Contact Professor Colin Pilbeam
- Tel: +44 (0) 1234 754430
- Email: colin.pilbeam@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
Background
Dr Colin Pilbeam is a multi-disciplinary research scientist with extensive experience of managing collaborative research projects internationally. He has a passion for doctoral education and gained Senior Fellowship of Higher Education Academy in 2019.
Colin Pilbeam received his MA in Agriculture and Forest Sciences from Oxford and his PhD in Agricultural Botany from the University of Reading. An MBA from the University of Reading preceded a prize-winning DBA in Higher Education Management from the University of Bath.
Colin Pilbeam joined Cranfield University School of Management in 2000 as Manager of Research Programmes, and was appointed as Senior Research Fellow in 2005. He was promoted to Principal Research Fellow in 2013, to Reader in Safety Leadership in 2018 and then to Professor of Organizational Safety in 2021. Between 2005 and 2011 he was Director of the PhD programme in School of Management recognised as 'world-leading' by an independent panel review in 2008.
He served on the executive council of the British Academy of Management as co-Vice Chair for Special Interest Groups in 2018-19. He sits on the Research Advisory Group for IOSH
Research opportunities
Dr Colin Pilbeam is keen to recruit doctoral students, especially those with experience of organizational safety. While open to your suggestions for research projects, he is particularly interested in investigating:
the effects of macro-factors (including national cultures) on organizational safety culture
the tension between safety and productivity and how this is managed
the contribution of training to safe working
the role of leadership in delivering safety performance
the ways organizations can learn from accident and incident reports, and why they fail
Current activities
Dr Colin Pilbeam is Professor of Organizational Safety, based in the Cranfield Safety and Accident Investigation Centre. He is also an Adjunct Professor in School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, Purdue University, USA.
His research focuses in how organizational structures, processes and practices influence safe working and organizational safety performance. Recent projects funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) have investigated safety leadership in service organisations and the management of safety in outsourced relationships. The Lloyds Register Foundation has funded work on the influence of context on the design of safety interventions. Together with industry sponsored projects on safety leadership and safety culture with Network Rail, Laing O'Rourke and Highlands and Islands Airports Limited. These form part of a career portfolio of managed research projects valued at more than £3.5m.
His current doctoral research students contribute to our understanding of organizational safety. Their projects investigate:
· Effects of national culture on organizational safety climate
· Effects of hierarchy and time on perceptions of organizational safety climate
· Decoupling of safety practices from written procedures
· Establishing and maintaining resilience in organizational systems
· Using semiotics to interpret the representations of safety created by conventional safety tools
He is working with the University Côte d'Azur to develop safety leadership training in the nuclear industry funded by the EU.
Colin Pilbeam is a module leader on four MSc courses:
MSc in Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Engineering (Ethics, Safety and Regulation module)
MSc in Aviation Safety Management Risk and Regulation (Responding to Risk in Sociotechnical systems)
MSc in Aviation Safety Management Risk and Regulation (Managing Current Safety Issues - Group Project)
MSc in Aviation Safety Management Risk and Regulation (Managing Emerging Safety Issues - Group Project)
He regularly runs masterclasses on 'Working with Literature' at Cranfield, at other UK universities and at the annual British Academy of Management doctoral symposium.
