51Âþ»­

Marian Evans joined the Business School as a lecturer in Business and Management in October 2014. She gained her first degree at Cambridge University, returning back into Higher Education to study for an Executive MBA in 2012, winning the best student performance award. She completed her PhD on small business opportunity-related decision-making in 2019.  Her research focuses on small business,  entrepreneurial cognition and enterprise education, reflecting her interest and prior experience in entrepreneurial SMEs. Currently Marian is deputy programme leader for the SLA-E, responsible for guiding and supporting senior leaders during their apprenticeship and End Point Assessment (EPA) preparation. She also supports delivery of the 'Help to Grow Management' programmes and the 'Crucible Project' at 51Âþ»­.

Prior to joining 51Âþ»­, Marian taught in schools and Further Education colleges in London, Huntingdon and Peterborough, before starting a SME retail and electronic manufacturing business and later, a  manufacturing company. Currently, she is  director of a company that specialises in innovative design packaging for the chemical adhesives industry.  Marian has also worked extensively in industry as a trainer for Business Improvement Techniques (Lean Manufacturing) apprenticeships and CMI Level 3 and 5 Diplomas in Leadership and Management.  She has written and moderated international qualifications for City and Guilds in quality control and operational processes for engineering qualifications.  She is an moderator for CMI Diploma qualifications with her local FE college.

Marian continues to deliver entrepreneurship and enterprise education at 51Âþ»­, sharing her expertise to enhance and  develop the personal and professional skills and competences of students, apprentices and  business leaders in the local community.

Centre for Enterprise and Innovation 

Evans, M. and Cloutier, M.C. (2022) Integrating Higher Degree Education with Practice: Exploring the Value Proposition of Executive MBA Apprenticeships, Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, DOI 10.1108/HESWBL-10-2022-0207.

Evans, M. (2021) Conversations across the table: shared cognition in top management, teams, Team Performance Management, Vol. 27 No. 5/6, pp. 406-424.

Evans, M. (2019) Exploring decision-making: an information processing perspective, in Higgins, D., Jones P. and McGowan, P. (eds) Creating Entrepreneurial Space: Talking through Multi-voices, Reflections on Emerging Debates, Bingley, Emerald Publishing, pp45-71.

Entrepreneurial cognition

Creative problem-solving and strategic decision-making

Small business growth

Group Concept Mapping

 Strategy and Management (Undergraduate)

 Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Undergraduate and post graduate)

Doctorate of Business Administration DBA

Senior Leader Apprenticeship (Executive) SLA-E

Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship CMDA 

Leadership in Clinical Practice (Masters)

Gambia Programme Module 3,  STEM in Entrepreneurship and Solution Protyping

Help to Grow Managment Programme

Mentoring (Crucible and Help to Grow)

PhD 'Exploring how entrepreneurs make decisions on the growth of their business: A cognitive perspective' (51Âþ»­)

MBA (Distinction) Dissertation: ‘Why do entrepreneurial SMEs fail to grow?' (51Âþ»­)

CMI Diploma in Strategic Direction and Leadership, Level 8 (CMI)

CMI Chartered Manager (CMI)

Bachelor of Education B.Ed. (Cambridge University)

Projects and Consulting Live,(BA) honours

Future of Work, Relationship Management, SLA and SLA-E

Research Methods, (DBA)

Operations and Project Management, (CMDA)

End Point Assessment, (SLA-E)

Help to Grow Management Programme modules - Strategy and Innovation, Winning New Markets,  Organisational Design.

Crucible Programme - Project Design and Planning

Fundamentals of Leadership and Change Management, Concepts of Education,  (Masters in Clinical Practice)

51Âþ»­ Best Student Performance, Executive MBA, 2012

Institute of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE)

Fellow, Chartered Management Institute

Fellow, Higher Education Academy

NLP Licensed Education Practitioner

A1 Assessor Certificate

National Skills Academy for Manufacturing Certificate for Advanced Learning Practice

Evans, M.  (2023), Stick or Twist? Evaluating small business opportunity for growth, ISBE conference, Birmingham, 8-10 November 2023. Entrepreneurial Practitioner Learning Track, best paper winner.

Evans, M and Cloutier, M.C. (2023) Examining perceptions of the tripartite relationship in Higher Education apprenticeship programmes, ISBE conference, Birmingham, November 8-10 November 2023, Nominated  as finalist for Research and Knowledge Exchange best conference paper.

Evans, M and Cloutier, M.C. (2022) Integrating Higher Degree Education with Practice: Exploring the Value Proposition of Executive MBA Apprenticeships, ISBE conference, York October 23rd-25th, 2022, Nominated for award in Enterprise Education  Track. 

Evans, M. (2021) Evaluating Opportunities: Closing the Gap between Identification and Exploitation, ISBE conference, Cardiff, October 28th-29th, 2021.

Evans, M. and Cloutier, M. (2021) Collective Explorations of Value Proposition Dimensions of Apprenticeship EMBA Programmes, ISBE conference, Cardiff, October 28th-29th, 2021.

Evans, M. (2019) Conversations across the table: team decision-making, Institute of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Conference, Newcastle, November 14th-15th, 2019. 

Evans, M. (2018) Learning by doing: using experience to develop expertise, Organisational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities (OLKC) conference, Liverpool, April 25-27th, 2018.

 Evans, M. (2018) Making Decisions for Small Business Growth: A Cognitive Style Approach, Institute of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Conference, Birmingham , November 7-8th, 2018. 

Evans, M. (2017) Developing cognitive versatility; Thinking it through.  Institute of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Conference, Belfast, November 8-9th, 2017. Nominated for award in Entrepreneurial Practitioner Learning Track. 

Evans, M. (2016) Exploring how Entrepreneurs make Decisions on Growth:  A Cognitive Perspective.  Institute of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Conference, Paris, October 27-28^th, 2016. Nominated for award in Entrepreneurial Practitioner Learning Track. 

Entrepreneurship and small business decision-making

Current availability :Yes

PhD second supervisor

External  Examiner Salford Business School, MSc Entrepreneurship, November 2021-present