Arif’s work straddles both the academic division and Bloomsbury Institute’s civic engagement work. He is a Senior Lecturer in Business as well as leading our enterprise outreach work in the Centre for Community Engagement and Learning.

In addition to his work at Bloomsbury Institute, Arif is also Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Accelerated Development Mechanism for Education (CADME), Commonwealth Education Working Group on Embedding Employability, Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and Global Citizenship (from 2023); on the Leadership Group for the Academy of International Business Middle East North Africa (MENA); Ambassador, Education, Global Entrepreneurship Network; Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth Research Network on International Business; and Executive Director at the Commonwealth Businesswomen’s Network.

Highlights of Arif’s career include his experience as a Global Market and Industry Analyst at British Airways (1996-2005). He was the only person to have held the role, winning several company awards including the contribution to BA’s Business Principles and Sustainability Policy and industry awards on logistics, trade and strategy.

Following his experience at British Airways, Arif led the Commonwealth’s work on corporate governance as Adviser on Corporate Governance and South Asia to the Commonwealth Business Council (2005-2014). He has also been responsible for the development of the Commonwealth Business Principles and Guidelines on Corporate Governance, working with leading Commonwealth companies. His previous experience also includes managing the South Asia Trade and Investment Network which promoted regional trade and investment.

Interests

• Reputational risk, emerging markets, women’s economic empowerment, youth entrepreneurship, Commonwealth, creative industries, diaspora and international trade
• Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Business Strategy
• Director and trustee of the University of York ‘York Society’ (travel bursary) fund
• The first Associate Director and a founder member of the National Steering Group of Mosaic (2005-2010), founded by the then Prince of Wales (later King Charles III), which inspires young people from deprived communities to realise their talents and potential.
• Chair, Director and trustee of the Red Shift Theatre Company (1998-2015), one of the UK’s leading touring theatre companies

Qualifications, Affiliations and Memberships

• BA (Hons)
• MBA
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA)
• Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Research and Publications

• PhD student at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London on Diaspora Networks and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in the Commonwealth: a multi-country study of the UK, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Kenya and Jamaica 
• Trade Hot Topics: Enhancing Intra-Commonwealth Trade and Investment: An International Business Research Agenda, Peter Buckley; Jeremy Clegg; Sangeeta Khorana; Surender Munjal; Mayank Sewak; Mona Bahl; Arif Zaman (Commonwealth Secretariat, May 2023)
• Chapter on Reputational Risk Management in Risk Management Handbook (Kogan Page, 2023)
• Reputational Risk in Centre for Research and Enterprise, Working Paper Series No 4 (LSBM, 2017)
• Chapter on The Promise and Potential of Trade Between Pakistan and India in Regional Integration in South Asia: Trends, Challenges and Prospects (Commonwealth Secretariat, 2014)
• Drafting Panel, BS 13500:2013 Code of practice for delivering effective governance of organizations, the first British Standard for governance (BSI, 2013)
• Co-authored with Dr Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj, Paving the way to opportunities: women in leadership across the Commonwealth (ACCA and Commonwealth Business Council, 2013)
• Gender and Procurement in Global Supply Chains: Linking Power with Potential in Women’s Leadership for Enterprise, Ministers Reference Book for the 10^th Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 17–19 June 2013 (Commonwealth Secretariat, 2013)