious, it can irritate, distract, or cause negative buzz about a product. Now this doesn't mean that any specific mention of a brand or clear view of a logo is a bad placement, it just means that the placement needs to  make sense.  The product should fit into a scene just as products fit into our everyday lives.  

The research also suggests that commerc ial advertising occurring close to television placements rarely increases online engage ment, and sometimes evens damages engagement. Say you saw a specific brand of shampoo in a new TV show. Then, the very next commercial or advertisement is for that exact shampoo. Would this enhance your image of the shampoo? Or would it seem a little...overbearing? Most viewers would agree that the double advertisement is a bit much. And that’s where the danger of product placement starts to seep in. Brands want to be remembered, but only in a positive, fiscally beneficial way.  

So the next time you finish up a Netflix binge, urgently craving a waffle… ask yourself this question; did that T.V session just burn away all of your calories-or did Stranger Things manage to get in your head?

Moving Forward With Product Placement

Thanks to the research from Beth Fossen and David Schweidel, we've been able to learn a little more about the impact that product placement can have on a brand. To learn more about product placement and how it helps brands leave a lasting impression, check out more of our blogs below!

• How To #29: How Much Does Product Placement Cost
• How To Secure Product Placement With A Production
• Product Placement Versus Brand Integration Explained
• 3 Reasons Why Productions Use Product Placement
• How To #3: Create A Product Placement Measurement Plan

Are you interested in learning more about how entertainment marketing can benefit your brand? Check out this informative video! 

ALS drug will be pulled from US market after study showed patients didn't benefit

The maker of a drug for Lou Gehrig’s disease that recently failed in a study says it will pull the medicine from the U.S. market

WASHINGTON -- The maker of a drug for Lou Gehrig’s disease that recently failed in a large study said Thursday it will pull the medicine from the market, acknowledging it didn't help patients with the deadly neurological condition.

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals announced it will voluntarily halt sales and marketing of the drug in the U.S. and Canada, where new patients will no longer be able to get a prescription.

“While this is a difficult moment for the ALS community, we reached this path forward in partnership with the stakeholders who will be impacted and in line with our steadfast commitment to people living with ALS," company co-founders said in a statement. Patients already taking the therapy who wish to continue will be able to enroll in a program to receive it for free.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the much-debated drug, Relyvrio, in September 2022, following a years-long advocacy campaign by patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

The drug's failure is a bitter disappointment for patients and advocates, who have pressed the FDA and other federal agencies to fund and approve more experimental therapies for the fatal muscle-wasting disease.

Relyvrio's withdrawal leaves just three ALS medicines available to U.S. patients, only one of which has been shown to extend survival by several months.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Amylyx also said Thursday it will lay off 70% of its more than 350 employees as part of a major restructuring effort. Company executives said they plan to continue studying Relyvrio and another experimental drug for several rare diseases, including Wolfram syndrome, which causes childhood diabetes and blindness.

Company shares climbed more than 7.5% in trading Thursday morning.

Amylyx said last month it was considering pulling its drug after a clinical trial in 600 patients failed to show any improvements in survival or other health measures, such as muscle strength or walking ability.

The company's voluntary action resolves what could have been a major dilemma for the FDA. The agency's regulators would not have had a clear path to quickly force the drug from the market if the company had refused to remove it. That's because the FDA granted the drug full approval, despite the preliminary nature of the company's data on effectiveness.

The 2022 approval was mainly based on results from one small, mid-stage study that was criticized by some of the agency’s own internal scientists. Normally the agency requires two large, late-stage studies that show a clear benefit before granting approval. But at the time FDA officials explained that “regulatory flexibility” was appropriate when reviewing Relyvrio, “given the serious and life-threatening nature of ALS and the substantial unmet need.”

The medication is part of a string of drugs for deadly, degenerative diseases that have won FDA approval in recent years despite questionable evidence they work.

ALS gradually destroys the nerve cells and connections needed to walk, talk, speak and breathe. Most patients die within three to five years of a diagnosis.

Relyvrio is a powder that combines two older drugs: a prescription medication for liver disorders and a dietary supplement associated with traditional Chinese medicine.

Amylyx faced criticism for pricing the drug at $158,000 for a year’s supply. Sales were disappointing, with some patients discontinuing the medicine after only a few months.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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