Dr Mario Fernando Associate Professor Head of Postgraduate Studies E-mail: mariof@uow.edu.au Telephone: +61 2 4221 4053 Fax: +61 2 4227 2785 Location: Building 40 Room 143 Consultation Times: http://commfac.uow.edu.au/consult/

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Qualifications

PhD, MBA, B.Com. (Special)
Attorney-at-Law, Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

Biography

Prior to his entry into academia, for over ten years, Mario held Board level and management consulting positions. He brings with him industry experience from Sri Lanka, USA and New Zealand. Dr. Fernando has published a book on Spiritual Leadership (2007). His work is published in academic journals such as the Journal of Business Ethics, International Journal of Project Management, Technovation, Leadership and Organization Development Journal and the European Management Journal.

Mario’s teaching philosophy is inspired by transformative learning. By challenging students to critically reflect on their assumptions, he aims to generate a conscious commitment in the student to engage in ethical action. Mario has developed curriculum and resources, and taught across a range of subjects in Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Australia at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels to different learner types. He is a quality assurer of UOW’s off-shore programmes and an Accredited Peer Reviewer of Teaching. Prior to his academic role, he headed the human resource division of a large business conglomerate.

Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

Virtue ethics
Corporate social responsibility
Responsible and Spiritual leadership
Effective teaching and learning approaches in ethics

Grants/Projects

Time Use, Family Functioning and Wellbeing among Secondary School Teachers (Research Partnership Grant, UOW)
Virtue in business: An empirical exploration of MacIntyre’s conceptual framework (with Durham University, UK)
The relationship between spiritual well being, consumer ethics and materialism: An empirical study with Australian consumers (with Bond University, Australia)
Australia Learning and Teaching Council funded Coordinators Leading Advancement of Sessional Staff (CLASS project, 2009, Reference Group Member)
Designing Assessments to link Teaching and Research: Social Innovation through Teaching and Learning Commerce, UOW (2009)   
The Asian tsunami and CSR, Special Purpose Research Grant, Faculty of Commerce (2005)
Unbounded rationality and emotional judgements, New Researcher Grant, Faculty of Commerce, (2004)
Religion’s influence on leadership and decision making, Faculty Research Grant, Faculty of Commerce (2004)
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Grants, Victoria University of Wellington (2000-2004)

Awards and Recognition

Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (ALTC Citation, 2011)
Vice Chancellor’s Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning Faculty Award (OCTAL, 2006)
Management Educator of the Year, Australian New Zealand Academy of Management and Pearson Publishers (2009)
Teaching and Research All-Rounder Performance Award (2010)
High Achiever, Research Outputs, School of Management and Marketing, UOW (2005)
Invited Master Class presentation, Teaching and Learning Management through Social Innovation, ANZAM, Adelaide (2010)
Invited Guest Presentation, Some thoughts on Spiritual Leadership, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo (2010)
Faculty Teaching and Learning Scholar, UOW (2009)
Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Staff Award (2009)
Accredited Peer Reviewer of Teaching, UOW (2008)
Research Excellence, Staff Award (2008)
Innovations in Teaching, Staff Award (2008)
Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (2007/8)
Four-year University Entrance Merit Scholarship, Government of Sri Lanka (1984)

Memberships

Academy of Management
Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia
European Group of Organisation Studies
Australian New Zealand Academy of Management

PhD Supervision

Gender and Board performance
Use of online simulation in teaching corporate social responsibility in the higher education context
A study of the relationship between transformational leadership behaviour and employee work engagement
A study evaluating the changing public university system in Indonesia

Research Profile

UOW RIS profile