The Open University

Professional biography

Dr Nicoleta S Tipi is senior lecturer in the area of Operations and Supply Chain, Department for People and Organisations, Faculty of Business and Law, at The Open University Business School (UK) since October 2020.

Prior this, Nicoleta was a senior lecturer at The University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield Business School for over 16 years. During her time at Huddersfield, she gained experience in teaching modules in Management Science Modelling, Statistics and Simulation, Logistics Operations Techniques, Supply Chain Modelling, Quantitative Research Methods, Global Logistics and Business Research Methods. At Huddersfield, Nicoleta was Course Leader to a range of different courses at Masters and PhD level (CL for MSc Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management, CL for the Post Graduate Certificate in Research Methods for PhD researchers and CL for the MSc in Business Intelligence and Analytics). During this time, Nicoleta has successfully supervised over 130 Undergraduates’ projects and 65 Masters’ projects.

Nicoleta acts as a PhD research supervisor for a number of projects in the area of supply chain modelling and simulation, supply chain performance measurement systems, supply chain product design and sustainability. To date, Nicoleta has 17 successful PhD completions (10 as main supervisor and 7 as co-supervisor). Students who completed their research under her supervision are now in academic positions at universities in different parts of the world (UK, Greece, Nigeria and Egypt) as well as managers in manufacturing companies (UK, Greece and China).

Nicoleta has been a PhD and DBA research examiner for over 10 theses at different universities in the UK (University of Plymouth, University of Newcastle, University of Manchester and University of Huddersfield). She has been an MSc external examiner at Royal Holloway, University of London and MSc validation panel member at the University of Westminster and University of Huddersfield.

She has considerable industrial experience, having spent over three years in Unilever, Home and Personal Care Europe as a Supply Chain Modelling Manager. During the time spent in industry, she was able to evaluate how supply chain modelling, business analytics, master data management and ERP systems are developed, implemented and applied in industry. Prior this Nicoleta started her research career in Cranfield School of Management (UK), Transport and Logistics Department as a Research Fellow.

She received a PhD from The University of Sheffield (UK), Department of Automatic Control and System Engineering in the area of On-line scheduling and heuristic control of production and supply chain systems. She has an MA in Professional Development (Higher Education Practice) from the University of Huddersfield (UK). Nicoleta graduated with an engineering (Ing) degree in Computing and Automatic Control Engineering from The Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (Romania).

Nicoleta is a Fellow Member of The Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics (CMILT) and committee member to the CILT West and North Yorkshire Group.

Research interests

Nicoleta’s area of research includes topic in: Supply Chain Analytics and Modelling; Supply Chain Modelling using discrete event simulation; Supply Chains Performance Measurement Systems and Sustainable Supply Chain Systems.

Nicoleta has published over 60 articles in journals and conference proceedings. Currently, she has material published in journals such as European Journal of Operational Research, Supply Chain Management: an International Journal, Journal of Rural Studies, Computers and Industrial Engineering, International Journal of Systems Science, International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Maritime Policy and Management, Maritime Economics and Logistics journal and others.

Nicoleta is interested in supervising PhD researchers. For a fully-funded opportunity, please see our current advertised project call for a starting time in February 2024. For further information on funding, eligibility and how to prepare a research application please use the following link.

Publications

Journal articles

“I just filled out a form” Experiences of Doctoral Students with Disabilities, Long-term Health Conditions and/or Additional Study Needs (2024)
O'Connor, Grainne; O'Dell, Lindsay; Álvarez, Inma; Tipi, Nicoleta; Bowes-Catton, Helen and Luck, Rachael
Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 26(1) (pp. 211-226)

Sustainable supply chain clusters: an integrated framework (2023-03-17)
Barakat, Mahmoud Ramadan; Tipi, Nicoleta and Wu, Jialin Snow
Management Decision, 61(3) (pp. 786-814)

