Technology and human behaviour in decision making

I have over 20 years experience of developing executives and successfully advising on people strategy, behavioural and complex organisational change. I develop leadership potential and resolve complex people problems to improve business performance. I am the go to facilitator for messy relationships at board level, challenging away days and often asked to speak by media, conferences and events.

My projects range from leadership, Trustee and partner development programmes for Imperial College, RSM, Aviva, Unilever, Thyssenkrupp, HSBC, Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and the House of Commons to the NHS, and UK Sport amongst many.

As an experienced board coach with expertise in: behavioural analysis, merger and acquisition integration, psychometric profiling, complex change and conflict, I work with high profile execs to help them succeed, without sacrificing what matters.

Before moving to higher education at the end of 2020, I spent 19 years in the financial services industry where I held numerous roles such as Business Analyst, Financial Analytics Manager, Financial Operations Manager and Chief Financial Officer. The specific areas I was involved in was Behavioural Management in an insurance environment, Product Pricing, Banking and Financial Modelling.

Since moving into Academia my focus has shifted slightly as I now teach undergraduate Management Accounting, supervise postgraduate research and conduct research into budgeting for Agile Software Development to facilitate investment decisions and Management Accounting.

Kat is a Senior Lecturer at the Manchester Metropolitan University and an active behavioral researcher. Her research expertise lies in the area of individual decision making under risk and uncertainty with the focus on the impact that heuristics, biases and rules of thumb have on financial choices.

Kat published papers exploring key behavioral principles guiding the choice of financial products, such as insurance, but her real passion lies in exploring how to use behavioral insights in policy making to nudge people towards a better decision-making and protect them from detrimental choices. Specifically, Kat has co-authored the report outlining the impact that rules of thumb have on financial outcomes of individuals for Money Advice Service.

She has also been awarded a grant from the Initiative for Financial Wellbeing for her research focusing on the potential use of nudges by financial advisors. In the future Kat plans to undertake more research focusing on biases among financial professionals.

As Tech Advisory Lead at Beever and Struthers, Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors John grows and manages a portfolio of clients based across the UK and internationally. He deals with a diverse range of sectors and specialises in the Innovation, Communication and IT sector and is a firm believer that whilst every business is unique, many business issues are common and unique solutions can be found in other sectors, you just need to find the software to do so!