Dr James Bannerman
M.A. (Hons), PhD
Senior Lecturer in Management & Business Leadership
Oxford Brookes Business School
Role
As a Senior Lecturer in n Management & Business Leadership at Oxford Brookes University, Dr James Bannerman specialises on 'lateral thinking' and the links between innovation, creativity and enterprise.
James is a 'Creative Change Agent' who combines Creativity with Psychology to help businesses innovate.
As an innovation consultant he has worked with many leading organisations including Aston Martin, British Airways, Orange, Starbucks, Rolls-Royce and HSBC, as well as at the National Space Centre on a mission to Mars.
He lectures on business creativity and innovation on the MBA programmes at Warwick Business School, Grenoble Ecole de Management, and Oxford Brookes University, where he completed his PhD on the impact of lateral thinking upon organisational advantage.
Before working in business he was a platinum-selling songwriter, a freelance cartoonist (e.g. Punch), a trained clinical psychotherapist, and he has an MA Hons in English Literature from Edinburgh University.
Teaching and supervision
Courses
Modules taught
- Creativity and Innovation
- The Entrepreneur
- Entrepreneurial Business Management
- Creativity for Marketing
- Entrepreneurial Behaviours and Practices
Further 'teaching' includes providing guest lectures on 'creativity' for other modules such as Dr. Grzegorz Kapuscinski's Tourism and Hospitality modules.
Research
My PhD research is on 'Return on Inspiration: A socio-psychological investigation into the impact of lateral thinking upon individual, group and organisational performance.'
Research impact
The ability to think and behave 'creatively' is increasingly regarded as a pivotal skill for business leaders, managers and teams (irrespective of sector). My research on 'lateral thinking' - which has involved both case studies and interviews with key thought leaders in this area from Edward de Bono to Tony Buzan and Professor John Adair - is designed to help creative thinking interventions in companies and organisations become more effective and more impactful.
Publications
Professional information
Conferences
In recent years, as a Keynote Speaker on 'Lateral Thinking' and business creativity and innovation, I have spoken at multiple Conferences around the world from the USA to Singapore and Brazil to Italy.
Consultancy
Alongside my Senior Lecturer role at Oxford Brookes I run my own independent business innovation consultancy, and linked to this I have had experience of working with the leaders, managers and teams of many different organisations from Aston Martin to Schroders, Duracell to Disney, and Pfizer to the European Space Agency.
Further details
Prior to working as a Senior Lecturer and 'Creative Change Agent' I was a platinum-selling songwriter (ex-BMG) and freelance cartoonist (eg. Punch).