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Multi-disciplinary research in strategic management and marketing at Northumbria University's Newcastle Business School has helped Renown Engineering Group (RE) to reposition itself from a "product manufacturer" to a "knowledge based high margin service provider". The direct impact of the university/RE partnership is a significant £4 million increase in sales; a 30% increase in sales margins and a significant increase in profits. Applying insights from the same body of research the Business School has also assisted NE-based companies TASS and Modrec (through different KTPs) to implement successful business and brand development as well as product and market diversification strategies and helped Sunderland City Council (SCC) develop their branding tools and values.
University of Reading research produced a tool to measure the key drivers of stakeholder behaviour. This has been applied in a wide range of situations — notably when organisations have set out to improve relationships with stakeholders in complex and potentially high risk situations.
Four examples are given here.
This interdisciplinary research work in the areas of Knowledge Management (KM), e-Business, enterprise systems, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Supply Chain Management resulted in socio economic impact through improved organisational performance in 90 companies in the North West, resulting in process improvements, enhanced productivity, marketability, increased revenues, employment, reduced costs, enhanced knowledge capital, profitability, and sustainability. This positive regional impact included an ERDF funded project (£1.4m), 5 KTPs (£500,000), an ESRC project, and other bespoke collaborative company projects. This research work in collaboration with industry encompassed a knowledge sharing regional network that included BAE Systems, Daimler, Northwest Aerospace Alliance, APPH Group — BBA Aviation, Hyquip Limited, Alliance Learning Limited, Darts Corner Limited etc.
This case study demonstrates how the application of GRBOM has been used to deliver a national e-student system. Key impacts include:
Building on research in integrated information systems and their impact on organisational culture, Newcastle Business School (NBS), via a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP 8193), assisted Inpipe Products (IPP) to increase its operational efficiency and turnover. IPP is a world leading company in the design, manufacture, supply and rental of pipeline maintenance equipment for the global oil and gas industry. The KTP explored and developed the cultural environment for successful implementation of an integrated information system. The result for the company is improved operational efficiency, with the processing time for products from sales to engineered drawings reduced from five hours to 15 minutes, a reduction in late deliveries due to better information on product specification and a 14% reduction in rejected products. Product sales turnover has increased from £5.5 million to £6 million per year.
In the wake of a series of terrorist attacks (e.g. 9/11, the London bombings of 2005), there has been an increased awareness of the importance of governmental, organisational and civil society's preparedness for responding to major catastrophic events. Dr Sullivan-Taylor's research examines risk and resilience management of extreme events by taking a practice-based point of view that seeks to integrate private and public sector management. As a result of the research, policy-makers have a more robust evidence base to draw on and individual organisations are better placed to ensure their own resilience through improved business planning.
The Change Management Consortium (CMC) is a collaborative network of academics and organizations seeking to improve knowledge and practice on staff engagement in the strategic implementation of change. Research done at the University of Bath has helped organizational members of the CMC internally to improve employee trust and to build commitment to change. The CMC provides member organizations (including: Aviva, Ernst & Young, GKN, GlaxoSmithKline, Kraft Foods, the Ministry of Defence and T-Mobile) with opportunities to utilise highly relevant research findings in order to create cross-organizational dialogues on improving practice. The broad aim of the research is to move from strategies for change based on alignment with management requirements, to strategies for change informed by employee engagement. One of the CMC members, Her Majesty's Revenue and Custom's (HMRC) provides a specific case example of the benefits of this research, which led to acknowledged improvements in trust and employee engagement.
This case study focuses upon research surrounding knowledge management (KM) practice and implementation (organisational change). The case study utilises research and impact from the Systems Thinking and Organisational Change Research Group (SYTOC), which existed in Derby Business School between 2007 and 2012.
Impact included enhanced business process and practice for many organisations through the significant dissemination of the research. The core group of SYTOC includes Longbottom, Dexter, Marshall and Seddon, visiting professor and a leading authority on change in the public sector.
Loughborough University research into the threats and opportunities presented by the growth of shared service centres has directly influenced the strategies and practices of a wide range of organisations confronted by changes in the provision of business support services. It has influenced the educational policy of the world's largest professional body of its kind, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, which has acknowledged the work as "an exemplar" that has had a "profound effect" on the industry. Through a pioneering forum for sharing business knowledge, it has also helped to shape the working methods of global companies, including Rolls-Royce, national organisations, including the Post Office, and numerous SMEs and new firms.
Research at the University of Manchester, focusing on process systems in advanced architecture for large systems, has enabled the development and successful implementation of the Salford Process Reengineering Involving New Technology (SPRINT) method within Salford City Council. SPRINT is a change and innovation method tailored to the needs of the public sector. Having been adopted as the standard for all Local Authorities in 2004, the SPRINT methodology aided Salford City Council in achieving savings of £20M by 2011. It has been further used in projects in Education and Housing where it has delivered cost savings of £0.5M.