Meet the team: Bex's industry knowledge helps students thrive

16 July 2020

As we continue to meet the Business team, Head of the Land, Farm and Agribusiness Management department Rebecca ‘Bex’ Payne shares her experience specialising in sales, marketing, social media and strategy.

Bex’s core knowledge comes from her working experience, solidified by numerous qualifications. She commented on her career path saying: “I worked as a finance officer in local government, as a software trainer for IBM, and then a Business Development Consultant for a large IT consultancy, an economic development organisation, and finally as a director of an SME.”

Bex then decided at the age of 43 to undertake her MBA at Aston Business School, transforming her view of the world. She explained: “It became clear that my work experience across lots of sectors and sizes of business joined together to give me a holistic view of how businesses function. And, more to the point, I realised I had the ‘knack’ of explaining these patterns and insights so that others could understand them.”

With this ability to share insight in mind, Bex then went on to achieve a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, beginning her academic career at 45. Coupling her experience with her MBA knowledge, Bex said: “The way that the models and ideas of people much cleverer than me - I’m a real fangirl when it comes to Michael Porter! - can be used to understand how a business is functioning and then help us construct ‘good choices’ is something I find endlessly fascinating

“I love to share what I believe with my students and then watch their confidence grow in tandem with their knowledge of what makes a business tick.

“Michael Porter says, ‘If all you’re trying to do is essentially the same thing as your rivals, then it’s unlikely that you’ll be very successful’. Being distinctive and different is something we’re very good at here at Harper Adams and is something I’m passionate about sharing with my students.”

Alongside her teaching qualifications, Bex is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, an Honours Society promoting excellence in business.

As the glue that holds our specialist sectors together, the business skills taught at Harper Adams culminate in our degrees that matter. Join us at our Virtual Open Day, July 22, to discover how you could be part of a global and versatile industry. Sign up now.