Viveka Christierson is an industrial and organizational psychologist with over 15 years of experience in academic leadership roles at a leading South African business school. She has expertise in curriculum design, executive coaching, leadership development, and psychological assessment. Her professional experience includes serving as the Programme Director for the Masters in Management in Business and Executive Coaching program and the Certificate Programme in Leadership Coaching at Wits Business School. She has also lectured on topics such as leadership, coaching, human resources, and group dynamics.

1. Viveka Christierson
West Stowell Grange, West Stowell, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 4JU
+44 (0)1672 563 072; 07 391497833, email: viveka.christierson@gmail.com
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PROFILE
• An industrial and organisational psychologist with many years of experience in academic leadership;
teaching, research supervision and coaching at a leading South African business school;
• Consistently rated in top quintile for lecturing in leadership, leadership development, executive coaching,
and psychology;
• Expertise includes curriculum design and course development, programme direction, psychological
assessment, counselling and coaching.
EDUCATION
PhD, Wits University, Johannesburg, 2016
Title of thesis: The contribution made by coaching to MBA leadership development at a South African Business
School
MA (Industrial Psychology), Wits University, Johannesburg, 1996
Title of dissertation: Part-time work, motherhood and accumulated role satisfaction: A study of white South
African nurses.
BA (Honours) (Applied Psychology), Wits University, Johannesburg, 1985
Title of thesis: The relationship between puerperal depression and conflicts of the aggressive drive.
Filosofie Kandidat Examen (BA Equivalent), Stockholm University, 1975
Majored in Psychology
Title of thesis: Self assessment of aptitude and career interests.
MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
• Registered as an Industrial Psychologist with the HPCSA (Health Professions Council of South Africa)
• Member of SIOPSA (Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology of South Africa)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Wits Business School, Wits University, Johannesburg, RSA, 1999-2013
Programme Director and Lecturer: Masters in Management in Business and Executive Coaching
(MMBEC), October 2012 to October 2013
• Appointment of full-time and part-time faculty
• Responsibility for academic standards with reference to Wits University’s standing orders, the Council on
Higher Education (CHE) and the Graduate School Alliance for Education in Coaching (GSAEC)
• Designed teaching modules for Leadership in Organisations and Psychological Acumen Underpinning
Coaching and co-designed modules for Coaching Skills, Coaching Process and Coaching Practice
• Lecturer in Leadership in Organisations, Psychological Acumen Underpinning Coaching, Executive and
Leadership Coaching and Group Dynamics
• Member of the Postgraduate Committee and Teaching and Learning Committee

2. Programme Director: Certificate Programme in Leadership Coaching (CPLC), January 2009 to date
• Introduced an initiative which had a dual purpose, namely to educate and up-skill the MBA alumni of the
school, via the CPLC, and to coach the MBA students
• Design, development and implementation of the post masters level curriculum; programme direction for one
CPLC and three MBA classes per year
• Supervision of the MBA alumni coaches, as well as the CPLC programme manager
• Liaised extensively with stakeholders in the alumni and university communities
• To date, 119 MBA alumni have qualified as coaches and over 40 of these continue to coach MBA students
on an annual basis.
• Since 2009 over 900 MBA students have been provided with leadership coaching free of charge
Lecturer, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, 1999 – date
• Lecturer in Leadership (MBA and MMBEC), Leadership Development (MBA), Executive and Leadership
Coaching (MMBEC, CPLC and MBA), Human Resource Management (PDM), Career Management (MBA
and PDM), Corporate Social Responsibility (MBA and PDM) and Group Dynamics (MBA, PDM and
MMBEC)
Career Counsellor, 1999 – 2013
• Has provided individual career counselling for postgraduate students within MBA and PDM (Postgraduate
Diploma in Management) programmes, amounting to approximately 550 students since 1999
Academic Director, July 2006 to December, 2008
• Provided Academic leadership to full time and part time lecturing staff
• Quality control of the MBA and PDM programmes
• Presided over a curriculum review for the MBA programme, as well as various curriculum developments
• Represented Wits Business School at various national and international forums including AMBA
(Association of MBAs), SABSA (South African Business Schools Association) and PIM (Partnership in
International Management)
• Created the Class Representatives Forum to strengthen the communication between the Academic Office
and the students at the school
• Developed an induction programme for academic staff
• Chaired the following:
o The Postgraduate Committee (the Postgraduate Committee presides over matters pertaining to
exams, research and qualifications)
o The Teaching and Learning Committee (presides over curriculum design, academic developments on
a school and national level)
o The Academics Meeting
Research Supervision and Examinations
• Supervision of 16 MBA students completing their research reports in the fields of Human Resource
Management, Leadership, Coaching and Corporate Social Investment
• Internal examiner for MMBEC and MBA research dissertations and reports
Additional
• Designed, developed and taught on a number of Executive Education programmes including Effective
Coaching Programme (Three-day public programme) and Self-Management for Managers (Two-day
module in the Management Advancement Programme)

3. • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test administration, briefing and feedback, as well as plenary and syndicate
facilitation for the Learning Assessment Centre (Two-day programme in the Leadership Development
Centre)
National Institute for Personnel Research October (NIPR), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR), Johannesburg, RSA, October 1975 – October 1980
• Selection of staff for administrative, scientific and managerial positions at the Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR), as well as for other client organisations
• Provided individual career assessments and counselling for school leavers and adults
• Consultant in the area of selection and performance management
• Undertook research on behalf of the NIPR and published the following:
− A comparison of three work performance rating scales (HSRC 1988)
− The experimental implementation of a performance appraisal system for employees of the CSIR, placed
in complexity grades 1 to 5 (1979)
− A framework for vocational counselling in the organisational context (1979)
− Selection of trainees for a course in instructional techniques in the field of civil engineering – A
validation study (1977)
− Labour turnover among insurance salesmen at African Eagle (with Maurice Mahlaku, 1976)
COMPUTER LITERACY AND LANGUAGES
• Computer -Windows Word, Excel and Power Point
• Languages – English and Swedish
HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
• Current affairs
• Literature, drama, music and art
• Travelling