Carol Brennan is an experienced academic with expertise in consumer policy, complaint handling, dispute resolution, consumer empowerment, and customer service/experience.
With a strong interest in knowledge exchange, Carol’s work bridges the gap between academia and policy/practice. Her role as Director of the Consumer Dispute Resolution Centre involves leading a team on an extensive range of projects in both public and private sectors including researching the outcome of complaints for the Care Inspectorate; using complaints to drive innovation for the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA); the future of ombudsman schemes and models of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for the Legal Ombudsman.
Brennan, Carol and Schröder, M (2009) Greening the curriculum. In: Learning & Teaching Conference... more Brennan, Carol and Schröder, M (2009) Greening the curriculum. In: Learning & Teaching Conference, 27th November 2009, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. ... The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties for personal research or study, ...
The aim of this research was to investigate what the Legal Ombudsman can learn from other Alterna... more The aim of this research was to investigate what the Legal Ombudsman can learn from other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) providers. The research was commissioned by the Legal Ombudsman to help it review and develop its dispute resolution model and ensure it remains fit-for-purpose. The research involved a case study design and fieldwork was conducted with ten organisations: four in the UK, one in Ireland, two in New Zealand, one in Australia, one in Canada and one in the USA. The research highlighted a range of dispute resolution practices and illustrated some of the key design choices that ADR providers need to make when designing or reviewing a dispute resolution scheme. These fell within four areas: the use of online dispute resolution; the early stages of dispute resolution processes; mediation approaches; and the later stages of dispute resolution and building influence.
Involving older people in the development of financial products and services, 2009
Context - For older people, financial awareness is increasingly relevant in a complex market wher... more Context - For older people, financial awareness is increasingly relevant in a complex market where the implications of making ill-informed decisions can be costly both financially and emotionally (National Statistics 2007). This pilot research study provided an opportunity to focus on the suitability of selected financial products for older people. Bank accounts and equity release products were selected for this study by an expert advisory panel. New marketing initiatives were being used to promote bank accounts including forms of insurance to the ‘50+’ market. Also older people are now expected to provide for their retirement and it is anticipated that equity release will be one product which may be used to fund and maintain consumer lifestyles.
This paper proposes a model for designing consumer dispute resolution (CDR) mechanisms (including... more This paper proposes a model for designing consumer dispute resolution (CDR) mechanisms (including conciliation, adjudication, arbitration and ombuds schemes). This field has expanded significantly in recent years, replacing courts as the primary forum of dispute resolution in some areas of consumer-to-business activity. This expansion has been ad hoc, with a lack of consistency in the design of CDR mechanisms and in the overall shape of the CDR landscape. In light of the recent implementation of the EU's Directive on Consumer Alternative Dispute Resolution and Regulation on Consumer Online Dispute Resolution, Dispute System Design (DSD) requires urgent attention to ensure that the design of future mechanisms is based on coherent principles. A failure to address this issue risks undermining the legitimacy of state-sanctioned dispute resolution. The model described in this paper proposes a systematic approach and aims to: synthesise existing DSD models; apply the concepts of DSD t...
The main focus of this project is the outcome and impact of complaint investigations on individua... more The main focus of this project is the outcome and impact of complaint investigations on individual complainants in care services and on the services complained against. The aim is to ensure that people receive high quality care and to support and encourage the development of better ways of delivering care services. While there have been some studies of the process of investigating complaints, there has been little or no research of its impact on services. This project seeks to identify the difference a complaint investigation makes to outcomes for people using the service.
Shaping the development of Legal Ombudsman employees: Northumbria University and Queen Margaret U... more Shaping the development of Legal Ombudsman employees: Northumbria University and Queen Margaret University Partnership for accredited programmes. In April 2010, Northumbria University formed a partnership with Queen Margaret University (QMU) to provide accredited legal and ombudsman practice training for the Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales. The new organisation was being established to resolve legal complaints in a fair and independent way (Legal Ombudsman 2011). After completion of the first year of training, Northumbria and QMU are evaluating the implementation of the training with key stakeholders at the organisation. When the training solution was developed, both universities, influenced by the work of Graham and Rhodes (2007), aimed to encourage an investigative and integrated relationship between academic theory and practice in the workplace which prepares individuals to be reflective practitioners. Young and Garnett (2007, 2009) highlight the clear policy context for work-based learning with employer engagement and workforce development seen by government as important challenges. The Northumbria training covers the legal landscape and 8 key areas of law which commonly give rise to complaints. This is assessed by multiple choice questions online via Northumbria’s virtual learning environment. The employees then undertake a further 10 credit module and 30 credit work-based project. These modules enable the employees to consider and reflect on their future learning needs and work on a project of benefit to the new organisation. On successful completion the employees gain a 60 credit work-based certificate. The QMU training involved delivery of a 5 credit point module on ombudsman practice and all staff sit an exam. This paper sets out the work-based project, the partnership arrangements, pioneering curricula, feedback on the training and research with colleagues at the Legal Ombudsman. It provided perspectives from the universities and staff at the Legal Ombudsman. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to collect these perspectives and the data was analysed and presented at the conference in September 2011.