Clients
- Institution of Occupational Safety and Health
- Lloyd's Register Foundation
- Siemens AG
- GSK plc
- Costain Group plc
- Kuehne + Nagel International AG
- Waitrose Ltd
- Argos Ltd (J Sainsbury plc)
- Network Rail
- Laing O'Rourke
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Omidia L, Karimi H, Pilbeam C, Mousavi S & Moradi G. (2025). Safety leadership and safety citizenship behavior: the mediating roles of safety knowledge, safety motivation, and psychological contract of safety. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 26(1)
- Pilbeam C, Denyer D & Sutliff M. (2025). Guided by principles or rules: a Delphi study on how safety professionals frame safety practices. Safety Science, 184
- Sanne JM & Pilbeam C. (2025). How an institutional setting shape and limit the mitigation of accidents in complex work settings. Journal of Safety Research, 93
- Pilbeam C. (2024). Practices and challenges of safety management in outsourced facilities management. Journal of Safety Research, 90
- Hendra O, Prasojo E, Fathurrahman R & Pilbeam C. (2024). Vertical-horizontal actor collaboration in governance network: a systematic review. Public Organization Review, 24(4)
- Pilbeam C & Karanikas N. (2023). Safety training in context: technical, cultural and political factors affecting its design, delivery and transfer. Journal of Safety Research, 85(June)
- Kaya GK, Ustebay S, Nixon J & Pilbeam C. (2023). Exploring the impact of safety culture on incident reporting: lessons learned from machine learning analysis of NHS England staff survey and incident data. Safety Science, 166(October)
- Pilbeam C & Karanikas N. (2023). Effective transfer of safety interventions within and between organizations: Leveraging translation theory to achieve improved outcomes. Safety Science, 168(December)
- Omidi L, Karimi H, Pilbeam C, Mousavi S & Moradi G. (2023). Exploring the relationships among safety leadership, safety climate, psychological contract of safety, risk perception, safety compliance, and safety outcomes. Frontiers in Public Health, 11
- Ben-Saed M & Pilbeam C. (2022). The effect of an embargo, sanctions and culture on safety climate: A qualitative view from aviation maintenance in the MENA region. Journal of Safety Research, 81
- Omidi L, Dolatabad KM & Pilbeam C. (2022). Differences in perception of the importance of process safety indicators between experts in Iran and the West. Journal of Safety Research, 84(February)
- Karanikas N, Khan SR, Baker PRA & Pilbeam C. (2022). Designing safety interventions for specific contexts: results from a literature review. Safety Science, 156(December)
- Pilbeam C, Denyer D & Doherty N. (2020). Safety risk factors in two different types of routine outsourced work: a systematic literature review. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 18(2)
- Pilbeam C, Denyer D, Doherty N & Davidson R. (2019). Designing safer working interventions through a literature review using a mechanisms-based approach. Safety Science, 120
- Nixon J, Pilbeam C & Kirwan B. (2019). Pragmatic science? Reflections on the academic - industry interactions in a European aviation research programme. MATEC Web of Conferences, 304
- Pilbeam C, Doherty N, Davidson R & Denyer D. (2016). Safety leadership practices for organizational safety compliance: developing a research agenda from a review of the literature. Safety Science, 86
- Nyman J, Pilbeam C, Baines PR & Maklan S. (2016). Identifying the roles of university fundraisers in securing transformational gifts: Lessons from Canada. Studies in Higher Education, 43(7)
- Pilbeam C, Doherty N, Davidson R & Denyer D. (2016). Effect of isomorphic forces on safety practices in service organizations – are there dangers to homogeneity?. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 14(1)
- Pilbeam C, Davidson R, Doherty N & Denyer D. (2015). What learning happens? Using audio diaries to capture learning in response to safety-related events within retail and logistics organizations. Safety Science, 81
- Pilbeam C. (2013). Coordinating temporary organizations in international development through social and temporal embeddedness. International Journal of Project Management, 31(2)
- Pilbeam C, Lloyd-Jones G & Denyer D. (2013). Leveraging value in doctoral student networks through social capital. Studies in Higher Education, 38(10)
- Pilbeam C, Alvarez G & Wilson H. (2012). The governance of supply networks: a systematic literature review. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 17(4)
- Pilbeam C. (2012). Pursuing financial stability: a resource dependence perspective on interactions between pro-vice chancellors in a network of universities. Studies in Higher Education, 37(4)