The Packaging Redesign Issue – Space Exploitation and Environmental Benefits (2023-01)
Georgakoudis, Elias D.; Pechlivanidou, Georgia G. and Tipi, Nicoleta S.
Management of Environmental Quality, 34(1) (pp. 1-20)

Empowering Clusters: How Dynamic Capabilities Drive Sustainable Supply Chain Clusters in Egypt (2023)
Barakat, Mahmoud; Wu, Jialin Snow and Tipi, Nicoleta
Sustainability, 15, Article 16787(24)

Pharmaceutical Supply Chains and Management Innovation? (2022)
Papalexi, Marina; Bamford, David; Nikitas, Alexandros; Breen, Liz and Tipi, Nicoleta
Supply Chain Management: an International Journal, 27(4) (pp. 485-508)

Considerations Towards a Sustainable and Resilient Supply Chain: A Modelling Perspective (2021-06)
Tipi, Nicoleta and Elgazzar, Sara
International Business Logistics Journal (IBL), 1(1) (pp. 6-13)

An investigation into the issue of overpackaging - examining the case of paper packaging (2021)
Georgakoudis, E. D. and Tipi, N. S,
International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, 14(4) (pp. 590-599)

The impact of contingency fit on organisational performance: an empirical study (2021)
Amhalhal, Abdallah; Anchor, John; Tipi, Nicoleta S. and Elgazzar, Sara
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 71(6) (pp. 2214-2234)

Modelling and simulation considerations for an end-to-end supply chain system (2020-12)
Chilmon, Barbara and Tipi, Nicoleta S.
Computers & Industrial Engineering, 150, Article 106870

Discrete event simulation in livestock management (2020)
Gittins, Peter; McElwee, Gerard and Tipi, Nicoleta
Journal of Rural Studies, 78 (pp. 387-398)

Key characteristics for designing a supply chain performance measurement system (2019-02-11)
Elgazzar, Sara; Tipi, Nicoleta and Jones, Glynis
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 68(2) (pp. 296-318)

Generation X versus Millennials communication behaviour on social media when purchasing food versus tourist services (2018-03-29)
Dabija, Dan-Cristian; Bejan, Brîndușa Mariana and Tipi, Nicoleta
E+M Ekonomie a Management, 21(1) (pp. 191-205)

Packaging redesign – benefits for the environment and the community (2018)
Georgakoudis, E. D.; Tipi, N. S. and Bamford, C. G.
International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, 11(5) (pp. 307-320)

Productivity change in Nigerian seaports after reform: a Malmquist productivity index decomposition approach (2016-10-02)
Nwanosike, Felicia O.; Tipi, Nicoleta S. and Warnock-Smith, David
Maritime Policy & Management, 43(7) (pp. 798-811)

Analysis of the potential contribution of value-adding services (VAS) to the competitive logistics strategy of ports (2016-06-01)
Okorie, Chukwuneke; Tipi, Nicoleta and Hubbard, Nick
Maritime Economics & Logistics, 18(2) (pp. 158-173)

Systems thinking in designing automotive textiles (2015)
Sinha, Pammi; Muthu, Subramanian Senthilkannan; Taylor, Iain; Schulze, Rita; Beverley, Katharine; Day, Claire and Tipi, Nicoleta
Textiles and Clothing Sustainability, 1, Article 6(1)

Linking supply chain processes’ performance to a company’s financial strategic objectives (2012-11-16)
Elgazzar, Sara H.; Tipi, Nicoleta S.; Hubbard, Nick J. and Leach, David Z.
European Journal of Operational Research, 223(1) (pp. 276-289)

Modelling the dynamics of supply chains (2000)
Riddalls, C. E.; Bennett, S. and Tipi, N. S.
International Journal of Systems Science, 31(8) (pp. 969-976)

Authored books

Supply Chain Analytics and Modelling: Quantitative Tools and Applications (2021-04-03)
Tipi, Nicoleta
ISBN : 9780749498627 | Publisher : Kogan Page | Published : London

