Internationalisation Coordinator

Ratula is Professor of Business Management and a member of the Marketing Group in Norwich Business School (NBS).

Ratula joined UEA in September 2010.  She has undertaken several leadership roles, including serving as the Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching Quality representing the Social Sciences Faculty's seven Schools from 2014-18, and served as the Senate appointed academic member of the University Council for 2019-2022, which oversees the governance and management of the University.  She has chaired or served on over twenty committees and working groups at university, faculty and school level. 

Within NBS, as Masters Programmes Director (2010-2021), she led the major expansion of postgraduate provision in establishing a portfolio of 13 MSc courses catering to 400 students, with leadership responsibility to ensure smooth programme operation and continuous improvement in terms of quality and international reputation.  She has also previously served as NBS Director of Staff Development and Director of Learning and Teaching Quality.

Before joining UEA, Ratula was Director of MSc Management Programmes at Loughborough University (1999-2010), leading the management and administration of postgraduate provision as well as taking a central role in AMBA and EQUIS accreditation. Prior to that she worked for the University of Derby as International Operations Manager overseeing the university's international recruitment strategy and interface with international students. She also has extensive commercial experience through setting up and running her own export company in India, before moving to the UK to gain an MBA, and then joining a UK herbal care company as Commercial Director.

Ratula's research and scholarship centres on marketing and retailing, embracing business, legal, economic and public health perspectives.  Her journal publications span a range of topics including supermarket pricing (Journal of Monetary Economics), product waste management (European Journal of Operational Research), food safety (Journal of Cleaner Production), brand and private label competition (European Competition Law Review), retailer buyer power over suppliers (Antitrust Bulletin), suppliers’ incentives to innovate (International Journal of Production Economics), policies to combat excessive consumption fuelling obesity (Journal of Business Research), and retail pricing of cheap alcohol (Addiction).  She has also obtained substantial research funding, including being a co-investigator on a project on Alcohol Policy Modelling and Evaluation funded by the Medical Research Council for £1.1m and a researcher on a project on Price Dynamics in Food Retailing in Great Britain funded by the Economic and Social Research Council for £200K.

Ratula’s collaborative research has been cited widely in policy reports and the media.  Competition analyses citing her work include those for the European Commission, European Parliament, OECD, UK Competition Commission, German Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt), Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) and Norwegian Competition Authority (Konkurransetilsynet).  Her research on alcohol pricing has contributed to reports and analysis for the Department of Health, the Scottish Government, and the House of Lords on alcohol policy.  In addition, she has provided expert commentary for media on retail competition and pricing matters (including coverage by ITV, BBC News, CNN, Channel 4 TV, androther international, national and regional media).  She has also advised regulators and policymakers on supermarket competition (DEFRA and UK Parliament Select Committee).

She is fluent in five languages and holds a first-class honours (BA Hons) degree, a masters (MA) degree with distinction in Geography, a masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) with distinction, and a PhD in Retailing and Marketing. She is a member of the Centre for Competition Policy (CCP), a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), a member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee and the Race Equality Action Group of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS), and a Role Model for Leadership Foundation for Higher Education’s Aurora Programme (developing future women leaders for higher education).  She has completed the Executive Leaders programme of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and the Chartered Association of Business Schools’ Deans and Directors Development Programme.

Grants

"Alcohol Policy Modelling and Evaluation", Medical Research Council, £1,100,000, 2010-2014 (co-investigator)

"Price Dynamics in Food Retailing in Great Britain", Economic and Social Research Council, £200,000, 2009-2012 (named researcher)

Publications

"Implications of Coproduction Technology on Waste Management: Who Can Benefit from the Coproduct of Leftover Materials," European Journal of Operational Research, accepted and forthcoming (with M. Jin, B. Li, Y. Xiong and Y. Zhou). (CABS 4*).

"A Framework to Assess the Challenges to Food Safety Initiatives in an Emerging Economy," Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 284, Art. 124709, February 2021 (with A.S.K. Mangla, A. Bhattacharya, A.K. Yadav, Y.K. Sharma, A. Ishizaka, and S. Luthra). (CABS 2*)

"Strategic Incentives for Complementary Producers to Innovate for Efficiency and Support Sustainability," International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 219, pp. 431-439, January 2020 (with P.W. Dobson). (CABS 3*) 

"Do Retailers Manipulate Prices to Favour Private Label over Brands?" CCP Working Paper 18-2, Centre for Competition Policy at UEA, March 2018.

