Dr Imran Ali is a Discipline Lead in Management & Innovation and a Senior Lecturer in Operations and Innovation Management at CQUniversity's Melbourne Campus. He earned his PhD in Business Management (specialising in Logistics and Supply Chain Management) from the University of South Australia's Business School in August 2017, supported by a fully-funded scholarship. With over 18 years of experience in diverse academic, industrial, and research institutions both in Australia and overseas, Imran has established himself as an expert in supply chains and operations management.

Imran's research focuses on operations, logistics, and supply chain management, with a particular focus on emerging challenges in agri-food supply chains, including digital transformation through blockchain, artificial intelligence, IoT, 3D manufacturing, etc., risk management & resilience, the circular economy, sustainability, and climate change. The current scope of his research aligns with multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (1, 2, 8, 9, & 13). Given his expertise in agri-food supply chain management, Imran has been invited and appointed as a 'Food Systems Expert' by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Imran's work has been published in a range of A/A* (Q1) journals, such as the International Journal of Information Management, Transportation Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, International Journal of Production Economics, Production Planning & Control, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, and high-quality conference proceedings.

Imran currently sits on the Editorial boards of several prestigious journals: the Journal of Business Research, Production Planning & Control, the International Journal of Logistics Management, and the International Journal of Emerging Markets.

He works closely with the 'Centre for Regional Economies and Supply Chain' at CQUniversity to engage with the industry and other stakeholders. Given the significance of his current research, Imran has been awarded multiple research grants (Categories 2, 3, and 4) both from the federal government and industry partners: DAFF (external) - $245,814 (2024-2025); CRCNA (external) - $30,000.00 (2020-2024); Industry Partners (external) - $30,000.00 (2020-2023) + $90,000.00 (2022-2025); and CQU's Internal Competitive Research Grant - $12,801.00 (2019-2021).

Imran has received multiple teaching and research accolades, such as: Emerald Literati Award for Outstanding Paper 2023; Vice-Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Early-Career Researcher in 2022; Vice-Chancellor's Research Commendation Award for Outstanding Early-Career Researcher in 2021; Dean's Award for Outstanding Early-Career Researcher in 2021 & 2022 (two years in a row) at CQUniversity; the Educator of the Year Award in 2019; and the Best Proceedings Paper at the Academy of Management 2019 Conference (USA).

Before joining academia, Imran held various managerial positions (> 10 years) at small and large organisations and contributed to the organisations' productivity by conducting business analysis, problem-driven research, and benefits realisation reports. As a Business Consultant, Imran applied a range of business management tools and trained staff, earning him a "Best Performance Award" from the company's CEO.

Imran is a passionate advocate for innovative, industry-engaged, interactive and inclusive education. He enjoys teaching at the intersection of cutting-edge theoretical knowledge and practical, real-world industry practices across a broad range of subjects. His approach is focused on equipping students with the skills they need to become job-ready graduates.