Profile

Profile

Dr Cristina Neesham is a Visiting Professor at Newcastle University Business School (UK). She has a PhD from the University of Melbourne (Australia), and has had multiple leadership roles in the Academy of Management. Cristina is also a Visiting Professor at Swinburne University (Australia) and the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (Romania). 

Roles and responsibilities

• Research collaborations and projects on sustainability management, business ethics, AI ethics, responsible innovation, corporate digital responsibility, philosophy of management and organisation

Qualifications and certificates

• Doctor of Philosophy, University of Melbourne, Australia
• Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice/Higher Education, Monash University, Australia
• Graduate Certificate in Workplace Relations, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Australia
• Graduate Certificate in Public Administration, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Australia
• Teaching in Universities Certificate, University of Melbourne, Australia
• Bachelor of Arts, University of Bucharest, Romania

Previous positions

• Professor of Business Ethics and Sustainability, and Associate Dean Ethics-Responsibility-Sustainability (ERS), Newcastle University Business School, United Kingdom
• Reader and Director of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility, Newcastle University Business School, United Kingdom
• Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Ethics in Management and Organisation, Department of Management & Marketing, Swinburne Business School, Australia
• Lecturer in Management, Department of Management, Monash Business School, Australia
• Visiting Scholar, University of Paris Nanterre, France
• Visiting Scholar, University of Adelaide, Australia

Awards

• Leadership Award, Social Issues in Management division, Academy of Management (2024)
• Business & Society Best Paper Award runner-up (2023)
• Pro-Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award, Faculty of Business & Law, Swinburne University (2018). Citation: For significantly enhancing MBA students’ cognitive skills by fostering authentic learning in business strategy, through interactive problem-based case studies, reflective practice and authentic assessment
• Aspen Institute US Scholarship for Women’s Executive Leadership Programme (2007)

Memberships

• Academy of Management (US)
• Society for Business Ethics (SBE)
• European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS)
• Australasian Business Ethics Network (ABEN)

Languages

• Romanian (native)
• French (fluent)

Current work

My current research focuses on developing theories of value to address a range of sustainability issues:

• creating and maintaining ecologically sustainable organisations that can achieve mutual symbiosis with nature (developing relevant principles of sustainability management embedded in business strategy)
• redefining the responsibilities of global corporations for climate action
• counteracting the organised immaturity induced by digitalised socio-technological systems in institutions of democratic governance
• combatting and preventing online harms induced by digitalisation.

Main expertise

My main research interests involve ethics and sustainability issues raised by climate change and the introduction of new technologies (such as digitalisation and artificial intelligence) in organisations and communities. I have a particular interest in using philosophical methods to inform the strategic management of global-systemic problems such as climate change and socio-technological transformations.

Other expertise

• Sustainability reporting and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Sustainability of institutional entrepreneurship in public-private partnerships
• Sustainability management through alternative organising in social enterprises and NGOs
• Research ethics methodology
• Philosophical methods for sustainability research
• Philosophical foundations of theory building through qualitative research

Funding received

• Assuring Citizen Agency in a World of Complex Online Harms (EPSRC £3.5mil, individual component £157K): Leader, Responsible Research and Innovation; Co-Leader, Corporate Digital Responsibility
• Cultural Value Based Strategies for Managing Cultural Heritage Organisations: Developing and Implementing Impact Objectives (NUBS Research & Impact Fund, £4,061): Co-Lead Investigator
• Capturing, sustaining and growing value in cultural heritage organisations: The case of Museums Northumberland (NUBS Research & Impact Fund, £4,819): Principal Investigator

Future research

I have interests in biosemiotic theories that can be applied to the design and development of ecologically sustainable organisations. 

Esteem indicators

• Past Division Chair, Social Issues in Management, Academy of Management (2024-25)
• Division Chair, Social Issues in Management, Academy of Management (2023-24)
• Program Chair, Social Issues in Management, Academy of Management (2021-22)

• Co-Editor-in-Chief, Philosophy of Management (2023 - )
• Co-Editor-in-Chief, Handbook of Philosophy of Management, Springer (2016-2022)
• Associate Editor, Business Ethics, Environment and Responsibility (2016 - )

• Guest panel contributor, Organization Studies Workshop, University of Melbourne (2025)
• Guest speaker, Philosophy of Social Science, Leuphana University, Luneburg (2025)
• Guest speaker, Research Seminar Series, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow (2024)
• Newcastle University representative, invited guest (Sustainable Markets Initiative), The International Sustainability Reception hosted by His Majesty King Charles III, Buckingham Palace (6 Nov 2024)
• Guest speaker, Philosophy of Social Science, Leuphana University, Luneburg (2024)
• Keynote speaker, 30th International Vincentian Business Ethics Conference, Dublin (2023)
• Keynote speaker, 10th Organisation Studies Workshop, Leuphana University, Luneburg (2023)
• Keynote speaker, 15th Annual Philosophy of Management Conference, Oxford (2022)

Media appearances

I am open to commenting about responsibilities of global corporations for climate action, issues of ecological sustainability management in organisations (e.g. in extractive and energy industries), and ethical issues in digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) applications – via TV, Radio, Articles and/or Podcasts. 

