Portsmouth Business School

Profile

Nick Capon

(i)  Teaching interests: Nick lectures in the area of enterprise and innovation, and in the past has taught project management and change.

(ii)  Research and professional expertise: Nick has published in the areas of risk and quality  and has won research grants and professional consultancy assignments in these areas. He is a technical assessor for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

(iii) Management responsibilities:  Nick has led the research Centre for Enterprise Research and Innovation  This centre builds partnerships between the University and business organisations, aiming for challenge to ensure our knowledge relevant and useful.

(iv)   Personal:  Nick is a non executive director for a local charity, Brendoncare.

Qualifications

MBA, BSc (Hons), CIPS

Key skills

Identifying how University teams can add value to business organisations.

Using business contacts to enhance teaching and employability.

Personal skills in project management.

Academic research funding

Career progression, for Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (2007-2008)

Policy research funding

• Enterprise Provision, for Business Link (2007)
• Innovation Diagnostic Tools, for Business Link (2006-2008)
• Enterprise and Innovation strand manager, Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) (2004-2006)
• Investigating viability of sector Learning Hubs, for Learning and Skills Council (2003)
• Supporting Innovation in SME, for Higher Education Council for England (HEFCE) (2000-2004)
• Supporting Enterprise Leadership in SME, for Department of Education and Skills (DfES)
• Evaluation of software tools for business process reengineering, for Institute of Management Services (1995)

Business contract research funding

• Lean service, for Engineering Employers Federation South (2007-2008)
• IT Strategy and implementation, KTP (2006-2008)
• Risk modelling, for Royal Navy (1996-1998)

Academic publications

• Jaffrey S, Capon N (2005) "Alternative methods of forecasting risk in naval manpower planning", International Journal of Forecasting, 21, p73-85.
• Capon N and Mills V (2002) "Do customers know what is best for them? The use of SERVQUAL in UK policing", in 'Understanding, Managing and Implementing Quality', Ed. Antony J and Preece D, Routledge, New York.
• Wood M, Kaye M, Capon N (1999) "The use of re-sampling for estimating control chart limits", Journal of Operational Research Society, Vol.50 pp 651-659
• Antony J, Capon N (1998) "Teaching Experimental design Techniques to Industrial Engineers", International Journal of Engineering Education, Vol 14(5), p 335-343
• Wood M, Capon N, Kaye M.(1998) "User-friendly statistical concepts for process monitoring", Journal of Operational Research Society, Vol 49(9) Sept, p 976-985
• Capon N, Kaye M, Wood M.,(1995) "Measuring the Success of a TQM Programme" International Journal of Quality and Reliability, Vol 12, No 8, p 8-22

Conference papers

• Capon N, Voss C, Gregory M, Keegan R, Couglan P (2004) "Next generation benchmarking" European Operations Management conference, INSEAD
• Capon N (2003) "Employer Learning Hubs - evaluation of a pilot study" Small Firms Policy and Research Conference proceedings
• Capon N (2000) "Use of forecasting in Operational Risk evaluation", International Conference on Forecasting, Washington
• Capon N (1997) "Use of statistical measures in low volume business", Total Quality Management 2nd World Congress, 8(2) 104-108
• Capon N (1997) "How best to manage staff in a workflow environment" Management Services conference 41(11) 10-12
• Capon N (1996) "Use of forecasting tools to support manpower planning in the Royal Navy", Proceedings of International Conference on Forecasting, Istanbul.

Professional publications

• Capon N (1997) "How best to manage staff in a workflow environment" Management Services, Vol 41(11) p10-12
• Capon N (1996) "BPR Modelling Software for the Financial services Industry", Management Services, Vol 40 (3) p18-20
• Capon N (1996) "BPR Analysis software for the Financial Services Industry", Management Services, Vol 20 (4) p18-20
• Capon N (1996) "BPR Enabling Software for the Financial services Industry", Management Services, Vol 40 (5) p 22-23

Selected projects

Executive Education - Clients: EPC, NHS, RAF, Vestas, H-P

Map existing in-house training against University provision and identify where University can add value and qualifcations with company.

