Dr Andy Adcroft

Biography

I joined the University of Surrey in January 2002. Prior to this, I was a programme manager in the Corporate Programmes division at East London Business School and I also taught in the Department of Industrial Relations at the London School of Economics. In addition to this, I have also worked at Beijing Polytechnic University and the Management Development Institute of Singapore.

Since the early 1990s, I have published in a variety of areas such as Japanese manufacturing strategies, the global car and pharmaceuticals industry, management in the public sector, philosophies of management research and competitiveness in sports teams.

As well as being a Senior Lecturer in Corporate Strategy in the School of Management, I also work with the University’s Centre for Educational and Academic Development as a Faculty Scholar with responsibility for promoting the scholarship of teaching and learning across the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law.

Research Interests

I currently have 3 main research interests:

The scholarship of teaching and learning: I have written and have work in progress in a number of areas such as the commodification of academic work, the motivations to study and expectations of study of undergraduate and postgraduate students, the deprofessionalisation of academic staff, the role, purpose and process of feedback on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and the career support give to academics new to the profession;

Competitiveness in sports teams: Over the past couple of years I have jointly developed a framework which examines the relationship between performance, competitiveness and outcomes in sporting contests. I have published papers on why sport should be taken seriously, how management theory can help explain the dynamics of rugby union and how team dynamics influence the outcome of test matches in cricket;

Strategic change management: Much of my current research examines issues of organisational change across a variety of organisational settings and contexts. I have written and published on issues such as change management and performance management in the public sector, the use of political models to examine management phenomena, the philosophical underpinnings of strategy research and holistic approaches to organisational change. I am currently developing a conceptual framework to aid understanding of organic approaches to strategy development.

I sit on the editorial boards of three journals, Management Decision, Journal of Finance and Management in the Public Services and Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal

Research Collaborations

For the past decade I have worked closely with Dr Robert Willis from Ashcroft International Business School on issues surrounding public sector management, globalisation and the use of political models in the development of management theory. My research on competitiveness in sport is carried out in collaboration with Jon Teckman from Ashridge Management School. I am currently working on a Higher Education Academy funded project on the support given to early career academics with colleagues from Leeds University Business School.

Publications

Books

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Johal, S. with Adcroft, A. (1994) Cars: Analysis, History, Cases, Berghahn Books, Oxford, UK.

Contributions to Books

Adcroft, A. (2013) Enquiry Based Feedback in Doyle, E., Buckley, P. and Carroll, C. in  Innovative Business School Teaching: Engaging the Millennial Generation, Routledge, UK. (forthcoming)

Adcroft, A. (2013) Strategy in Sport in Beech, J. and Chadwick, S. The Business of Sport Management, Prentice Hall, UK. (forthcoming)

Adcroft, A. (2008) Foreword in Dhaliwal, S. Making a Fortune: Learning from the Asian Phenomenon, Wiley, UK

Dhaliwal, S. and Adcroft, A. (2007) Accurate Portrayal or Lazy Stereotype? The changing nature of the Asian Business Sector in the UK in Dowling, M and Schmude, J. (eds) Empirical Entrepreneurship in Europe: New Perspectives, Edward Elgar, UK.

Williams, K., Cutler, T., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (2006) Against Lean Production in Bennett, D. (ed) Operations Management I, Sage, UK.

Williams, K., Cutler, T., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (2003) Against Lean Production in Lewis, M. A. and Slack, N. (eds) Operations Management: critical perspectives on business and management, Routledge, UK.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A., Johal, S. and Willis, R. (2002) Management Practice or Structural Factors: The Case of America versus Japan in the Car Industry in Tolliday, S. (ed) Economic Development of Modern Japan 1945-1995: From Occupation to the Bubble Economy, Edward Elgar Publishing, UK.

Adcroft, A. and Willis, R. (2000) Innovation or Optimisation: Facing up to the challenge of the global economy in Barry, J., Chandler, J., Clark, H., Johnston, R. and Needle, D. (eds) Organisation and Management: A critical text, International Thomson Business Press, Reading, UK.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (1997) The Myth of the Line: Ford’s production of the model T at Highland Park 1909-1916 in Fitzgerald, R. and Rowley, C. (eds) Human Resources and the Firm in International Perspective, Edward Elgar Publishing, London, UK.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (1996) The Limits of Management: Problems of the average car company in Glover, I. And Hughes, M. (eds) The Professional Managerial Class: Contemporary British management in the pursuer mode, Avebury, Aldershot, UK.

Haslam, C., Williams, K., Adcroft, A., Johal, S. and Williams, J. (1996) Learning from Japan: The yeast for Britain’s manufacturing regeneration in Darby, J. (ed) Japan and the European Periphery, Palgrave Macmillan, UK.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (1995) Beyond Management: Problems of the average car company in Babson, S. (ed) Lean Work: Empowerment and exploitation in the global auto industry, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, USA.

