Professor Phil Taylor of the Department of Human Resource Management has delivered six keynote presentations to diverse external organisations and practitioners over the past few months.
He delivered a keynote presentation to the 250 delegates at the Royal and Sun Alliance/Unite representatives conference at the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool on October 11. The theme of his contribution was 'The Impact of Performance Management, Lean and Sickness Absence'.
He then delivered a keynote presentation on the subject of 'The Future of Sourcing' to the Global Customer Contact Convention held in Glasgow on November 9 and attended by 450 delegates. He then convened a discussion on the emerging trends in sourcing, involving participants from organisations including Teleperformance and The Listening Company.
Next on the agenda was a request for his input as a leading speaker at the National Outsourcing Association Annual Conference in London on November 10. The theme of his keynote presentation was 'Emerging Trends in the Global BPO' and was accompanied by a discussion on the position of Scotland within global sourcing and value chains. Professor Taylor also contributed as a panel discussant and critical commentator to the panel session on the Value of Outsourcing and Offshoring.
On November 16, he gave an address on the subject of The Impact of Performance Management, Lean and Sickness Absence Management to the annual Unite the Union Royal Bank of Scotland national representatives conference in Eastbourne.
This was then followed by a speech to Glasgow City Council Unison on November 18 on the subject, "The Workplace Impact of the New Management Practices – Performance Management, Lean and Sickness Absence". The presentation was a contribution to the union's annual health and safety seminar attended by representatives from across the council's workforce.
Finally, Professor Taylor delivered a keynote presentation as a guest speaker to the Unite the Union Sectoral Conference at the Hilton Hotel in Brighton on December 1. The theme of the talk was 'The Changing Nature of Management Control - Performance Management, Lean and Sickness Absence Management' and provided a relevant context to the delegates' discussion of motions and policy making.
In addition, Professor Taylor was invited to make a contribution to an academic seminar organised by the British Academy of Management.
He gave a presentation at the Loughborough University School of Business and Economics' Centre for Professional Work and Careers to the British Academy of Management Methodology Special Interest Group 3rd Annual 'Sharing our Struggles' Workshop.
The theme of the seminar was 'Research in Knowledge-Intensive, Globalised Organisation' and the specific subject of Professor Taylor's contribution was 'Spaces and Places of Capital and Labour - Researching the UK to India Call Centre Value Chain'. Professor Taylor drew upon his experience of two decades of research into the call centre and a decade's intensive study of the offshoring of business services and other global destinations.