About
I am a lecturer in accounting based in the Business School. I teach engineering management, introductory accounting, and business/accounting history.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Accounting History
- Business and Transport History
- Industrial Policy
- Archive-based research
Current research
My research is focused on the history of management information in decision making. I have an ongoing interest in the history of the supply chain and rail transportation, but more recently have focused on the nature of government intervention in business through industrial policy. I have used material from the National Archives to explore the history of the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation in the 1960s and more recently the changing management culture of London Transport, with Dr James Fowler.
All my research involves the use of archive-based evidence, and I am interested in using history as a method to facilitate organisational learning.
Research projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
I am interested in developing archive materiel for educational purposes as case studies illustrating decision making and this is reflected in my teaching. I am involved in the supervision of final year dissertations and some individual projects. I teach on FEEG 2006 engineering management and law, and MANG 3065 Information, Organisation and Accountability from a Historical Perspective. This module uses a historical perspective and archival based case studies to explore management decision making.
Biography
I worked at the Ministry of Defence Procurement Executive and the Lord Chancellors Department before attending the London School of Economics in 1988 for my BSc Econ and Phd. I started at the University of Southampton in September 1999.
I have been involved with Dr Kevin Tennent (University of York) in establishing the Management and Business History track at the British Academy of Management (BAM), and the eventual establishing of a Special Interest Group in Business and management History.
I sat on the Executive of the Business Archives Council, (BAC) for 12 years, organising the BAC Wadsworth Prize for British Business History, and working to promote the preservation and use of business archives.
I was a co-founder of A2SN (Archive and Artefact Study Network) and was involved in the organisation of several workshops in a variety of locations including City of London Corporation at the London Metropolitan Archives, the Port of London Authority archives at the Museum of London in Dockyards and Ironbridge Gorge Museum. The object of these events was to create networking opportunities between academics, heritage professionals and enthusiasts, with the aim of informing exhibitions etc and encouraging the use of archival material in both research and teaching.