Cranfield Alumni Webinars provide alumni with the opportunity to engage with Cranfield’s activities and expertise through a range of interactive online sessions.

Here you will find links to our recent webinars. 

Negotiation webinar series: Enhancing your effectiveness in business negotiations - Professor Javier Marcos, Strategic Sales Management and Negotiation Professor and Director of the Cranfield Strategic Negotiation Programme

Over the course of five webinars, the negoitation webinar series addresses the behaviours and tactics to negotiate a range of agreements more effectively in business. It adopts an end-to-end perspective, focusing on four key negotiation processes: Planning and preparation, connecting and exploring, making proposals, and exchanging concessions and making agreements.

19 March 2025: Strategy 2.0 - Professor Kevin Morrell Rowlands Chair in Transformational Strategy

Some scholars suggest that disruptive innovations mean we need to fundamentally rethink our approach to strategy.

In this session 'Strategy 2.0', Professor Kevin Morrell will help you think through implications of disruptive technologies and be able to apply them to strategising in your organisation and industry.

23 January 2025: Leading Major Companies as CEO or Chair with John McFarlane - John McFarlane (MBA 1975, Honorary Graduate 2012) and Professor David Denyer, Professor of Leadership and Organisational Change and Strategic Business Director

This engaging webinar featured John sharing personal insights into his experiences as a CEO and Chair, highlighting pivotal moments that shaped his leadership journey. Professor David Denyer led an in-depth interview with John, exploring his approach to leadership and the lessons learned along the way. The session concluded with an interactive Q&A, giving attendees the chance to ask thought-provoking questions and gain further insights into John’s leadership philosophy.

10 October 2024: What the 737MAX should remind us all about safety - Professor Graham Braithwaite, Director of Transport Systems and Professor of Safety and Accident Investigation

On 5th January 2024, passengers on board a 737MAX aircraft operated by Alaska Airlines experienced a terrifying blow out of a door plug. Amazingly, no-one was killed or injured, but the event once again threw the spotlight on Boeing and an aircraft type that already had a difficult history.

Catch up on this insightful webinar where Professor Graham Braithwaite highlights:

  • The role of safety culture, regulation and beyond in the aviation industry.
  • How the situation with the 737MAX developed.
  • Lessons we can learn about safety.

10 June 2024: The route to affordable EVs - Dr Andy Palmer CMG (PhD School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science 2003, Honorary Graduate 2019), CEO, Palmer Automotive

Drawing on Dr Andy Palmer's experience launching the Nissan LEAF as COO and latterly as Aston Martin CEO, this talk blends real-world experience with academic theory to explore how electric vehicles can become cheaper to manufacture and therefore cheaper to consumers.

Catch up on this insightful webinar where Dr Palmer discusses:

• the role of energy storage and battery chemistry,
• the charging infrastructure,
• how cost efficiencies can be made.

16 April 2024: Living in a full world - biodiversity, carbon and economics - Professor Jim Harris, Chair of Environmental Technology, Cranfield Environment Centre

We are losing species at an alarming rate. Nature not only has those compositional attributes that we are familiar with - charismatic animals, mature forests, and beautiful landscapes, but there is a lot going on in a mature functioning system which is more than the sum of its parts.

In this webinar, Professor Jim Harris explores:

  • the alarming rate in which we are losing species,
  • how we can make our solutions more impactful,
  • the value of nature and reconnecting society with it at all levels - especially economics - to regenerate the planet and ourselves

1 February 2024: The wider context of decarbonising civil aviation, protecting the environment and economic growth - Professor Pericles Pilidis, Director Thermal Power MSc, FRAeS, UK Representative ISABE Cranfield University

We need to protect the environment while simultaneously protecting the great strides already made to reduce global poverty. This means that sustainability must bring concurrent advances in environmental and socioeconomic performance. 

In this webinar, Professor Pilidis explores:

  • why electrification and hydrogen are good choices for civil aviation,
  • how we can replace current aircraft in full decarbonised scenarios,
  • what implications this could have on wider land and sea.

17 January 2024: Risky business - Stephen Carver (MSc Engineering Construction Project Management 1988), Senior Lecturer in Project & Programme Management, Action, Execution and Implementation

Many professionals set out with high hopes of creating a thriving expertise-based business. But often they struggle.

In this webinar, Stephen discusses:

  • the latest trends in risk management,
  • the role of pirates, chaos agents and tall poppies,
  • how to identify opportunities to encourage creativity and diversity in your business.

11 July 2023: How to attract higher-value clients - Roger Jones (MBA 1987)

Many professionals set out with high hopes of creating a thriving expertise-based business. But often they struggle.

In this webinar, Roger will teach you:

  • how to become a recognised authority and become the obvious choice,
  • the main challenges faced by expertise-based businesses,
  • a proven system to make your competition irrelevant, become known as the value creator in your market and attract clients based on your reputation.