Prof. Dr. Sam Solaimani

I find it extremely intriguing to think along with companies about their digital and operations transformation and the underlying complexities, driven by pragmatism and creativity, with a holistic approach, but mainly focused on measurable impact.

Prof. Dr. Sam Solaimani is Professor of Digital Technology, Innovation & Operations Management at the Center for Marketing & Supply Chain Management. His research and advisory work focus on the intersection of Operational Excellence, process architecture, Lean Six Sigma, and Supply Chain Management on the one hand, and emerging digital technologies on the other.

At the core of his work is the question of how organizations can translate technological possibilities into sustainable strategic and operational renewal. His research shows that the answer rarely lies in the technology itself, but rather in the non-technological dimensions of transformation—from strategy and operating model to leadership, governance, and behavior.

Solaimani’s research is largely driven by his national and international collaborations with both large and small organizations across a range of industries. Based on these collaborations, he has published numerous articles in leading academic journals, including Supply Chain Management: An International Journal (SCMIJ), Journal of Business Research (JBR), European Management Review (EMR), Information Systems Frontiers (ISF), and Technological Forecasting and Social Change (TFSC).

He is a member of the Association for Information Systems (AIS), the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), and the European Operations Management Association (EurOMA).

He serves as Associate Editor for the Sustainable Supply Chain Management section of Frontiers in Sustainability and is a member of the Editorial Board of Digital Transformation and Administration Innovation. In addition, he regularly acts as a reviewer for several academic publishers and journals, including Journal of Business Ethics, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Information Systems Frontiers, and Electronic Markets.

Solaimani holds a PhD from Delft University of Technology with a focus on business model innovation and operations transformation within complex supply chains; MSc with honor (Cum Laude) in Business Information Systems (University of Amsterdam); BSc in Information Science (Utrecht University); and many certifications, including Lean Master Trainer by Mckinsey & Company, Lean Black Belt, Scaled Agile Framework (SPC), PRINCE II, TOGAF, ArchiMate, AnyLogic and various qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Secondary positions

Solaimani is a Senior Managing Consultant at Berenschot, where he advises organizations on digital transformation, with a particular focus on the non-technological dimensions of change. He is also Adjunct Professor of Technology & Operations Management at the American University of Bulgaria (Sofia).

International activities

Solaimani has been visiting scholar at various universities and research institutes including:

• Center for Open Innovation at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, USA
• Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
• The SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai, India
• Institute for Advanced Management Systems Research, Åbo Akademi & Turku School of Economics, Turku, Finland
• School of Economics and Finance, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
• Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland

Interests

Traveling, reading books, playing chess and building little robots.

Most relevant publications

• Dabestani, R., Solaimani, S., Ajroemjan, G., & Koelemeijer, K. (2025). Exploring the enablers of data-driven business models: A mixed-methods approach. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 213, 124036.
• Solaimani, S., & Long, P. (2025). Beyond the black box: operationalising explicability in artificial intelligence for financial institutions. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 49(5), 1-38.
• Solaimani, S., & Swaak, L. (2023). Critical Success Factors in a multi-stage adoption of Artificial Intelligence: A Necessary Condition Analysis. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 69, 101760.
• Solaimani, S., van Eck, T., Kievit, H., & Koelemeijer, K. (2022). An exploration of the applicability of Lean Startup in small non-digital firms: an effectuation perspective. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 28(9), 198-218
• Solaimani, S., & van der Veen, J. (2022). Open supply chain innovation: an extended view on supply chain collaboration. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 27(5), 597-610.
• Solaimani, S., Parandian, A., & Nabi Nabiollahi. (2021), “A Holistic View on Sustainability in Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing: A Comparative Empirical Study of Eyewear Production Systems”, Sustainability, 13(19), 10775.
• Solaimani, S., & Sedighi, M. (2020), “Toward a holistic view on Lean sustainable construction: a literature review”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 248.
• Solaimani, S., Haghighi Talab, A, & Van Der Rhee, B. (2019), “An integrative view on Lean innovation management”, Journal of Business Research, 105 (Dec.), 109-120. 
• Solaimani, S., Veen, J.v.d., Sobek II, D.K., Gulyaz, E. and Venugopal, V. (2019), “On the application of Lean principles and practices to innovation management: A systematic review”, The TQM Journal, 31(6), 1064-1092.
• Solaimani, S., Heikkilä, M., & Bouwman, H. (2018), “Business model implementation within networked enterprises: A case study on a Finnish pharmaceutical project”, European Management Review, 15(1), 79-96.