ACU Researcher

Areas of expertise: Sustainable HRM, Sustainability, ESG Corporate Sustainability, HRM and Organisational Psychology.

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: HDR Supervisor (Full)

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0352-4275

Phone: +61 3 9953 3167

Email: [email protected]

Location: ACU Melbourne Campus

Dr. Sugumar Mariappanadar, Peter Faber Business School, Australian Catholic University, Australia, is recognised internationally as the global thought leader in developing sustainable HRM from ‘concept‘ to a ‘field’ since 2003. Fellow of College of Organisational Psychology – Australian Psychological Society (APS) and a Certified Academic Australian Human Resource Institute (AHRI), Australia, he has more than 30 years of sustainable HRM research, consultancy, and teaching experience in Australia and international. He has over 50 research publications in the field of sustainable HRM and management. He has developed twelve new theories to shape the field of sustainable HRM through twenty publications including two books (2019; 2024), sixteen journal articles, and three book chapters.

He has made direct contributions to introducing a full university course on sustainable HRM in the MBA curriculum around the world. He has been invited as the Keynote speaker in international conferences on sustainable HRM in 2018, 2020, and 2023. He regularly conducts workshops on ESG sustainability for CEOs and senior managers of large companies in Australia.

Sugumar has contributed in changes to international work health and safety standards GRI-403 (2018) set by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for Sustainability, Amsterdam. Sugumar and his team was invited by The Treasury, Australian Government in February 2024 based on ESG research expertise to make a public submission relating to the two of the three key pillars of the Sustainable Finance Strategy (Pillar 1: Improve transparency on climate and sustainability-related financial disclosures; Pillar 2: Financial system capabilities.

Sugumar has developed an innovative ManAns BI platform software. ManAns is a major paradigm shift from descriptive analytics provided by the current ERP, BI, and HRIS software system tools to automated Root-Cause Analytics to answer how to improve commercial business performance by understanding: Why did it happen? and Where the drag is coming from? The ManAns BI software platform’s analytical engine maps qualitative, human-centric enterprise data directly to quantitative corporate performance using an integrated "Business KPIs Tree."

Sugumar was interviewed by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) National TV, and ABC Radio National and other media outlets to highlight the importance of embedding work practices for organisation sustainability.

Select publications

Sustainable HRM and Sustainability

• Campbell, A., Ciro, T., Leshinsky, R., and Mariappanadar, S. (in press). Sovereign Green Bonds in Financial Law: Policy, Regulation and Frameworks: An international perspective. Taylor & Francis Group
• Ciro, T., Leshinsky, R., Mariappanadar, S., Obeng, V., and Campbell, A. (2025). Sovereign Green Bonds and the Sustainability Agenda: Insights from the Recent Australian SGB Issue. Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice, 35(3). 163-177.
• Mariappanadar, S. (2025). Human Capital to Implement Corporate Sustainability Business Strategies for Common Good. Sustainability, 17, 4559. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104559.
• Mariappanadar, S. (2024). Sustainable Human Resource Management Strategies and Practices: Human Capital for Corporate Sustainability (2^nd Edition). Springer Nature, Singapore.
  Mariappanadar, S. (2024). Three-way interactions of work intensification and work-family restrictions on well-being: A sustainable HRM perspective. In Zheng, C. (Ed), Research Handbook on Work-Life Balance and Employee Health, (pp. 75-106) Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803929507.00008 (Book Chapter)
  Mariappanadar, S. (2024). Improving Quality of Work for Positive Health: Interaction of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 and SDG 3 from the Sustainable HRM Perspective. Sustainability, 16(13), 5356.
• Ciro, T., Leshinsky, R., and Mariappanadar, S. (2024). Green and ESG Derivatives: Financial Innovation in the Global Fight Against Climate Change. Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, 39(1), 1-13.
• Makhecha, U.P. and Mariappanadar, S., 2023. High-performance sustainable work practices for corporate ESG outcomes: Sustainable HRM perspective. NHRD Network Journal, 16(2), pp.159-163. https://doi.org/10.1177/26314541231159730
• Mariappanadar, S. and Hochwarter, W.A. (2022). A Three-Way Synergistic Effect of Work on Employee Well-Being: Human Sustainability Perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 14842. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192214842.
• Mariappanadar, S., Muller-Camen, M., Maurer, I & Kramar, R. (2022)Is it a Sententious Claim? An Examination of the Quality of Occupational Health, Safety and Well-Being Disclosures in Global Reporting Initiative Reports Across Industries and Countries. In press, International Business Review (ABDC “A” ranked).
• Mariappanadar, S. (2020a). Do HRM systems impose restrictions on employee quality of life? Evidence from a sustainable HRM perspective. Journal of Business Research, 118, 38-48. (ABDC “A” ranked).
• Mariappanadar, S. (2020b). Characteristics of sustainable HRM system and practices for implementing corporate sustainability. In Sustainable Human Resource Management (pp. 9-35). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5656-2_2 (Book chapter)
• Mariappanadar, S. (2019). Sustainable Human Resource Management: Strategies, Practices and Challenges, Macmillan International Publisher, London. This internationally first research monograph is published as part of the Management, Work & Organisations series.
• Mariappanadar, S. (2016). Health Harm of Work from the Sustainable HRM perspective: Scale Development and Validation. International Journal of Manpower 37 (6), 924-944 (ABDC “A” ranked).
• Mariappanadar, S. (2014). Stakeholder harm index: A framework to review work intensification from the critical HRM perspective, Human Resource Management Review, 24(4): 313-329 (ABDC – ranked A – Ranked as the world’s top journal in the field of HRM for theoretical research).
• Mariappanadar, S. (2014). Sustainable HRM: A counter to minimize the externality of downsizing. In Ina Ehnert, Wesley Harr and Klaus J. Zink (Eds.), Sustainability and Human Resource Management. Springer Publisher, 181 – 203. (Book chapter)

