Chris Lonsdale first taught in 1992 at the Department of Politics, The University of Hull. In 1993, he moved to The University of Birmingham where he taught in both the School of Public Policy and in the Department of Political Science and International Studies. In 1994, he moved to the Business School to take up a research post and since that time has resided in the Procurement and Operations Management Group. He received his PhD in 1995 for work into the private equity market. In 1999, Chris became a lecturer in the Business School, becoming a senior lecturer in 2005. He has been Programme Director of the MBA in Strategy and Procurement Management twice, most recently between 2007 and 2009. In 2008, he became the Head of the Procurement and Operations Management Group. Also in 2008, he was awarded honorary fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, FCIPS. He was made Reader in 2011. In 2012, he acted as Programme Director of the UG Business Management degrees. Also in 2012, he won the University / Guild of Students' Outstanding Personal Tutor Award.

Chris has worked with a number of public and private sector organisations including the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health / NHS (2001 to date), IBM (1998-2007), Interbrew and Rolls Royce. In 2001, he was the joint-recipient of a £338,000 research grant from the EPSRC and other sponsors for research into buyer-supplier relationships. In 2002, he was the joint-recipient of a £75,041 research grant from the Oxford Radcliffe NHS Hospital Trust for research into organisational buying behaviour. In 2007, he was the joint-recipient of an £99,901 research grant from the ESRC for research into temporary employment in the UK public sector. In 2010, Chris became a recipient of an EREBUS CASE studentship, with the research focusing upon the development of sustainable procurement policies. All of these research projects have yielded a high number of publications (see list below), many in internationally leading journals such as Public Administration, the British Journal of Industrial Relations and Work, Employment and Society. In 2013, he will commence a £95,000 NHS National Institute for Health Research research project, working with Joe Sanderson and Russell Mannion.

Chris's current research activities focus upon public sector contracting, in particular the contractual arrangements for PFI and PPP, buyer-supplier relationships, trust and opportunism in business markets, the promotion of innovation through public procurement and organisational buying behaviour. Chris also retains an interest in political science, with a particular focus upon the politics of state-finance relations and modern political philosophy.

 

• Purchasing / internal client relationships
• Supplier relationship and contract management
• The promotion of innovation through public procurement
• Public-private partnerships
• Trust and opportunism in buyer-supplier relationships

BUSINESS SCHOOL GROUP

Procurement and Operations Management

Book Publications – Research Monographs

 

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C. Sanderson, J. and Watson, G. (2005) The Right Tools for the Job: On the Use and Utility of Management Tools and Techniques, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 335pp.

 

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C., Sanderson, J. and Watson, G. (2004) Business Relationships for Competitive Advantage, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 246pp.

 

Cox, A., Ireland, P., Lonsdale, C., Sanderson, J. and Watson, G. (2002) Supply Chains, Markets and Power: Mapping Buyer and Supplier Power Regimes, London: Routledge, 268pp.

 

Lonsdale, C. (1997) The UK Equity Gap: The Failure of Government Policy Since 1945, Aldershot: Ashgate, 238pp.

 

Book Publications - Textbooks

 

Cox, A., Ireland, P., Lonsdale, C., Sanderson, J. and Watson, G. (2003) Supply Chain Management: A Guide to Best Practice, London: Financial Times Pearson, 120pp.

 

Lonsdale, C. and Cox, A. (1998) Outsourcing: A Business Guide to Risk Management Tools and Techniques, Boston: Earlsgate Press, 219pp.

 

Refereed Journal Articles

 

Watson, G., Chicksand, D. and Lonsdale, C. (2012) 'Barriers to Improving Procurement in the NHS: Veto Players and the Consolidation of Demand', Production Planning and Control.

 

Kirkpatrick, I., De Ruyter, A., Hoque, K. and Lonsdale, C. (2011) ‘Practising what they Preach? The Disconnect Between the State as User and the State as Regulator of Employment Agencies’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22 (18), pp.3711-3726.

