From Boardrooms to Classrooms: Dr Saleheen's vision for future supply chains

Supply chain management has moved from warehouse floors to boardroom agendas, shaping conversations around resilience, capital efficiency, and long-term competitiveness.

Dr Ferdoush Saleheen has witnessed this evolution firsthand. With more than two decades of leadership across multinational corporations and national conglomerates, he observed how procurement decisions, inventory strategy, and logistics performance directly influenced liquidity and corporate growth.

Now based in the UAE and serving as Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at Sharjah Maritime Academy, he connects industry practice with academic research. His executive career spanned FMCG, retail, electronics, and manufacturing sectors, where operational disruptions often translated into financial pressure at the executive level.

According to Dr Saleheen, the Gulf region occupies a strategic position in global trade, linking Asia, Europe, and Africa. However, infrastructure alone does not secure competitiveness. He argues that governance, digital visibility, risk diversification, and financial discipline must complement physical logistics investment.

Recent global disruptions reinforced his belief that efficiency without resilience creates vulnerability. Supply chains, he maintains, are no longer operational support systems but strategic assets that protect liquidity and enable scalability.

From corporate leadership to the classroom, Dr Saleheen’s perspective reflects a broader shift: supply chain strategy now plays a defining role in corporate and national economic stability.