Dr Alan Benson was a Senior Lecturer in Management at the University of Exeter Business School from 2010 until 2018, when he retired from full-time academia. He is currently on a research-only contract with Newcastle University Business School. Over the period of 30 years in academia, Alan held module leader responsibilities for Masters’ level modules, such as ‘Managing in a Multinational Context’ and ‘Strategy’, as well as ‘Business Projects’ on the undergraduate degree programmes at Exeter University Business School. In previous posts he taught MBA-level modules in Strategy and Entrepreneurship in the UK, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia. He has also supervised numerous Master’s-level dissertations and student internship project reports. In 1986 Alan gained an MBA from Cranfield University School of Management, where his interest in entrepreneurship was stimulated. He remains an active alumnus of Cranfield. Alan gained his Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) from the University of Hull in 2005, and has published articles on ‘SME support in the UK and entrepreneurial learning from business failure’. Current research projects include ‘The Influence of Corporate Culture on Corporate Governance’. He has been a reviewer for two UK academic peer-reviewed journals that covered a range of topics in management education and ethical business management (analysis and control). Before becoming a full-time academic in 1990, Dr Benson worked as a management consultant and gained senior management experience in several industry sectors, including a number of blue-chip engineering and manufacturing companies. He became a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in 1982.