 

Hoque, K., Kirkpatrick, I., Lonsdale, C. and De Ruyter, A. (2011) ‘Outsourcing the Procurement of Agency Workers: The Impact of Vendor Managed Services in English Social Care’, Work, Employment and Society, 25 (3), pp522-539.

 

Lonsdale, C., Hoque, K., Kirkpatrick, I. and De Ruyter, A. (2010) ‘Supplier Behaviour and Public Contracting in the English National Health Service’, Public Administration, 88 (3), pp800-818.

 

Hoque, K., Kirkpatrick, I., De Ruyter, A. and Lonsdale, C. (2008) ‘New Contractual Relationships in the Market for Agency Workers: The Case of the UK’s National Health Service’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 46 (3), pp389-412.

 

De Ruyter, A., Kirkpatrick, I., Hoque, K., Lonsdale, C. and Malan, J. (2008) ‘Agency Working and the Degradation of Public Service Employment: The Cases of Nurses and Social Workers’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19 (3), pp432-445.

 

Lonsdale, C. and Watson, G. (2007) ‘Managing Contracts under the UK’s Private Finance Initiative: Evidence from the National HealthService’, Policy and Politics, 35 (4), pp683-700.

 

Lonsdale, C. (2007) ‘Review Article: The Challenge of Public-Private Partnerships’, Local Government Studies, 33 (2), pp313-321.

 

Lonsdale, C. and Watson, G. (2005) ‘The Internal Client Relationship, Demand Management and Value for Money: Evidence from the UK National Health Service’, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 11 (4), pp159-172.

 

Lonsdale, C. (2005) ‘Contractual Uncertainty, Power and Public Contracting’, Journal of Public Policy, 25 (2), pp219-240.

 

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C., Watson, G. and Wu, Y. (2005) ‘Supplier Relationship Management as an Investment: Evidence from a UK Study’, Journal of General Management, 30 (4), pp27-42.

 

Lonsdale, C. (2005) ‘Post-contractual Lock-in and the UK Private Finance Initiative: The Cases of National Savings and Investments and the Lord Chancellor’s Department’, Public Administration, 83 (1), pp67-88.

 

Lonsdale, C. (2005) ‘Risk Transfer and the UK Private Finance Initiative: A Theoretical Analysis’, Policy and Politics, 33 (2), pp231-249.

 

Lonsdale, C. (2004) ‘Player Power: Capturing Value in the English Football Supply Network’, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 9 (5), pp383-391.

 

Cox, A., Watson, G., Lonsdale, C. and Sanderson, J. (2004) ‘Managing Appropriately within Supply Chain Power Regimes: Evidence from a UK Study’, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 9 (5), pp357-371.

 

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C., Watson, G. and Qiao, H. (2003) ‘Supplier Relationship Management: A Framework for Understanding Managerial Capacity and Constraints’, European Business Journal, 15 (3), pp135-145.

 

Lonsdale, C. (2001) ‘Locked-in to Supplier Dominance: On the Dangers of Asset Specificity for the Outsourcing Decision’, Journal of Supply Chain Management, 37 (2), pp22-27.

 

Lonsdale, C. and Cox, A. (2000) ‘The Historical Development of Outsourcing’, Industrial Management and Data Systems, 100 (9), pp444-450.

 

Lonsdale, C. (1999) ‘Effectively Managing Vertical Supply Relationships: A Risk Management Model for Outsourcing’, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 4 (4), pp176-183.

 

Chapters in Edited Volumes

 

Lonsdale, C. (2012) ‘Procurement and Market Management’, in Glasby,J. (ed), Commissioning for Health and Well-Being, Bristol: The PolicyPress, pp85-110.

 

Watson, G., Lonsdale, C. and Sanderson, J. (2010) ‘Incentives and the Strategic Management of Suppliers’, in Waters, D. (ed), Global Logistics: New Directions in Supply Chain Management, 6th edition, London: Kogan Page, pp49-68.

 

Lonsdale, C. (2007) ‘Supply Chains’, in Ritzer, G. (ed), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Oxford: Blackwell, pp4890-4895.

