Ivor Davies

Ivor Davies

Professor Emeritus, Human Performance Technology, School of Education

Education

  • C.Psychol., University of Nottingham, UK
  • F.C.P., University of Nottingham, UK
  • F.B.Ps.S., University of Nottingham, UK
  • P.G.C.E., University of Nottingham, UK
  • Ph.D., Psychology, University of Nottingham, UK
  • M.Sc., University of Illinois
  • M.A., University of Birmingham, UK
  • B.A., University of Birmingham, UK

    Awards

    • Served in the Royal Air Force, attaining the rank of Wing Commander (Lt. Colonel)
    • Fellowship of the British Psychological Society (F.B.Ps.S.), 1982
    • Ronald H. Anderson Memorial Award by the American Society of Training and Development, 1992

    Professional experience

    • Worked on five continents for major international corporations including General Electric (across all twelve businesses), Shell International, AT&T, Allied Signal, Bayer, Eli Lilly, People’s Bank of China, Reliability Center, Syncrude, Digital Equipment Corporation, International Paper Company, Hoechst Celanese, Banc One, Whirlpool, National Westminster Bank, Coutts & Co., CMHC Systems Software, Saudi Aramco, Xienel Industries etc., as well as for a number of developing countries in Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East & South East Asia.
    • Carried out a major needs analysis of AT&T’s quality education needs, designed the methodology for a cultural change strategy for Whirlpool.
    • Assisted the city of Jeddah develop a strategy for the economic development of the emirate.
    • Led a two and a half year project charged with developing a national strategic plan which would better align the economic base of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the market forces at work in the larger globalized environment.

    Research interests

    cognitive psychology; strategic thinking; representation and process; competencies and competitive advantage; perception and action; human error and cognition

    As an industrial psychologist, I am especially interested in the nature of cultural, organizational and paradigmatic change, the area of human reliability, human error, and strategic thinking at both corporate and strategic business unit levels. For many years, I have worked in product planning, marketing and industrial sales, sometimes engaged in research and frequently as a member of a project or development team. My particular expertise lies in identifying through competency modeling those few competencies that make for excellence and quality in human performance, and then helping people and organizations to change so that they exhibit superior performance. I am also interested in tracking the effectiveness of corporate education and training programs, by studying their impact on job performance, productivity and market share.