Senior Lecturer and Postgraduate Programme Director
Telephone number: 029 2041 7076
Email address: mlowther@cardiffmet.ac.uk
Mark is responsible for undergraduate & postgraduate learning and teaching, action research projects and management consulting (including professional mentoring and executive coaching) in the field of sport leadership. Contexts include mainstream sport organisations (in particular strategic planning, corporate governance and people management) and elite sport environments (in particular high performance cultures, team captaincy and leadership groups). Prior to academia Mark worked at a senior level in the public and commercial sectors across community sport development (including social inclusion and the health agenda) and leisure facility management (including tourism and economic regeneration).
Research / Publications
My particular area of interest is the role and impact of leadership in the context of high performance environments and elite sports teams. The definition and scope of leadership includes coaches and players, individual endeavour and group behaviour, formal responsibility and informal influence. I am also interested in the transferable principles and insights from elite sport into the business context. My preferred approach to exploring these interests is through action research and collaborative working.
Research projects have included – The role of leadership in a European cup winning campaign (an elite rugby union case study); The leadership role and influence of team captaincy in professional rugby union; The process of team cohesion in elite women's rugby; The conditions and considerations for developing organisational resilience in professional cricket; The conditions and principles for high performance in challenging and competitive environments (an elite ocean racing case study); The principles and practices of good governance in European sport organisations.
Teaching and Supervision
I am currently the Programme Director for the MSc in Sport Leadership and the Module Leader for Leadership and Influencing Skills (P/G), Organisational Strategy and Change (P/G) and Strategic Management and Change (U/G). I also teach sport leadership on a number of other modules and supervise both undergraduate and postgraduate leadership dissertations.
Qualifications and Awards
PhD Team Captaincy in Professional Rugby Union – Cardiff Metropolitan University
MSc Organisation Consulting - Ashridge Business School
PgC Teaching in Higher Education – Cardiff Metropolitan University
Welsh Assembly Government - Inside Welsh Industry: Best Practice Exemplar
Wales Quality Award - Most Improved Organisation
Fellow - Higher Education Academy
External Links
Board memberships: UK Board - Turnaround Management Association, National Council - Association for Management Education and Development, Chairman - Welsh Triathlon, Advisory Board - International Sport and Culture Association, Board Member - Urdd Gobaith Cymru Sport,
Board Member - Cardiff Mind, Editorial Board (Leisure and Culture) - Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
Professional memberships: Association of Management Education and Development, Association of Business Psychologists, European Mentoring and Coaching Council, Society for Organisational Learning, Chief Leisure Officers Association.
Knowledge partnerships: European Commission Project on Sport Governance, European Commission Health Programme/MOVE Project, European Commission Expert Group on Sport Governance, sports coach UK (Talent and Performance Coaching), Welsh Rugby Union (Leadership and Management), Saracens Rugby (Player Development Planning), James Grant Rugby (Academic Advisor),
England Rugby League (High Performance and Emotional Intelligence), Arsenal FC (Player Development Planning), Glamorgan CCC (Strategic Insight Programme), Volvo Ocean Race (High Performance Teams).
External examiner: University of Gloucestershire (Sport Business Management).