 

Watson, G., Cox, A., Lonsdale, C. and Sanderson, J. (2007) ‘Strategic Supply Chain Management: The Power of Incentives’, in Waters, D. (ed), Global Logistics and Distribution Planning, 5th edition, London: Kogan Page, pp91-106.

 

Lonsdale, C. (2006) ‘Risk Management and Outsourcing’, in Barrar, P. and Gervais, R. (eds), Global Outsourcing Strategies, Farnham: Gower, pp221-230.

 

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C., Watson, G. and Farmery, R. (2003) ‘Collaboration and Competition: The Economics of Selecting Appropriate Governance Structures for Buyer-Supplier Relationships’, in Scott, C. and Thurston, W. (eds), Collaboration in Context, Calgary: The University of Calgary, pp115-228.

 

Watson, G., Cox, A., Lonsdale, C. and Sanderson, J. (2003) ‘Thinking Strategically about Supply Chain Management’, in Waters, D. (ed), Global Logistics and Distribution Planning, 4th edition, London: Kogan Page, pp104-116.

 

Lonsdale, C. (2002) ‘Outsourcing – Understanding and Managing Risk’, in Day, M. (ed), The Gower Handbook of Purchasing and Supply, Farnham: Gower, pp63-74.

 

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C. and Watson, G. (2001) ‘Beyond Core Competence Models: A Contingency Model for Effective Outsourcing Risk Management’ in Erridge, A. (ed), Perspectives in Public and Private Sector Procurement, Farnham: Gower, pp82-89.

 

Lonsdale, C. and Cox, A. (1998) ‘Strategic Outsourcing: Evidence on Business Practice and the Role of Procurement’, in Capaldo, G. et al (eds), Supply Management, Napoli: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, pp55-74.

 

Jordan, K., Meredith, M. and Lonsdale, C. (1997) ‘Towards Strategic Sourcing in the Public Sector: The Approach to Relationship Managementat the Employment Department’, in Cox, A. and Hines, P. (eds), Advanced Supply Management, Boston: Earlsgate Press, pp231-254.

 

Recent Refereed Conference Papers

 

De Ruyter, A., Kirkpatrick, I., Hoque, K. and Lonsdale, C. (2010) Flexibility Developments in UK Nursing and Social Care: Evidence for Strategic Employer Behaviour?, ESRC Seminar Series - Collaborative Futures: New Insights from Intra and Inter-Sectoral Collaborations, Manchester, November.

 

Hoque, K., Kirkpatrick, I, Lonsdale, C. and De Ruyter, A. (2010) Outsourcing the Procurement of Agency Workers: The Impact of Vendor Managed Services in English Social Care, Work, Employment and Society Conference, Brighton, September.

 

Kirkpatrick, I, De Ruyter, A., Hoque, K. and Lonsdale, C. (2009) Practicing What they Preach? The UK State as User and Regulator of Employment Agencies, IIRA World Congress, Sydney, August.

 

Hoque, K., Kirkpatrick, I., Lonsdale, C. and De Ruyter, A. (2007) The Nature and Impact of New Governance Forms in the Healthcare Market for Agency Workers,   Work, Employment and Society Conference, Aberdeen, September.

 

Hoque, K., Lonsdale, C., Kirkpatrick, I. and De Ruyter, A. (2007) Regulating the Agency Employment Market in the UK Health Sector: Implications for HRM, British Academy of Management HRM Special Interest Group, London, April.

 

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C. and Watson, G. (2003) The Role of Incentives in Buyer-Supplier Relationships: Industrial Cases from a UK Study, IMP Conference, Working Paper, Lugano, September.

 

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C., Sanderson, J. and Watson, G. (2003) Developing ‘Fit for Purpose’ Buyer-Supplier Relationships, Institute of Supply Management International Conference, Nashville, May.

 

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C., Watson, G. and Farmery, R. (2003) Developing Supplier Relationships: The Problems of Achieving Collaboration in Supplier Dominance Relationships, 12th IPSERA Conference, Budapest, April.

 

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C., Watson, G. and Chicksand, D. (2003) Effective Demand Management within the NHS, 12th IPSERA Conference, Budapest, April.