BSc Hons and PhD (Aston)

Full-time and Executive MBA modules in Operations Management and Project Management

BSc module in Project Management

University-wide Professional Skills Award (PSA) module in Project Management

Currently developing a suite of Quality, Improvement and Excellence taught packages across the College of Social Sciences.

I would be particularly interested in supervising PhDs in the field of Operations Management that examine the following areas: 

• Quality and Excellence, particularly relating to local West Midlands organizations.
• Design of processes, products or work organization in both manufacturing and service environments.
• Project management: especially international projects, technology transfer and managing teams.
• Projects of the type indicated above within an East and South East Asian context. 

My preference is for PhD students who use qualitative research methods and who take a critical and reflective perspective,but I am also willing to supervise those confident in their own use of quantitative methods.

Current research focuses on Excellence, Quality and Improvement in the management of operations and projects.  Secured a major grant (totalling over £300K) in November 2011 to establish the Midlands Excellence Organizational Improvement (MidEx) Programme at Birmingham to cover the period up to 2015 and, with further funding, beyond this.  Covers private, public and third sectors, and is a College of Social Sciences based initiative.

Director of Executive MBA (Hong Kong) Programme

Facilitator of the Midlands Excellence Organizational Improvement (MidEx) Programme

Business School Library Representative

I am also a keen sports fan: cricket and football mostly, and I have also recently taken up long distance road running to maintain my fitness (10K up to Marathon distance).

Books

Essential Guide to Operations Management: Concepts and Case Notes (2010) John Wiley and Sons: Chichester (with D R Bamford).

Market-Focused Production Systems: Design and Implementation (1993) Prentice-Hall: Hemel Hempstead (with D J Bennett).

Recent Journal Articles

"The role of the physical layout in the implementation of lean management initiatives", International Journal of Lean Six Sigma (with H. Soriano-Meier, S. Markose and J. A. Garza-Reyes). Vol.2, No.3, pp.254-269, 2011.

"The development of a lean park homes production process using process flow and simulation methods", Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management (with J.A. Garza-Reyes. I. Oraifage, H. Soriano-Meier, and D. Harmanto).  fc, 2011.

“Analysing Approaches to Technology Transfer in the UK National Health Service”, OR Insight, (with D R Bamford and M Ismail), Vol.24, No.2, pp.90-109, 2011.

“Why Information Technology (IT) – Led  Organizational Change does not work”, International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences (with M.P.J. Pollard, H. Soriano-Meier, J.A. Garza-Reyes and L. Rocha-Lona), Vol.1, No.1, pp.88-99, 2010.

“Lean production, market share and value creation in the agricultural machinery sector in Brazil” Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management (with H Soriano-Meier et al), Vol.21, No.7, pp.853-871, 2010.

“Application of QFD for e-Business Planning”, International Journal of Production Planning and Control, Volume 15, Number 8, p.802-818, 2004 (with B L Tan and N K H Tang).

“An Application of the Delta Model and BPR in Transforming Electronic Business – The Case of a Food Ingredients Company in UK”, Information Systems Journal, 14(2), 2004 (with N K H Tang and P R Yasa).

"Managing Planned and Emergent Change within an Operations Management Environment", International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 23(5), 2003 (with D R Bamford).

A Model for Evaluating the Degree of Leanness of Manufacturing Firms", Integrated Manufacturing Systems, 13(2), 104-109, 2002 (with H Soriano-Meier).

"Reforming Management Education: Learning from the Moldovan Experience", Economic and Business Review, 2(4), 309-321, 2001 (with M Kelemen, G Pearson and J S Hassard).

"Managing Factory Operations in China: Empirical Evidence on the Integration of Design and Production", International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 1(4/5), 2001 (with J S Hassard).

"Supply Network Management in the UK Tableware Industry”, British Ceramics Transactions, 100(2), 86-89, 2001 (with M Day and J Burnett).

"Technological Innovation Antecedents in the UK Ceramics Industry", International Journal of Production Economics, 65(2), 85-98, 2000 (with M P Warren, J S Hassard and J W Cotton).

"Britain's last industrial district? A case study of ceramics production", International Journal of Production Economics, 65(2), 5-15, 2000 (with M day, J Burnett and J S Hassard).

“Paying Teachers for Performance: A Comparison with Private Sector Experience”, Management Research News, 23(4/5), 2000 (with G Forrester and J S Hassard).

“Agile Supply: Rethinking Systems Thinking, Systems Practice”, International Journal of Agile Manufacturing Systems, 2(3), 178-186, 2000 (with C Rigby, M Day and J Burnett).

“The Politics of Management in People's China: From CMRS to Modern Enterprise and Beyond”, Asia Pacific Business Review, 5(3/4), 47-72, 1999 (with R S Porter)

 

Contributions to Edited Books

 

"Technology and Politics in China: Influences upon the Process ofInnovation". In T M Khalil, L A Lefebvre and R M Mason [eds] Managementof Technology: The Key to Prosperity in the Third Millennium, Pergamon:Oxford, 2001 (with R S Porter).

 

"BPR and TQM: Divergence or Convergence." In H Willmott and DKnights [eds] The Re-engineering Revolution, Routledge: London, 2000(with M Kelemen and J S Hassard).

 

"The Challenges Facing Manufacturing Managers in Chinese Factories"In R S Porter and D H Brown [eds] Management Issues for China,Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1995.

 

"Computer Integrated Manufacturing and the Limits to Integration".In A Sen, J Winsor and R Gay [eds] Computer Integration ofManufacturing Systems, World Scientific: Singapore, 1995 (with J SHassard).

 

"Exploring Integration in an Organizational Setting". In A Sen, JWinsor and R Gay [eds] Computer Integration of Manufacturing Systems:World Scientific: Singapore, 1995 (with NKH Tang).

 

"Total Quality Management and Participation: Employee Empowerment orthe Enhancement of Exploitation?". In H Willmott and A Wilkinson [eds]Making Quality Critical: New Perspectives on Organizational Change,Routledge: London, 1995 (with M Rowlinson, J S Hassard, L McArdle and SProcter).