Dr Ashokkumar (Ashok) Manoharan, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management, is the ERA Discipline Leader (FoR 35 Commerce, Management, Tourism, and Services), 2023. Before joining Flinders University, he taught management courses at the University of South Australia and the higher education sector in India. He also has extensive industry experience in training call centre employees in Australia and providing consultancy for hospitality firms.

Dr Manoharan is the recipient of the college's 2020 Research Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Early Career Researcher. His research interest includes workforce diversity, migrant workers, diversity management practices, and organisational culture in the hospitality industry context. He has collaborated internationally with researchers from the US, France, Ireland, China, Korea, Dubai, Ghana, and Australia. His research work has been published in the leading hospitality and management journals such as the International Journal of Hospitality Management and Journal of Industrial Relations and presented in the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, British Academy of Management, International Council of Hospitality and Restaurant Educators Conference (USA), APacCHRIE & EuroCHRIE Joint Conference (Hong Kong), and Australian New Zealand Academy of Management Conference. In recognition of his research, he has successfully collaborated and obtained external and university-level research grants. His research has been supported by Australian Hotels Associations.

Dr. Manoharan was born and raised in Madurai, India. After completing his bachelor's degree, he was trained to be a chef; however, he completed his MBA and then M.Sc in Psychology. He earned his doctorate from the School of Management, University of South Australia.

My research revolves around three areas:

1. Organisational culture: I am interested in exploring the mechanism between organisational culture and organisational effectiveness 'how' and 'why' the relationship exists.

2. Diversity management: I am interested to understand the diversity management practices outside the context of the US. Currently, I am exploring the informal diversity management practices prevailing in the Australian hospitality industry.

3. Workforce diversity: My interest lies in the cultural diversity of employees and people with intellectual disabilities. My current research examines how this workforce diversity impacts organisations' outcomes.

HDR Supervision (Current):

1. The experiences and concerns of ex-Holden employees and their communities following the closure of the General Motors Holden Elizabeth plant

2. “Is it fake news?” Exploring the consumer perceived veracity of traditional media vs. social media information sources in an organizational crisis context.

3. Social enterprise management models enable the socio-economic participation of people with cognitive disabilities. 

4. The antecedents and outcomes of workplace leader arrogance.

5. Volunteerism, diversity, and inclusion 

6. Artificial intelligence and HRM: A multi-phase investigator

HDR Supervision (Completed):

1. The service triangle power, subordination, and alienation frontline home support workers and change to consumer-directed care, an Australian context. 

2. Credit access, innovation, and knowledge management: critical factors influencing SME growth in the LAO PDR. 

3. High-Performance Work Systems, Thriving and Employee Outcomes: Wasta as a Boundary Condition.