Professor Nicola Pless

Professor Nicola M. Pless is Professor of Management, holds the Chair of Positive Business at the University of South Australia and is Director of the Center for Business Ethics and Responsible Leadership (BERL). She was awarded both her Dr. oec. (PhD) and the Habilitation (Higher Doctorate) from the University of St. Gallen. She holds qualifications and degrees from other prestigious institutions such as Berkeley, Cornell University and INSEAD. She received the Faculty Pioneer Award for Teaching Innovation and Excellence by the Aspen Institute, dubbed the “Oscars of the business school world” by the The Financial Times.

She has served on the faculties of the leading business schools in Europe and the world (ESADE, INSEAD and the University of St. Gallen). She held the Honorary Jef van Gerwen Chair at the University of Antwerp and is Distinguished Visiting Professor at EBS University in Germany.

She has lived in seven countries on three continents and combines her multicultural background with mulitsector business experiences, which she translates into academic work. She worked for the World Bank, is a former Vice President Leadership Development at Credit Suisse and Managing Director of a consulting firm. Through consulting and executive coaching, she has helped individuals and organizations to develop effective and responsible strategies for navigating successfully in a VUCA world and to unleash their leadership potential for positive change in business and society.

She is internationally recognized as a founder of and authority in responsible leadership research and teaching. Her award-winning research in the field of leadership, responsibility and neuroscience has been published in leading academic A* and FT50 journals (e.g. Journal of Management Studies, Human Resource Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Organizational Research Methods), and featured in the international media: Business Week, Forbes, Management Today, El Mundo, La Vanguardia, CEO Magazine, UN PRME etc. 

She serves as a Guardian (by invite elect) of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI). GRLI is a foundation of public interest and an AACSB International and  EFMD strategic partnership established with the founding support of EFMD and United Nations Global Compact.

Over the past twenty years she has worked with for-profit companies (Credit Suisse, Deutsche Telekom, Dong Energy, Mercedes, PwC, Swarovski, UBS, VW) and with for-purpose organizations such as Gram Vikas (India), Jurlique, The Body Shop, The World Bank.

Her mission is to advance the practice of responsible-global-leadership and its development through research and teaching innovation.

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Professor Pless' pioneering and award-winning work on responsible leadership lies at the interface of leadership and corporate responsibility and is focused on application in business practice. Her academic publications include articles in peer reviewed international journals (a.o. Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Business Ethics, Human Resource Management, Academy of Management Perspectives, Academy of Management Learning and Education), books and book chapters published by Edward Elgar, Routledge, Sage, Springer. Her current research focuses on leadership (multi-level and contextual research) and its development, responsible decision making in multicultural and top management teams, and micro foundations of strategy; specifically the relationship between RL and social and economic value creation and the roles of values, empathy and mindfulness within this process. She is also a Principle Investigator in the international research group, ‘The Neuroscience of Leadership’. Her work often occurs in collaboration with business practice and is substantially informed by her senior executive experience.

She has taught courses at BA, MSc, MBA, and PhD level and has been involved in executive programs, such as the Georgetown ESADE Global Executive MBA and Stanford ESADE CSR program. Her innovative "Business in Society" core course was part of ESADE's Master of International Management, which took first place worldwide for CSR and ethics in the Financial Times rankings 2013.

Professor Pless has profound international management experience in the private and non-profit sector, both as a board member and senior executive. For several years she pursued an executive career in the US and Switzerland, where she served in different international HR roles in financial services firms in Zurich, Basel, NYC and for the World Bank Group in Washington, DC. As sector leader at Credit Suisse in Zurich she was responsible for the development of the top 400 executives in that company. During the past 10+ years she has provided expert consulting and training services to organizations such as Deutsche Telekom, Dong Energy, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Swarovski, and Volkswagen.

Member, Academy of Management

Member, Academy of International Business

Qualifications

• Doctor of Economics The University of St Gallen

Work history

Professor of Management, School of Management, University of South Australia, 2015-present

Member Management Board, Academy of Business in Society, Brussels, 2010-2014

Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, ESADE Business School, Ramon Llull University, 2009-2015

Visiting Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director: Research Stream "Developing Responsible Leadership in High Performance Organizations" (PwC-INSEAD Initiative), INSEAD, France, 2004-2009

Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Corporate Responsibility, University of St. Gallen, 2005-2009

Research Director, HSG-INSEAD Initiatitve on Responsible Leadership, University of St. Gallen, 2005-2009

Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, University of St. Gallen, 2003-2005

Vice President,Credit Suisse, Zurich, 2001-2004

HR Client Services Generalist, World Bank Group, USA, 2000-2001

Global Assessment and Development Manager, UBS AG, Basel & New York, 1998-2000

Research Associate, Institute of Organizational Psychology, University of St. Gallen, 1992-1998

Research Assistant, Department of Business Administration, University of Bayreuth, Germany, 1989-1990