Dr Alistair Norman

Dr Alistair Norman

Profile

Qualifications

2002-2009  - University of Leeds - PhD Management
(Part time) PhD examining the impact of mobile technologies on the work of front line uniformed police officers in a UK Police Force. 

2005  -  APM Group - PRINCE2 Practitioner
PRINCE 2 Foundation and Practitioner qualifications

2001-2002  -  Salford University - MSc Information Systems (Dist.) Information systems, including a dissertation on the implementation of, and reaction to, mobile computers in a UK Police Force. 

1986-1990  - UMIST -  MSc Management Sciences
(Part time)  Management science; undertaken as a conversion course to support management role in employment.  Dissertation examining the use of Soft Systems methodologies in UK vocational curriculum development. 

1985-1987 -  University of Manchester  -  PG Cert Ed. (Dist.)
(Part time) Postgraduate Teaching qualification for learning and teaching in Further and Higher Education. 

1983 -1985 -  City & Guilds - FETC (730) (Dist.)
(Part time) Teaching qualification aimed at teachers new to the Further Education sector.  

1979-1982 -  University of Central Lancashire -  BA (Hons.) Law
Law degree with an emphasis on social and family law.

Experience

2003 - Date  - Leeds University Business School I joined AIMTech  in 2003 as a researcher and latterly operated as programmes manager for the Group with Project and Programme management responsibility. The bulk of my research work over the last eight years has been information management based and public safety related; including evaluation projects for specific Police Forces, Fire and Rescue Services, and Ambulance Trusts as well as policy level work for the NPIA and DCLG among others. These projects have mainly been concerned with the impact of mobile technologies on the information and work practices of the organisations and the end users of the technologies concerned. I have also completed projects in the public safety / information context during this time for commercial organisations including Airwave, Centrica,  Sungard Vivista, O2, and Steljes plc. I  have presented papers and talks on the use of mobile technologies in public safety at academic and practitioner conferences including BAPCO, MOBIS, ISIC and IIRMT. Teaching includes full time and Executive MBA Programmes as well as the MSc in Management, and undergraduate programmes in both Management and Information Management. I also co-ordinate and teach the International Corporate Leadership Program 2 module as a collaboration between the Business School and the Faculty of Engineering  (originally via the Keyworth Institute).  

1995 - 2002 -  Director,  Nte Associates 
Working as a  consultant assisting educational organisations, primarily outside the UK, to develop the management and project management capability to deliver UK vocational and academic qualifications from Level 2 to Level 5. I was also involved in the delivery of QA services for UK awarding bodies including Edexcel and City & Guilds, as well as a range of UK  Universities. I worked directly for Edexcel International, including acting as External Verifier to NVQ Level 4 & 5 in Business, Management, Training & Development, and Education. I was heavily involved in the deployment and use of information technology and mobile technologies in teaching and learning with clients including the Jordanian Ministry of Education, Dubai Polytechnic, Emirates Airlines and Greenwich Hospital A&E Department.

1983 - 1995 - Posts to Head of Faculty,  UK FEIs and HEIs
I became  a Lecturer  in Law in 1983 after working in hospitality management in the private sector and progressed through a range of posts to the position of Head of Faculty of Business, Management and Leisure. During this time I taught programmes from Level 2 to Level 4; initially with a legal emphasis and then with a management  perspective; and developed management responsibility for QA systems in the college environment as well as within Edexcel, City & Guilds and local TECs. I was involved with HEI programmes (BABS Programmes, HNC/D Business,  and Tourism Management) both as a Lecturer and as a Manager.  

Research interests

The bulk of my research work  has been information management based and public safety related; including evaluation projects for specific Police Forces, Fire and Rescue Services, and Ambulance Trusts as well as policy level work for PITO,  NPIA  and DCLG.  These projects have mainly been concerned with the impact of mobile technologies on the information and work practices of the organisations and the end users of the technologies concerned. I have presented papers and talks on the use of mobile technologies in public safety at academic and practitioner conferences including BAPCO, ACPO, MOBIS, ISIC and IIRMT. I have worked, individually and with colleagues, on numerous  projects in the public safety / information  context during this time including:

- NPIA / PITO two national surveys of police forces and their use of mobile data.         

- DCLG knowledge management in fire and rescue services.         

- Airwave survey of police forces for the report Future of the Force.         

- Centrica evaluation of information flows in call centre management .         

- Sungard Vivista report on the development and delivery of command and control in public safety.         

- O2 a series of case studies of the implementation of secure communications .         

- Project NOMAD development and delivery of mobile data and working in local government.         

- Steljes plc.  an examination of the use of SmartBoards in briefing  police officers.         

- Projects for specific police forces including Surrey, Sussex, Strathclyde, Staffordshire, Humberside, Kent, West Yorkshire and Lancashire.

Student education

The bulk of my teaching is in the area of information systems development and futures. 

Research groups and institutes

  • Adaptation Information Management and Technology

Current postgraduate researchers