Delivering real improvement
Article for The Innovative Executive
Andrew Kearns of Hartswood Management provided an article entitled What every CEO must know to deliver significant performance improvement to the newsletter The Innovative Executive, the monthly newsletter for Baker Services Limited. This article is available through the Resources section of this web-site.
http://www.hartswoodmanagement.co.uk/16.html
IT Services
Since August 2007, Andrew Kearns of Hartswood Management Ltd has been working with the management consultancy company Consult Avila Ltd, to provide IT services to a data research company.
QCA Minerva Programme
Andrew Kearns of Hartswood Management was team leader for the technical team which provided the business and technical requirements for the Minerva programme. The Minerva programme is responsible for the delivery of the administrative system for the new Diploma qualification which is to be introduced from the 2008 / 2009 academic year. The business and technical requirements formed a fundemental part of the procurement for a supplier to develop the Minerva system. Andrew was also involved in the evaluation process which resulted in a contract award to Xansa. This completed nearly 3 years of support to the QCA / NAA organisations. For details of the contract award see:
http://www.xansa.com/shared/pressreleases/QCA200907/
Sponsorship
Hartswood Management has provided sponsorship for the football kits for the U18s team of Hartswood Stars YFC, a Brentwood based football team, for the 2007 / 2008 season. The team play in the Under 18s second division of the FA Chelmsford Youth Football League. Andrew Kearns of Hartswood Management is the manager of the team and commented about the 2007 / 2008 season, "this is an important season for the team as it is probably the final one which the team will play together with many of them going to university next year. The core of the team have played together since they were 9 years old." The fixtures and results of the team can be followed on the FA web-site -
http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?selectedSeason=2378273&selectedDivision=4312865
Inventory Reduction Mini Guide
Hartswood Management has developed an Inventory Reduction Mini Guide for JustOne Consultancy. The mini guide was developed for a JustOne client, a major aerospace manufacturing company, to assist them in a multi-site inventory reduction programme. The mini guide was designed for use as part of the JustOne Approach to consultancy (http://www.justoneconsultancy.com/).
Two years support to the National Assessment Agency (NAA)
In September 2006, Hartswood Management celebrated 2 years of support to the NAA Modernisation Programme. During this period, Hartswood Management has provided project management support resulting in the following successes:
1. The delivery of three quick-win web tools to ease the administration of exams in schools and colleges.
2. A consultation exercise with schools and colleges to determine the business requirements for the specifications of a single interface for the administration of GCSEs and A-level qualifications.
Support is now focussed on project managing the delivery of a solution specification for a system to administer the Diploma (a new qualification scheduled for first teach in 2008).
For details of the NAA see http://www.naa.org.uk/naa_index.aspx
For details of the new Diploma qualification see http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_5396.aspx,
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/diplomas
and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6318079.stm
Project Management Interim Manager of the Year 2005
Andrew Kearns (MD of Hartswood Management Ltd) was awarded the title of Project Management Interim Manager of the Year 2005, at an awards ceremony held at the Landmark Hotel at Marylebone in London on Friday 23 September.
More than 2,000 companies - many of them from the FTSE 100 - were invited to nominate an Interim Manager who had made a significant contribution to their business within the last 12 months.
Andrew was awarded the title of Interim Project Manager of the Year for his role as Convergence Project Manager on behalf of the National Assessment Agency (NAA).
Andrew was chosen to help the NAA in its modernising mission and to achieve the Convergence Programme's goal of improving confidence in the qualification system in England. He made a very significant contribution to the leadership role that the NAA fulfils and led a very successful major consultation exercise with schools and colleges.
Simeon Gann - Programme Leader for Convergence at the NAA said of Andrew:
"Andrew has become a fully integrated member of the team. This was achieved exceedingly quickly due to his proactive determination to understand and share the NAA's modernising mission. He very quickly adapted to the public sector ethos and soon displayed a passion to make a difference for learners in schools and colleges."
For more details of the Interim Manager of the Year 2005 awards see