Book chapters

The Role of Technology in Enabling Sustainable Road Freight Transport Operation: Challenges and Opportunities (2023-01-27)
Elgazar, Sohaila Hassan; Tipi, Nicoleta and Njoya, Eric Tchouamou
In: Abdelbary, Islam; Haddad, Sandra and Elkady, Ghada eds. Cases on International Business Logistics in the Middle East (pp. 251-264)
ISBN : 9781668446867 | Publisher : IGI Global

Packaging design and sustainability. The case of paper packaging supply chain (2021-11-03)
Tipi, Nicoleta and Georgakoudis, Elias
In: Bak, Ozlem ed. Sustainable and green supply chains and logistics. Case study collection (pp. 147-161)
ISBN : 9781789668216 | Publisher : Kogan Page Limited | Published : London

Conference items

‘I’ve learned that I function as the sort of interface’: Supporting disabled PGRs to navigate the ‘faceless monster’ of university systems and processes (2024)
Bowes-Catton, Helen; O'Connor, Gráinne; O'Dell, Lindsay; Álvarez, Inma; Tipi, Nicoleta and Luck, Rachael
In : Psychological of Women and Equalities Section Annual Conference 2024 (10-12 Jul 2024, Birmingham, UK)

Supply chain analytics – a future research agenda (2021-09-08)
Tipi, Nicoleta
In : Logistics Research Network Conference 2021: 'Sustainable and resilient supply chains in disruptive times' (8 Sep - 10 Sep 2021, Cardiff University) (p 76)

Supply chain analytics - a future research agenda (2021-09)
Tipi, Nicoleta
In : Logistics Research Network Conference 2021: Sustainable and resilient supply chains in disruptive times (08-10 Sep 2021, Cardiff, UK)

Teaching supply chain management concepts through simulations and games (2021-07-07)
Tipi, Nicoleta
In : 28th EurOMA Conference: Teaching Operations and Supply Chain Management (5-7 Jul 2021, Online)

The use of Business Analytics in Supply Chain Systems: a Perspective on Prescriptive Analytics (2021-07-07)
Tipi, Nicoleta
In : 25th International Symposium on Logistics (ISL 2021) (12-13 Jul 2021, Online)

The Impact of Supply Chain Strategy on the Financial Performance: A Case Study of a Manufacturing Company (2016-07)
Elgazzar, S.; Tipi, Nicoleta and Hubbard, N. J.
In : 21st International Symposium on Logistics (3-6 Jul 2016, Kaohsiung, Taiwan) (pp. 525-534)

Benchmarking the operational efficiency of Nigeria seaport terminals using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) (2013-07)
Nwanosike, Felicia; Tipi, Nicoleta and Warnock-Smith, David
In : 18th International Symposium on Logistics (ISL 2013) (7-10 Jul 2013, Vienna, Austria) (pp. 383-390)

Modelling complex supply chain systems – a review (2012-07)
Tipi, Nicoleta
In : 17th International Symposium on Logistics (8-11 Jul 2012, Cape Town, South Africa) (pp. 424-431)

Linking Supply Chain Operations’ Performance to The Company’s Financial Strategy: A Case Study of an Egyptian Natural Bottled Water Company (2011-07)
Elgazzar, S. H.; Tipi, N. S.; Hubbard, N. J. and Leach, D. Z.
In : 16th International Symposium on Logistics (10-13 Jul 2011, Berlin, Germany) (pp. 173-181)

An Evaluation of Current European Packaging Regulations on the Core Logistics Operations of a Paper Packaging Manufacturer In Greece (2011-07)
Georgakoudis, Elias D; Tipi, Nicoleta and Bamford, Colin G
In : 16th International Symposium on Logistics (10-13 Jul 2011, Berlin, Germany) (pp. 629-636)

Mobile Intelligence for Reporting of Supply Chain KPI’s (2011-07)
Rogers, H.; Pawar, K. S. and Tipi, N.
In : 16th International Symposium on Logistics (10-13 Jul 2011, Berlin, Germany) (pp. 190-195)