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Dr Martin Spring

Senior Lecturer

Management Science

The Management School
Lancaster University
Bailrigg
Lancaster
LA1 4YX

Email:
Telephone: +44 1524 592739
Location: A53

Qualifications

B.Tech (Hons); D.M.S., Ph.D.

Profile

My research has contributed to and shaped three prominent themes in Operations Management over the past twenty years. Most recently, my work has been in business service operations and business models; this built on work in the other two areas, supply chain management and operations strategy. In all three areas I have worked across disciplines, connecting in particular with industrial marketing.

In 2008 I was awarded a Services Fellowship by AIM (Advanced Institute for Management Research ), focussing on Business Models for Business-to-Business Services. In the empirical research that formed part of this Fellowship, I studied business services across a range of sectors, including publishing, software and aerospace manufacture. This has led to a number of publications, both theoretical and empirical, as well as guest editorships of two special issues: one in The Journal of Supply Chain Management, on Service Supply Chains (with Scott Sampson – Volume 48, Issue 4) and one in the Journal of Operations Management on Service Triads (with Finn Wynstra and Tobias Schoenherr – anticipated date of publication, 2014). As a result of the work on business models, I have recently carried out a study on emerging Business Models for manufacturing as part of the UK Government Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Foresight project on The Future of Manufacturing, including presenting to a high-level stakeholder panel chaired by the Secretary of State, Dr Vince Cable.

My current and recent PhD students work on many aspects of business services and inter-organisational relationships: business service design in third-party logistics (Kostas Selviaridis); IT capability development in an automotive supply context (Mahmut Boz); expert services (Juliana Santos); operations strategy in start-ups (Gabriel Mandujano-Garcia); organisational routines in service procurement (Steve Kelly); valuation processes in environmentally sustainable supply networks (Mafalda Nogueira); propagation of socially sustainable practices in supply chains (Mohammad Najjar); horizontal collaboration in logistics (Jie Zhu). I am interested in supervising students in these kinds of areas, especially in business service innovation.

I have held a range of scholarly service roles, including Co-Editor of the International Journal of Operations and Production Management (2000-2004), Associate Editor of Journal of Supply Chain Management (2011-present), ESRC CASE Studentship Panel Member (2005-2008), and ESRC Peer Review College member (2010-present).

Research Interests

  • Business-to-Business Services - Operations and Supply Aspects
  • Business Models and Operations Strategy
  • Operations management and entrepreneurship
  • Power in Supply networks
  • Research Methods in Operations and Supply Management

 

Current Research

Most of my research is part of or linked to my AIM Fellowship in Business Models for Business-to-Business Services. Themes include:

  • Modularity in B2B services (with Luis Araujo) and as part of ModSeC (University of Oulu, Finland)
  • Business Model Innovation (with Katy Mason)
  • Service Definition in Third-Party Logistics (with Kostas Selviaridis)
  • Service Supply Chains

Other areas:

Flexibility in supply networks (with Mark Stevenson)

Spatial aspects of inter-organisational relationships

Current Teaching

  • MSc in E-Business and Innovation Management - E-Business Supply Chain Management
  • MSCI 549 - Strategic Supply Chain Management
  • MSCI 281 - Supply Chain Management

Research Grants

ESRC/EPSRC AIM Fellowship in Services (2008-2010) on "Business Models for Business-to-Business Services" - click here for my AIM webpage

External Roles

Heriot-Watt University: External Examiner for undergraduate programmes in operations management subject areas 2007-

ESRC CASE Studentship Panel Member 2003-2007

Associate Editor Journal of Supply Chain Management

Professional Role

Convener of the Supply Chain Management and Modelling Research Centre

PhDs Examined

PhD External Examination

PhD (Cranfield School of Management) Marko Bastl “An exploration of a manager’s openness and relationship transparency in a buyer-supplier relationship” 17th February 2012

PhD (Jonköping International Business School, Sweden) Lianguang Cui, “Innovation and network development of logistics firms” 9th January 2012

PhD (Swinburne, Australia), Nicholas Grigoriou “Modelling the packaged food product customisation-standardisation decision for China”, July 2011 (written exam only)

PhD (Cranfield School of Management) Simon Templar “An empirical investigation into the role played by contextual variables in determining a transfer price for an intermediate product within an FMCG organisation” 31st October 2011

PhD (Stirling Management School), Alireza Khorakian “Developing a conceptual framework for integrating risk management in the innovation project”, 4th April 2011

PhD (Cambridge University, Centre for Strategy and Performance), Shellyanne Wilson, November 2007

PhD (Leeds Metropolitan University, Faculty of Business and Law), Jens Neu, ‘An Empirical Evaluation of Logistical Concepts for Supply Chain Collaboration’, March 1st 2007

PhD (Leeds University Business School),Yong Rae Kim “Technology acquisition strategy and firm performance in the Korean information technology industry” September 2004

Doctoral Thesis, Facultad de Economía y Empresa, University of Salamanca: Member of doctoral comision for Javier González-Benito, ‘Aprovisionamiento en Entornos Just-in-Time: Prácticas y Factores Determinantes en la Industria Española de Fabricantes de Componentes de Automoción’ (Just-in-Time Purchasing: Practices and Determining Factors in the Spanish Automotive Component Supply Sector), 3rd December 1999

PhD Internal Examination

PhD (Lancaster University, Department of Management Science) Chris Wright, ‘Complex Procurement within Complex Organisations: the Case of Radiology Equipment in the UK National Health Service, 17th April 2012

PhD (Lancaster University, Dept of Marketing) Juanjuan Ou, “Identity constructions of sales managers: the Chinese Guanxi Milieu”, November 2011

PhD (Lancaster University, Department of Marketing), Markus Vanharanta, “Customer Portfolio Management: A Study of Managerial Decision-Making in an Industrial Marketing Context”, February 2008

PhD (Lancaster University, Department of Management Science), Mark Stevenson, “Bridging the Gap: Refining a workload control (WLC) concept for practical implementation”, December 2005

PhD (MSM, UMIST), Elizabeth Ritchie, ‘Re-engineering the Pharmaceutical Supply-Chain in Hospital Pharmacy: an Assessment of Practice in the National Health Service’, December 2002

PhD (MSM, UMIST),: Jaime Darby, ‘The Design, Evolution and Implementation of an Integrated Transport Management System’, 15th June 2001

PhD (Total Technology Dept, UMIST), Robert Barker, 'Measuring Value-Adding Performance (A Framework for Analysis)', March 21st 1997

 

Recent publications

View all (60) >>

Business Model Innovation

Katy Mason and Martin Spring ran a workshop in August 2010 called Business Model Innovation – for owner-managers of SMEs in Northwest England – as part of Lancaster University Management School's innovation for Growth programme.

Product Service Integration

Martin Spring explains his research into product service integration at a Manufacturing Masterclass. Watch full size.

News about Dr Martin Spring

Research Areas

  • Management Science
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