Refereed Papers

Adcroft, A. and Willis, R. (2013) Do those who benefit the most need it the least? An experiment in Enquiry Based Feedback in Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education (forthcoming)

Adcroft A. and Taylor, D. (2013) Support for new career academics: an integrated model for research intensive university business and management schools in Studies in High Education (forthcoming)

Adcroft, A. and Teckman, J. (2011) Team Dynamics in International Test Match Cricket in Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, volume 1, number 1.

Adcroft, A. (2011) Developing a conceptual model for career support for new academics in International Journal of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, volume 22, number 1.

Adcroft, A. (2010) Speaking the Same Language? Perceptions of feedback amongst academic staff and students in a School of Law in The Law Teacher volume 44, number 3.

Adcroft, A. (2010) The motivations to study and expectations of studying of undergraduate students in business and management in Journal of Further and Higher Education volume 35, number 4.

Adcroft, A. (2010) The Mythology of Feedback in Higher Education Research and Development volume 30, number 4.

Adcroft, A. (2010) The motivations to study of undergraduate students in management: The impact of degree programme and level of study in International Journal of Management Education, volume 9, issue 1.

Adcroft, A. and Lockwood, A. (2010) Enhancing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: An organic approach in Teaching in Higher Education, volume 15, number 5.

Adcroft, A., Teckman, J. and Willis, J. (2010) Is higher education in the UK becoming more competitive? in International Journal of Public Sector Management, volume 23, issue 6.

Adcroft, A. and Teckman, J. (2009) Taking Sport Seriously in Management Decision, Volume 47, Number 1.

Adcroft, A. and Dhaliwal, S. (2009) Disconnections in management theory and practice in Journal of Management Philosophy, Volume 7, Number 3.

Adcroft, A. and Willis, R. (2008) A snapshot of strategy research 2002-2006 in Journal of Management History, Volume 14, Number 4.

Adcroft, A. and Teckman, J. (2008) A new look at the sports paradigm for business: performing isn’t enough in Journal of Business Strategy, Volume 29, Number 5.

Adcroft, A. and Teckman, J. (2008) Theories, Concepts and the Rugby World Cup: Using management to understand sport in Management Decision, Volume 46, Issue 4.

Adcroft, A., Willis, R. and Hurst, J. (2008) A new model for managing change: the holistic view in Journal of Business Strategy, Volume 29, Number 1.

Adcroft, A., Dhaliwal, S., Miller, G. and Walsh, P. (2007) Theory and Practice, Strategy and Sustainability in Management Decision, Volume 45, Number 1.

Willis, R. and Adcroft, A. (2006) Post-Modernism, Deprofessionalisation and Commodification: The Outcomes of Performance Measurement in Higher Education in The Journal of Finance and Management in the Public Services, Volume 6, Number 1.

Dhaliwal, S. and Adcroft, A., (2005) Sustainability And Ethnic Minority Businesses: An examination of the Asian Business Sector in the UK in The Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, Volume 1, Number 1.

Adcroft, A., Dhaliwal, S. and Willis, R. (2005) Insatiable Demand or Academic Supply? Is there really a value in entrepreneurship education? in European Business Review, Volume 17, Issue 6.

Adcroft, A. and Willis, R. (2005) The (un)Intended Outcome of Performance Measurement in the Public Sector in The International Journal of Public Sector Management Volume 18, Number 5.

Chaharbaghi, K., Adcroft, A. and Willis, R. (2005) Organisations, Transformability and the Dynamics of Strategy in Management Decision Volume 43, Number 1.

Adcroft, A. and Willis, R. (2005) Commodification or Transformation? Measuring performance in the public sector in International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management, Volume 4.

Adcroft, A., Willis, R. and Clarke-Hill, C. (2004) A European Perspective on the Revolutionary School of Management in European Business Review, Issue 3.

Adcroft, A., Willis, R. and Dhaliwal, S. (2004) Missing the Point? Management education and entrepreneurship in Management Decision, Volume 42, Number 3-4.

Adcroft, A. and Willis, R. (Autumn 2002) Looking in the Wrong Direction in Critical Quarterly (Tate Modern) Volume 44, No.3.

Floyd, D., Willis, R. and Adcroft, A. (November 1999) Economic Policy Making in the UK: To what extent should it be endorsed by other EU member countries in European Business Review, Volume 99, Number 4.

Adcroft, A. (April 1998) Lessons from the recession in Management Decision, Volume 36, Number 2.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A., Johal, S. and Willis, R. (Summer 1996) A Fallen Idol: Japanese management in the 1990s in Asia Pacific Economic Review, Special Edition.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A., Johal, S. and Willis, R. (November 1995) Cyclical Recovery verses Structural Problems: The European car industry in the 1990s in Journal of Engineering Management Volume 8, Number 4.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A., Johal, S. and Willis, R. (May 1995) The crisis of cost recovery and the waste of the industrialised nations in Competition and Change: The journal of global political economy, Volume 1, Number 1.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A., Johal, S. and Willis, R. (February 1995) Management Practice or Structural Factors: The case of America verses Japan in the car industry in Journal of Economic and Industrial Democracy, Volume 16, Number 1.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (January 1995) Der Mythos des Fliessbandes: Die production des Model T 1909-1916 in Entwicklung, Number 1.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (1995) Leyland Daf: A case of negative European integration in Local Economy, Volume 4, Number 3.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (February 1994) Defend the Social Settlement: A memo for Labour in Renewal, Volume 2, Number 1.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (July 1993) The Myth of the Line: Ford’s production of the model T at Highland Park 1909-1916 in Business History, Volume 5, Number 3.

