Kamrul Ahsan

Kamrul Ahsan, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Supply Chain Management. He has positive track record of academic research, teaching and higher degree research supervision, and academic leadership activities.

 

His core competence lies in advancing human-centred and environmentally sustainable supply chain management by integrating technology, organisational capabilities, and responsible business practices to address complex societal challenges. His research, teaching, and engagement are guided by the belief that people are at the heart of supply chains, requiring investment in skills development, safe and supportive working environments, employee wellbeing, human rights, ethical practices, and responsible governance. His work spans sustainable procurement, modern slavery remediation, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and supply chain capability development, with the overarching aim of enhancing organisational performance while creating positive social and environmental impacts.

 

He is a leading researcher in sustainable supply chains, reverse logistics, digital supply chains, and project and supply chain skills and competencies, as well as digital teaching and learning. He has a strong and sustained publication record in top-tier journals. His research has informed policy development in areas such as sustainable supply chains, development projects, and digital and lifelong learning, and has helped shape evolving skill requirements for supply chain and project management professionals.

 

He has published in leading academic journals such as Transportation Research Part E, International Journal of Project Management, International Journal of Logistics Management, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Management and Data Systems, and Journal of Environmental Management. 

 

His work has been featured on key industry platforms, including MHD Supply Chain Solutions, the Project Management Institute (PMI) Resource Library, and the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM). He is serving as a member on the working group for emerging material streams (e-waste), Recycling Victoria, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. 

 

He has been teaching since 2003 in business schools in the supply chain management, project management and operations management areas. He has experience of deputy-head of department, program administration, curriculum development, and course coordination. He was program coordinator of Bachelor of Business (Supply Chain and Logistics Management) at RMIT University and program director of Master of Supply Chain Management at Victoria University.

 

He has work experience in multi-cultural environments within an international arena. He has worked at College of Business, Victoria University, Melbourne; School of Business, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand; Bang College of Business, KIMEP, Kazakhstan; and Industrial and Production Engineering Department, BUET, Bangladesh. He was a visiting research fellow at University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA and visiting research scholar at the School of Management, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. He has taught customized courses to industry professionals such as Linfox, Australia, and Beca Construction, New Zealand.

 

Dr Ahsan is an award-winning HDR supervisor with an extensive and outstanding track record in higher degree research supervision. His supervisory expertise encompasses a broad range of contemporary supply chain and operations management challenges, including social and environmental sustainability, circular and regenerative supply chains, digital supply chain strategy, sustainable procurement, and the skills and competencies required for future operations and supply chain professionals. He also welcomes interdisciplinary research addressing the intersection of sustainability, technology, and supply chain management. 

 

Awards

• Deputy Vice-Chancellor's Award for "Excellence in Research Supervision 2025", College of Business and Law, RMIT
• Dean's Teaching Excellence Award 2024, School of AISSC, RMIT
• Nomination for 'Excellence in Research Supervision 2024', College of Business and Law, RMIT
• Best Paper Award 2025 (with Fredy Cornelio-Baltazar and Muhammad D. Abdulrahman), the 29th International Symposium on Logistics (ISL 2025), Wiesbaden, Germany
• Best Paper Award 2024 (with Vei Yie Tan and Aswini Yadlapalli), the 28th International Symposium on Logistics (ISL 2024), Thailand
• Best Paper Award 2018 (with Rezaul Shumon and Shams Rahman), the 23rd International Symposium on Logistics (ISL 2018), Bali, Indonesia
• Best Paper Award 2011, the 21st International Conference on Production Research (ICPR21), Stuttgart, Germany
• PMI Research Achievement Award, Project Management Institute NZ, 2011

 

Research expertise (publication) areas

• Social sustainable supply chain

-Modern Slavery in Supply Chains: Accounting Perspectives, Evidence (2026)

-Supply chain transparency practices of healthcare firms from modern slavery reporting (2026)

-Modern Slavery Remediation in Healthcare Supply Chains through Blockchain Implementation (2026)

-Implementing occupational health and safety governance in global apparel supply chain factories ( 2026)

-Challenges of implementing social sustainability initiatives: a case study of the apparel industry (2021)

-Workplace safety compliance implementation challenges in apparel supplier firms (2019)

 

• Environmental sustainable supply chain and reverse logistics

  -Building sustainable connectivity through logistics and supply chains (2026)

 - Green Public Procurement Implementation Challenges in Australian Public Healthcare Sector (2017)

-Exploring the Critical Determinants of Environmentally Oriented Public Procurement (2018)

-How suppliers address stringent environmental requirements from buyers?  (2019)

-Findings on sustainability practices of major logistics firms in Australia (2022)

- Key supply chain strategies for the post-COVID-19 era: implications for resilience and sustainability (2023)

- E-tail product returns and an agenda for future research (2022)

-Critical service determinants of customer to business (C2B) type product returns in retail firms (2016)

-Analysis of product recalls: Identification of recall initiators and causes of recall (2014)

-Sustainable distribution through coopetition strategy (2015)

 

• Skills and competencies of workforce

-Competency Requirements for Logistics and Supply Chain Positions: An Assessment of the Market Demand (2026)

-Analysis of Agile project manager competencies from recruitment signals (2024)

-Agile Project Manager Competencies Demanded by Industries (2021)

 - Recruiting Project Managers: A Comparative Analysis of Competencies and Recruitment Signals from Job Advertisements (2013)

 

• Technology in supply chain 

-Digital platforms in supply chain and logistics management (2026)

-Application of artificial intelligence in demand planning for supply chains (2025)

-Modern Slavery Remediation in Healthcare Supply Chains through Blockchain Implementation (2026)

-3D Printing in Supply Chains—Benefits, Challenges, and Future Directions (2025)

-Digital Game-Based Learning (2026)

-Implementation of micro-credentials in higher education (2026)