Associate Professor Suzanne Benn

Associate Professor Suzanne Benn is an Associate Director of the Centre. She has unique research expertise spanning the areas of organisational change, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. She is the lead editor of the 2007 Routledge publication, Corporate Governance for Sustainability. She has conducted extensive case study research on CSR and corporate sustainability in Australia, Europe and PR China, published by Routledge in the widely cited text, Organizational Change for Corporate Sustainability, now in second edition. She is the editor (with Prof Clive Smallman and A/ Prof Stephen Teo) of the Special Issue, Processes of Governance across Multiple Stakeholders, Managerial Law, 49, Number 5/6.

Her expertise in the filed of CSR and sustainability is recognised by other leading international publishers and she is currently writing Key Concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility as sole author under contract to Sage Publications and Leadership in Corporate Sustainability as sole author under contract to Edward Elgar.

Her research into the incentives and barriers to productive multiple stakeholder relationships formed around sustainability outcomes has a major impact on the Landcare movement in Australia. She works closely with Hunter Regional Landcare Network, is a regional representative for Landcare and has presented her research at major Landcare Forums in 2005 and 2006.

Her research has also had a major impact through her action research projects funded by Commonwealth Government through Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability. Outcomes include the integration of sustainability into the MBA program at UTS, and her international publications in that area. She also coordinates the Sustainability subjects in the UTS MBA program and wrote the highly innovative Faculty of Business undergraduate subject, Sustainable Enterprise. She has introduced this landmark course into the undergraduate curriculum in the undergraduate business degree at U of Shanghai, a groundbreaking initiative.

Benn’s work exploring the changes required for organisational sustainability has developed wide international recognition. She has Chaired the Organisation and Natural Environment (ONE) Division Teaching Committee for the prestigious Academy of Management (AoM), in 2006 was the only Australian currently on the ONE Governing Board for AoM, and has been a reviewer for the ONE and Social Issues in Management Divisions since 2003. She has also made significant contributions to Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management. She was the 2006 Chair for the Sustainability Division and has won two Best Papers at ANZAM since 2002. She is Associate Editor of Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship and Sustainability . Her standing in the field of corporate sustainability has been recognized by the ARC, as she is classified as an international expert or Intreader, and has been assessing ARC Discovery and Linkage applications since 2005.

She is the recipient of three ARC grants since 2000, each of which focuses on the stakeholder relations and change policies and strategies necessary for Australian organisations to move towards environmental and social responsibility. The proposed project builds on her previous ARC Discovery funded research, Collaborating for Sustainability, based on extensive analysis of relationships between industry, government and community organisations. It also builds on her 2005-2006 ARC Linkage grant with NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, Governance for Environmental Sustainability: The Case of Public- Private Partnerships, exploring the conditions of voluntary partnerships between government agencies and business that foster the business case for sustainability. It has further strong connections to her other 2005-2006 ARC Linkage research: Communicating Product Value: Responsible Markets and the Australian Consumer.

She has been awarded three Best Paper awards (ANZAM 2004 Sustainability Stream and ANZAM 2005, Sustainability Stream) and Australasian Journal of Environmental Management 2006. Her publication record includes 2 books (one in second edition); 15 articles in peer reviewed journals (1 in press, 4 revise and resubmit and 11 published); 13 refereed papers in conference proceedings, 2 encyclopedia entries in press, one handbook chapter in press; and 14 book chapters published. Since 2002 she has presented her work at 15 paper presentations or symposia at the Academy of Management conference in either the Organisation and Natural Environment or Social Issues in Management Divisions.

Benn has convened 25 Sustainable Business Forums at UTS, bringing together leaders from business, government and the community to address the challenges of CSR and sustainability.
Suzanne received her undergraduate degree from the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney and her Masters and PhD degrees from Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UNSW. She also holds a Diploma in Education from University of Sydney . Her wide professional and academic interests range across corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility, business education for sustainability, environmental science and education and history and philosophy of science.

She currently supervises postgraduate research students in the area of CSR and sustainability.