Role
Elmé is a Senior Research Fellow in the Responsible and Sustainable Business (RSB) Lab in the Department of Management. She joined Nottingham Business School in November 2019.
Elmé takes a lead role in co-designing, conducting and managing research projects in the RSB Lab. She also collaborates with colleagues in other departments in the business school, across Nottingham Trent University, and through international networks. Elmé conducts primarily qualitative and participatory research on ethical and public leadership in cross-sector collaboration and community engagement. This includes the study of leadership and engagement in response to systemic ethical and urban development challenges. Elmé manages the Values-Driven Leadership executive education programme and impact research, as well as its network of alumni, the Research on African Ethical Leadership (REAL) Network. She is also a Board Member of the Public and Political Leadership Network for early career scholars, and a member of the Research Staff Network at NBS.
As a member of the Management department, Elmé teaches business ethics and ethical decision-making at the full-time MBA and Executive MBA level and supervises postgraduate students.
Career overview
Elmé began her career teaching business ethics, philosophy and critical thinking at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and she holds a masters degree in philosophy and a PhD in leadership from the University of Pretoria. Prior to joining NTU, Elmé worked as a researcher at the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa, where she collaborated on numerous qualitative and quantitative research projects including participatory action research with metropolitan municipalities. Elmé has also held consultancy and research contracts focused on city governance and community engagement. As part of the Cities Support Programme led and funded by South Africa’s National Treasury, she collaborated with researchers and senior city managers to develop and pilot integrity and social accountability assessment tools to improve urban development decision-making.
Research areas
- Public, community and ethical leadership
- Local governance
- Community engagement
- Cross-sectoral collaboration