Dr Imran Ali is a Senior Lecturer in Operations and Innovation Management at CQUniversity's Melbourne Campus. He obtained his PhD in Business Management from the University of South Australia (UniSA) Business School in August 2017 under a fully-funded scholarship that covered both tuition fees and living expenses. With over 17 years of experience working in various academic, industrial, and research institutions in Australia and overseas, Imran has established himself as an expert in supply chains and operations management.
Imran's research focuses on operations and supply chain management, including emerging topics such as digital transformation, risk management and resilience, circular economy, sustainability, and climate change, primarily in the food and beverage industry. His current research supports multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (1, 2, 8, 9 & 13) and appears in several high-quality journals, including the International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Production Planning & Control, Journal of Business Research, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, Industrial Marketing Management, International Journal of Information Management, Annals of Operations Research, and high-quality conference proceedings.
Imran currently serves as the Senior Editor for Operations and Supply Chain Management at the International Journal of Emerging Markets, as well as a member of the Editorial Board at the Journal of Business Research.
He works closely with the researchers of 'Fight Food Waste CRC' and the 'Centre for Regional Economies and Supply Chain' at CQUniversity to pitch his research to industry partners and funding bodies and secure external research grants. To this end, Imran's current research grants, as a lead investigator, include: CRCNA (external) - $30,000.00 (2020-2024); Industry partners' (external)- $30,000.00 (2020-2023) + $90,000.00 (2022-2025); CQU's Internal Competitive Research Grant - $12,801.00 (2019-2021).
Imran's research has received multiple accolades, such as: Best Proceeding Paper at the Academy of Management 2019 Conference (USA); Best Track Paper Award at the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) Conference 2022 in Sydney, Australia; Vice-Chancellor's Research Commendation Award for Outstanding Early-Career Researcher in 2021; Vice-Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Early-Career Researcher in 2022; Dean's Award for Outstanding Early-Career Researcher in 2021 and 2022 (two years in a row) at CQUniversity.
Before joining academia, Imran held various managerial positions (for over ten 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, he applied a range of business management tools and trained staff, earning him a "Best Performance Award" from a 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.
University of South Australia
PhD thesis title: A Resilience Model for Firms in Perishable Product Supply Chains
University of South Australia
Australian Institute of Business
• Vice-Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Early-Career Researcher, 2022.
• Dean's Award for Outstanding Early Career Researcher, 2022.
• Best Track Paper Award at the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) Conference 2022, Sydney, Australia.
• Vice-Chancellor's Commendation Award for Outstanding Early Career Researcher, 2021.
• Dean's Award for Outstanding Early Career Researcher, 2021.
• Student Voice Commendation, Educators of the Year Award, 2020.
• Best Proceedings Paper Academy of Management 2019 Conference, Boston, USA.
• University of South Australia fully-funded Scholarship (fees offset + living allowance) for PhD, 2013-2017.
• Rector’s Medal for standing top position in the MBA program at the University of Management and Technology, 2010.
• Dean’s Merit Award for achieving the highest GPA in a Semester of MBA at UMT, 2009.
• Best Performance Award for excellence as a Business Consultant, 2011.
Postgraduate level (online and face-to-face):
- Operations Management and Business Analytics
- Integrated Logistics Management
- Strategic Supply Chain Management
- Think Big (MGMT20143)
- Professional Project (BUSN20019)
- Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainability
Undergraduate level (online and face-to-face):
- Quality Management
- IT&C Technologies
- Distribution and Marketing Logistics
- Operations Management Fundamental
- Business Operations/ sustainable business development
- Introduction to Business
- Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Member:
· Advisory Group of the FAO of the UN.
· Academy of Management, USA.
· British Academy of Management, UK.
· Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management.
· Citrus Australia Limited.
· Agribusiness Council of Australia
MS Office Suite, SPSS, AMOS, VOSViewer, R-Software.
- Since 2020, serve as an active member of the 'Advisory Group' for the FAO of the United Nations to transform the global food systems.
- Worked as a 'Business Consultant' for large chemical and machinery manufacturers/distributors and helped in the significant improvement of the company’s operational, market and financial performance which led to about a 10% increase in revenue, thus receiving a company award for my endeavours.
- Served as an 'Operations Consultant' for a manufacturing firm significantly improving operations and supply chain systems.
I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:
At the level of Principal Supervisor