Projects, Operations and Workplace Management Research Group

Making a positive impact on businesses, economy and social environments

We are working on cutting-edge national and international research that applies projects, operations and workplace management to meet the challenges faced by organisations in the 21st century.

Our research group develops solutions for the ever-growing challenges in projects, operations and workplace management and suggests alternative ways to improve organisational performance. We are a group of highly skilled and experienced staff with a broad range of knowledge, who not only have an academic reputation but are also closely linked to industry and professional bodies. Our aim is to really make a difference to how organisations are managed in the future.

Our expertise

Our research covers a broad range of themes:

• Project Management

Examining how alternative project management (PM) methods, such as lean, contribute to performance at the project and organisational levels.  Understanding the impact of psycho-social and relational factors on how project managers cope and perform. Using new techniques, including big data and data mining, to analyse performance against various indicators, such as sustainability.  Developing PM approaches to meet the challenges of delivering projects successfully.

• Performance Measurement and Management

Examining environmental and social sustainability performance in global supply chains.

Working with voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations to evidence impact.

• Workplace and Facilities Management

Investigating how to align the physical and virtual work environment with an organisation’s culture and ethos to help people work to their full potential.

Our publications

Search publications from the academics within this research group.

Our research grants

Current funded projects

“ Being Lean and Seen: Meeting the Challenges of Delivering Projects Successfully in the 21st Century” Prof David Bryde – Lead Coordinator, , European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE), €328,500, , 2017-2020

Asia Research Network on Integration of Global and Local Agri-Food Supply Chains Towards Sustainable Food Security (GOLF) Dr Joanna Qu, European Union Horizon 2020 Marie-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE), €126,000, 2018 to 2022

“Capturing and Evaluating Individual and Social Factors that Influence Critical Project Decisions” Dr Natalie Marguet, Association of Project Management  £5,000, 2018-2019

“The project-focused firm’s knowledge network and sustainability” Dr Azar Shahgholian and Prof David Bryde, Association of Project Management, £5,000, 2019-2020

“Establishing and creating a Return on Workplace tool (RoW) for organisations to make return on investment decisions regarding workplace changes” Dr Matthew Tucker and Dr Hannah Wilson,, Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM), £5,610, 2019-2020

Recently completed funded projects

“Strategies for Dealing with Difficult Stakeholders” Prof David Bryde,  Dr Christine Unterhitzenberger (University of Lancaster), Dr Hannah Wilson, Roger Joby  Association of Project Management  £5,000, , 2017-2018

“Project EVE: Earned Value Evaluation” Prof David Bryde and Roger Joby, Association of Project Management, £5,000, 2016-2017

Our staff

Full Research Group Members

PhD Candidates

Jane Dowson - "Lean Project Management and Organisational Learning: an exploratory study in complex project environments"

Lena Pauli - "Utilizing Blockchain Technology for Infrastructure Project Management"

Sophie Reeves-Morris - "What are the antecedents and consequences of digital exclusion from smartphone technology on young children within peer groups, schools and families"

Mohamed Masaud - "Identifying critical success factors for the introduction of sustainability in the Libyan construction industry"

Paul Schmitter - "Artificial Intelligence in Facility Management: Strategic Guidance for a Disruptive Technology"

Joshua Negedu - "An exploration of public procurement as instrument for sustainable development: North-central geopolitical zone in Nigeria"

Rasheed Onakoya - "Risk Analysis of Transport Logistics Networks - The Case of Agri-Food Products"

DBA Candidates

Ali Alfarsi – "Achieving excellence through business process re-engineering: Creating a financial case for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company"

Mariam Alhendi – "A study of creativity and innovation in Abu Dhabi National Oil and Gas Company"

Amer Al Mahri – "Knowledge creation and sharing across public sector organisations"

Mohamed Alsuwaidi – "Measuring excellence of Government protocol: A case of the UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs"

Ali Altamimi – "The impact of organisational structure on organisation effectiveness in a software industry"

Joseph Anwyll – "Observing senior management behaviour under highly stressed conditions"

Hannes Endriss – "Optimising architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) supply chains in the second tier through digitalisation"

David Kirk – "Exploring the role of intellectual capital management in the strategic development of enterprise engagement within a higher education research centre"

Ralf Schulmeister – "The integration of lean practice into the role of the project manager"

Mike Swain – "Do internal communication strategies effectively enable organisational internal stakeholder engagement?"