- Pilbeam C & Jamieson I. (2010). Beyond Leadership and Management: The Boundary-spanning Role of the Pro-Vice Chancellor. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(6)
- Alvarez G, Pilbeam C & Wilding R. (2010). Nestlé Nespresso AAA sustainable quality program: an investigation into the governance dynamics in a multi‐stakeholder supply chain network. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 15(2)
- Pilbeam C & Denyer D. (2009). Lone scholar or community member? The role of student networks in doctoral education in a UK management school. Studies in Higher Education, 34(3)
- Pilbeam C. (2008). Designing an Entrepreneurial University in an Institutional Setting. Higher Education Policy, 21(3)
- Pilbeam CJ, Mathema SB, Gregory PJ & Shakya PB. (2005). Soil fertility management in the mid-hills of Nepal: Practices and perceptions. Agriculture and Human Values, 22(2)
- Matthews RB & Pilbeam C. (2005). Modelling the long-term productivity and soil fertility of maize/millet cropping systems in the mid-hills of Nepal. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 111(1-4)
- Sakala GM, Rowell DL & Pilbeam CJ. (2004). Acid–base reactions between an acidic soil and plant residues. Geoderma, 123(3-4)
- Pilbeam CJ, Gregory PJ, Munankarmy RC & Tripathi BP. (2004). Leaching of nitrate from cropped rainfed terraces in the mid-hills of Nepal. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 69(3)
- Nkhalamba JW, Rowell DL & Pilbeam CJ. (2003). The development and contribution of surface charge by crop residues in two Malawian acid soils. Geoderma, 115(3-4)
- C. P, P. G, B. T & R. M. (2002). Fate of nitrogen-15-labelled fertilizer applied to maize-millet cropping systems in the mid-hills of Nepal. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 35(1)
- Pilbeam CJ, Tripathi BP, Sherchan DP, Gregory PJ & Gaunt J. (2000). Nitrogen balances for households in the mid-hills of Nepal. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 79(1)
- Sherchan DP, Pilbeam CJ & Gregory PJ. (1999). RESPONSE OF WHEAT–RICE AND MAIZE/MILLET SYSTEMS TO FERTILIZER AND MANURE APPLICATIONS IN THE MID-HILLS OF NEPAL. Experimental Agriculture, 35(1)
- Jenkinson DS, Harris HC, Ryan J, McNeill AM, Pilbeam CJ, .... (1999). Organic matter turnover in a calcareous clay soil from Syria under a two-course cereal rotation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 31(5)
- Simmonds LP, Mburu MWK & Pilbeam CJ. (1999). Bean Growth and Yield Response to Irrigation, Nitrogen Fertiliser and Planting Density Under Temperate and Tropical Conditions. East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal, 65(1-2)
- Mburu MWK, Simmonds LP & Pilbeam CJ. (1999). Bean Canopy Response to Irrigation, Nitrogen Fertiliser and Planting Density Under Temperate and Tropical Conditions. East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal, 65(1-2)
- Pilbeam CJ & Hutchison D. (1998). Fate of nitrogen applied in different fertilizers to the surface of a calcareous soil in Syria. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 52(1)
- Pilbeam CJ, Harris HC, Swift RS & McNeill AM. (1998). Use of residual fertiliser 15N in soil for isotope dilution estimates of N2 fixation by grain legumes. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 49(5)
- PILBEAM CJ, McNEILL AM, HARRIS HC & SWIFT RS. (1997). Effect of fertilizer rate and form on the recovery of 15N-labelled fertilizer applied to wheat in Syria. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 128(4)
- PILBEAM CJ, WOOD M & JONES MJ. (1997). PROPORTION OF TOTAL NITROGEN AND FIXED NITROGEN IN SHOOTS OF LENTIL AND CHICKPEA GROWN IN A MEDITERRANEAN-TYPE ENVIRONMENT. Experimental Agriculture, 33(2)
- PILBEAM CJ, McNEILL AM, HARRIS HC & SWIFT RS. (1997). Effect of rotation on the recovery of 15N-labelled fertilizer applied to wheat grown in Northern Syria. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 129(4)
- Pilbeam CJ. (1996). Variation in harvest index of maize (Zea mays) and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) grown in a marginal rainfall area of Kenya. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 126(1)
- Kantar F, Hebblethwaite PD & Pilbeam CJ. (1996). Factors influencing disease resistance in high and low tannin Vicia faba. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 127(1)
- KANTAR F, PILBEAM CJ & HEBBLETHWAITE PD. (1996). Effect of tannin content of faba bean (Vicia faba) seed on seed vigour, germination and field emergence. Annals of Applied Biology, 128(1)
