Professor Joe Sanderson

Department of Management
Deputy Head of College of Social Sciences

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0) 121 414 7489
Email: j.r.sanderson@bham.ac.uk

View my research portal

Address: Birmingham Business School
University House
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Feedback and office hours

Mondays: 14:30 - 16:00

Fridays: 12:30 - 14:00

Qualifications

PhD Commerce (Bham)
BA Politics (Hull)
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (FCIPS)

Biography

Joe joined Birmingham Business School in October 2001. Since then, he has been Director of the MBA Strategy and Procurement Management, Director of the Doctorate in Business Administration, and Director of the School’s portfolio of UK Executive MBA programmes. Joe is currently Head of the Procurement and Operations Management Department and a member of the School Senior Management Team. Joe also teaches procurement and supply chain management to undergraduate and postgraduate students across a range of programmes. Joe was promoted to Professor in 2019.

Joe has substantial experience of research, consultancy and executive development activities with a wide range of high profile organisations around the world including Rolls-Royce Aerospace, HSBC, IBM, BAE Systems, the NHS and the UK Ministry of Defence. In 2008, he became one of the first academics to be a made a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of the profession. Joe is currently co-delivering an innovative Masterclass Programme in Strategic Sourcing to well over 400 senior managers in various roles (purchasing, engineering, strategy, finance and commercial) at Rolls-Royce Aerospace. This work has been nominated for high profile awards from Procurement Leaders and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply. Joe was also co-nominated in 2016 for the University’s prestigious Founders’ Award for Business Advancement for his work with Rolls-Royce.

To date Joe has been principal investigator on two major research projects. One, funded by the UK Government (£148,000), looked at the scope to implement supply chain improvement initiatives in UK naval shipbuilding. This project led to a highly rated impact case study for REF2014. Joe’s most recent project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (£90,500). This examined the value of procurement and supply chain management thinking and research for NHS commissioning (see www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/hsdr/hsdr03180).

Joe has published a number of textbooks and research monographs. He also has articles in several of the world’s leading supply chain management, project management and public sector management journals. He is a regular reviewer for leading journals including Public Administration, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, and International Journal of Project Management. He was recognised in 2008 by Supply Chain Management: An International Journal as their Outstanding Reviewer. In 2009 he received the Outstanding Paper Award (2009) from the same journal and was made a member of the Editorial Advisory Board. In 2016 Joe was Guest Editor, with Professor Graham Winch (MBS), of a special issue of International Journal of Project Management.

Teaching

Undergraduate

Introduction to Business Strategy and Supply Chain Management (Year 1)

Postgraduate

Strategic Purchasing and Supply Management (GDBA)

Strategic Procurement and Supplier Management (MBA)

Postgraduate supervision

Public sector procurement and supply management
Public - Private Partnerships
Contracting and governance in large-scale projects
Supplier relationship and contract management

Research

Contracting and governance in large-scale projects
Rhetoric and reality of public-private partnerships
Impact of procurement and supply management thinking on public sector
Role of procurement in buying professional services

Other activities

Member of Editorial Board for 'Supply Chain Management: An International Journal' - ABS 3*

Publications

Recent Conference Papers

Dehn, T., Chicksand, D., Sanderson, J. (2016), ‘Servitization: The Importance of Theory’, IPSERA Conference, Dortmund, March

Sanderson, J. (2014), ‘The Governance of Risk’, EURAM Conference, Valencia, June

Sanderson, J., Lonsdale, C., Mannion, R., Matharu, T. (2014), ‘Lessons for the NHS from a realist review of the literature on procurement and supply chain management’, Health Services Research Network Conference, Nottingham (UK), June

Sanderson, J., Lonsdale, C., Mannion, R., Matharu, T. (2014) ‘Lessons for the NHS from the literature on procurement and supply chain management’, European Health Management Association Conference, Birmingham (UK), June

Publications

Sanderson, J., Winch, G. (2017), ‘Public policy and projects: making connections and starting conversations’, International Journal of Project Management, guest editorial

Lonsdale, C., Sanderson, J., Watson, G., Peng, F. (2016), ‘Beyond intentional trust: supplier opportunism and management control mechanisms in public sector procurement and contracting’, Policy & Politics, Vol. 44 No. 2, pp. 289-311 https://doi.org/10.1332/030557314X13904934896655

Sanderson, J., Lonsdale, C., Mannion, R., Matharu, T. (2015), ‘Towards a framework for enhancing procurement and supply chain management practice in the NHS: lessons for managers and clinicians from a synthesis of the theoretical and empirical literature’, Health Services & Delivery Research, Vol. 3 No. 18 https://doi.org/10.3310/hsdr03180

