Management and Leadership in Large Organisations

The leaders of BBA Aviation’s operating businesses report directly to the Group Chief Executive and sit on the Executive Management Committee which sets the strategic direction of the company and allocates resources. Michael will discuss how and why this makes BBA Aviation’s management and leadership effective.

After graduating in Mechanical Engineering and Management Studies, Imperial College alumnus Michael Harper began his career with Vickers plc and BAJ Vickers. He joined Kidde Graviner Limited in 1984 and became involved in fire safety equipment for aircraft and military vehicles. Via a series of mergers and acquisitions Michael became responsible for the Kidde division of Williams Holdings plc which supplied fire protection and safety equipment to a wide range of industries including the UK Fire and Rescue Services. He was Chief Executive of Kidde plc from 2000 to 2005 when he retired from executive life and has since chaired BBA Aviation plc, Ricardo plc, the Vitc Group plc (2004-2012) and served on the boards of Catlin plc (2005-2010) and QinetiQ plc (2011 - present).