Lean Service - Client: Fleet Support Ltd

Facilitating the roll out of Lean Service to 10 different services. Guiding and coaching FSL to undertake the method themselves. Designing performance metrics to monitor impact.

Lean Service - Client: South East Economic Development Agency (SEEDA)

Evaluating the long term impact of Lean Service methodology to 15 companies in 6 service sectors over 18 months. Developing a benchmarking tool to enhance such initiatives.

e-Procurement - Client: Portsmouth City Council

Business process reengineering of the procurement process in all departments, facilitating and coaching council staff to progressively undertake the work themselves. Then guiding and advising the implementation of an e-tendering system to mechanise the reengineered process, to ensure transparency of the process, purchase savings and productivity improvement.

Document Image Processing - Client: CEGA Group

Business process Reengineering of current administration processes, advising on design and implementation of appropriate IT system.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP) - Client: CEGA Group

Advising on appropriate framework for a BCP for the organisation. Facilitation of its completion. Testing its adequacy. Training staff.

Risk modelling - Client: H M Royal Navy

Developing a model to forecast manpower requirements over next ten years. Quantification of root causes and risks and their impact on manpower. Used by headquarters each quarter since 2003.

Business Analysis - Client: Skandia Group

Creating a toolkit of best practice methods for problem identification, feasibility study, business case generation and approval, solution generation and analysis, and project management of implementation.

Benchmarking - Client: Carton Iran

Benchmarking performance compared to global best practice. Developing a route map to best practice.

Policy advice - Client: Learning and Skills Council

Feasibility study for an Employer Learning Hub on the Isle of Wight for companies using glass fibre there to share a training resource. Facilitating companies there to shape the design and buy in to the concept.

Productivity Improvement - Client: Craftsman Furniture

Focus groups with staff to identify alternative solutions to motivate improved productivity. Solutions included change to management style, reward systems, layout and training.

Quality Improvement - Client: Mickelmersh Tile and Brick

Facilitate staff to learn by applying total quality improvement techniques to their work. Benefits included reducing waste materials and power costs, reducing processing time and increasing consistency of products.

Project management - Client: Cap Gemini

Train their clients in project management.

Business Systems Analysis - Client Cap Gemini

Train their clients in Business Process Reengineering

Consultancy

• Social Entrepreneurship, Business process reengineering, Lean operations, Customer service improvement (2007)
• Business Continuity, Crisis advice, IT system development (2006)
• Strategic development, Market research, IT systems analysis (2005)
• Risk Management and Corporate Governance, Market feasibility study, Commercial Bid preparation (2004)
• Market development, Strategic alliances, Benchmarking, Quality Improvement, Productivity Improvement (2003)
• Workforce development (2001)
• Project Management and Business Strategy (1999)
• Business Systems Analysis, Project Management (1998)
• Business Process Re-engineering, Project management, TQM (1997)
• Performance management, Performance indicators, Work Study (1996)
• ISO9000, MRP, SMED, Business Process Re-engineering (1995)

Qualifications and professional

• BSc (Hons) Mathematics and Physics, Nottingham University
• DMS Diploma in Management Studies, Coventry University
• PgCertificate in Teaching in Higher Education, University of Portsmouth
• Member of Institute of Purchasing and Supply (IPS)
• External assessor for Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)

Work Experience

• Colt International: Factory Manager 1990-1994
• ITW Switchpanels: Manufacturing Manager 1988-1990
• Pall Filtration: Materials Manager 1985-1988
• Rolls Royce Aeroengines: Operational research, Systems analyst 1970-1985

Research interests

• Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, in particular how collaboration between academic researchers, government policy makers and commerce can improve company survival and growth
• Performance improvement, in particular of customer service