Meet our Leaders
As AIB Middle East North Africa’s main governing body, our leadership team is responsible for member outreach, facilitating professional development opportunities, and organizing our annual Chapter Conference.
Below, you’ll find background details on each of our team members, our roles and responsibilities, and contact information to help you connect with us online.
Immanuel Azaad Moonesar
President (Chair)
President (Chair)
President (Chair), Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Dr. Immanuel Azaad Moonesar R.D.
Assistant Professor – Health Policy
Health Policy Research Group Leader
MPA Program Coordinator
Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, Dubai, UAE
immanuel.moonesar@mbrsg.ac.ae
Linkedin Profile
Immanuel Azaad Moonesar
Dr. Immanuel Azaad Moonesar hails from the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago, and he also serves as Managing Director at “I AM Consulting” (Trinidad & Tobago), and President (Chapter Chair) and Executive Board member of the Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa (AIB-MENA).
Throughout his career, he has worked in quality assurance and management, nutrition and dietetics, health and safety, teaching, and institutional research. His current research interests are in public policy, healthcare management & leadership, maternal & child health, health policy and innovation, nutrition, and quality management.
Dr. Moonesar holds a PhD in Health Services: Leadership (Superior Distinction) from Walden University, USA; Master of Quality Management (Distinction) from the University Of Wollongong Australia (UOW); a Postgraduate Diploma in Institutional Community Nutrition & Dietetics (Distinction); and a Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology: Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of West Indies (UWI), Trinidad and Tobago.
A registered dietitian, he possesses professional certifications in ‘NEBOSH Occupational Health and Safety’, ‘Project Management: Certified Business Professional (CBP)’ and ‘Quality Management System Internal Auditors (ISO 9001:2008)’. Dr. Moonesar also over 220 publications ranging across peer-reviewed journal articles, peer-reviewed international conferences, co-authored books, and book chapters to date.
Melodena Stephens
Advisory Board & Founder
Advisory Board Member
Advisory Board & Founder, Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Prof. Dr. Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan
Professor of Innovation Management
Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government
melodena.stephensb@mbrsg.ac.ae
Melodena Stephens
Melodena has over 25+ years of corporate and academic experience. She has a multicultural background having lived in India, USA, Taiwan, UAE and Germany. Her corporate experience is in areas of market potential estimation, new market and product development and joint venture negotiations. Before her PhD, she worked in India for the Tata Group. She consults for governments and institutions.In academia, she has been involved in strategic planning, accreditations, course development and industry outreach. She is currently Professor of Innovation Management at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) in Dubai. Prior to MBRSG, she was one of the first female Indian deans for a German University – Karlshochschule International University, Germany. For over a decade, she also held various positions like Deputy Dean, Associate Professor and Program Director of MBA in the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), one of UAE’s oldest private universities.
Her areas of research are brand strategy, place/country marketing, social entrepreneurship and crisis management. She is an active contributor of articles in this area. She has published extensively – over 130 publications. Her didactive approach to teaching has been to facilitate an inter-disciplinary, co-created problem-solving competency with a global mindset. She has won several teaching and research awards, including two UAE National Research Foundation grants.
Melodena is the founder of the Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter (AIBMENA), a nonprofit social initiative founded in 2009 in Dubai under UOWD. The purpose of the organization is to act as an ambassador and champion for the MENA region by fostering research and teaching in the field of international business. AIBMENA was awarded the ‘Dubai Brand Ambassador Status’ by Dubai Conventions & Events Bureau, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in 2012.
Vijay Pereira
Advisory Board Member
Advisory Board Member
Advisory Board Member
Prof. Vijay Pereira
Professor of Strategic and International Human Capital Management
NEOMA Business School
vijay.pereira@neoma-bs.fr
Vijay Pereira
Vijay Pereira is Full Professor of International and Strategic Human Capital Management at NEOMA Business School. He was Associate Dean (Research) at the Australian University of Wollongong (Dubai). Professor Pereira is the Associate Editor (Strategic Management and Organizational Behavior) for the Journal of Business Research and the Global Real Impact Editor for the Journal of Knowledge Management and the editorial and advisory board for the journals Production and Operations Management and Journal of Management Studies (both listed in Financial Times ranking). He has a record of attracting funding and has published widely, in over 100 outlets, 20 special issues and 10 books, including in leading international journals such as the Human Resource Management (Financial Times ranked), Academy of Management Perspectives, Academy of Management Discoveries, and Journal of Business Ethics.
Yama Temouri
VP Academic Program
UAE
Vice-President
Dr. Vijay Pereira
Associate Professor
vijay.pereira@kustar.ac.ae
Linkedin Profile
Vijay Pereira
Dr Yama Temouri is a long-standing member of the Academy of International Business since 2005. His multicultural background and experience in Germany, USA, Canada, UK, India and the UAE is reflected in his positive outlook in working with colleagues and teaching students from around the world.
He holds a PhD in Management from the triple accredited Aston Business School, UK, an MSc in International Business from Lancaster Management School, UK and a BSc in Economics from Birmingham University, UK.
