Case Study – UK – Research - The University of Manchester

About MIoIR, The University of Manchester …

Manchester is one of the founding centres for the study of science, technology and innovation policy and the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR), builds on the tradition established over forty years ago and particularly on the strengths of PREST and CRIC (the nationally-funded Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition hosted in the University of Manchester from 1997-2007). With around 50 academic and research staff MIoIR is undoubtedly the leading global group combining consultancy and policy research for national, international and sub-national policy actors with fundamental research underpinning our knowledge of the dynamics of science, technology and innovation in modern, knowledge-based economies. MIoIR is also at the heart of Manchester Business School’s strategic focus on all aspects of innovation in public policy and management. MBS is the largest campus-based business school in the UK, with over 200 teaching and research staff. A key aim of MBS is to conduct ‘engaged scholarship’ in which research and teaching of the highest quality is informed by a close and continuing interaction with business and policy actors.

Work within this broad theme has often focused on research infrastructure policy and on the dynamics of change in research performing institutions such as universities and government (or formerly government) laboratories, with major studies of the extent and impacts of reform of public sector research institutes in the UK and Europe. MIoIR has also been engaged in broader mapping of the capabilities of national research and innovation systems. Much of this work has explored the utility of existing indicators in the broad area of science, technology and innovation or been focused on developing new indicators and approaches towards measuring or characterising policy-relevant phenomena and dynamics. MIoIR is leading member of the key networks for research and innovation policy-relevant studies in Europe: the ETEPS and ERAWATCH networks (for DG-JRC/IPTS); INNO POLICY TRENDCHART (for DG Enterprise); and the RINDICATE framework contract on new and innovative indicators for science, technology and innovation policy (for DG Research). On the fundamental research front MIoIR is a leading member of the PRIME Network of Excellence in innovation policy studies under FP6.

Issues before using Timesheet Xpress...

Before purchasing Timesheet Xpress, MIoIR relied on the use of excel spreadsheets to compile this data, with a number of staff working on many different projects, it was a difficult and time consuming task for our experienced administrator to keep track of the hours worked on each project.

This was compounded by the increasing number of Research Projects MIOIR have, many of which are FP7 European Framework Contract for the European Commission.

“We must be absolutely certain that the reporting of time worked on the various projects is faultless and when investigating time reporting packages, Timesheet Xpress was definitely the right choice for our needs.”

The main problem MIoIR had was to make certain they were claiming the correct hours on the correct project and that when reporting time, there was no duplication of time reported, with the previous system, it was possible for staff to accidentally report that they had worked the same hours on two different projects.

“Since the installation of Timesheet Xpress, we have noticed a marked difference in the ease of time reporting, this is a huge saving on staff time when it comes to Auditing. We also have the peace of mind when presenting Timesheet reports to our Auditors, we can be confident there will be no duplication of reported time. ” Research Support Officer, MIoIR

After implementing Timesheet Xpress...

After the initial installation and setting up of Timesheet Xpress, staff have found the software easy to use, which of course has been a major contributing factor in encouraging them to keep their time sheets up to date.

Lisa said “Since the installation of Timesheet Xpress, we have noticed a marked difference in the ease of time reporting, this is a huge saving on staff time when it comes to Auditing. We also have the peace of mind when presenting Timesheet reports to our Auditors, that we can be confident there will be no duplication of reported time.”

About Timesheet Xpress

As a leading application based product for logging and managing project efficiencies in any organisation, Timesheet Xpress is being used by thousands of users in over 40 countries. The software is easily installed on either stand alone or network computers and offers a range of configurations for use in organisations of all sizes from independent consultants relying on accurate tracking of “billable hours” to large corporations who are concerned not only with project management and staff productivity but also with timely management information for the purposes of workforce management and staff optimisation when forecasting and scheduling outputs.

Timesheet Xpress will monitor organisational productivity and performance through time and attendance with quick and easy to use reporting. With accurate and timely information, effective planning and decisions can be confidently made leading to increases in business competitiveness. With links to various applications such as accountancy packages (Sage & Quick Books), Microsoft Project, Excel, Timesheet Xpress offers a seamless integration into many existing business applications in organisations of all sizes and in many sectors.