Dr Paul Forrester

Programme Leader for MSc Engineering Management

Chester Business School
p.forrester@chester.ac.uk
Dr Paul Forrester

An experienced researcher, educationalist and practitioner with over 40 years’ experience of working in and with industry, and over 30 years teaching in prestigious UK Business Schools including MBA and MSc programme Directorships.

Paul holds a BSc and PhD in Production Systems Design from Aston University. He has early experience in production management and R&D, and as an Industrial Research Fellow in the textiles, electronics, automotive and ceramics industries. He was also an ESRC Management Teaching Fellow.

Paul joined Chester Business School in March 2022 having previously worked at Keele University (1991-1999 and 2013-2020), University of Birmingham (2002-2013) and Aston Business School (1999-2002). Paul has spent significant periods of time working as Director of MBA Programmes and has been delivering teaching in Business Schools on prestigious programmes since 1988. Most of his teaching has been in Executive, Masters, and Post-experience education. He has an extensive research and publications record in his specialised fields of operations and supply management, work organisation and comparative international management.

  • Strategic Supply Chain Management
  • Strategic Project Management
  • Managing Innovation
  • Product, Process Design
  • Work Organisation
  • Supervision of Masters Dissertations

Paul has an extensive research career and publications list. He is also an experienced PhD supervisor, having successfully supervised 13 doctoral students to completion.  His main field of research interest is the design and organisation of operations and supply networks. Specific themes include critical and reflective studies of process design, quality management, project management, and the management of international operations. Paul also has an interest in cross-cultural and virtual working, and teaching pedagogies in this field of comparative international management.

Books

Essential Guide to Operations Management: Concepts and Case Notes, John Wiley and Sons: Chichester, 2010, 216pp (with DR Bamford) – currently being updated for new version, to be published in 2022/23.

Market-Focused Production Systems: Design and Implementation, Prentice-Hall, Hemel Hempstead, 1993, 398pp (with D J Bennett).

Book Chapters

Virtual Business Projects in the Classroom: Enhancing Intercultural and Business Skills of Students.  Chapter 35 in M A Gonzalez-Perez, K Lynden and V Taras (Eds) The Handbook of Learning and Teaching International Business and Management.  Palgrave MacMillan: New York, 2019, pp.747-768 (with J Bleicher, A Honal and E Velinov).

Manufacturing Management in Theory and Practice. Chapter 1 in J R Bryson, J Clark and V Vanchan (Eds.) Handbook of Manufacturing Industries in the World Economy.  Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, Mass, USA, 2015.

BPR and TQM: Divergence or Convergence? Chapter in D Knights and H Willmott The Reengineering Revolution, Sage: London, 2000 (with M L Kelemen and J S Hassard).

The Politics or Management in People’s China: From CMRS to Modern Enterprise. Chapter in M Warner China’s Managerial Revolution, 1999.

What do Chinese Manufacturing Managers Do?  Chapter in J Child and D Brown Management Issues in China, Routledge: London, 1996.

Journal Articles

“The Leadership Criterion: Challenges in Pursuing Excellence in the Jordanian Public Sector”  TQM Journal, Vol.28, No. 2, 2016 (with S.T. Aladwan).

“Partial and Iterative Lean Implementation: Two Case Studies” International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Vol.35, No.5, pp702-72, 2015 (with D.R. Bamford, B. Dehe and R.G. Leese).

"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).  Vol 23, No.2, 2012.

"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.

“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), Volume 21, Number 7, 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, Volume 14, Number 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, Vol.23, No.5, pp.546-64, 2003 (with D R Bamford).

"A Model for Evaluating the Degree of Leanness of Manufacturing Firms", Integrated Manufacturing Systems, Vol.13, No.2, pp.104-109, 2002 (with H Soriano-Meier).

"Reforming Management Education: Learning from the Moldovan Experience", Economic and Business Review, Vol.2, No.4, pp.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, Vol.1, Nos.4/5, 2001 (with J S Hassard).

"Supply Network Management in the UK Tableware Industry. “British Ceramics Transactions, Vol.100, No.2, pp.86-89, 2001 (with M Day and J Burnett).

"Technological Innovation Antecedents in the UK Ceramics Industry", International Journal of Production Economics, Vol.65, No.1, pp.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, Vol. 65, no.1, pp.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, Vol.23, Nos.4/5, 2000 (with G Forrester and J S Hassard).

“Agile Supply: Rethinking Systems Thinking, Systems Practice”, International Journal of Agile Manufacturing Systems, Vol.2, No.3, pp.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, Vol.5, Nos.3/4, pp.47-72, 1999 (with R S Porter)

“Flexibility and the Industrial Network of the Stoke-on-Trent Tableware Industry”,  Management Research News, Vol. 21: 2/3, 1998 (with M Day, J Burnett and J S Hassard).

“Process Technology: New Wine in Old Bottles”, British Ceramic Transactions, Vol.97, No.2 pp.77-83, 1997.

“Deskilling and reskilling within the labour process: the case of computer integrated manufacturing”, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 52, No. 3, 1997, pp.317-325 (with A Agnew, JS Hassard and SJ Procter).

“Organizational Growth Demands Concurrent Engineering”, Integrated Manufacturing Systems, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1997, pp.29-35 (with NKH Tang and O Jones).

