BA, MPhil, PhD (Wales), PGCE, MCIPS

Sharon is a lecturer in the School of Management and Business, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

Prior to joining Aberystwyth, Sharon was a senior research associate with the Lean Enterprise Research Centre, Cardiff University. Her doctoral research was on Supply Chain Management in the UK furniture industry. Sharon’s research interests include supply chain management, organisational learning, change management and public services and health management. Sharon is a member of the steering committee for ukfirst, the furniture industry forum.

Fabric to Furniture Research Project. This jointly funded pilot project between ukfirst and Cardiff University Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre (CU-IMRC), which Sharon is an associate member, aims to review the supply of fabric within three furniture supply chains: beds, contract/ office and upholstery. This pilot study commenced in April 2005 and is based upon a ‘rapid scanning’ methodology. For more information about the project see http://www.cuimru.cf.ac.uk/F2F.

FIRA- Furniture Supply Chain Project. An industry wide survey, which was supported by the Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA), was undertaken during the latter stages of 2001. The main aims of the study were to understand the structure of existing supply chain networks and investigate the current capabilities and supply chain activities within the industry. The results of the study were used to inform a DTI study into the competitiveness of the UK furniture industry.

Massey, ML and Williams SJ, (2005) CANDO – Implementing change in an NHS Trust, International Journal of Public sector management, Vol 18, 4, pp 330-349.

Williams SJ (2002): Benchmarking the Supply Chain performance within the UK furniture industry, Furniture Industry Research Association & Lean Enterprise Research Centre, ISBN: 0-9537982-7-5.

Williams, SJ, Baldwin, J., Sarana, MK, and Naim, MM., (2006), Identifying the inhibitors to customisation in the "fabric to office furniture" supply network, 14th International Working Seminar on Production Economics, 20 - 24 February 2006, Innsbruck, Austria.

Williams, SJ (2005), Managing and developing suppliers: Can SCM be adopted by SMEs? Proceedings of 18th International conference of Production Research, Salerno, 31st July – 4th August, 2005.

Williams SJ (2004) A supplier development programme: Learning and managing change in SMEs, Proceedings of Managing Complexity and Change in SMEs, Proceedings of RENT XVIII Annual Conference, Copenhagen, 24-26th November 2004, pp 198, ISBN 87-91181-83-6.

Williams SJ (2004) Multi theoretical approach to supply chain management, Proceedings of BAM 2004 annual conference, University of St Andrews, www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~bam04, ISBN 0-9549608-1-5.

Williams SJ and Elias SE (2004), Business Support Programmes for the Smaller Organisation, Proceedings of International conference Small & Medium-sized enterprises: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, Athens Institute for Education & Research, Lefkada, Greece, 30th-31st August.

Williams SJ (2004), An adaptive supplier development project: An SME case study in the UK Furniture Industry, Proceedings of the thirteenth IPSERA International Conference, Catania, April 2004.

Williams SJ (2001) Defining Supply Chain Networks to achieve Best Practice amongst SMEs: A Review of the Pilot Methodology. Manufacturing Information Systems: Proceedings of the fourth SMESME International Conference, Aalborg University, 14th – 16th May, 163-170, ISBN 87-89867-81-5.

Williams SJ (2000): Reshaping Vertical Supply Chain Networks to Improve Welsh SME Performance: The Rationale and Proposed Methodology for the Study, Maximising Supply Chain Opportunities in the Global market Place Conference, Coventry University, 6 December, 57-73, ISBN 0-905949-98-6.

Williams SJ (2000): Reshaping Vertical Supply Chain Networks to Achieve Best Practice Amongst Welsh SMEs, Logistics Research Network 5th Annual Conference, Cardiff University, 7th & 8th September, 550-558, ISBN 0-9537982.