Dr Amir Qamar

Dr Amir Qamar

The Department of Strategy and International Business
Assistant Professor of Strategy and International Business
Programme Director MSc International Business

Contact details

Address
Department of Strategy and International Business
Birmingham Business School
University House
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TY

Amir is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and International Business in Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK.

His research interest is primarily on lean and agile production strategies within the global automotive industry. Having acquired a thorough understanding of strategy within a manufacturing context, Amir is also interested in multiplier effects within certain supply chains, MNEs, R&D, innovation, productivity and the retail industry.

Qualifications

PhD in Management, University of Birmingham, 2018 

PGCERT Advanced Research Methods and Skills, University of Birmingham, 2016

MSc in Economic Policy & International Business, University of Birmingham, 2012 

BSc (Hons) in Economics, University of Birmingham, 2011

Biography

Amir joined Birmingham Business School as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in 2018. He previously worked at City-REDI as a Research Fellow and worked on a range of projects, which concerned productivity, low-pay and multiplier effects. Amir is still closely working with City-REDI to better understand the relationship between the regional economy and specific firms. 

Amir has a background in Economics and International Business, but his more recent work has focused on Operations Management and Supply Chain Management as his PhD research investigated the performance and contextual trade-offs between lean and agile organisations within the automotive industry. Amir was awarded the Midlands Excellence Organizational Improvement Doctoral Scholarship to complete his PhD. Amir has experience of teaching a wide range of modules in the domains of business strategy and operations.

Teaching

  • MSc Environment of Business
  • MSc Issues in Management (Dubai)
  • MBA Implementing Strategy & Managing Change

Other activities

  • 2019 – Present
    Officer for the Academy of International Business (AIB) Research Methods Shared Interest Group (RM SIG)
  • 2018 – Present
    City-REDI Associate
  • 2018 – 2020
    Lead Organiser for the Annual Strategy & International Business Symposium (ASIBS)
  • Reviewer for the following journals:
    International Journal of Operations & Production Management; Supply Chain Management: An International Journal; International Journal of Production Research; Production Planning & Control; and International Business Review.

Publications

Recent publications

Book

Chidlow, A, Ghauri, PN, Buckley, T, Gardner, E, Qamar, A & Pickering, E (eds) 2019, The Changing Strategies of International Business: How MNEs Manage in a Changing Commercial and Political Landscape. The Academy of International Business, 1 edn, Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03931-8

Collinson, S, Rugman, AM & Qamar, A 2017, International Business Instructor's Manual, 7/E. Pearson.

Article

Qamar, A, Collinson, S & Green, A 2022, 'Covid-19 disruption, resilience and industrial policy: the automotive sector in the West Midlands', Regional Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2022.2126449

Qamar, A & Child, J 2021, 'Grand challenges within IB: conducting qualitative research in the Covid environment', AIB Insights, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 1-6. https://doi.org/10.46697/001c.25436

Zhao, K, O'Mahony, M & Qamar, A 2020, 'Bridging the gap in creative economy and ICT research: a regional analysis in Europe', Applied Economics, vol. 52, no. 29, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2019.1706718

Green, A, Sissons, P, Broughton, K & Qamar, A 2020, 'Public policy for addressing the low-skills low-wage trap: insights from business cases in the Birmingham city-region, UK', Regional Studies, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 333-344. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2020.1802005

Qamar, A, Hall, M, Chicksand, D & Collinson, S 2020, 'Quality and flexibility performance trade-offs between lean and agile manufacturing firms in the automotive industry', Production Planning & Control: The Management of Operations, vol. 31, no. 9, pp. 723-738. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2019.1681534

Qamar, A, Gardner, E, Buckley, T & Zhao, K 2019, 'Home-owned versus foreign-owned firms in the UK automotive industry: exploring the microfoundations of ambidextrous production and supply chain positioning', International Business Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2019.101657

Qamar, A & Hall, M 2018, 'Can lean and agile organisations within the UK automotive supply chain be distinguished based upon contextual factors?', Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 239–254. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-05-2017-0185

Qamar, A, Hall, M & Collinson, S 2018, 'Lean versus agile production: flexibility trade-offs within the automotive supply chain', International Journal of Production Research, vol. 56, no. 11, pp. 3974-3993. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1463109

Commissioned report

Green, A, Sissons, P, Qamar, A & Broughton, K 2018, Raising productivity in low-wage sectors and reducing poverty. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. <https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/raising-productivity-low-wage-sectors-and-reducing-poverty>

Conference contribution

Qamar, A, Gardner, E, Buckley, T & Zhou, K 2019, Exploring the micro-foundations of ambidextrous production: home-owned versus foreign-owned firms in the automotive industry. in 46th Academy of International Business UK & Ireland Chapter Conference: Multinational Enterprises and their Non-market Social and Political Strategies.

Other contribution

Qamar, A & Collinson, S 2020, The West Midlands’ Automotive Industry in the Aftermath of COVID-19: Survival of the Fittest?..

Other report

Qamar, A, Gardner, E, Green, A & Collinson, S 2022, Financial resilience during economic decline: top 50 West Midlands’ manufacturing firms. WMREDI.

Qamar, A & Collinson, S 2019, Briefing for Andy Street: The Automotive Industry & Implications of JLR job losses.

View all publications in research portal