He is currently Associate Professor of International Business at Khalifa University, UAE. Prior to joining Khalifa University in 2020, he was at the Australian University of Wollongong in Dubai (2016-2020) and Aston University Business School (2008-2016), where he was program director for International Business programs. He was the External Examiner for the MSc International Management course at Sussex University, UK (2016 -2020); and is now External Examiner for Durham University Business School, UK, for their UG programs in Business and Management.
His research explores various aspects of international business activity at home as well as in host countries around the world. One research area explores the determinants and effects of foreign direct investment into tax havens. This research has garnered various best paper awards at the Academy of Management and the Academy of International Business and has been published in the Journal of World Business, International Journal of Management Reviews and the Journal of Business Research. Another area of his research explores the sustainable/responsible versus the unsustainable/irresponsible activities of multinational enterprises. This research has also led to a special issue that he co-edited with colleagues in the International Business Review. Linked to this research area are papers that he has published on how firms operate and differ in business cluster locations, such as being agile and resilient, especially during crisis times. A more recent research area focuses on how the COVID pandemic is yet another grand challenge that requires a multi-stakeholder approach in order to manage and try to avoid any such cross-border catastrophe from happening again (see Academy of Management Perspective’s paper of 2020, which is also covered in the AoM insights available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7y-pEpfbI).
He was Associate Editor for the Business Research Quarterly from 2016-2022 (ABS 2 ranked journal), which is the leading Spanish Academy of Management Journal. He has published over 50 papers in top tier journals such as the Academy of Management Perspectives, Journal of World Business, British Journal of Management, Journal of International Management, Journal of Business Research, International Business Review Small Business Economics, Economica, Corporate Governance: An International Review.
Yama also has extensive consultancy experience, including projects for the OECD, European Commission and for several UK Government Departments, including the United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI) Department, the Department for Business, Innovation and Services (BIS) and the Innovation foundation NESTA.
Local Host 2023 and Co-chair
Local Host 2023 and Co-chair
Dr. Marcio Amaral-Baptista
Associate Professor of Strategic Management
Director, Master of International Management
Africa Business School
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University
marcio.amaralbaptista@um6p.ma
Marcio Amaral-Baptista
Sadaf Khurshid
Secretary & Membership Liaison
Secretary
Secretary, Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Sadaf Khurshid
PhD Candidate in the School of Humanities and Social Inquiry
University of Wollongong, Australia
mena@aib.world
Linkedin Profile
Sadaf Khurshid
Sadaf Khurshid is a PhD Candidate in the School of Humanities and Social Inquiry at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
Her research focus is on Social Enterprises specific to the role of familial relations in the growth of female social entrepreneurs in India. She has been involved in research with social enterprises since early 2014 and published various case studies through her research in the MENA region. She has developed an affinity towards social enterprises, especially understanding the networks that support them. She completed her Master’s in Business Administration with Distinction from University of Wollongong, Australia in 2013 and has done Bachelors of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering with Distinction from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India in 2009.
She has been an academic topper throughout her studies. Currently, she is working as an Instructor with University of Wollongong in Dubai. Having worked in the IT sector previously she has a diverse knowledge of software development. While in Bachelors, she was the Vice Chairperson of WIE-IEEE (Women in Engineering- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), Student Branch, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi India. She has also been in the editorial team of the Student Branch’s IEEE Magazines.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship, Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Abdulkader Aljandali
Assistant Professor of Finance
Africa Business School, Maroco
Abdulkader.ALJANDALI@um6p.ma
Linkedin Profile
Sponsorship
Having successfully graduated from ENCG Settat back in 2006, Abdulkader completed his International Finance Masters degree in England. At the height of the financial crisis of 2008-2009, he was granted a doctoral scholarship to conduct research which examines volatility drivers in the FX market with a particular focus on emerging markets following which he obtained a PhD degree from London Metropolitan University in 2014. Since then, he has worked as a Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Finance at Regents University London, Coventry University and Anglia Ruskin University all of which are academic institutions based in the UK. Abdulkader has also acted as a visiting Professor in International Finance at IES London, Bucks New University, Roehampton University, London Met in the UK as well as IESEG in France and Stuttgart university in Germany. Abdulkader is a senior fellow of Advance HE, the UK’s higher education academy, in recognition of his contribution to learning and teaching in the UK. He is fellow of the British Accounting and Finance Association as well as being a member of the CFA UK society. Abdulkader published various textbooks on quantitative analysis and financial modelling with current research focus on fintech drivers in emerging markets.
Sally Shamieh
Outreach Chair
Lebanon
Outreach Lebanon
Secretary, Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Sally Shamieh
Research Project Manager
ESA Business School,
shamieh.s@esa.edu.lb
Linkedin Profile
Sally Shamieh
Sally Shamieh is an advocate of continuous learning, growth and development. I am also a champion of women’s empowerment and supporter of women entrepreneurship. The above summarizes the multiple hats I wear, often enough wearing more than one hat at the same time.
