我要吃瓜

Dr Umair Choksy is a Senior Lecturer in Management and Programme Director for the MSc Business and Management at the 我要吃瓜. He holds a PhD in Business and Management from the University of Manchester, where his doctoral research focused on resilience and upgrading strategies in global value chains (GVCs) among small software firms in Pakistan.

Dr Choksy began his academic career at the University of Manchester, contributing to postgraduate teaching and research in international business and management. He later joined the University of Kent as a Lecturer in Strategy and International Business, where he also served as Programme Director for the BSc (Hons) International Business. During his tenure, he led curriculum redesign, accreditation alignment (AACSB, EQUIS, IoE&IT), and assurance of learning initiatives.

His research focuses on GVC governance, resilience, sustainability, upgrading, and the use of digital technologies in emerging and fragile institutional contexts. He has published in leading journals such as International Business Review, Journal of Business Research, Management International Review, and European Management Journal particularly contributing towards supplier resilience and upgrading in GVCs. He has led interdisciplinary, impact-oriented projects in partnership with academic, industry, and development stakeholders across the UK, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Umair Choksy’s research explores the intersection of global value chain (GVC) governance, resilience, and sustainability, with a sectoral focus on software, apparel, and agro-food industries. His work investigates how firms in developing and institutionally weak contexts navigate adverse conditions to achieve economic, social, and environmental upgrading. He contributes to theory and practice by analysing the roles of trust, institutional contexts, and power asymmetries in shaping supplier strategies.

His recent publications examine subnational variations in supplier resilience, the role of GVC governance and trust, and how peripheral vendors enhance absorptive capacity in offshore software development. He also engages with digital transformations in supply chains, including the role of blockchain in improving transparency and upgrading. His research links to key development agendas such as the SDGs (particularly SDG 8 and SDG 12), and contributes to interdisciplinary debates in international business, value chain development, and ecological governance.

His methodologies span qualitative case studies, survey-design, and interdisciplinary frameworks, supporting impact-oriented projects on market systems analysis (MSA) and traceability initiatives across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.