Dr. Sheldene Simola

Professor, Business Administration
Trent University

“Trent has positioned itself as the University with a difference,” says new Business Administration professor Dr. Sheldene Simola. “At Trent, ethical leadership and environmental and social sustainability are values that are reflected in the program and many of its graduates. As such, this University is a great match for my research and teaching interests.”

Prof. Simola started at Trent in July 2007, becoming the newest faculty member of the award-winning Business Administration program. To her new position she brings a diverse background and a unique mix of experience and expertise.

Concentrating her research on such areas as the prevention and management of corporate crises, the foundations of ethical business leadership, and ethics of justice and care in business practice, Prof. Simola’s research can be directly linked to her impressive educational background. Beginning her undergraduate academic career in Psychology, Prof. Simola also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Psychology, and, a Master’s degree in Business Administration. It is an academic path that has taken shape over many years, and ultimately decided upon through an inherent love of research and teaching.

“What is rewarding for me is giving the notion of care legitimacy within a business context,” Prof. Simola explains. “Traditionally care has been seen as relevant only in the private realm. I want to show its implications for the public sphere.”

This interest fits in well with Prof. Simola’s present research, in which she is exploring the foundations of ethical leadership styles. Specifically, she is studying the relationship of ethics of justice and care to transactional and transformational leadership. As part of an international symposium on ethical business leadership at the Academy of Management Conference held in Philadelphia last month, Prof. Simola presented her research on transformational leadership, which is based on the influence of corporate leaders to inspire a shared vision and rouse employees toward creativity, innovation, and high levels of ethical aspiration. Her research demonstrated that leaders who were seen as highly transformational by their followers also had a high propensity toward using ethics of care when solving workplace dilemmas.

With a solid background in the study of ethics from a variety of perspectives, Prof. Simola has much to offer her students at Trent. And it is the opportunity to influence and inspire future generations of business leaders that excites her the most about her new position.

“I want to teach in a way that causes students to think of ethics as relevant to management style, as opposed to a technical innovation that they can reject or accept,” she says, explaining that she hopes to provide her students with a well-rounded approach to thinking about business and ethics. “If we can get people to start expanding their view of what their own personal management style is, we can get them to start conceptualizing ethics as part of that, and hopefully when they enter the workforce, they will see ethics as an inherent part of their management style.”