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Having spent part of his career in senior
financial
management
roles, both in the UK and overseas, Mike eventually masterminded his
escape from the “numbers”
side of business to focus on his interests in IT and IS. He has worked in
a wide variety of industries, including copper mining in Zambia, civil
engineering, toll road systems development and automotive components
manufacturing in South Africa and the automotive components industry in
Britain. All of these experiences have helped him to gain an
overall
appreciation
of how information technology can be effectively used in a
range of different
contexts.
Mike joined Royal
British Legion Industries (RBLI)
in 1998,
based in Aylesford, Kent. Since 2000 he has been the Business
Systems
Manager for that organisation, a role that has provided a number
of ICT-related challenges whilst working within RBLI’s very diverse
portfolio
of business units that range from manufacturing to housing, healthcare
and the provision of employment opportunities for persons with
disabilities.
Mike has an MBA
from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, together
with certificates in strategic information systems
and strategies for change, two subjects that he
believes are closely related.
Between 1999 and 2005, Mike
also
taught
IT-based
subjects on a part-time basis to adult learners.
Although no longer actively
teaching
in a formal
setting,
he is currently completing
his dissertation for an MA through the University of Greenwich, focusing on technology-supported
work-based learning and knowledge management as key drivers of organisational
improvement.
He plans to carry
out further research in these areas should he survive his current
course, assuming his wife doesn’t reclaim a major part of the house that
is currently covered in books, papers and storage media that he
insists are essential for his project!
Mike’s
recreational
activities include walking and military
history. He lives in Rochester, Kent.
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