Aspiring business leaders of the future gained valuable understanding of how technology is shaping the workplace today from a leading multinational corporation.

Students on Lancaster University Management School’s (LUMS) MSc Digital Business, Innovation and Management (DBIM) spent a day learning from digital communications giants Cisco at their Manchester base.

The students learned about technologies that are supporting digital workplace transformation, and the increasing use of AI assistants in online collaborations. They also had the chance to demonstrate their own skills and knowledge, working in groups to give presentations on factors that enable virtual team projects to be successful.

Niki Panteli, Professor of Digital Business in the Department of Management Science in LUMS, organised the visit as part of the DBIM programme. She said: “The DBIM students had a brilliant day with Cisco. It was an opportunity for them to learn about the operations of a multinational communications technology firm – one who regularly rank highly in global employee satisfaction surveys – and see how the knowledge they are gaining in the classroom can be translated to actual business operations.

“We want to thank Amanda Price and David Beisly for inviting us and hosting our visit and look forward to continuing to work with Cisco in the future.”

The DBIM cohort also learned about company apprenticeships and internships with Cisco.

They will work with Cisco again in the new year, through a global online collaboration project with students from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cisco are the industry partners and will present awards to the winning teams.