With an educational background in public administration and over 15 years of experience in the private sector in administrative and managerial positions, she was able to collate the public as well as the private perspectives, bringing a multi-disciplinary outlook to bridging the gap between academia and practice. Being the Research Project Manager at ESA Business School, Lebanon offers her the pertinent platform to conduct research on topics like business and human rights, women entrepreneurship and empowerment, inclusion through social entrepreneurship and the intersectionality of ethical leadership and sustainable development. She also teach, train and coach in the fields of entrepreneurship, business and human rights, and gender issues.
She is also the Director of Heart of Rachaya, a civic institution concerned with human, social and economic development of rural areas in the Bekaa region. The neonatal institution is the product of the recent parliamentary elections in Lebanon in which she ran as a candidate advocating for change, reform, social justice and development. She is also in the process of setting up a new venture in the Gulf that operates as a platform connecting subject matter experts with companies in in a consultative and advisory capacity.
Arif Zaman
Outreach Chair
Pakistan
Outreach Chair Pakistan
Outreach Pakistan, Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Arif Zaman
Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead for Enterprise
Bloomsbury Institute London, UK
arif.zaman@bil.ac.uk
Linkedin Profile
Arif Zaman
Arif Zaman is an experienced strategy, risk and reputation professional, market analyst and project manager with a high level of business understanding. Able to identify, embrace and leverage new ideas and leading edge thinking including emerging drivers of change and uncertainty, especially in emerging markets in Asia. Politically astute, commercially aware and cross culturally sensitive. Strong commitment to diversity and community development at a local and global level. Lived and worked extensively in Asia including in volatile environments for extended periods between 2007 and 2012.
Outreach Chair Levant
Outreach Chair Levant, Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Glenn Muschert
Len Jessup Chair Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change
Khalifa University, UAE & Woxsen University
glenn.muschert@ku.ac.ae, glenn.muschert@woxsen.edu.in
Glenn Muschert
Dr. Muschert is a professor of sociology based in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Khalifa University of Science and Technology (جامعة خليفة) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He is a research advisor to the Abu Dhabi Department of Community Development and is appointed as the Len Jessup Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change at Woxsen University, India. Previously he served appointments on the Law and Society faculty at Purdue University (USA) and the Sociology, Social Justice Studies, and Comparative Media Studies faculties at Miami University (USA). His research focuses on the metaverse, digital inequalities, sustainable development, and the ethical resolution of social problems.
Dr. Muschert earned a Ph.D. (2002) in sociology from the University of Colorado (USA), and a BS (1992) in International Studies from Drexel University (USA). He has been a visiting scholar at various universities worldwide, including Seoul City University (South Korea), Erzincan University (Turkey), and Atatürk University (Turkey). He is proficient in various qualitative and quantitative methodologies of social research inquiry and frequently serves reviewer and editorial board member for dozens of academic journals. With over 25 years of experience as a university instructor, he is certified by the UAE Ministry of Education as an External Reviewer for the Council on Academic Accreditation.
Dr. Muschert is a member of international professional associations such as the Academy of International Business (AIB) and the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), where he is a lifetime member and has served since 2010 as SSSP Secretary. He has written or edited over a dozen academic volumes/special issues of journals, dozens of academic research articles, and dozens of chapters in academic volumes. Major books include Theorizing Digital Divides (Routledge); The Digital Divide: The Internet and Social Inequality in International Perspective (Routledge); multiple volumes of the Agenda for Social Justice (Policy Press).
Outreach Chair GCC
Outreach Chair GCC, Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Rubina Malik
Senior Assistant Professor
Morehouse College, USA
Rubina.Malik@morehouse.edu
Linkedin Profile
Rubina Malik
Global Learning and Development Expert with over 20 years of experience in academia, consulting and professional services. Driving development of high caliber talent, creating learning curricula, coaching, mentoring new and established leaders / entrepreneurs / business owners / senior management across multiple business units. Delivering organizational effectiveness, productivity, profitability, innovation, training and social responsibility achievements.
Senior Associate Professor with a Ph.D. in Human Resources Organization Development from the University of Georgia, USA, an MBA in Marketing and a first degree in Industrial Psychology combined with extensive experience in the business world. Enhanced skills that drive the engagement, retention, promotion and development of diverse talent. The scholarly activities expand insight into and lend credibility to human capital development, ultimately creating real and practical globalized opportunities for individuals and organizations.
Strategic business advisor to competitive organizations ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and universities. Notable recipients of expertise include Microsoft, Google, UPS, CDC, Home Depot, Deloitte, and Streamline Communication, The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, University of Georgia, Georgia State University and Morehouse College. Creating and propelling programs on organizational development, change management, conflict resolution, employee motivation and retention, teamwork, collaboration, management development, succession planning, diversity and inclusion. Comprehensive experience liaising with business leaders on identifying and closing skills and learning gaps with timely and relevant learning interventions.
A TEDx speaker, SXSW mentor, a popular guest speaker at conferences and podcasts. Frequently published in industry magazines, including highly respected academic and business journals such as The Harvard Business Review. Serving on several non-profit boards that actively support education and equity-based incentives.
Communication Manager
Vacant Position
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