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Dr. David Spicer

Professor of Small Business Development and Organisation Studies

Area
University of Bradford
Richmond Road
E-mail
d.p.spicer@bradford.ac.uk
Phone
+44 (0)1274 232158
Dr. David Spicer

Biography

David is Professor of Small Business Development and Organisational Studies and Director of Business and Community Engagement in the School of Management and leads on the development of the School’s programme and portfolio in respect of support for small business and entrepreneurship. As part of this David is leading Bradford’s contribution to the Help to Grow: Management programme, a nation-wide programme of government-funded support for growth in SMEs being led by school’s holding the Small Business Charter. David has over 25 years of experience in higher education and returned to Bradford (where he began his academic career) at the start of the 2019/20 academic year, having previously been Dean of the Business School at the University of Salford.

David’s research interests include strategic learning, change and leadership, with a particular interest small forms and entrepreneurship. His current focus is on leadership and strategic adaption in small firms in response to change. He is a member  of the Yorkshire and Humber Policy and Engagement Research Network (Y-PERN). This is a group of Yorkshire University academics interested in economic development and growth, in partnership with he has successfully received £120,000 of funding from the Research England Development Fund to support research and policy work as part of this partnership and £10,000 from the ESRC for work on creative entrepreneurship as part of YPIP (the Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership).  His work in this regard has led to him being invited as speaker for industry focused conferences and events, including as keynote for the Federation of Small Businesses Regional Conference in 2024. His wider work on entrepreneurship focuses on the policy implications of entrepreneurial support provided by universities in particular and he has undertaken research and consultancy and delivered executive education in both SMEs and with large corporate firms.

He currently teaches on both the MSc and MBA programmes within the School of Management. Twitter: @DavidPSpicer 


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Research

David's research interests lie in the study of learning and change in organisations, specifically, strategic adaptation, organisational learning, change agency and leadership, relationships between individual and organisational learning, relationships between learning, motivation and effectiveness, the role played by the individual learner and the impact and assessment of cognitive/learning style. He has undertaken work with SMEs, public sector organisations (local government) and major commercial organisations. He is currently focused on strategic adaption and growth in small firms, and how such firms and entrepreneurs respond to crisis.

Research projects

Yorkshire and Humber Local Policy Innovation Partnership (Y-PIP)

Date
to
Role
Co-Investigator

Y-PIP is a collaborative project between the region's HEIs across several themes leading research to inform policy, Our focus in on the creative economy and creative entrepreneurs.

Yorkshire and Humber Policy Engagement and Reserach Network (Y-PERN)

Date
to
Role
Co-Investigator

Y-PERN is a network of policy engaged academics across various fields and activities.

Help to Grow: Management

Date
to
Role
Programme Lead

Help To Grow: Management is a national programme of support for productivity and growth for SMEs.

Fast-tracking Healthcare Management

Date
to
Role
Co-Investigator

Development programme, funded by West Yorkshire Combined Authority, supporting early career managers into roles in the healthcare sector.

Teaching

David teaches modules across human resources, organisational behaviour. However, his particular interest and specialism is in leadership and change, with a focus on entrepreneurship and small business development.  His approach to learning is both action-oriented and experiential, incorporating cases, simulations and exercises into classes.

Modules

  • Leading and Managing Change in Organisations - HRM7507-B
  • Developing Skills for Business Leadership - HRM7503-A
  • Dissertation (MSc HRM) - MAL7503-E
  • Leadrership for Transformational Change - HRM7029-B
  • Entrepreneurial Leadership - EAE013-B

Professional activities

Education (3)

  • University of Bristol - BSc (Hons)
  • Stirling University - Master of Business Administration
  • University of Plymouth - Doctor of Philosophy

Employment (4)

  • University of Bradford - Director of Business Engagement (9 September 2019)
  • University of Salford - Head of School (29 February 2016)
  • University of Bradford - Senior Lecturer (1 April 2005)
  • University of Bradford - Lecturer (1 September 1999)

Professional associations (1)

  • Higher Education Academy/Advance HEA, Fellow

Publications

Book (1)

Book chapter (3)

Chapter in book (2)

  • Remanufacturing – A Proven Business Model for the Circular Economy

    P.G. Hopkinson;D.P.Spicer (2013) A New Dynamic – Effective Business in a Circular Economy. In K.Sebster; J. Bieriot; C. Johnson editor(s) Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Peer reviewed journal (18)