Recent appearances:

• Invited Guest Interview with Professor Ed Freeman (Darden Business School, University of Virginia), The Stakeholder Podcast, published 9 Dec 2024: Libsyn Directory
• AI could help us spot viruses like monkeypox before they cross over – and help conserve nature (theconversation.com) (co-authored with Ann Borda, Andreea Molnar, and Patty Kostkova), The Conversation, 27 May 2022 - most read piece by Newcastle University academics in 2022 (214,000 reads worldwide, republished by The Mandarin, Medical Xpress, Gizmodo, Newsify and EconoTimes.
• Climate change and global corporations: Five sources of responsibility failure, Newcastle University INSIGHTS Public Lecture, 23 November 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl9iQ1rHE4o&t=727s
• The Value of Ethics in Business. NUBS-of-It Podcast, 15 October 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3KKs8J-ydw&t=1787s
• Interviewed for “Future Managers: How You Can Prepare for a New Era of Socially Responsible Business”, QS Top Universities, March 2021.

• Articles

  • Agafonow, A, Neesham, C, Perez, M. For a Unified Stakeholder Management Science: How Computational Ontologies Can Mend a Broken Theory . Philosophy of Management 2025. In Preparation.
  • Scherer AG, Neesham C. Organized immaturity in a Post-Kantian perspective: Toward a critical theory of surveillance capitalism. Organization Theory 2023, 4(3), 1-25.
  • Neesham C, Dembek C, Benkert J. Defining Value in Sustainable Business Models. Business & Society 2023, 62(7), 1378-1419.
  • Olabode S, Owens R, Zhang N, Copilah-Ali J, Kolomeets M, Wu H, Malviya S, Markeviciute K, Spiliotopoulos T, Neesham C, Shi L, Chambers D. Complex Online Harms and the Smart Home: A Scoping Review. Future Generation Computer Systems 2023, 149, 664-678.
  • Borda A, Molnar A, Neesham C, Kostkova P. Ethical Issues in AI-Enabled Disease Surveillance: Perspectives from Global Health. Applied Sciences 2022, 12(8), 3890.
  • Abhayawansa S, Adams CA, Neesham C. Accountability and Governance in Pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals: Conceptualising how governments create value. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 2021, 34(4), 923-945.
  • Mishra K, Neesham C, Coghill K, Stubbs W. A multilevel analysis of climate change inaction: case study of an Australian electricity company. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management 2020, 27(2), 173-199.
  • Biygautane M, Neesham C, Al-Yahya KO. Institutional entrepreneurship and infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP): Unpacking the role of social actors in implementing PPP projects. International Journal of Project Management 2019, 37(1), 192-219.
  • Newman A, Neesham C, Manville G, Tse H. Examining the influence of servant and entrepreneurial leadership on the work outcomes of employees in social enterprise. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 2018, 29(20), 2905-2926.
  • Neesham C, McCormick L, Greenwood M. When Paradigms Meet: Interacting Perspectives on Evaluation in the Non-profit Sector. Financial Accountability and Management 2017, 33(2), 192-219.
  • Beal BD, Neesham C. Systemic Corporate Social Responsibility: Micro-to-macro transitions, collective outcomes, and self-regulation. Social Responsibility Journal 2016, 12(2), 209-227.
  • Neesham C, Dibben M. Class Conflict and Social Order in Smith and Marx: The Relevance of Social Philosophy to Business Management. Philosophy of Management 2016, 15(2), 121-133.
  • Neesham C, Gu J. Strengthening Moral Judgment: A Moral Identity-Based Leverage Strategy in Business Ethics Education. Journal of Business Ethics 2015, 131(3), 527-534.
  • Gu J, Neesham C. Moral Identity as Leverage Point in Teaching Business Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics 2014, 124(3), 527-536.
  • Tache I, Neesham C. The Performance of Welfare Systems in Post-Communist Europe: The Cases of Romania and Bulgaria. International Journal of Economic Research 2011, 2(5), 90-107.
  • Lewis C, Neesham C. Professionalising Parliamentarians to Promote Ethical Behaviour. Australian Journal of Professional and Applied Ethics 2011, 13(1), 48-65.
  • Neesham C, Härtel C, Coghill K, Sarros J. Profit-making versus human value: Philosophy’s contribution. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal 2010, 29(6), 593-608.
  • Neesham C, Tache I. Is there an East-European Social Model?. International Journal of Social Economics 2010, 37(5), 344-360.
  • Neesham C, Lewis C, Holland P, Donohue R, Coghill C. Educating and Training Parliamentarians. The Australasian Parliamentary Review 2010, 25(1), 41-48.