Sanderson, J. (2015), ‘Performance partnering on the Astute submarine programme’, in The Impact of Business School Research: Economic and Social Benefits, Association of Business Schools, March (one of 11 impact case studies chosen from REF2014)

Winch, G., Sanderson, J., (2015), ‘Call for papers – public policy and projects’, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 249-250 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.08.003

Sanderson, J. (2013), ‘Revealing gaps in the project management literature: an application of multi-paradigm review to explanations of megaproject governance’, Birmingham Business School Discussion Paper Series, No. 2

Sanderson, J. (2012), ‘Risk, uncertainty and governance in megaprojects: a critical discussion of alternative explanations’, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 432-443 http://dx.doi.org.ezproxye.bham.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ijproman.2011.11.002

Watson, G., Lonsdale, C., Sanderson, J. (2010), ‘Incentives and the Strategic Management of Suppliers’, in Waters, D. (ed.), Global Logistics: New Directions in Supply Chain Management, 6^th Edition, Kogan Page, pp. 49-68,

Sanderson, J. (2009), ‘Buyer-supplier partnering in UK defence procurement: looking beyond the policy rhetoric’, Public Administration: An International Quarterly, Vol. 87 No. 2, 2009, pp. 327-350 http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2008.01734.x

Sanderson, J., Cox, A. (2008), ‘The challenges of supply strategy selection in a project environment: evidence from UK naval shipbuilding’, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 16-25, (given Outstanding Paper Award in 2009) http://doi.org/10.1108/13598540810850283

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C., Watson, G., Sanderson, J. (2007), ‘Strategic Supply Chain Management: The Power of Incentives’, in Waters, D. (ed.), Global Logistics: New Directions in Supply Chain Management, 5^th Edition, Kogan Page, pp. 91-106

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

Sanderson, J. (2004), ‘Opportunity and constraint in business-to-business relationships: insights from strategic choice and zones of manoeuvre’, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 392-401 http://doi.org/10.1108/13598540410560775

Cox, A., Watson, G., Lonsdale, C., Sanderson, J. (2004), ‘Managing appropriately in power regimes: relationship and performance management in 12 supply chain cases’, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 357-371 http://doi.org/1108/13598540410560748

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

Cox, A., Lonsdale, C., Watson, G., Sanderson, J. (2003), ‘Thinking Strategically about Supply Chain Relationship Management: The Issue of Incentives’, in Waters, D. (ed.), Global Logistics and Distribution Planning: Strategies for Management, 4^th Edition, Kogan Page, pp. 104-116

Cox, A., Ireland, P., Lonsdale, C., Sanderson, J., Watson, G. (2003), Supply Chain Management: A Guide to Best Practice, Financial Times/Prentice Hall

Cox, A., Ireland, P., Lonsdale, C., Sanderson, J., Watson, G. (2002), Supply Chains, Markets and Power, Routledge

Sanderson, J. (2001), ‘The impact of regulation on buyer and supplier power’, Journal of Supply Chain Management, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 16-21

Cox, A., Sanderson, J., Watson, G. (2001), ‘Supply chains and power regimes’, Journal of Supply Chain Management, Vol. 37 No. 2, 2001, pp. 28-35

Cox, A., Sanderson, J., Watson, G. (2000), Power Regimes: Mapping the DNA of Business and Supply Chain Relationships, Earlsgate Press

Cox, A., Watson, G., Sanderson, J. (1999), ‘Thinking Strategically about Supply Chain Management’, in Waters, D. (ed.), Global Logistics and Distribution Planning: Strategies for Management, 3^rd Edition, Kogan Page, pp. 125-138

Sanderson, J. (1999), ‘Passing value to customers: on the power of regulation in the industrial electricity supply chain’, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 199-208

Sanderson, J. (1998), ‘The EU green paper on public procurement: a better way forward or a missed opportunity?’ European Business Journal, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 64-70

Sanderson, J., Watson, G. (1997), ‘Towards a Theory of Optimal Sourcing Strategies in a World of Freer Trade’, in Cox, A. and Hines, P. (eds.), Advanced Supply Management: The Best Practice Debate, Earlsgate Press, pp. 385-410

Watson, G., Sanderson, J. (1997), ‘Collective Good Versus Private Interest: Lean Enterprise and the Free Rider’, in Cox and Hines (eds.), Advanced Supply Management: The Best Practice Debate, Earlsgate Press, pp. 347-384

Cox, A., Lee, S., Sanderson, J. (1997), The Political Economy of Modern Britain, Edward Elgar

Cox, A., Sanderson, J. (1994), ‘From the mobilisation of bias to trade wars: the making and implementation of the EC utilities procurement rules’, Journal of European Public Policy, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 263-282

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Purchasing and supply management; public sector procurement (health and defence); contracts and governance in complex large-scale projects (e.g. defence, construction, IT); public-private partnerships