Sharon has researched, published, taught and consulted to organisations in the field of organisational culture and change, and has a background in Human Resource Development having worked in a number of large organisations prior to embarking on an academic career. She gained her PhD for research into corporate ideology and its influences on middle management, studying the responses of middle managers to organisational values programmes.  This involved evaluating the impact of a major corporate change programme. She also has an MBA degree with distinction from Lancaster University and a BSc degree in Linguistic and International studies from the University of Surrey.

Sharon has directed and taught on several MBA programmes, the MA in Management Learning and various Masters and Doctoral programmes, and is currently Cycle Director of the International Master’s Programme in Practising Management, run by a consortium of five top business schools worldwide.

She is co-author of Your MBA with Distinction: Developing a Systematic Approach to Succeeding in Your Business Degree published by FT Prentice Hall, co-editor of Critical Thinking in Human Resource Development published by Routledge, member of the editorial boards of the journals Human Resource Development Review and Advances in Developing Human Resources, and member of the management board of Human Resource Development International. She is also co-author of Stimulating Leaders: Developing Manufacturing Leadership Skills and was director of the research programme that led to the report; and director of The Trust’s leadership development programme for Sheffield Hallam University. 

Specialist areas:

• Organisational culture and values;
• Organisational Change and Development;
• Management Learning;
• Leadership Development;
• Evaluation of leadership development.

Recent publications (for a full list of publications, please contact the Research Centre):

(2007) Lunnon, L and Turnbull, S “The Wisdom of Leaders” EFMD Global Focus, 01/01

(2006) Turnbull, S “Post-Millenial Leadership Refrains; Artists, Performers and Anti-heroes” Leadership 2.2.

(2005) Cullen, J and Turnbull, S “A Meta-Review of the Management Development Literature” Human Resource Development Review,Vol4, No 3, Autumn.

(2005) Turnbull, S and Edwards, G “Leadership Development for Organizational Change in a ‘New’ UK University” Advances in Human Resource Development, Vol 7, Nov 3, Autumn 2005.

(2005) Turnbull, S and Edwards, G “Leadership Development for Organizational Change in a “New” UK University”, Proceedings of Academy of Human Resource Development Conference, Estes Park, Colorado24-27 February, 2005.

(2005) Bentley, J and Turnbull, S “Stimulating Leaders. Developing Manufacturing Leadership Skills” Birmingham, Manufacturing Foundation,

(2005) Elliott, C and Turnbull, S (eds) Critical Thinking in Human Resource Development, London, Routledge.

(2004) “Contemporary discourses of leadership and leader identities – artists, performers, and anti-heroes” 3rd International Leadership Conference, Exeter University,15-16 December. Forthcoming in Leadership journal.

(2004) “Perceptions and experience of time-space compression and acceleration. The shaping of leaders’ identities” Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol 19, No 8 pp 809-824.

(2004) “Emotion in organizational learning - implications for HRD”, Academy of HRD conference, 3-7 March, Austin, Texas

(2004) Elliott, C and Turnbull, S “Pedagogies of HRD: the socio-political implications”, Fifth International Conference on HRD research and practice across Europe 2004, Limerick, 27-28 May.

(2003) "Perceptions and experience of time-space compression and acceleration: the shaping of leaders' identities", 3rd International Critical Management Studies Conference, Lancaster University, 7-9 July.

(2003) Elliott, C and Turnbull, S Reconciling autonomy and community – the paradoxical role of HRD" in M Lee (ed) HRD in Complex World, Routledge.

(2003) Elliott, C and Turnbull, S "Reconciling autonomy and community – the paradoxical role of HRD" Human Resource Development International, Vol 6, No 4.

(2003) "Emotion in organizational learning – implications for HRD", Academy of Human Resource Development Conference, 27 Feb-2 March, Minnesota.