Engaging In Knowledge Transfer And Renewal

The University in general and MMUBS in particular, provide a great resource for research and capacity building in organisations, particularly the Centre for Professional Personnel and Development within which research tends to be applied and of direct use to practitioners in the field. There are many ways in which you and/or your organisation can participate in or commission research, some of these are outlined below. For further information or just a discussion of your ideas or requirements please email cppd@mmu.ac.uk or call 0161 247 3958.

Research On-line – keep up to date with some of the recent research at MMUBS by accessing the Working Paper Series and the HRM and OB Research Seminar Programme

Short Projects – we have full and part time MAHRM and MA International HRM students that are available to conduct short consultancy projects between April and September every year. The size and scope of the project would be dependent on needs, but generally these are small projects targeted at a specific issue: absence management; the evaluation and redesign of a training programme; assessing the impact of a new piece of legislation on HR practice; and the design of a specific bonus scheme are all examples of recent short projects. This is usually a no cost option although any expenses incurred, such as travel on behalf of the organisation, must be covered.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships – these are initiatives specifically targeted at building ‘bottom line’ capability and are 40% funded in the case of organisations of more than 250 employees and 60% funded for those with below 250 employees . A Research Associate works in the organisation for four and a half days a week for a period of two to three years on a specific project aimed at improving the long term strategic capability of the business. A recent example includes: managing changing work processes and their impact on people. The Partnership also receives academic consultancy support of a minimum of 25 days per year for the duration of the project, and the financial support extends to associate training and development, equipment and consumables, and travel and subsistence. There is joint recruitment and supervision of the Research Associate

Research Council and European Union Funded Research Partnerships – bids for funding can be submitted at anytime to the relevant Research Council, and for European funding when there is a specific calls for bids. Both require some organisation contribution to the costs but this can be in the form of matched funding such as management time or services and therefore not always a monetary contribution.

European Union funded research is usually centred on the objectives of the various funding bodies such as the European Social Fund or the European Regional Development Fund but these are often areas of specific interest to HR. A recent example is the development of the ‘Breakthrough’ project – this is an interactive piece of software which diagnoses equal opportunity legal compliance on gender within the workplace. For further information on this particular project go to the Breakthrough website

Research Council bids are very difficult to win with a success rate of about 25%. Having an organisational partner that is contributing to the some of the costs, again this can be via matched funding, substantially increases the possibility of success as does the collaboration of several universities. Becoming a partner offers some control over the objectives, the scope and direction of the research and the interpretation of the findings. An example of a Research Council funded major project involving a number of universities is ‘The Evolution of Business Knowledge’.  This examines the way in which business organisations acquire and apply knowledge in pursuit of competitive advantage More information can be found at  www.ebkresearch.org    A further, smaller example is ‘Disability and Trade Unions’  This project studies the representation of workers with regard to disability in the workplace. Further information on this research will be available towards the end of 2006.

Commissioning and Consultancy – a wide range of expertise is available within the CPPD to undertake both consultancy and commissioned (fully funded) research. This is research undertaken to meet your specific needs either within the organisation or on a more general basis. Areas of specialist interest include:

• HR Strategy, organisational development and change
• The changing role of HR and the HR function
• Management Development
• Leadership and team building
• Reward
• Equality and diversity
• Psychological contract
• Employee representation
• Employee voice and the employment relationship
• Employee commitment
• Employee retention
• Employment Law and its impact on practice
• Organisational Learning and Knowledge Management
• Human Resource Development

If you would like to discuss commissioning research contact us at cppd@mmu.ac.uk.

Consultation Panel – the CPPD is constructing a panel of organisations from all sectors to engage in research generally. Joining the panel would mean participating in research in a wide range of HR and related fields by granting interviews, completing questionnaires and other forms of enquiry from time to time. Contact would be managed through the CPPD and all participating organisations would receive a copy of the research findings and recommendations in which they had participated. This offers a useful means of participating in and learning about the latest development in HR.

Chinese Managers Trained in the Business School

Following our success in winning the bid to run the EU- China Managers Exchange and Training Programme (METP), the first cohort of 38 carefully selected Chinese Managers arrived on 1st September to take part in a two week intensive management training programme designed and led by the Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour Division.

Further Information >>