This special issue of the International Journal of Consumer Studies focuses on the extremely inte... more This special issue of the International Journal of Consumer Studies focuses on the extremely interesting theme of children and young people as consumers. There was an excellent response from around the world to the call for articles and 11 articles covering research in relation to Botswana, Finland, Sweden, China, Japan, the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom have been published. The age range covered by the articles is from pre-school children under five years to adolescents and young people in their early 20s. Topics as diverse as advertising, materialism, consumer identity, consumer education and e-commerce to diet, food/supermarket shopping and body image are all covered in this issue. Two reviewers have contributed their perspectives on the book Brand Child. Interesting questions and themes are explored in this collection of articles. The first article considers the important influence of children on the household's entire consumption. Petterson, Olsson and Fjell...
Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 1998
This paper sets out a process model for standard setting in local government services. It aims to... more This paper sets out a process model for standard setting in local government services. It aims to show how service providers can generate standards which are more relevant to their consumers yet can be achieved within the constraints faced by local councils. The model is based on ...
This paper reports on the findings of qualitative fieldwork aimed at exploring the motives, finan... more This paper reports on the findings of qualitative fieldwork aimed at exploring the motives, financial implications and the perceived benefits of achieving the Investors In People Standard. It examines perceptions of IIP at three different organisational levels. The research found differences between the motivation for, and perceptions of, IIP at all three levels as well as differences in the perceived benefits of the Standard. The views of senior management regarding the benefits of IIP were not generally shared at the other levels of the organisation. Indeed front‐line staff felt that IIP made little difference to them personally, the way they performed their jobs, or to the levels of satisfaction of their customers. This presents a major problem for senior management of local authority services if they are to achieve all the benefits attributed to IIP and so get beyond the “plaque on the wall”.
Brennan, Carol and Schröder, M (2009) Greening the curriculum. In: Learning & Teaching Conference... more Brennan, Carol and Schröder, M (2009) Greening the curriculum. In: Learning & Teaching Conference, 27th November 2009, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. ... The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties for personal research or study, ...
The aim of this research was to investigate what the Legal Ombudsman can learn from other Alterna... more The aim of this research was to investigate what the Legal Ombudsman can learn from other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) providers. The research was commissioned by the Legal Ombudsman to help it review and develop its dispute resolution model and ensure it remains fit-for-purpose. The research involved a case study design and fieldwork was conducted with ten organisations: four in the UK, one in Ireland, two in New Zealand, one in Australia, one in Canada and one in the USA. The research highlighted a range of dispute resolution practices and illustrated some of the key design choices that ADR providers need to make when designing or reviewing a dispute resolution scheme. These fell within four areas: the use of online dispute resolution; the early stages of dispute resolution processes; mediation approaches; and the later stages of dispute resolution and building influence.
Involving older people in the development of financial products and services, 2009
Context - For older people, financial awareness is increasingly relevant in a complex market wher... more Context - For older people, financial awareness is increasingly relevant in a complex market where the implications of making ill-informed decisions can be costly both financially and emotionally (National Statistics 2007). This pilot research study provided an opportunity to focus on the suitability of selected financial products for older people. Bank accounts and equity release products were selected for this study by an expert advisory panel. New marketing initiatives were being used to promote bank accounts including forms of insurance to the ‘50+’ market. Also older people are now expected to provide for their retirement and it is anticipated that equity release will be one product which may be used to fund and maintain consumer lifestyles.