Anthony Gibson - "The impact of organisational culture on the ability to deliver enduring change: a case for high risk industries

Paul Growney - "The role of performance management in third sector organisations delivering suicide prevention services"

Ahmed Almansoori - "The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Organisational Performance (in the government sector of Abu Dhabi)"

Patrice O'Reilly-Duffy - "How can agile talent management play a strategic role in addressing the skills gap in the Irish hospitality Industry?"

Amer Al Mahri - "Knowledge creation and sharing across public sector organisations"

Yu Shin Gan - "Sustainable Development amongst SMEs"

Eid Jaber Mufleh Hamad Alhajeri  - "The contribution of leadership in developing disaster preparedness and response mechanisms: a case study on the organizational changes and reforms of the UAE emergency sector"

Alia Darwish - "Smart Government Management"

Mohamed Alsuwaidi - "Measuring excellence of Government protocol: a case of the UAE Ministry of Presedential Affairs"

Carol Laing - "A framework of excellence for retrofitting of existing properties within the social housing sector"

Dorothy Bird - "Experiential marketing and the Wild Atlantic Way: developing a framework for practitioners"

Margarete Hetmanczyk - "What Role Do Humans Play in Effective Procurement Strategy in Relation to the Internet of Things"

Visiting Professors/Research Fellows:

Prof Rob Gandy – Visiting Professor

Prof Rob Gandy is based on Merseyside, UK.  He worked as a management consultant and regularly managed projects which included the North Mersey Future Healthcare Project, and a major R&D project on the quantification and optimisation of the aseptic preparation of medicines. During his NHS career Rob led many large projects which included Care In The Community programmes for the placement of large numbers of people suffering from mental illness and learning difficulties, and the National Estate Utilisation Project to establish how to concentrate Walton and Fazakerley hospitals' services on to one site.

Roger Joby – Visiting Research Fellow

Roger Joby is a project management consultant and trainer in the pharmaceutical industry based in Berkshire, UK. He has a vast amount of experience in this area and has been a driving force to develop project management in his industry. His research interest is stakeholder management and he has various publications in this area in collaboration with Prof David Bryde and with other members of the research group

Simon Taylor – Visiting Research Fellow

Simon Taylor is a founder of the 3^rd Curve, a Project Management consultancy based in London, UK. Simon Taylor has extensive experience working and consulting on major high profile infrastructure projects, such as CrossRail.  He is interested in how project management research can be disseminated to practitioners and utilised to enhance project delivery.  He has been active in the Association of Project Management in promoting the role of research and acted as the Association’s Research Champion for one of the funded projects completed by group members.

Prof Claus Nesensohn – Visiting Research Fellow

Professor Claus Nesensohn is the founder and CEO of Refine Projects AG based in Stuttgart, Germany and a leading expert in all matters related to Lean. He is a Professor in HFT Stuttgart – University of Applied Sciences.  He completed his PhD at LJMU on the topic of “An Innovative Framework for Assessing Lean Construction Maturity”. He is a partner in our RISE “Being Lean and Seen” project.

Dr Ernawati Mustafa Kamal – Visiting Research Fellow

Dr Ernawati Mustafa Kamal is a Senior Lecturer at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia and her research areas are innovation in construction organisation, absorptive capacity as well as technology and knowledge transfer. She is a partner in our RISE “Being Lean and Seen” project.

Maria Amaya Perez Ezcurdia – Visiting Research Fellow

Maria Ezcurdia is a Senior Lecturer in Project Management at the University of Navarre, Pamplona, Spain and is collaborating with group members working on the RISE “Being Lean and Seen” project.

Contact us

For all enquiries please email: Professor Claire Hannibal