Mohammed Kafaji

Assistant Professor, Department Operations and Project Management

Bio

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Dr. Mohammed Kafaji
Summary
Dr. Kafaji has a PhD in engineering, MSc in simulation and BSc with 25 years of work experience in education, research and consultancy gained from serving various roles in leadership and management in the United Kingdom and the Middle-East. His areas of expertise and research include Project/Program/Portfolio Management, Management Information Systems, Project Management Office, Management Information Systems, System Analysis, Business Continuity Management, and Business Performance and Entrepreneurial. In addition to teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses, Dr. Kafaji supervised 35 MBA students and conducted specialized research that resulted in publishing over 55 papers, including 23 papers in A and B international ranking journals with over 600 citations. Dr. Kafaji has strong consultancy experience from working for two of the big-four firms; Ernst & Young and KPMG. These roles gave Dr. Kafaji hands-on experience in client management, business development, innovation, business excellence management, leadership, and strategy development. Furthermore these experiences helped to enrich his teaching by blending the students’ learning experience with industry and market best-practices. The ability to integrate people, process, and technology to drive change in strategic alignment with the business goals and objectives was the driving characteristic of his management approach. Dr. Kafaji has strong mathematical, analytical, and programming capabilities that are crucially important in conducting valuable research and delivering consultancy services. In addition to internal research grants, Dr. Kafaji is the principle investigator (PI) for a innovation-related project supported by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). Further, in last six years, Dr. Kafaji led crucial national projects by the world economic forums to analysis and quantify the competitiveness indices for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is an active member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).

Publications

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Capacity to Innovate as Driver for Innovation Enhanced Growth

Journal Article Mon, 04/15/2019 - 08:15,
Capacity to Innovate as Driver for Innovation Enhanced Growth. (2019). Capacity to Innovate as Driver for Innovation Enhanced Growth. International Journal Of Entrepreneurship, 23(1), 1-12.

Does Capacity to Innovate Driver Innovation-Enhance Growth: Case of Saudi Arabia

Conference Paper Mon, 04/15/2019 - 08:18,
Does Capacity to Innovate Driver Innovation-Enhance Growth: Case of Saudi Arabia. (2018). Does Capacity to Innovate Driver Innovation-Enhance Growth: Case of Saudi Arabia. Sustainable Solutions for Growth (SSG), Wroclaw, Poland, 17-18 Sept 2018., 1.

To What Extent do Quality of Education and Quality of Research Influence the Adoption of ICT by Companies?

Journal Article Mon, 04/15/2019 - 08:20,
To What Extent do Quality of Education and Quality of Research Influence the Adoption of ICT by Companies?. (2018). To What Extent do Quality of Education and Quality of Research Influence the Adoption of ICT by Companies?. International Journal Of Innovation And Technology Management, 15(1), 185.

Linking Trends of Executive Opinions on Innovation-Driven Initiatives to Company Growth

Journal Article Mon, 04/15/2019 - 08:22,
Linking Trends of Executive Opinions on Innovation-Driven Initiatives to Company Growth. (2017). Linking Trends of Executive Opinions on Innovation-Driven Initiatives to Company Growth. International Journal Of Applied Business And Economic Research, 15(3), 91-100.

Impact of Graduates’ Quality of Education and Research on ICT Adoption at Workplace

Conference Paper Tue, 03/31/2015 - 22:34,
Impact of Graduates’ Quality of Education and Research on ICT Adoption at Workplace. (2015). Impact of Graduates’ Quality of Education and Research on ICT Adoption at Workplace. International Conference on Innovation and Educational. Presented at the. Paris, France. (Original work published Jan 2015)

The extent to which quality of service affects end-user satisfaction: a case of e-government system implementation in Saudi Arabia

Conference Paper Wed, 12/31/2014 - 20:46,
The extent to which quality of service affects end-user satisfaction: a case of e-government system implementation in Saudi Arabia. (2014). The extent to which quality of service affects end-user satisfaction: a case of e-government system implementation in Saudi Arabia. The extent to which quality of service affects end-user satisfaction: a case of e-government system implementation in Saudi Arabia. Presented at the. (Original work published June 2014)

The impact of service quality on operational performance improvement: The case of IT/IS Departments in the public sector

Journal Article Wed, 12/31/2014 - 20:46,
The impact of service quality on operational performance improvement: The case of IT/IS Departments in the public sector. (2013). The impact of service quality on operational performance improvement: The case of IT/IS Departments in the public sector. Journal Of Service Management.

