About

Robert Sullivan is a coach, teacher, writer, adviser, economist and entrepreneur.  He is based in Scotland but works internationally.

Robert has written on numerous topics in the press, books for the academic market and a range of other journals.

He is a member of the Entrepreneurial Exchange, Scotland’s premier networking club for entrepreneurs, he is a member of the Scottish Parliament cross-party groups on the Economy and Oil and Gas. He is also a member of the Scottish Futures Forum and The Scottish Policy Innovation Forum..

An Economist, educated at the University of Glasgow he also holds a number of other qualifications including an MBA from the University of Keele.

Robert has held a number of research and teaching posts at several top international Universities and is a peer reviewer for the prestigious Academy of Management in the USA.

In addition he is a distance learning and management author and academic and Senior Charter Mark and Customer Service Excellence Assessor. Robert has been involved in Charter Mark since its infancy and was leader of the service First Networks for Scotland and assisted in the development of the ‘Modernising Government’ White Paper under Peter Kilfoyle (the then Minister). Robert was a member of the Prime Ministers Communications task Force.

He has significant experience with a number of top Universities and organisations and is a regular speaker at management and corporate conferences. He is a speaker with the London and Dublin Speaker Bureaux as well as with City International, a well respected international speaker’s agency.

Robert has provided services in a number of countries including the UK, USA, Spain, Hong Kong, Singapore, Denmark and Cyprus.

For over seven years he was Director of MBA Programmes and Director of Distance Learning at the Institute of Quality Assurance Centre of Excellence at the University of Paisley Quality Centre.

Robert has conducted numerous consultancy exercises in the public and private sectors.

His work on using ServQual as a measure of user satisfaction and in supporting Best Value reviews has becoming renowned within Government.

He has been Director and trustee of the Institute for Small Business Affairs, a fellow in Management Development at the International Management Centre and is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management.

Currently Robert is  involved with a number of companies in the leadership development field and is also a Senior Charter Mark/ Customer Service Excellence Assessor, author and e-learning/ distance learning tutor. He is also a consultant to many public and private sector organisations across the world.  He provides services as a mentor/ coach on a voluntary basis to the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) for their leadership and change programme as well as on a paid basis to many individuals and teams in the corporate sphere internationally.

Robert has visiting faculty positions in Management with a number of institutions including the Open University Business School, the Centre for Financial and Management Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, University of Liverpool, University of Strathclyde Business School, University of Leicester, Chartered Institute of Bankers, University of Manchester (UMIST) and the Royal College of Nursing.

Currently Robert also is a member of the University of West of Scotland, School of Computing, Industry Advisory Board

Previous Career

Robert graduated from the University of Glasgow , MA (Economics and Economic History) and moved into a career in the UK Civil Service that included front-line positions in a number of Departments, management and policy development positions followed in the then Department for Education and Employment.

As part of his career as a ‘fast track’ civil servant Robert spend a significant amount of time as a Business Consultant and conducted projects for ACAS, Central Statistical Office, Department of Employment and The Employment Service.  This included the development of a tailored Quality System for Employment Service offices in Scotland, Reviewing the role of local managers, culture change and re-organisation. In addition Robert acted as policy adviser to a number of Cabinet Ministers.

Robert was Director of MBA and MSc programmes at the world famous, Institute of Quality Assurance Centre of Excellence, University of Paisley Quality Centre.

Robert is held in high esteem with academic colleagues through the world and as a result is peer reviewer for several international management journals and reviews papers for the USA Academy of Management and the Institute for Small Business Affairs.

In addition to the projects mentioned, Robert has significant consultancy experience in both the public and private sectors and is a regular contributor and speaker at conferences and key note meetings. In his consultancy and speaking engagement he has worked with; IBM, Benefits Agency, Compaq, Employment Service, Chartered Institute of Public Finance, Institute of Public Finance,  Group 4 Falck Global, Co-operative Funeral Managers Association, Ayrshire Quality Forum, South Ayrshire Council, South Lanarkshire Council, Clackmannanshire Council, Quality Scotland Foundation, Scottish Executive, University of Strathclyde to name a few.