Cranfield School of Management

Pre-Cranfield background

Prior to academia, I worked in managementpositions at headquarters and in subsidiaries of multinational corporationsin eight countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Most of mymanagerial career was spent in finance, marketing and strategy positionsin the mobile communications industry.

During my practitioner career, I experiencedfirst-hand the challenges of managing multinational corporations whichlead to my research programme on strategy in multinationals.

Why I chose Cranfield

With a background as a manager, itwas logical to select a school with a strong reputation for applied researchand a close relationship with industry. I wanted to be in an environmentwhere a majority of faculty members and doctoral students had prior workexperience outside of academia. In addition, I was looking for a flexibleprogram where I would have the opportunity to develop my own researchagenda. Against this background, Cranfield fit the bill perfectly.

My experience at Cranfield

A key advantage at Cranfield is thesize of the programme - faculty members have always got time to help you.

I also had a great time interactingwith my fellow doctoral students on both the PhD and the DBA programmes.After a number of years in industry, it felt like a great privilege toreturn to school to become a student again. A majority of doctoral studentshad left corporate careers which meant that many of us shared similarbackgrounds and aspirations.

Cranfield also has great facilities.The library is a fantastic resource, staffed with librarians who reallygo out of their way to support doctoral students.

Final word

Doing a doctorate is a major investmentand selecting the right school is a crucial decision. Cranfieldoffers an outstanding environment for those who want to engage with thereal world of management practice rather than withdraw to the comfortsof an academic ivory tower. At Cranfield, you will also become anentrepreneur responsible for developing your own research agenda. Thisallows you to shape your own career and to pursue opportunities that interestyou.

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Pre-Cranfield background

Before joining the Cranfield PhD Ihad spent 18 years in industry across most functions and several industries.Despite my enjoyment of leading business, I wanted something more fromlife and made a transition from the world of business to the world ofeducation by joining the Irish Management Institute as a strategy specialist.Once you have decided to work in education it is clear that you need atop quality PhD, and so the search began.

Why I chose Cranfield

For me there are three critical aspectsto consider when choosing a PhD location. First, the quality and reputationof the supervisor, both in terms of their academic reputation/capabilityand their ability to relate and work with the student. Second, the school’sability to develop your research skills. Third, the reputation of theschool in the community in which you want to work.

For me the decision was easy onceI sorted that out. I was honoured when Professors Andrew Kakabadseand Nada Kakabadse offered to supervise my work. The research methodologycourse that Cranfield offered is, in my opinion, the global benchmarkfor research training, and the school is one of only a handful in theworld that is respected as a leader by both the academic establishmentand the practitioner community. In hindsight the criterion I hadn’tconsidered, but now know to be crucial, is "Do they have a processthat will actually help me to progress through and finish the PhD?"It took me four years part-time, so that box was also ticked.

My experience at Cranfield

The culture of the academic community at Cranfield is a wonderful blend,bringing together pursuit of excellence with support and encouragement.At a structural level the research methodology course is probably themost outstanding element of the programme. It is a privilege to have hadthe chance to engage with the expert researchers who taught it but inaddition to this it gave me friends, colleagues and collaborators thatI am still in touch with today. Doing a PhD is, by it’s nature,a relatively solitary endeavour - part-time it is even more so.Nevetheless the Research Office who organise the regular forums to gettogether with fellow students and faculty gave me a sense of connectionwith the University that I still cherish. My personal experience of thesupervision at Cranfield stands out as the great personal gain, in Andrewand Nada I got supervisors, mentors, and now colleagues and friends -you couldn’t really ask for more.

Life after Cranfield

Having an award-winning PhD from Cranfieldcertainly hasn’t stunted my career. Soon after I graduated I becamehead of executive education at the Trinity-IMI Graduate School of Managementand I have recently moved to the National University of Ireland as Headof Business and Law. But it is more than the mark on the CV, it is thesense of achievement - a PhD acquired from a prestigious institution- that gives me an inner confidence.

Final word

If you have a passion for excellencein research there isn’t another place on the planet that would bemore hospitable to you.

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Other academic appointments

Lecturer, London School of Economics& Political Science (Summers 2003-7)

Pre-Cranfield background

MBA, Norwegian School of Economics& Business Administration - Fulbright Scholar; Accenture.

Why I chose Cranfield

I chose Cranfield because of theirtwinned foci on research rigour and relevance to practice; also, the excellentopportunities for collaboration with faculty, and, not least, the abilityit gave me to balance my studies with the rest of my life - at that time,I was running in the English ultradistance team.

Final word

For me, the value of the Cranfieldexperience lies in its holistic approach to management education, theopportunities for international collaborations, and the lifelong friendshipsI made with faculty and students.

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Pre-Cranfield background

I was formerly the Director of IntellectualCapital at AIT Group plc. This followed a career based in the Army andthe computer industry. I spent the first five years of my career in theRoyal Army Educational Corps, teaching, consulting on and implementingcomputer systems throughout the British Army. On leaving the Army andsuccessfully completing an MSc in Computer Science at Imperial College,London, I then gained valuable experience working in commercial trainingroles for both SCO and Cap Gemini. In 1996 I moved to AIT as TrainingManager and joined the Group Board in 1997 as the Director of IntellectualCapital. In this role I was instrumental at looking at how the companycould work smarter and profit from utilising its Intellectual Capitalto gain competitive advantage.

In the early part of the new millenniumI became more involved with measuring and reporting on the intellectualcapital within and outside of AIT. This aspect of measuring business performancebecame a real interest and having already successfully published a technicalUNIX book and an FT Executive Briefing on Intellectual Capital I decidedthat I would like to investigate more fully the issue of measuring themore intangible nature of businesses.

Cashing in on the dot com boom I leftfull time corporate life to pursue my doctorate.

Why I chose Cranfield

After considering a number of institutionsI decided to study at Cranfield because it was the only university thatappeared to be grounded in the reality of the business world and containedthe internationally recognised research group - the Centrefor Business Performance.

My experience at Cranfield

Working for my doctorate at Cranfieldwas not only challenging and thought provoking but also extremely enjoyable.Rubbing shoulders with world-class colleagues and like-minded individualswas incredibly inspiring. Having the backup of excellent support staff- that I was unused to from my two other university experiences - I wasable to complete my PhD in a reasonable time, with the rarity of no corrections!

Final word

Completing my doctorate opened upnumerous other doors for consultancy work and for other non-executivedirectorships. Having escaped the full-on corporate life my doctorateenabled me to have a more relaxed and eclectic lifestyle. Having boughta house in France I now use my academic background to consult, directand teach at various organisations. One piece of work that has resulteddirectly from my PhD is to have been asked to create and manage the MScin Managing Organisational Performance at Cranfield. This, and some teachingon executive courses, has enabled me to maintain my ties with the Centrefor Business Performance and the great friends that I have created alongmy journey.

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