Projects

Research Commercialisation – Industry Partnership in Sustainability and Sustainable HRM

• I have been invited by Insync and Board Benchmarking (Australia), a multimillion-dollar management consultancy company, to join as Senior Sustainability Advisor based on my international standing in the field of sustainability and sustainable HRM. I and Nicholas Barnett, Executive Chairman of Insync have jointly developed a new Organisation Sustainability Maturity Matrix (OSMM) that can be used by any observer to determine the level of sustainability maturity of any organisation. The OSMM consultancy framework is a research commercialization project which draws on Insync’s governance, sustainability and stakeholder research and the practical advice provided to numerous clients over almost 20 years combined with my research in the field of sustainable HRM and corporate sustainability. The OSMM consultancy framework catalogues and measures the current state, the desired future state, and a plan to transform an organisation in relation to each of the internal drivers of sustainability.

Funded Research Projects Handled - Australia

• Agency: Australian Government – Australian Research Council – Expression of Interest 2026.
  Title: Australian Green Bond Market: Risk, Regulation and Financing Net Zero
  Collaborators:
  Tony Ciro – FLB, ACU
  Sugumar Mariappanadar – FLB, ACU
  Rebecca Leshinsky - School of Property, Construction & Project Management, RMIT
  Alexander Campbell – FLB, ACU
  Victoria Obeng - FLB, ACU
  Outcome: Unsuccessful

• Agency: Australian Government – Australian Research Council – Expression of Interest 2025.
  Title: Incentivising Net Zero: Towards an Innovative, Green Bond Regulatory Framework
  Collaborators:
  Tony Ciro – FLB, ACU
  Sugumar Mariappanadar – FLB, ACU
  Rebecca Leshinsky - School of Property, Construction & Project Management, RMIT
  Alexander Campbell – FLB, ACU
  Victoria Obeng - FLB, ACU
  Outcome: Unsuccessful

Awards and accolades

Recipient of Global Award for my research on Sustainable HRM and ESG Sustainability

• I was awarded the prestigious global award under the category of "Global Excellence in Sustainable Human Resource Management & ESG Sustainability Leadership" at the 5^th Edition of the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Achievers Awards 2026 on 31 July 2026 in Singapore.  The award is in recognition of my international standing in creating a new field, Sustainable HRM, from defining the term in 2003 to publishing two monographs and multiple journal publications over 23 years. I delivered the keynote address on award night, on my challenges and successes as an NRI in Australia. 
• Twenty-four awardees across the globe including, Australia, Nigeria, New Zealand, Singapore, the USA, the UK, and Zambia received awards in their respective fields of expertise.

