Portsmouth Business School

Asset management in the Premier League: Peak performance on low outlay

Dr Sarah Gilmore

The Issue:

Traditionally organisations looking to grow have sought to restructure and invest funds in order to enter new markets and increase their successful commercial activities. Nowhere is this more true than football clubs trying to progress their standing in their respective leagues. There is a substantial need for an effective business model that allows organisations to adapt to their wider external environment with the need for large amounts of cash to be invested.

Underpinning Research

An extended ethnographic case study (2003-2007) funded by the University of Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers Football Club was undertaken. This research sought to explain how an organization could use seismic changes in its wider external environment to transform its performance without the need for radical internal restructuring or coercive forms of leadership. We researched developing a model that explained heightened performance and offered a template for other such organizations that could not instigate performance improvements by reliance upon consistent injections of substantial funds. A cluster of papers developed the model further and it was applied at another Premier League club that reached the final of the Europa Cup.

Impact of Research

Asset Maximization has an international reach with many sports organisations adopting the template. These organisation include, The New South Wales Rugby Union, The Australian Turf Club, Burnley FC, The Football League Trust, Atlanta Spirit , Philadelphia Union; integrating our work into their overarching strategic intent and direction. The financial impact of using the template is not directly measurable due to issues of multi-colinearity. Although the financial impact of the template cannot be directly measured, organisations reported that benefits of implementation run into many millions of pounds in addition to bringing sustained performance improvement. The results enabled the club to reach, stay in the higher echelons of the Premier League and secure several seasons within the Europa Cup with far less fiscal resources than that deployed by their competitors.

Decision Making & Productivity: Minimising downtime and maximising business productivity

Professor Ashraf Labib 

The Issue

Making efficient and effective use of assets (usually machinery) in business brings considerable savings . This research sought to develop models which allow companies to develop the most appropriate maintenance strategy for their organisation. Because
failures were not necessarily wholly due to engineering, the influence of information systems and human behaviour were also considered.

Underpinning Research

Initial research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) examined maintenance and models supporting maintenance decision making. A second programme of EPSRC funded research examined ways of learning from failure to develop resilient models for reliability and maintenance management. Training in these asset management principles was embedded in companies during two EU funded projects. Further research by Professor Labib examined the complexity inherent in maintenance management. A new model called the Decision Making Grid (DMG) was developed, this model allows for the selection of the appropriate maintenance strategy based on the relative performance of assets.

Impact of Research

The DMG model has been implemented in many companies that have achieved a World-Class status in Maintenance and
is used in a wide range of companies including:

• First Capital Connect
• Oman Air
• ESB Moneypoint Generating Station, Ireland
• Swedish Pulp & Paper Industry
• Swedish Armed Forces

All users report considerable saving in terms of minimising downtime and maximisation of productivity without having to acquire any additional capacity.

Tackling bullying and harassment in large UK organisations: Enabling Trade Union leverage

Professor Charlotte Rayner

The Issue

Studies in the 1990s had shown bullying to be a problem endemic in the UK public sector, and it was believed that the private and third sectors were no different. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) initiatives in the mid 2000s found that around half sickness absence was from stress, half of which was related to bullying and harassment. This provided a strong business case for minimising bullying and harassment in organisations. We undertook a research programme working with Trade Unions and Human Resource Management Departments to address the questions ‘What should organisations do about workplace bullying?‘ and ‘What is the situation now?’

Underpinning Research

An initial study, funded by BIS and UNITE, collected data through interviews with experts, HR and trade union representatives and through public, private and 3rd sector focus groups with workers around Great Britain. This research developed a diagnostic tool for organisations to analyse their current position, a sequential method including ”what, who, how and when” to strengthen
interventions when bullying occurs and ideas for culture change to achieve employee self-policing. A further study was undertaken with UNISON to examine rates of bullying and compare them to an earlier study. An e-survey was used, replicating key questions from 1997, and updating others. Reports of harassment were less than a quarter of reports for bullying. The incidence of negative behaviours had not risen, but the number of people labelling their negative experience as ‘bullying’ had doubled to 35%.

Impact of Research

As a result of this research UNISON rewrote their own advice to members, and campaigned with reps to ensure workplaces have
policies. UNISON gained international attention from Canadian, Lithuanian and Italian trade unions who have used the survey and results to persuade their own employers of the health hazards brought by workplace bullying. Significant media attention was gained through The Today programme (Radio 4) and The Politics Show (TV). Cosmopolitan Magazine ran a special analysis story on the impact on young women.The sequential model suggested by the research has been implemented at the University of Portsmouth. Policy and advice has been updated and management training has been emphasised. Introduced in 2008, the model has led to a drop in reported bullying from 13% to 6%,

Clouds Environmental Consultancy Ltd: Reaching out to new markets

The Issue

The Directors of Clouds had been growing the business organically with a small number of employees, until they became aware of a new EU Directive, which required all public and commercial buildings to acquire energy certificates, opening a chance for exponential growth. This Business Plus (now Shorter Knowledge Transfer Partnership, sKTP) project was initiated to prepare the company to enter the new market of energy efficiency labelling for buildings. The project included an initial market research phase to explore the type and scale of demand, potential business partners and likely competitors.

Underpinning Research
A collection of research projects over the past ten years in the area of innovation and new product development provides the underpinning knowledge for this research. At the time of the last economic downturn we published a paper arguing that firms needed to invest more in innovation; and that cutting costs was conceptually simple to do, whereas growing the business was hard. We also argued that product innovation should not be driven by market research alone and that radical new products required technology inputs. Since then we have applied these ideas on innovation to several different industries including banking and IT. Our research has also examined how a firm’s innovation performance can be influenced by other business strategies such as outsourcing. This knowledge base, underpinned by PhD research, enables us to apply our expertise within the region and beyond.

Clouds and Portsmouth Business School collaborated to research and develop a new service offering for the energy efficiency labelling market. At the end of the programme Clouds had a business plan, identifying the target audience, market positioning, proposition and price that Clouds should adopt. In addition to the sKTP with Clouds, we have carried out several new applied research projects in the area of product and service innovation including a PhD and two further sKTPs in different sectors.

Impact of Research
The impact of our research for Cloud’s Environmental was dramatic: Company turnover doubled from 2008-2009 as a result of the project. The six-strong workforce doubled to 12 over the one year period. Clouds market share of all new energy efficiency certificates in the UK was  estimated at between 1 and 2%. This expansion has given a strong backbone to aid future plans for growth.