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Staff Profile

Professor Cristina Neesham

Associate Dean Ethics, Responsibility & Sustainability (ERS)

  • Telephone: +44 191 20 81500
  • Address: Newcastle University Business School
    R6.04, 5 Barrack Road
    Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4SE
    United Kingdom
Background


Profile

Dr Cristina Neesham is a Professor of Business Ethics & Sustainability and Associate Dean Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability (ERS) 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 Business School (Australia) and the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (Romania). 


Roles and responsibilities

  • Associate Dean Ethics, Responsibility & Sustainability (ERS), leading:

-design and implementation of the School’s ERS Strategy

-initiatives for developing and embedding ERS in NUBS curriculum

-annual Reporting to UN Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME)

-Systemic Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability (SERS) Network

-NUBS ERS Group

-annual MBA Student Case Competition

-annual Sustainability Forum

  • Co-Leader, Ethics and Justice Theme, NUCoRE Centre for Energy (SAgE)
  • Member, NUCoRE Centre for Climate and Environmental Resilience
  • Member, Newcastle University SDG Committee


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

  • Reader in 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)


Research

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
  • creating and maintaining cultural value based sustainable business models for cultural heritage organisations.


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.


I am part of the Strategy, International Business and Society (SIBS) research community at the Business School.


Other expertise

  • Sustainability reporting and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • Ethical issues in global public health surveillance
  • Sustainability of institutional entrepreneurship in public-private partnerships
  • Sustainability management through alternative organising in social enterprises and NGOs
  • Ethical capability building in professional associations
  • 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. 


Postgraduate supervision

Topics of current doctoral dissertations include:

  • Transdisciplinarity in Education for Sustainability
  • Embedding Corporate Digital Responsibility in Organisational Culture

Interested in supervising on:

  • theories of ecological organisation and sustainability management
  • theories of value for alternative organising
  • ethics and responsibility issues in climate action
  • ethics and responsibility issues in digitalisation


Esteem indicators

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


  • 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:



Teaching

Postgraduate modules


  • Sustainability Management and the Natural Environment, NBS8650 (10 credits) - Module Leader




Publications