Charles Hobson - Professional Summary
Charles Hobson, MA, CEng, MBCS
Charles Hobson works with executive management teams, helping them to use strategic planning to identify new opportunities, grow revenue and increase profitability.
He gained his industrial experience in the electricity industry and then with the IBM Corporation for almost 30 years where his roles included:
- Account executive
- Marketing centre manager
- UK process re-engineering manager
- European customer satisfaction manager
In his third career, at Manchester Business School, Charles was appointed professorial fellow in executive development and led the team that designed and delivered customised executive education programmes for many of the School's largest clients between 2000 and 2004.
Today, his main interest lies in The Strategic Planning Process and how it can be employed to identify new opportunities, grow revenue and increase profitability. Working with executive management teams, he helps them to develop strategic plans and implement them successfully. His approach to strategic planning is pragmatic, flexible and facilitative rather than directive. It embraces:
- Mission, vision, strategy and tactics
- The external environment, competitors, the marketplace and the value chain
- Strengths / weaknesses, culture and financial considerations
He has completed strategic planning assignments with many organisations including:
Private sector: AMEC, BUNZL, Sainsbury's, Davis Blank Furniss Solicitors, Alcatel, Montgomery Watson Harza, BUPA, Unity Bank, IBM, Shell, Thomas Cook, Yorkshire Water, IMPACT and in the ...
Public sector: HM Customs & Excise, The Health Service, Greater Manchester Chamber, Pro-Manchester, The Ethnic Minority Business Forum, Manchester University, Manchester Business School, Westminster Business School, Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust.
Charles helps both individuals and teams to achieve their goals quickly and effectively and his advice and guidance is frequently sought, accepted and acted on by directors and senior executives.
His unique combination of skills and experience have been recognised by his appointment as a Visiting Senior Fellow at Manchester Business School (MBS) the largest on-campus business and management school in the UK and one of the top 30 business schools in the world.
Charles is also a member of the assessors' panel of the European Foundation for Management Development, which sets standards for and assesses the performance of business schools worldwide.
Charles is a graduate of Cambridge University, a Chartered IT Professional and a Chartered Engineer.