Invited to deliver Keynote Address

• Invited and accepted to deliver keynote address on Mental Health and Wellbeing of Army Personnel from the Human Sustainability Perspective in the International Conference on Optimizing Human Capital of Armed Forces: Psychological Perspective, 25 – 28 April 2023, organised by the Defence Institute of Psychology Research, DRDO, Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
• Invited and accepted to deliver keynote address on The Role of Business Intelligence in Shaping Organizations in emerging Economies in the 9th International Conference on Management and Economics, 10 & 11 September 2020, organised by the Faculty of Management and Finance University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka.
• I delivered Keynote address on The Past, Present and Future of Sustainable Human Resource Management in the International Conference on Sustainable HRM, November 1 & 2 2018 at School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad, India. More than 250 researchers from different countries in the South-East Asia region attended the conference.

Invited International Workshops in Conferences

• I have previously conducted workshops on sustainable HRM for organizational psychologists in Australia, and for HRM researchers and practitioners in Spain, Belgium, Germany, India, New Zealand and the Netherlands. My workshop proposals on sustainable HRM have been accepted in the American Academy of Management (AOM) meetings during four consecutive years (2019 – 2022). This is an important achievement for me and the field to obtain the support of the HR Division of the AOM to enhance research, practice and teaching in the new and emerging field of sustainable HRM in the US.
• Mariappanadar, S. (2024). Invited workshop - Organizer: Workshop on Sustainable HRM for Implementing Corporate ESG Sustainability in the XIII International Workshop – Human Resource Management, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Universidad de Cádiz and the European Institute of Sustainability in Management (IESG), 19 – 20 September 2024.
• Mariappanadar, S., & Semeijn, J. (2022). Joint organizer: A caucus on ‘Sustainable HRM: Research and Education to Create a Better Workplace’ in the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management 5 - 8 August 2022. The follow-up caucus on sustainable HRM from 2021 accepted to be part of the AOM meetings. Profile - Submissions - Academy of Management
• Mariappanadar, S., & Semeijn, J. (2021). Joint organizer: A caucus on ‘Sustainable HRM: Research to Bolster Managers' Endeavours to Accomplish Common Good’ in the virtual 81st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management taking place 29 July - 4 August 2021. The first caucus on sustainable HRM accepted to be part of the AOM meetings.
• Mariappanadar, S. (2020). Organizer: Professional Development Workshop (PDW) on “Sustainable HRM: Spanning Boundaries Between Corporate Environmentalism and Work Practices”, Sponsored by Organization and Natural Environment, and Co-sponsored by HR Division of Academy of Management. Panelists include Sugumar Mariappanadar (Australia), Carol Kulik – Past President – AOM 2019 (Australia), Douglas Renwick (UK), Robin Kramar (Australia) and Wajda Wikhamn (Norway). Academy of Management meeting, 7 – 11 August, Vancouver, Canada.
• Mariappanadar, S. (2019). Organizer: Professional Development Workshop - (2019) – Sustainable HRM: The Emerging Future of HRM for Corporate Sustainability, American Academy of Management (AOM) Meeting 2019, Boston, USA, 9 – 13 August.

Invited International/National Workshops in Industry Associations

• Invited by the Chief Executive Officers (CEO) Institute, Australia to present on "Sustainability Maturity to Enhance ESG Performance Outcomes" to a strategic group of Chief Executive Officers of Australian Companies with annual turnover up to $50 million (2 May 2023).
• Invited by Smart Work Force Management, a global HR Analytics company, the organisers of Disrupt HR event to present “High Performance Sustainable Work Practices to Implement ESG Corporate Sustainability to HR professionals” on 24 May 2023 in Melbourne.
• Invited by the CEO Institute, Australia to present on "Climate Change and ESG" to two strategic groups (companies with turnover up to 50 million, and companies between 50 and 100 million) of Chief Executive Officers of Australian Companies of turnover (April 2022).
• Invited by Australian Human Resource Management Institute (AHRI) to jointly conduct with Nicholas Barnett – Executive Chairman, Insync and Board Benchmarking two-part workshop series on “Business Partner to Enhance Corporate Sustainability ESG Performance” in the Senior Leaders’ Forum (February and March 2022).
• Based on my research engagement and impact in revising the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) standards on occupational health and safety (GRI – 403), I am invited to conduct an international workshop on ‘Sustainability Perspective for Occupational Health and Well-being’ in the two-day virtual international event on ‘Transforming Work’ by the Australian Psychological Society (APS), College of Organisational Psychologists, in July 2021. The virtual event is designed to bring psychologists, researchers, business leaders and HR professionals together to hear about evidence-based approaches to workforce strategy.
• Panel Discussion (2019) – The Cultural Changes Required in a Post Hayne Royal Commission World, AHRI National Convention 2019, Brisbane, Australia, 17 – 19 September.