“Containing Big Soda: Countering Inducements to Buy Large-Size Sugary Drinks,” Journal of Business Research (special section on Food Portions and Marketing), Vol. 75, pp. 185–191, June 2017 (with P.W. Dobson and J.S. Seaton). (CABS 3*)

"Pricing in Inflationary Times: The Penny Drops," Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 76, pp. 71-86, November 2015 (with P.W. Dobson, J.S. Seaton and M. Waterson). (CABS 4*)

"Assessing Brand and Private Label Competition," European Competition Law Review, Vol. 36 (2), pp. 76-81, February 2015 (with P.W. Dobson). (ERA A = 3*)

"Alcohol tax pass-through across the product and price range: Do retailers treat cheap alcohol differently?” Addiction, Vol. 109 (12), pp. 1994-2002, December 2014 (with A.K. Ally inter alia). (ERA A = 3*)

"How Do National Brands and Store Brands Compete?" CCP Working Paper 14-7, Centre for Competition Policy at UEA, August 2014 (with P.W. Dobson).

“Market Consolidation and Pricing Developments in Grocery Retailing: A Case Study,” in Analysis of Competition Policy and Sectoral Regulation, Martin Pietz and Yossi Spiegel (eds.), Now Publishers, July 2014 (with P.W. Dobson, J.S. Seaton and M. Waterson).

“Pricing in inflationary times: the penny drops”, The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 975, Department of Economics, University of Warwick, December 2011 (with P.W. Dobson, J.S. Seaton and M. Waterson).

“Private Labels and Branded Goods: Consumers’ ‘Horrors’ and ‘Heroes’,” in Private Labels, Branded Goods and Competition Policy: The Changing Landscape of Retail Competition, A. Ezrachi and U. Bernitz (eds.), Oxford University Press, February 2009 (with P.W. Dobson).

“Buyer Power in the U.K. Groceries Market”, Antitrust Bulletin, Vol. 53 (2), pp. 333-368, Summer 2008 (with P.W. Dobson). (ERA C = 1*)

• Retail Marketing and Management (20-credit elective module); module organiser at MSc level in UEA (2011-present)
• Retail Operations and Strategy (20-credit elective module); module organiser at MSc level in UEA (2011-2012)
• Principles of Marketing (20-credit core module); lecturing at second-year UG level in UEA (2010-2011)
• Business Analysis II (30-credit projects); served as module coordinator and project supervisor at MSc level in Loughborough (2004-2010)
• European Summer School for Advanced Management (component of Loughborough Executive MBA programme in conjunction with international consortium of business schools); served as module coordinator in Loughborough (1999-2007)
• Retail Management (15-credit elective module); lecturing at MSc level in Loughborough (2009-2010)
• Retailing Strategy (20-credit core module); lecturing at final-year UG level in Loughborough (2009-2010)
• Retailing Environment (10-credit core/elective module); lecturing at first-year UG level in Loughborough (2009-2010)

• Norwich Business School (NBS) Internationalisation Coordinator leading and coordinating the business school's internationalisation strategy and academic collaborations covering research and teaching (2018-present)
• NBS Director of MSc Programmes (2010-2021)
• Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching Quality for Social Sciences Faculty (SSF) (representing seven Schools) (2014-2018)
• NBS Director of Staff Development (in 2011) with responsibility for initiating the staff appraisaprocess and mentoring scheme and putting in place a new welcoming and hospitality approach for staff recruitment before stepping down to Associate Director of Staff Development (2011-2013)
• Chair and Coordinator of NBS MSc Staff/Student Liaison Committees (2010-2021)
• NBS Acting Director of Learning and Teaching Quality (2014) while NBS Associate Director of Learning and Teaching Quality (2013-2014)
• Chair of SSF Faculty Appeals and Complaints Committee Panel (2014-2018)
• Chair of SSF Learning and Teaching Quality Committee (2014-2018)
• Member of NBS Executive (School Management Group) (2010-2021)
• Member of Social Sciences Faculty Executive (2014-2018)
• Member of University's Learning and Teaching Committee (2014-2018)
• Member of University's Taught Programmes Policy Group (2014-2018)
• Member of University's Higher Education Review (HER) Working Group (2014-2018)
• Member of University's Online Learning Working Group (2014-2018)
• Member of University's Course Information for Students Working Group (2014-2018)
• Member of University's Information Services Directorate Group (2014-2018)
• Member of University's Induction and Transition Planning Working Group (2014-2018)
• Member of University's Geography Working Group (2014-2018)
• Member of University's India Dialogue Group (2014-present)