Senior Lecturer in Management
Management, Work and Organisation 3A22, Cottrell Building, University of Stirling
Dr Umair Choksy is a Senior Lecturer in Management and Programme Director for the MSc Business and Management at the University of Stirling. 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.
Salary Award for contribution to BSc International Business programme
University of Kent
Fellow of HEA
Higher Education Academy
Certified for Transformation in Supply Chain
Certified Value Chain Analyst
Article
Resilience of GVC Suppliers in Politically Unstable Regions: The Roles of Governance and Trust
Choksy US, Kurt Y, Gölgeci I, Khan Z, Shamim S & Jawad M (2025) Resilience of GVC Suppliers in Politically Unstable Regions: The Roles of Governance and Trust. International Business Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2025.102465
Article
Al-Tabbaa O, Saadatyar FS, Choksy U, Koghut M & Vazife Z (2025) Building Clusters without Trust: Government as a Relational Architect in Industrial Cluster Formation. European Management Review.
Book Chapter
Blockchain Technology Adoption for Economic and Social Upgrading
Choksy US, Ayaz M & Francis J (2024) Blockchain Technology Adoption for Economic and Social Upgrading. In: Sinlovics N, Sinovics RR, Boussebaa M & Fletcher M (eds.) The Academy of International Business. Springer Nature Switzerland, pp. 175-191. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46802-5_9
Article
Choksy US, Zeng J, Rehman WU, Mirza Z & Puthusserry P (2024) The role of peripheral vendors in enhancing the absorptive capacity of offshore software development teams in challenging institutional environments. European Management Journal, 42 (5), pp. 658-669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2024.03.004
Article
Choksy US, Ayaz M, Al-Tabbaa O & Parast M (2022) Supplier resilience under the COVID-19 crisis in apparel global value chain (GVC): The role of GVC governance and supplier’s upgrading. Journal of Business Research, 150, pp. 249-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.05.068
Article
Internationalization of Chinese SMEs: The role of networks and global value chains
Su F, Khan Z, Kyu Lew Y, Il Park B & Shafi Choksy U (2020) Internationalization of Chinese SMEs: The role of networks and global value chains. BRQ Business Research Quarterly, 23 (2), pp. 141-158. https://doi.org/10.1177/2340944420916339
Article
Meyer M, Kuusisto J, Grant K, De Silva M, Flowers S & Choksy U (2019) Towards new Triple Helix organisations? A comparative study of competence centres as knowledge, consensus and innovation spaces. R and D Management, 49 (4), pp. 555-573. https://doi.org/10.1111/radm.12342
Article
Sinkovics N, Choksy US, Sinkovics RR & Mudambi R (2019) Knowledge Connectivity in an Adverse Context: Global Value Chains and Pakistani Offshore Service Providers. Management International Review, 59 (1), pp. 131-170. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-018-0372-0
Article
Choksy US, Sinkovics N & Sinkovics RR (2017) Exploring the relationship between upgrading and capturing profits from GVC participation for disadvantaged suppliers in developing countries. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences / Revue Canadienne des Sciences de l'Administration, 34 (4), pp. 356-386. https://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1455
Book Chapter
Choksy US (2015) Upgrading and Power Relations in Global Value Chains: Case Study of an Offshoring Service Provider in the Software Industry. In: Van Tulder R, Verbeke A & Drogendijk R (eds.) The Future of Global Organizing: Volume 10. Progress in International Business Research. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 437-465. https://doi.org/10.1108/s1745-886220150000010018
Nominee Stirling RATE Awards - Outstanding Programme
Nominee Stirling RATE Awards for Best Teacher
