Dr Steve Paton
Reader
Management Science
Personal statement
After a career in the Aerospace industry where I occupied a number of increasingly senior roles within manufacturing, operations and project management I joined the University in 2005 and I’m currently a Senior Lecturer in Operations and Project management in the Department of Management Science within Strathclyde Business School. I predominantly teach post-graduate, post-experience students with much of my work being carried out in the area of executive education.
My research interests focus on how companies manage complex work both through the adoption of project and product management methodologies and the use of high value operational strategies. My research approach is to link theory to practice and aims to be of practical use to companies in their search for more efficient and effective ways of working. From a research supervision perspective I am keen to work with students who have an interest in exploring firms engaged in high value manufacturing and also firms utilising project-based organisaitonal structures. I am also active in knowledge transfer through engagement in consultancy projects and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.
Area of Expertise
Has expertise in:
- Project Planning
- Project Lifecycle Management
- Project Risk Management
- Operational Improvement
- Operations Strategy Generation
- Operational Performance Management
Prize And Awards
- Influential Research
- Recipient
- 1/2/2018
Qualifications
PhD - Management of Knowledge Workers
Masters Business Administration
Publications
- Crafting strategic responses to ecosystem dynamics in manufacturing
- Ates Aylin, Paton Steve, Sminia Harry, Smith Marisa
- Technological Forecasting and Social Change Vol 194 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122727
- Co-opetition in supply chain management and manufacturing : a conceptual literature review
- Konyalioglu Aziz Kemal, Ates Aylin, Paton Steve
- 23rd European Academy of Management Conference (2023)
- Making sense of high value manufacturing : relating policy and theory
- Paton Steve, Ates Aylin, Sminia Harry, Smith Marisa
- Production Planning and Control Vol 34, pp. 359-370 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2021.1922777
- Bridging differing perspectives on ecosystems research to understand co-opetition
- Ates Aylin, Paton Steve, Sminia Harry, Smith Marisa
- 36th Annual Conference of the British Academy of Management (2022)
- Firm strategy and the continuity and change in ecosystems
- Sminia Harry, Ates Aylin, Paton Steve, Smith Marisa
- R&D Management Conference 2022 (2022)
- Strategic Thinking for Manufacturing Ecosystems
- Sminia Harry, Paton Steve, Ates Aylin, Smith Marisa
- (2022)
Teaching
I am currently Director of Teaching and Learning within the Department of Strategy and Organisation. In my own teaching I deliver modules on Operations Management and Project Management within post-graduate MSc and MBA programs including a number of executive and corporate programs. I also teach on a number of short courses delivered for industry audiences.
Research Interests
I research in two linked areas. Within the field of project management I am interested in how companies adopt and utilise project management methodologies in a process of ‘projectification’ to build their capability to manage complex work. And within the field of operations management I am interested in what strategies engineering and manufacturing companies adopt to move up the value chain in order to engage in more complex work.
Professional Activities
- Designing Organisations for Performance
- Speaker
- 22/9/2021
- Manufacturing Ecosystems
- Speaker
- 7/9/2021
- Ecosystems in Manufacturing
- Speaker
- 5/8/2021
- Project Management and Degree Apprenticeships
- Consultant
- 1/11/2020
- Business Improvement in the Defence Industry
- Speaker
- 10/1/2019
- Performance Management in the Defence industry
- Speaker
- 19/11/2018
Projects
- Interface - Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher Scheme - Strategic Development of Anderson Bell & Christie Towards Net Zero
- Ates, Aylin (Principal Investigator) Paton, Steve (Principal Investigator)
- Currently, this Interact proposal is under development.
Anderson Bell Christie is a Limited Company and Employee-Owned Business based in Glasgow. The company transitioned to Employee Owned in May 2019, and is 100% owned by an Employee Trust.
The projects will focus on facilitating a series of workshops to assist with the development of the strategy to consider commercial aspects of the delivery of the new Zero Carbon Neighbourhoods consultancy and service offering. - 02-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2024
- Technology Innovation in Defence-platform Energy-efficiency
- Turan, Osman (Principal Investigator) Aktas, Batuhan (Co-investigator) Atlar, Mehmet (Co-investigator) Barlow, Euan (Co-investigator) Boulougouris, Evangelos (Co-investigator) Jennett, Kyle (Co-investigator) Paton, Steve (Co-investigator) Revie, Matthew (Co-investigator) Seth, Sampan (Co-investigator) Tapinos, Efstathios (Co-investigator) Theotokatos, Gerasimos (Co-investigator) Walls, Lesley (Co-investigator) Wright, George (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 30-Jan-2026
- Research Excellence Award (REA) - £101,388 (2022-25)
- Ates, Aylin (Principal Investigator) Paton, Steve (Co-investigator)
- PhD studentship in Co-opetition in Manufacturing Ecosystems
- 03-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2025
- Boosting Strategic Capability: Process and Product Management in Small Satellite Innovation
- Ates, Aylin (Principal Investigator) Paton, Steve (Co-investigator)
- Demand for high-quality, timely data from space has never been greater and the increasing commercial interest means businesses must adapt to respond to the global opportunity.
Following an active period of acquisition, integration and expansion Clyde Space is now planning the next phase of growth, with a focus on building and launching its own constellation of satellites to establish a leading position in the supply of Space-Data-as-a-Service.
Strathclyde University will support development of a scalable organisational operating model to facilitate efficient and effective revenue growth and capability development in the short-, medium- and long-term through the implementation of innovative solutions. - 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2022
- KTP - JWF Process Solutions Ltd. Business model transition from sensor supply, to provision of a software-based data and information service sales solution.
- Paton, Steve (Principal Investigator) Sminia, Harry (Co-investigator) Wallace, William (Co-investigator) Walls, Lesley (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 28-Jan-2023
- KTP - Leonardo
- Paton, Steve (Principal Investigator) Ates, Aylin (Co-investigator) Sminia, Harry (Co-investigator)
- 04-Jan-2019 - 03-Jan-2021