Appointments and affiliations

• ACU Senior Lecture in Management/HRM, June 2003 till date
• Monash University, Department of Management, Lecturer, Aug 2000 - June 2003
• Swinburne University of Technology, Enterprise Management, Lecturer, Feb 1998 - Aug 2000
• Anna University, Madras India, Department of Management Studies, Lecturer, Jan 1992 - Jan 1998
• Organisation of the State Government (ITCOT), Madras India, Industrial and Technical Consultant, Nov 1988 - Jan 1992
• Psycho Behavioural Clinical, Madras India, Consulting Psychologist, April 1987 - Nov 1997
  

Professional affiliations

• Fellow - APS College of Organisational Psychologists
• Elected Member - Australian Psychological Society (APS)
• Certified Academic HR - Australian Human Resources Institute

Editorial roles

• Appointed by the Board of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) as one of the Co-Editors-in-Chief of the Australasian Journal of Organisational Psychology for 2013-2017.
• Invited by the Editor-in-Chief of Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration to act as a Guest Editor for a special issue on “sustainable HRM in the Asia Pacific region” in 2013. The special issue was published in 2014.

International Journal review panel

• Human Resource Management (Journal - US)
• Human Resource Management Review
• International Journal of Human Resource Management
• Personnel Review
• International Journal of Manpower

Public engagement

• Research Impact in Changing World and National Sustainability Standards:

• Sugumar and his team (Professor Tony Ciro, Associate professor Rebecca Leshinsky, Dr. Victoria Obeng and Dr. Alexandar Campbell) was invited by The Treasury, Australian Government in February 2024 based on research publication on “Green and ESG Derivatives” to make a public submission relating to the two of the three key pillars of the Sustainable Finance Strategy.
• Based on my published research on sustainable HRM from the health harm of work perspective (2014 and 2016), I made a submission to Global Reporting Initiatives for Sustainability (GRI) standards during public consultations to shape international standards on occupational health for large multi-national corporations to adopt in their practices. The Global Sustainability Standards Board accepted my submission and incorporated “work related leading indicators” explanation in the final published standards of GRI 403 Occupational Health and Safety Standards (2018, p. 8).

• Media engagement based on my research on Sustainable HRM to communicate research findings:

• Invited as an expert by the Live ABC National TV News programme to discuss on the topic - 'Micro-retirement' – 31 March 2025, followed by ABC Radio Western Australia (31 March), Canberra (1 April) and Brisbane 2 April), ABC Radio Tasmania (7 April) – Prime time radio.
• My research based analysis on the topic “Micro-retirement for Gen Z”, which was popularized by social media (TikTok), got published today (31/03/2025) in The Conversation. The Conversationis the world’s leading publisher of research-based news and analysis. It is multi-lingual international (Australia, Africa, Brazil, Canada, Europe, France, United Kingdom, United States, Indonesia, New Zealand, Spain) publication with a combined reach of 40 million people when including republication. - https://theconversation.com/some-gen-zs-are-taking-a-micro-retirement-its-one-way-to-address-burnout-but-it-comes-with-risks-252505
• I have been interviewed by ABC News for publishing an article on “Overwork” based on my research expertise and practice in the field of social sustainability and sustainable HRM – 28^th November 2024.
• Invited as an expert by the ABC National TV Live News programme to discuss on the topic - 'Ghost jobs' - 18 June 2024.
• Expert live Interview - ABC Radio National - "Life matters" program - "Why we are overworked" based on my research from the human stainability perspective – 27^th February 2023, National audience.
• Research cited in ACU Impact article on "The dangers of overwork", 4^th March 2022, National audience. https://www.impact.acu.edu.au/career/the-dangers-of-overwork
• Expert live Interview - ABC Radio Brisbane – Prime time radio "The health hazards of working from home" 9^th February 2022, Brisbane audience.

• Expert live Interview - ABC Radio National - "Life matters" program - "Is it time organisations took responsibility for overworked employees?" 5th April 2019, National audience.
• Research cited in The New Daily Newspaper article on "Treating your weekend like a holiday: Tips for overworked Australians", 4th April 2019, National audience.
• Research cited in "In the Black" magazine article on "Burnout - and prevention as a shared responsibility between employee and employer". 1st December 2019. Australia’s flagship publication by the Certified Practising Accountants (CPA) Australia.