Dr Nicola Palmer
Senior Lecturer in Management

Profile

Biography

Nicola joined the School for Business and Society part-time in 2018, having previously worked for a private sector management consultancy, the University of Salford, and Sheffield Hallam University (where she retains a part-time senior academic post).

Nicola currently co-Leads the Centre for Advanced Scholarship in Management Education (CASME) – see: https://www.york.ac.uk/business-society/research/management/casme/  

Her academic background lies in Tourism Studies. She gained her PhD funded by the University of Wales/Open University in 1999 and has researched and taught at UK universities since the 1990s (with some teaching experience at Spanish and Swedish universities also). Nicola is an Editorial Board Member for Geographic Issues, National University of Mongolia and an International Committee Member and Peer Reviewer for SMARTS, a collaborative social sciences-management-arts-humanities United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals research initiative between four Thai universities. She is a Visiting Associate Professor for UCL Global Business School for Health.

Nicola is an active doctoral research supervisor and holds national UKCGE Research Supervisor Recognition. To date, she has supervised 19 doctoral candidates (PhD and DBA) to completion and has examined over 20 doctorates. Nicola is keen to supervise doctoral students with an interest in ecotourism and community-based tourism development and ethnographic studies that address United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals using qualitative and/or quantitative research methods.

Research

Overview

Nicola is an internationally recognised tourism academic who has made intellectual contributions to tourism governance. Specifically, her academic research draws on political economy and political ecology to generate new knowledge on ways in which social status, legitimacy, and power play a key role in the dynamics of sustainable community-based tourism development by stimulating local economies, conserving the environment, developing people’s livelihoods, and transforming lives. 

Nicola’s academic research has attracted national endorsement from the Head of Government and Public Affairs at Visit Britain and the Institute of Travel and Tourism. She has achieved significant recognition from the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Chiang Mai University, the International Competence Network of Tourism Research and Education (ICNT), and national Tourism Research Network (TourNet). She has also made a notable impact on the conceptualisation and measurement of sub-regional and local visitor economies. 

Nicola’s pedagogic research focuses on doctoral education. She has made outstanding national and international contributions to postgraduate research policies, standards, and educational practice in doctoral training, doctoral supervision and examining, doctoral programmes management and leadership, the development of inclusive postgraduate research communities, the professional enhancement of the postgraduate research student experience, and the professionalisation of doctoral supervision. 

Nicola has transferable expertise in non-directive facilitation, dialogic, and participatory teaching and learning techniques.

Grants

Research Super-Vision Project (RSVP): transforming the culture of doctoral supervision and education – Work Package 2 Lead (Sheffield Hallam University)

Funder name: Research England

Funder scheme: Research England Development Fund (RED)

Funder type: UK Central / Local Government

Funding type: Research Grant

Project start date: 01 Oct 2023

Equity in Doctoral Education through Partnership and Innovation (EDEPI) – Co-Investigator (Sheffield Hallam University)

Funder name: Research England

Funder scheme: Funding competition to improve access and participation for black, Asian and minority ethnic groups in postgraduate research study

Funder type: UK Central / Local Government

Funding type: Research Grant

Project start date: 01 Feb 2022

Publications

Full publications list

Authored books

Palmer, N. J., Davies, J., & Viney, C. (2023). Business and Management Doctorates World-Wide: Developing the Next Generation. Emerald Publishing Limited. doi:10.1108/9781789734997

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Gorbuntsova T, Dobson S, Palmer N. (2019) Diverse Geographies of Power and Spatial production: Tourism industry development in the Yamal Peninsula, Northern Siberia. Annals of Tourism Research 76, 67-79, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2019.03.006

Palmer, N. J. and Chuamuangphan, N. (2018) Governance and local participation in Ecotourism: community-level tourism stakeholders in Chiang Rai province, Thailand. Journal of Ecotourism. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2018.1502248

Dorjsuren, A. and Palmer, N.J. (2018) Equity in tourism development: procedural justice and distributive justice in Mongolia, East Asia, Asian Journal of Tourism Research, 2 (1), pp.118-149.

Gorbuntsova, T., Dobson, S., & Palmer, N. (2018). Rural entrepreneurial space and identity: A study of local tour operators and ‘the Nenets’ indigenous reindeer herders. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (IJEI), 19(4), 261-272. doi:10.1177/1465750317723220

Palmer, N.J. and Chuamuangphan, N. (2017). Societal values and local responses to appropriate livelihoods, fairness and decision-making involvement in ecotourism: Chiang Rai, Thailand. Asian Journal of Tourism Research, 2 (1), 118-149.

Book chapters

Palmer, N., Chuamuangphan, N., & Dorjsuren, A. (Accepted – in press, 2024). Local participation for a higher commitment to destination development. In Karl, M., Hansen, M. and Pillmayer, M. (Ed.s) Tourism destination development: A geographic perspective on destination management and tourist demand, de Gruyter Tourism Studies: Munich University of Applied Sciences.

