Dr Ali Esfahbodi SFHEA, PhD, MSc, BEng, PGCHE

Dr Ali Esfahbodi

Department of Management
Associate Professor in Operations Management and Sustainability
School Director of Postgraduate Programmes UK, Dubai, Singapore

Contact details

Address
Department of Management
Birmingham Business School
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TT

Dr Ali Esfahbodi is an Associate Professor in Operations Management and Sustainability, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), Business School Director of MSc Programmes at the University of Birmingham, and an Associate of the Centre of Responsible Business. Ali’s research lies primarily in sustainable and circular economy supply chains, digitalisation and SCM 4.0, and the exploration of new technologies in manufacturing such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet-of-Things (IoT), Digital Twin, and GS1 standards and their impacts on the sustainability performance.

His work aims to help companies with successful undertakings of emerging technologies and offer opportunities to achieve better economic performance and greater environmental protection. Ali has a wide portfolio of teaching expertise in Operations and SCM at various levels of Higher Education (Undergraduate, Masters, MBA, and PhD). He has consulted with many firms, presented at national and international academic and practitioner conferences, published many peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals, and won several awards for research excellence.

You can follow Ali on LinkedIn

Qualifications

  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
  • PhD in Management
  • MSc in Engineering Management
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE)
  • BSc in Mechanical Engineering 

Teaching

Undergraduate

  • Introduction to Business Strategy and Supply Chain Management (Year 1)

Postgraduate

  • Operations Management (GDBA)
  • Strategic Purchasing and Supply Management (GDBA)
  • Quantitative Management Techniques (GDBA)
  • Value Chains, Outsourcing and Procurement (MSc Management)
  • Value Chains, Outsourcing and Procurement (MSc IB Singapore)
  • Organisational and Operations Management (MSc Advanced Engineering Management UK)
  • Organisational and Operations Management (MSc Construction Management Dubai & Advanced Engineering Management Dubai)

Postgraduate supervision

Operations and supply chain management
Sustainable supply chain management
Sustainable manufacturing and performance management
Supply chain innovation capabilities
Green ICT and supply chain
Competitive advantage and sustainable supply chain: resource-based view (RBV) perspective

Other activities

Ali serves as an Editorial Board Member of International Journal of Production Economics, Journal of Cleaner Production, Sustainability, International Journal of Supply and Operations Management, and International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development. He is also a member of the European Operations Management Association (EUROMA), Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Ambituuni, A, Oyinlola, M, Ajala, O, Sule, H, Esfahbodi, A & Barrow, D 2025, 'Mechanic Village Business Networks and Circular Economy Practices in the Automotive Industry', Business Strategy and the Environment, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.4122

Lonsdale, C, Sanderson, J & Esfahbodi, A 2024, 'Good Team Players? The Impact of Team Member Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities on Sourcing Teamwork and Sourcing Task-Work Effectiveness', Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-10-2023-0529

Li, X, Esfahbodi, A & Zhang, Y 2024, 'The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Implementation on Enterprises’ Financial Performance: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies', Sustainability, vol. 16, no. 5, 1848. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16051848

Esfahbodi, A, Zhang, Y, Liu, Y & Geng, D 2023, 'The fallacy of profitable green supply chains: the role of green information systems (GIS) in attenuating the sustainability trade-offs ', International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 255, 108703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2022.108703

Esfahbodi, A, Pang, G & Peng, L 2022, 'Determinants of Consumers’ Adoption Intention for Blockchain Technology in E-commerce', Journal of Digital Economy, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 89-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdec.2022.11.001

Mousapour Mamoudan, M, Mohammadnazari, Z, Ostadi, A & Esfahbodi, A 2022, 'Food products pricing theory with application of machine learning and game theory approach', International Journal of Production Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2022.2128921

Sanderson, J, Esfahbodi, A & Lonsdale, C 2022, 'The effect of team-member knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) and a common learning experience on sourcing teamwork effectiveness', International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 52, no. 5-6, pp. 393-413. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-07-2021-0277

Esfahbodi, A, Zhang, Y, Watson, G & Zhang, T 2017, 'Governance pressures and performance outcomes of sustainable supply chain management – An empirical analysis of UK manufacturing industry', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 155, pp. 66-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.098

Esfahbodi, A, Zhang, Y & Watson, G 2016, 'Sustainable supply chain management in emerging economies: Trade-offs between environmental and cost performance', International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 181, pp. 350-366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2016.02.013

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Esfahbodi, A & Zhang, Y 2020, Effects of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) Practices on Performance Outcomes in UK Manufacturing Industry: The Moderating Role of Green Information Systems. in European Operations Management Association: EurOMA 27. vol. 1, pp. 592-602. https://doi.org/https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/mediacentre/wmgevents/euroma2020/proceedings/1936_exordo-euroma2020-version-1.pdf

Esfahbodi, A & Zhang, Y 2020, Sustainable supply chain management in developed vs. emerging economies: evidence from the UK and China’s manufacturing industry. in S Hashmi & IA Choudhury (eds), Encyclopedia of Renewable and Sustainable Materials. 1st edn, vol. 5, Elsevier, pp. 537-549. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813195-4.11506-8

Conference contribution

Esfahbodi, A, Zhang, Y & Watson, G 2013, An Integrated Framework to assess the Impact of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices on Firms’ Performance. in Global Manufacturing Conference 2013.

Esfahbodi, A, Zhang, Y & Watson, G 2012, The implementation of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM): An exploratory study on the essential factors and performance implications. in The Cambridge International Manufacturing Symposium.

Review article

Zhang, Y, Lin, Y & Esfahbodi, A 2025, 'Digital Transformations of Supply Chain Management via RFID Technology: A Systematic Literature Review', Journal of Digital Economy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdec.2025.06.001

View all publications in research portal