- Pilbeam CJ. (1996). Effect of climate on the recovery in crop and soil of15N-labelled fertilizer applied to wheat. Fertilizer Research, 45(3)
- McNeill AM, Pilbeam CJ, Harris HC & Swift RS. (1996). Seasonal variation in the suitability of different methods for estimating biological nitrogen fixation by grain legumes under rainfed conditions. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 47(7)
- Pilbeam CJ, Daamen CC & Simmonds LP. (1995). Analysis of Water Budgets in Semi-Arid Lands from Soil Water Records. Experimental Agriculture, 31(2)
- Pilbeam CJ, Wood M & Mugane PG. (1995). Nitrogen use in maize-grain legume cropping systems in semi-arid Kenya. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 20(1)
- Pilbeam CJ & Warren GP. (1995). Use of15N for fertilizer N recovery and N mineralization studies in semi-arid Kenya. Fertilizer Research, 42(1-3)
- Pilbeam CJ, Simmonds LP & Kavilu AW. (1995). Transpiration efficiencies of maize and beans in semi-arid Kenya. Field Crops Research, 41(3)
- Pilbeam CJ, Okalebo JR, Simmonds LP & Gathua KW. (1994). Analysis of maize–common bean intercrops in semi-arid Kenya. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 123(2)
- Kantar F, Hebblethwaite PD & Pilbeam J. (1994). Studies on the establishment of white-flowered faba bean (Vicia faba). The Journal of Agricultural Science, 123(3)
- Pilbeam C & Hebblethwaite P. (1994). The faba bean. BIOLOGIST, 41(6)
- Pilbeam CJ, Mahapatra BS & Wood M. (1993). Soil matric potential effects on gross rates of nitrogen mineralization in an orthic ferralsol from Kenya. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 25(10)
- Pilbeam CJ, Akatse JK, Hebblethwaite PD & Wright SD. (1992). Yield production in two contrasting forms of spring-sown faba bean in relation to water supply. Field Crops Research, 29(4)
- PILBEAM CJ. (1992). Effect of Nitrogen Supply on the Growth and Senescence of Leaves of Lolium perenne with Contrasting Rates of Leaf Respiration. Annals of Botany, 70(4)
- PILBEAM CJ & ROBSON MJ. (1992). Response of Populations of Lolium perenne cv. S 23 with Contrasting Rates of Dark Respiration to Nitrogen Supply and Defoliation Regime 2. Grown as Mixtures. Annals of Botany, 69(1)
- PILBEAM CJ & ROBSON MJ. (1992). Response of Populations of Lolium perenne cv. S 23 with Contrasting Rates of Dark Respiration to Nitrogen Supply and Defoliation Regime. Annals of Botany, 69(1)
- Pilbeam CJ, Hebblethwaite PD, Ricketts HE & Nyongesa TE. (1991). Effects of plant population density on determinate and indeterminate forms of winter field beans (Vicia faba) 1. Yield and yield components. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 116(3)
- Pilbeam CJ, Hebblethwaite PD, Nyongesa TE & Ricketts HE. (1991). Effects of plant population density on determinate and indeterminate forms of winter field beans (Vicia faba) 2. Growth and development. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 116(3)
- DUMUR D, PILBEAM CJ & CRAIGON J. (1990). Use of the Weibull Function to Calculate Cardinal Temperatures in Faba Bean. Journal of Experimental Botany, 41(11)
- Pilbeam CJ, Hebblethwaite PD, Ricketts HE & Hassan OA. (1990). Effects of autumn sowing dates on growth and yield of indeterminate and determinate field beans (Vicia faba). The Journal of Agricultural Science, 114(3)
- PILBEAM CJ, HEBBLETHWAITE PD & RICKETTS HE. (1990). The response of an autumn‐sown determinate faba bean to different plant distributions. Annals of Applied Biology, 117(1)
- Pilbeam CJ, Duc G & Hebblethwaite PD. (1990). Effects of plant population density on spring-sown field beans (Vicia faba) with different growth habits. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 114(1)
- Pilbeam CJ, Hebblethwaite PD & Yusuf AA. (1990). Irrigation effects on the development and yield of determinate and indeterminate forms of autumn‐sown faba bean. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 53(4)
- Pilbeam CJ, Hebblethwaite PD & Clark AS. (1989). Effect of different inter-row spacings on faba beans of different form. Field Crops Research, 21(3-4)
- PILBEAM CJ, HEBBLETHWAITE PD & RICKETTS HE. (1989). The response of determinate and semi‐determinate faba bean varieties to different sowing dates in the spring. Annals of Applied Biology, 114(2)
- Pilbeam CJ, Robson MJ & Lambers H. (1986). Respiration in mature leaves of Lolium perenne as affected by nutrient supply, cutting and competition. Physiologia Plantarum, 66(1)
- Buchanan DA, Denyer D, Jaina J, Kelliher C, Moore C, .... How do they manage? A qualitative study of the realities of middle and front-line management work in health care. Health Services and Delivery Research, 1(4)