Williams, K., Adcroft, A. and Haslam, C. (April 1993) The Good Deal Gone Bad in Global Labour, Volume 1, Number 1.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (February 1993) Too Much Reality in Renewal Volume 1, Number 1.

Williams, K., Cutler, T., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (August 1992) Against Lean Production in Economy and Society, Volume 21, Number 3.

Guest Editorships

Management Decision special edition entitled Taking Sport Seriously in 2008 with Teckman, J.

Management Decision special edition entitled Organisations, Transformability and the Dynamics of Strategy in 2005 with Chaharbaghi, K. and Willis, R.

Management Decision special edition entitled Theory and Practice: Strategy and Sustainability in 2006 with Dhaliwal, S., Miller, G. and Walsh, P.

Other Papers

Teckman, J. and Adcroft, A. (2008) Whose standards are they anyway? The need for competitive spirit in public sector management in 360o The Ashridge Journal, Autumn.

Adcroft, A. and Willis, R. (2007) Commodification or Transformation? Measuring performance in the public sector in The Management Journal, Institute of Productivity and Management, Volume 8

Adcroft, A., Dhaliwal, S. and Willis, R. (2006) Insatiable Demand or Academic Supply? Is there really a value in entrepreneurship education? in ICFAI Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, September.

Adcroft, A., Dhaliwal, S. and Willis, R. (2006) Insatiable Demand or Academic Supply: Does entrepreneurship education actually have a point? National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship Working Paper 008/2006.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (1994) Japanese Foreign Direct Investment: The case for regulation, University of Birmingham Occasional Papers on Business, Number 10.

Adcroft, A., Haslam, C. and  Johal, S. (April 1993) The Hollowing Out of UK Manufacturing: Some suggestions for intervention in Transport and General Workers Union Conference Report.

Williams, K., Thompson, P., Haslam, C., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (1993) Leyland Daf: The good deal gone bad, University of East London Occasional Papers on Business, Economy and Society, Number 12.

Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S. (1992) Factories or Warehouses: Japanese foreign direct investment in the UK and USA, University of East London Occasional Papers on Business, Economy and Society, Number 6.

Adcroft, A., Cutler, T., Haslam, C., Williams, J. and Williams, K. (1991) Hanson and ICI: The consequences of financial engineering, University of East London Occasional Papers on Business, Economy and Society, Number 2.

Teaching

I am the module leader for the core level 3 module, Business Strategy, which is taken by all undergraduates across the Surrey Business School. I also lead the postgraduates modules International Business Investigations and International Marketing Investigations for MSc IBM and IMM students. I contribute to the level 3 undergraduate module Marketing Strategy.

I also supervise undergraduate final year projects, MSc and MBA dissertations and am currently first supervisor for 6 doctoral students.

Departmental Duties

As well as being a Senior Lecturer in Corporate Strategy I am also the Faculty’s Centre for Educational and Academic Development Scholar. The main element of this role is, through research and practice, to promote the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning across the Faculty. These projects include:

• A Higher Education Academy funded project with a colleague from Leeds University Business School which is looking at the general, personal and discipline specific career support available to staff within the first 4 years of their  academic career. We are presenting a paper at the CETL conference at Oxford University in December 2009 based on this research;
• Making use of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, I have carried out a study of undergraduate students in the Surrey Business School and the findings are due to be published in a forthcoming edition of the International Journal of Management Education. I am currently in the process of extending the research to include the School of Law at the University of Surrey and to a number of other universities across the HE sector in the UK;
• The development of a Learning Partnership between the Surrey Business School and its undergraduate and postgraduate students. The Learning Partnership was launched in October 2008 and provides a mechanism through which students can develop their learning skills and strategies as well as providing a focus to help understand motivations to learn and expectations of learning;
• I have carried out a comparative study of feedback practices and perceptions amongst staff and students in the Surrey Business School and School of Law. The findings of this study are being fed into the Faculty’s teaching and learning enhancement processes and articles are being drafted for specialist management and law education journals as well as more general education journals;
• Working on the principle that people learn best when they work things out for themselves, I have been involved in a SCEPTrE project on Enquiry Based Learning and have run an experiment with final year undergraduate students on Enquiry Based Feedback on assignments;
• I have completed a research project on the impact of competition on the behaviour of academics and students and have a paper coming out in the Journal of Marketing in Higher Education. The research also won a best paper prize at the 4^th ICHEM conference in Guimares, Portugal in April 2009;
• I won a best paper prize at the British Academy of Management conference in  October 2008 for a paper which looked at how techniques from coaching in sport can be used in other environments. This research has been published in Management Decision.

Affiliations

I am a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

I am also the Faculty representative on the United Nations Global Compact initiative and sit on the working groups for curriculum change and research for the UN’s Principles for Responsible Management Education programme.