• Book Chapters

  • Gare A, Neesham C. Reviving Methods of Speculative Philosophy: Towards a New Enlightenment in Organization Studies. In: Neesham C; Reihlen M; Schoeneborn D, ed. Handbook of Philosophy of Management. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2022, pp.219-234.
  • Neesham C. Moral Philosophy and Management: An Introduction. In: Neesham C; Reihlen M; Schoeneborn D, ed. Handbook of Philosophy of Management. Cham,Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2022, pp.663-675.
  • Neesham C, Reihlen M, Schoeneborn D. Introduction to Philosophy of Management. In: Neesham C; Reihlen M; Schoeneborn D, ed. Handbook of Philosophy of Management. Cham,Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2022, pp.1-13.
  • Coghill K, Norman B, Smith T, Neesham C, Kinyondo A. Improving the Governance of Governments. In: Baldwin KGH; Howden M; Smith MH; Hussey K; Dawson PJ, ed. Transitioning to a Prosperous, Resilient and Carbon-Free Economy: A Guide for Decision-Makers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021, pp.591-620.
  • St John J, Neesham C. Paradigms in Responsible Management Learning and Education Research. In: Moosmayer, DC; Laasch, O; Parkes, C; Brown, KG, ed. The SAGE Handbook of Responsible Management Learning and Education. London: SAGE Publications, 2020, pp.502-521.
  • Neesham C, Macklin R. Political philosophy and business ethics. In: Poff, DC; Michalos, AC, ed. Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2018.
  • Neesham C. Philosophical Foundations of Qualitative Organizational Research. In: Mir, R; Jain, S, ed. The Routledge Companion to Qualitative Research in Organization Studies. London, UK: Routledge, 2018, pp.21-39.
  • Gare A, Neesham C. Creating an Effective Business Ethics: Is Virtue Ethics Up to the Challenge?. In: Neesham C; Segal S, ed. Handbook of Philosophy of Management. Cham: Springer, 2018, pp.1-16.
  • Dibben M, Neesham C. Persons-in-Community in Whitehead, Smith and Marx: Exploring Marx’s Concept of Class through Adam Smith’s Concept of Social Order. In: Heinzekehr, J; Clayton, P, ed. Socialism in Process. Anoka: Process Century Press, 2017, pp.49-70.
  • Neesham C, Freeman S. Value Creation as Business Commitment to Responsible Consumption. In: Schwartz, M; Harris, H; Comer, DR, ed. The Contribution of Love, and Hate, to Organizational Ethics. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2016, pp.207-229.
  • Neesham C. The Value of Ethics Education for Parliamentarians. In: Lewis, C; Coghill, K, ed. Parliamentarians' Professional Development: The Need for Reform. Dordrecht: Springer, 2016, pp.59-76.
  • Neesham C. Needs and Organizations: The Case for the Philosophical Turn. In: Mir, R; Willmott, H; Greenwood, M, ed. The Routledge Companion to Philosophy in Organizational Studies. London: Routledge, 2016, pp.483-490.
  • Van Gramberg B, Teicher J, Keddie J, Neesham C. Australia: Evaluating Performance in Public-Private Partnership Projects. In: Teicher, J; Van Gramberg, B; Profiroiu, M; Neesham, C, ed. Sharing Concerns: Country Case Studies in Public-Private Partnerships. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013, pp.9-36.
  • Neesham C, Dibben M. The Social Value of Business: Lessons from Political Economy and Process Philosophy. In: Schwartz, M; Harris, H, ed. Applied Ethics: Remembering Patrick Primeaux. Emerald, 2012, pp.63-83.
  • Tache I, Neesham C. Romania and the Global Financial Crisis: Impact and Challenges. In: Bartlett, W; Monastiriotis, V, ed. South Eastern Europe after the Crisis: a new dawn or back to business as usual?. London: London School of Economics, 2010, pp.105-112.

• Edited Book

  • Neesham C, Reihlen M, Schoeneborn D, ed. The Handbook of Philosophy of Management. Cham: Springer, 2022.

• Editorials

  • Scherer, AG, Neesham, C, Schoeneborn, D, Scholz, M. New Challenges to the Enlightenment: How Twenty-First-Century Sociotechnological Systems Facilitate Organized Immaturity and How to Counteract It. Business Ethics Quarterly 2023, 33(3), 409-439.
  • Jamali D, Markovic S, Barkemeyer R, Samara G, Agafonow A, Moosmayer D, Neesham C. BEER Heterodoxies: A new section to trigger unorthodox voices and perspectives. Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility 2022, 31(1), 1-3.
  • Mason C, Barraket J, Neesham C. Social enterprise in Oceania: Evidence, opportunities and challenges. Social Enterprise Journal 2018, 14(2), 118-129.