”Manufacturing Reform and the State: the Case of the Chinese Steel Industry”, Management Research News, Vol. 20, Nos 2/3, 1997, pp.48-49 (with J Sheehan, JS Hassard, J Morris, RS Porter, X Yuxin).

“Strategic and Organizational Adaptation in CIM Systems Development”, International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Vol.3, No.2 , 1997, (with JS Hassard)

“Manufacturing Reform and the State: The Case of the Chinese Steel Industry”, Management Research News, 1996, 20, 2/3 (with J Sheehan, J S Hassard, J Morris and Xiao Yuxin).

"A Computer Integrated Manufacturing Programmed Learning Environment"  Integrated Manufacturing Systems, 1995, 6, 2 (with C Hawksley and N K H Tang).

"Product Variety and Just-in-Time: Conflict and Challenge", International Journal of Logistics Management, 5, 1, 1994 (with D J Bennett).

"Flexibility, Politics and Strategy: In Defence of the Model of the Flexible Firm", Work, Employment and Society, 1994, 8, 2, 221-42 (with L McArdle, S Procter, J S Hassard and M Rowlinson).

"Performance Related Pay in Operation: A Case Study from the Electronics Industry", Human Resource Management Journal, 1993, 3, 4, 60-74 (with S J Procter, M Rowlinson, L McArdle and J S Hassard).

"Integrating Product-Process Design Using Value Analysis", Integrated Manufacturing Systems, 1993, 3, 4 (with K S Pawar).

"Market-Driven Strategies and Flexible Production Systems Design: Evidence from the Electronics Industry", International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 1992, 12, 2, 25-37 (with D J Bennett and J S Hassard).

"The CAPM/CAE Interface within CIM System Approaches in Medium Sized Companies", Computer-Controlled Engineering Journal, 1992, 3, 75-81 (with J S Hassard).

"Flexibility Revisited: A Temporal Analysis of the Introduction of Flexibility", Management Research News, 1992, 15, 5/6 (with S J Procter, L McArdle, M Rowlinson and J S Hassard).

"The DRAMA Methodology for Analysing Strategy and its Links with Production Systems Design" (with D J Bennett), International Journal of Technology Management, 1991, 6, 3/4, 261-75.

"Who Wants Harmonisation?: Image and Reality in Single Status Working", Personnel Review, 1991, 20, 5, 27-33 (with M Rowlinson and J S Hassard).

"The Changing Face of Industrial Democracy: Evidence from the UK Electronics Industry", Management Research News, 1991, 14, 10 (with L McArdle, J S Hassard and S Procter).

"An Application of Decision Process Modelling to Manufacturing Systems Design", OMEGA: The International Journal of Management Science, 1990, 18, 1, 23-33 (with D Bennett and J S Hassard).

"Who Wants Harmonisation?" Management Research News, 1990, 13, 8 (with M Rowlinson and J S Hassard).

Recent Conference Papers

“Strategies for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Multinational Enterprise Subsidiaries.” British Academy of Management conference “In The Cloud”, Manchester, 2-4 Sept 2020 (E Boadu, P Forrester and Z Robinson).  Track on Sustainable and Responsible Business.

“Operations Management Intervention? Evidence of impact in public and private sectors.”  European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference, Warwick, 29-30 July, 2020 (online) (D R Bamford, I Reid, P L Forrester, B Dehe, J Bamford and M Papalexi).

“The Effect of Distributed Leadership in the Relationship between Flat Organization Structure and Company Performance.” 45th European International Business Academy (EIBA) Conference, Leeds, 13-15 December 2019 (E Velinov, P L Forrester and J Bleicher). Track on People and Culture.

"University impact?  Evidencing operations management knowledge transfer"  Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) International Conference, Brighton, 2-4 September 2019 (D R Bamford, I Reid, P L Forrester, B Dehe, J Bamford and M Papalexi).

“New approaches for Learning Analytics and Business Projects as Learning Enhancers for Students”.  Annual Academy of Management Meeting.  Boston, USA, 9-13 August 2019 (A Honal, P L Forrester, J Bleicher and A Jaensch).  Teaching and Learning Conference.

“Knowledge Transfer and Industry Impact?”  Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) Annual Conference.  Washington DC, USA, 2-6 May, 2019 (D R Bamford, I Reid, P L Forrester, B Dehe, J Bamford and M Papalexi). Empirical Research in Operations Management” track.

“Where is the competitive edge in Knowledge Transfer?”  32nd British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference, Bristol, 4-6 September, 2018  (D R Bamford, I Reid, P L Forrester, B Dehe, J Bamford and M Papalexi).

“Innovative Business Projects as an Enabler to Enhance Intercultural and Management Skills of Students”.  24th International Academy of Management and Business (IAMB) Conference, Dubai, 9-11 October, 2017.  (A Honal, L Seiler, N Buerger, P L Forrester, J Bleicher and M Wakeham).

“Where is the competitive edge in Knowledge Transfer? The impact of KTPs.”  22nd European Operations Management Association (EUROMA) Conference, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 26 June–1 July, 2015. (D R Bamford, P L Forrester, I Reid and B Dehe).

  • BSc Hons
  • PhD