This paper proposes a model for designing consumer dispute resolution (CDR) mechanisms (including... more This paper proposes a model for designing consumer dispute resolution (CDR) mechanisms (including conciliation, adjudication, arbitration and ombuds schemes). This field has expanded significantly in recent years, replacing courts as the primary forum of dispute resolution in some areas of consumer-to-business activity. This expansion has been ad hoc, with a lack of consistency in the design of CDR mechanisms and in the overall shape of the CDR landscape. In light of the recent implementation of the EU's Directive on Consumer Alternative Dispute Resolution and Regulation on Consumer Online Dispute Resolution, Dispute System Design (DSD) requires urgent attention to ensure that the design of future mechanisms is based on coherent principles. A failure to address this issue risks undermining the legitimacy of state-sanctioned dispute resolution. The model described in this paper proposes a systematic approach and aims to: synthesise existing DSD models; apply the concepts of DSD t...
The main focus of this project is the outcome and impact of complaint investigations on individua... more The main focus of this project is the outcome and impact of complaint investigations on individual complainants in care services and on the services complained against. The aim is to ensure that people receive high quality care and to support and encourage the development of better ways of delivering care services. While there have been some studies of the process of investigating complaints, there has been little or no research of its impact on services. This project seeks to identify the difference a complaint investigation makes to outcomes for people using the service.
Shaping the development of Legal Ombudsman employees: Northumbria University and Queen Margaret U... more Shaping the development of Legal Ombudsman employees: Northumbria University and Queen Margaret University Partnership for accredited programmes. In April 2010, Northumbria University formed a partnership with Queen Margaret University (QMU) to provide accredited legal and ombudsman practice training for the Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales. The new organisation was being established to resolve legal complaints in a fair and independent way (Legal Ombudsman 2011). After completion of the first year of training, Northumbria and QMU are evaluating the implementation of the training with key stakeholders at the organisation. When the training solution was developed, both universities, influenced by the work of Graham and Rhodes (2007), aimed to encourage an investigative and integrated relationship between academic theory and practice in the workplace which prepares individuals to be reflective practitioners. Young and Garnett (2007, 2009) highlight the clear policy context for work-based learning with employer engagement and workforce development seen by government as important challenges. The Northumbria training covers the legal landscape and 8 key areas of law which commonly give rise to complaints. This is assessed by multiple choice questions online via Northumbria’s virtual learning environment. The employees then undertake a further 10 credit module and 30 credit work-based project. These modules enable the employees to consider and reflect on their future learning needs and work on a project of benefit to the new organisation. On successful completion the employees gain a 60 credit work-based certificate. The QMU training involved delivery of a 5 credit point module on ombudsman practice and all staff sit an exam. This paper sets out the work-based project, the partnership arrangements, pioneering curricula, feedback on the training and research with colleagues at the Legal Ombudsman. It provided perspectives from the universities and staff at the Legal Ombudsman. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to collect these perspectives and the data was analysed and presented at the conference in September 2011.
This special issue of the International Journal of Consumer Studies focuses on the extremely inte... more This special issue of the International Journal of Consumer Studies focuses on the extremely interesting theme of children and young people as consumers. There was an excellent response from around the world to the call for articles and 11 articles covering research in relation to Botswana, Finland, Sweden, China, Japan, the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom have been published. The age range covered by the articles is from pre-school children under five years to adolescents and young people in their early 20s. Topics as diverse as advertising, materialism, consumer identity, consumer education and e-commerce to diet, food/supermarket shopping and body image are all covered in this issue. Two reviewers have contributed their perspectives on the book Brand Child. Interesting questions and themes are explored in this collection of articles. The first article considers the important influence of children on the household's entire consumption. Petterson, Olsson and Fjell...
Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 1998
This paper sets out a process model for standard setting in local government services. It aims to... more This paper sets out a process model for standard setting in local government services. It aims to show how service providers can generate standards which are more relevant to their consumers yet can be achieved within the constraints faced by local councils. The model is based on ...
This paper reports on the findings of qualitative fieldwork aimed at exploring the motives, finan... more This paper reports on the findings of qualitative fieldwork aimed at exploring the motives, financial implications and the perceived benefits of achieving the Investors In People Standard. It examines perceptions of IIP at three different organisational levels. The research found differences between the motivation for, and perceptions of, IIP at all three levels as well as differences in the perceived benefits of the Standard. The views of senior management regarding the benefits of IIP were not generally shared at the other levels of the organisation. Indeed front‐line staff felt that IIP made little difference to them personally, the way they performed their jobs, or to the levels of satisfaction of their customers. This presents a major problem for senior management of local authority services if they are to achieve all the benefits attributed to IIP and so get beyond the “plaque on the wall”.
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Papers by Carol Brennan