Professor Christian Harrison
Professor of Leadership and Enterprise, University of Bolton
Christian Harrison is a Professor of Leadership and Enterprise in the University of Bolton. Prior, to joining University of Bolton, he was a Reader in Leadership and the Chair of the Staff Forum for Research of the University of the West of Scotland, United Kingdom. He graduated with a First-class degree in Pharmacy and practised as a pharmacist, assuming managerial positions before moving into the field of Management. Prof Christian Harrison has an MBA and was the valedictorian of the University of Aberdeen Business school MBA class with a Distinction. In addition, he also possesses a PhD in Leadership and other postgraduate research and teaching qualifications in his repertoire.
Christian is a well-known and recognised scholar in the field of Leadership and works across the globe on research projects. He is a recognised expert on leadership and provides regular expert media commentary on Scottish Television News (STV), Scotland Tonight, the Herald, the Conversation, Sunday Post, the Guardian Nigeria. He is very active in teaching and is also the leader of a range of modules on leadership. He is also the author of numerous published research papers on Leadership which is his major research interest and serves as the Director of Studies/First Supervisor of several PhD and DBA students. He has successfully supervised several doctoral students to completion and his current students are working on projects on Authentic leadership, Entrepreneurial leadership, Transformational leadership, Ethical leadership etc. He has also examined over 30 doctoral theses to date.
Furthermore, he is an active member of several learned organisations. He is the Chair of the Leadership and Leadership Development Special Interest Group of the British Academy of Management. As Chair, Christian fosters more dialogue in the domain of leadership and develops alongside this, uplift in activity and research with the aim of bringing together the academic and practitioner experiences and viewpoints. He is the Chair of the Academy for African Studies. As Chair, Christian promotes and advocates for African scholarship and research. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Business Administration and Knowledge Management (FIBAKM). He is also an active member of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE), International Council for Small Business (ICSB), Institute of Business Administration and Knowledge Management (IBAKM), Higher Education Academy (HEA), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), National Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) and serves on several review panels and committees. He is an external examiner to other UK universities such as Heriot Watt University, De Montfort University and University of Aberdeen. Christian is the editor of New Frontiers in African Business and Society by Emerald Publishing. He is also the editor of Routledge Studies in Leadership and Leadership Development, associate editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Business Research and Management (IJBRM), associate editor of the Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (HSS) and review editor of Organisational Psychology.
Additionally, he has a good track record of securing grants and research funding and has a very strong external research network and collaborative partnership with organisations. He mentors and develop colleagues on contemporary teaching practice in Higher Education. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and a Certified Management and Business Educator of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CMBE). He is also a Fellow Certified Business Administrator (FCBA) and a Fellow Certified Knowledge Manager (FCKM) of the Institute of Business Administration and Knowledge Management (IBAKM). He was instrumental in developing the British Academy of Management (BAM) Education Practice Award which recognises inspiring and impactful management education practice. He is the founder and Chair of the African Studies Track in the British Academy of Management. The track is committed to fostering dialogue on contemporary African research which directly impacts BAM members and the wellbeing of the broader academic research community.
Christian works extensively as a consultant, speaker and trainer on leadership skills development within organisations. He has delivered several CPDs and sessions on leadership to the Scottish Government Directors, UK Cabinet office staff, NHS, corporate organisations, SMEs etc. He is the founder of the NGO; The Leadership Mould Initiative International. The NGO supports students and moulds future leaders. He is the author of the bestselling book entitled ‘Leadership Theory and Research: A Critical Approach to New and Existing Paradigms’, which is published by the globally renowned publishing company; Palgrave MacMillan. The book was written to enable students (undergraduate and postgraduate), scholars, practitioners, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders to learn more about the concept of leadership. It provides a critical insight into leadership research. Emerging paradigms and theories of new approaches to leadership are identified and addressed. In addition, Christian has also authored several video publications on leadership namely; Traditional Paradigms of Leadership: A Critical Insight into Established Theories and Concepts; Modern Paradigms of Leadership: A Critical Insight into Contemporary Theories and Concepts; Emerging Paradigms of Leadership: A Critical Insight into Developing Theories; Making Sense of Leadership: A Critical Insight into Leadership and Management Research. These videos cover established leadership theories providing a nuance conceptualisation of the field and are published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Christian has won several awards based on his expertise. He was the top academic commentator in the University of the West of Scotland for 2022, with his analysis appearing in 215 different publications. He was the recipient of the Award for Outstanding Leadership by the Nigerian Society of Engineers in 2022. He was the recipient of the Award for Excellence by the Nigerian Society of Engineers in 2020. He was the recipient of the Best Developmental Paper, British Academy of Management Leadership and Leadership Development Track (2021). He also won the award for the Best Reviewer; British Academy of Management African Studies Track (2020).