Evaluating the Roll of Quality of Service as a Mediator on User Satisfaction in E-Government Applications

Journal Article Wed, 12/31/2014 - 20:46,
Evaluating the Roll of Quality of Service as a Mediator on User Satisfaction in E-Government Applications. (2013). Evaluating the Roll of Quality of Service as a Mediator on User Satisfaction in E-Government Applications. Problems Of Management In The 21St Century, 8, 55-65.

A Practical Approach to Implement Education Technologies in New Universities

Journal Article Wed, 12/31/2014 - 20:46,
A Practical Approach to Implement Education Technologies in New Universities. (2012). A Practical Approach to Implement Education Technologies in New Universities. Oriental Journal Of Computer Science And Technology, 5, 01-08.

Presentations

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Classroom Educational Technology: Necessity or Operational Burden

Calendar

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No Event Found

Announcements

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Published new research paper (March 2019)

The paper: Kafaji, M.A. (2019). Capacity to Innovate as Driver for Innovation Enhanced Growth, was published in International Journal of Entrepreneurship, 23(1), pp1-12.

Accepted paper by the "International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences" for presentation in London- May 2019

Paper accepted for presentation at the "International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences" in May 2019, University of London, London, UK. The paper entitled: Access to Finance Constraints in Adopting Latest Technologies for Business Production in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises (SMEs).

 

Classes

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Managing Strategic Business Projects

Advanced Project Management

Risk Management and Analytics

Management Informarmation Systems

Course Description As information systems are increasingly taking active role in managing modern digital businesses, the needs for understanding how MIS is effectively integrated in the day-to-day operations is also increased.  This can be easily seen through the penetration of IT in all business management areas such as customer management, marketing, financial analysis, production, procurements, innovations… etc. Therefore, MIS has become a crucial tool at all management levels. With this in mind, instead of focusing on pure IT aspects, the course shall emphasize on the use of information systems in managing businesses. It will provide knowledge and basic methodologies and approaches to deal with business operational needs in alignment with corporate business objectives. Furthermore, it will study how outputs from various management information systems from different operational units can be integrated to support business in identifying challenges, taking decisions, and achieving competitive advantage.   Key Learning Objectives The main objective of this course are: §  Increasing the students’ knowledge and progress their understanding on the role of information systems in managing modems businesses. §  Prepare the students to use information systems as an integral part of business management strategy. §  Upon successful completion of this course, the students will: o  Understand the important of MIS concepts and dimensions in the of businesses management. o  Understand the types and roles of information systems in modern businesses o  Understand the models of business competitive advantage. o  Acquire relevant knowledge on managing information management ethics, privacy and intellectual properties. o  Develop a strategy on selecting and implemented required technology infrastructure and associated applications for business management. o  Manage corporate information systems and databases as business assets and practical measures to ensure business continuity. o  Introduce the concept of information security measures and how they are supported with adequate IT governance and practices. o  Understand the role of management information system to support corporate ecommerce initiatives.

Operations Management

Course Description This course is aimed to help our students understand and apply the analytical concepts and tools for managing operations in production of goods and services. Some of the key strategic concepts covered include improvements in operational effectiveness through cost reduction, and continuous improvements in quality, reliability, flexibility and speed of operations. This course also covers critical operations management activities, such as supply chain management, inventory deployment and control, transportation networks optimization, demand and supply planning, scheduling, project management, forecasting, and the management of quality including the principles of Lean Management and innovation. Some of the course sections will use the experimental or experiential learning approach. Key Learning Objectives On completion of this unit students should be able to: Define operations and operations management. Identify the roles and responsibilities of operations managers in different organizational contexts. Explain the importance of effective application of the operations management principles in different contexts such as service organization and production based organizations. Describe the main issues concerned with today’s competitive environment and their influence on managing operations.