Dr Ashokkumar Manoharan

Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management

College of Business, Government and Law

+61 8 8201 2838

ashokkumar.manoharan@flinders.edu.au

Law & Commerce

GPO Box 2100, ADELAIDE, SA, 5001

Dr Ashokkumar (Ashok) Manoharan is a member of the Centre of Social Impact. Before joining Flinders University, he taught management courses at the University of South Australia and in the higher education sector in India. He also has extensive industry experience, having trained call centre employees in Australia and provided consultancy services to hospitality firms.

Dr. Manoharan is a social scientist with research expertise in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the hospitality context-specific focus on people with intellectual disabilities and culturally diverse workers. Dr. Manoharan was named as the 2025 'South Australia's Young ‘Tall Poppy’. He has co-edited the inaugural Routledge Handbook of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Management in the Hospitality Industry. He has published widely in leading hospitality journals (IJHM, IJCHM, CQ, and JHTR) and management journals (IJHRM, JIR), and presented at numerous international conferences. He has collaborated with international researchers from the US, France, Ireland, China, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Ghana, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and with in Australia. Dr. Manoharan's outstanding track record is evident through effectively managing and delivering collaborative, industry-oriented research projects, in roles such as Chief/Co-Investigator for competitive external funding. He has co-created a Toolkit for hospitality SMEs to employ persons with an intellectual disability. Dr. Manoharan is the recipient of multiple academic awards, including the Certificate of Excellence in Supervision (2023 & 2024), the Research Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research (2022), and the Research Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Early Career Researcher (2020).

Dr. Manoharan was born and raised in Madurai, India. After completing his bachelor's degree, he was trained as a chef; however, he subsequently pursued an MBA and an M.Sc. in Psychology. He earned his doctorate in Management (University of South Australia).

Qualifications

PhD in Management (UniSA), Master of Business Administration, Master of Science (Psychology), Bachelor in Catering Science and Hotel Management.

Honours, awards and grants

External grants

2025 – 2026. $85,266. Industry Talent Branding and Identity: Addressing Workforce Attraction Challenges in South Australia’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector. AusIndustry, Department of Industry Science and Resources. Manoharan, A., Jones, J. & Rampersad, G.

2023-2026. $650,760. Information Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) Program, Department of Social Services, Australian Government. Co-designing disability employment strategies with people with disability, industry mentors, and disability employment experts to diversify the workforce for people with disability in fashion and hospitality nationwide. Goodwin-Smith, I., Manoharan, A., Jones, J., Hutchinson, C. & Yoon, J.

2023-2024. $40,000. Council of Australian-Arab Relations Grant, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Empowering next generation: Women entrepreneurs, gender equality and social cohesion. Manoharan, A, & Jones, J.

2022-2023 - $80,335. Endeavour Foundation. Factors that support positive employment outcomes for intellectually disabled persons in hospitality. Manoharan, A., Hutchinson, C. & Jones, J.

2021-2022. $24,000. Council of Australian-Arab Relations Grant, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.Cross-cultural perspectives on Arab Gender equality. Manoharan, A, & Jones, J.

2018-2019. $29,375. Le Cordon Bleu – University of South Australia Research Grants Scheme 2018 - 2019. The incidence, experience, and consequences of skill discounting among migrant hospitality employees. Treuren, G., Manoharan, A., Bambacas, M., Jones. L.

2018-2019. $58,000. Diabetes SA. Diabetes SA Market Research. Stocchi, L., & Manoharan, A.

Internal grants

2018-2019. $31,172. BGL College Internal Grant Grant. Manoharan, A.

2017. Faculty Research Grant, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Flinders University. Manoharan, A.

2016 - 2017. $8.000. Flinders University Establishment Grant, Flinders University. Manoharan, A.

Awards

2023. Flinders University Certificate of Excellence in Supervision

2022. BGL College Research Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research

2020. BGL College Research Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Early Career Researcher

2012 & 2013. Recipient of Leadership Award, School of Management, University of South Australia

2011 - 2014. Australian Postgraduate Award (APA): awarded to students of "exceptional research potential."

2011 - 2014. University of South Australia Top-Up Research Scholarship.