Palmer, N.J., Davies, J. and Viney, C. (2023). Growth Patterns of Business and Management Doctorates Around the World. In N. Palmer, J. Davies, & C. Viney (Eds.), Business and Management Doctorates World-Wide: Developing the Next Generation (pp. 1-34). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Palmer, N., Davies, J., & Viney, C. (2023). Employability, Career Management and Postdoctoral Outcomes in Business and Management. In N. Palmer, J. Davies, & C. Viney (Eds.), Business and Management Doctorates World-Wide: Developing the Next Generation (pp. 103-124). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Palmer, N., Davies, J., & Viney, C. (2023). Research Environment, Culture, Capacity, Capabilities and Connectivity. In N. Palmer, J. Davies, & C. Viney (Eds.), Business and Management Doctorates World-Wide: Developing the Next Generation (pp. 125-151). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Palmer, N., Davies, J., & Viney, C. (2023). The Business School Doctoral Experience. In N. Palmer, J. Davies, & C. Viney (Eds.), Business and Management Doctorates World-Wide: Developing the Next Generation (pp. 69-102). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Palmer, N., Davies, J., & Viney, C. (2023). Recruitment, Selection and Retention in Business and Management Doctorates Around the World. In N. Palmer, J. Davies, & C. Viney (Eds.), Business and Management Doctorates World-Wide: Developing the Next Generation (pp. 35-68). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Palmer, N. (2022). Institutional influences on national tourism-related foreign direct investment (TFDI) policies and programmes: Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia. In H. C. Jönsson (Ed.), Tourism and Foreign Direct Investment (pp. 262 pages). Routledge.

Jönsson, C. & Palmer, N. (2022). Local impacts and perceptions of tourism foreign direct investment (TFDI): a conceptual framework. In C. Jönsson (Ed.), Tourism and Foreign Direct Investment (pp. 262 pages). Routledge.

Palmer, N. (2022). Kyrgyzstan, Tourism. In Springer Encyclopaedia of Tourism (second edition). Springer Reference: New York. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_611-3

Winter, T., Kim, S., & Palmer, N. (2021). Where is 'The Poor' in Pro-poor VCA? A Review of Applying Pro-poor Value Chain Analysis in a Coastal Tourism Destination in the Northeast of Brazil. In Inclusive Tourism Futures (pp. 80-103). Channel View Publications Ltd.

Palmer, N.J. and Chuamuangphan, N. (2021). Governance and local participation in ecotourism: community-level ecotourism stakeholders in Chiang Rai province, Thailand. In: Diamantis, D. (Ed.) Stakeholders Management and Ecotourism (pp. 118-135). Routledge.

Palmer, N.J. and Long, P. (2018) The peculiar attraction of royalty for tourism and the popular cultural construction of ‘Royal Tourism’. In: Lundberg, C. and Ziakas, V. (Eds.) Handbook on popular culture and tourism (pp.201-2019). Routledge.

Practice oriented publications and presentations

Palmer, N., Davies, J., and Viney, C. (Accepted – in press, 2024). Re-imagining business school doctoral programmes: enhancing impact, aligning with industry, and developing the next generation. EFMD Global Focus, 1(16).

Palmer, N. and Tresidder, R. (2023, December). Navigating the Role of Replacement Lead Supervisor: An Autoethnographic Perspective. In 2023 SRHE International Research Conference. Conference Aston, Birmingham.

Palmer, N., Davies, J., Vala, S., & Viney, C. (2023). Podcast on Business School Doctorates. [Podcast]. UCL Global Business School for Health. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unVVzw6dYj8

Anderson A, Browning D, Cox R, Cunnold H, Day M, Ho J, Leech H, McLean F, Midgley A, Palmer N, Piper-Wright T, Pritchard E, Qureshi S, Tata M, Webb M. (2022). Toolkits for developing and sustaining researcher networks. Vitae, Cambridge. Retrieved from https://www.vitae.ac.uk/

Palmer, N. (2022). Contesting boundaries: researcher networks as inclusive and exclusive spaces. [Commissioned Blog Post]. Vitae. Retrieved from https://www.vitae.ac.uk/

Palmer, N., Sheldon, J., and Smith McGloin, R. (2022). View From The Ground: What's Next?. The Protagonist. Retrieved from https://arma.ac.uk/the-protagonist-your-magazine-out-now/

Palmer, N., and Tresidder, R. (2021). Supporting the Continuous Professional Development of Supervisors in Waiting: The SHU Research Supervisor Passport. [Blog Post] UKCGE. Retrieved from http://www.ukcge.ac.uk/

Palmer, N., and Tresidder, R. (2021, June). Acknowledging and responding to the ‘doctoral supervision waiting room’: the SHU Research Supervisor Passport. In UKCGE Annual Conference 2021: Resilience in Postgraduate Education: Adapting, Supporting, Sustaining. Online: UKCGE.

Palmer, N., Davies, J., Braccia, E., Clegg, K., and Smith, M. (2021). Supporting doctoral programmes during a global pandemic: Crisis as opportunity. EFMD Global Focus, 1 (15), 22-27. Retrieved from https://www.globalfocusmagazine.com/

Munday, D., Compton-Daw, E., Palmer, N., Kate, J., Parker-Hay, K., & Wheat, K. (2019, September). Beyond carrots and sticks: What motivates researchers to engage in their development? In Vitae International Conference 2019. Birmingham.

Palmer, N. (2019, May). Keynote: New Forms of Research Production and the PhD. In EFMD Doctoral Programmes Conference. University of Lancaster Management School: European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD).

Palmer, N. (2018). Are our doctoral programmes fit for purpose and the future? [Blog Post] European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). Retrieved from https://www.efmd.org/

Cleaver, D. and Palmer, N. (2017, July). Recognising and rewarding excellence in doctoral supervision: the SHU Inspirational Research Supervisor award scheme. In UKCGE Annual Conference. Universidade do Porto, Portugal: UKCGE.

Cleaver, D. and Palmer, N. (2017). Recognising and rewarding excellence in doctoral supervision: Superdupervisor Awards - how, why and to what end?. [Blog Post]. UKCGE. Retrieved from http://www.ukcge.ac.uk/

Teaching

Postgraduate

Online MSc International Business, Leadership and Management programme /  Online MSc Innovation, Leadership and Management programme: Independent Research Project (MAN00093M) and Research Proposal (MAN00101M) modules.

PhD supervision