Jafar Namdar

Jafar Namdar is an Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at the Department of Supply Chain Management. He earned his Ph.D. in Business Analytics from the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. Before joining MSU, Jafar was a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he worked on advancing research in supply chain analytics. His expertise lies in applying cutting-edge analytics techniques, including econometrics, machine learning (ML), and simulation, to address real-world problems in the global supply chain.

Jafar's primary research interests include supply chain disruption management, the impact of policy and political instability on global supply chains, and the diffusion of green innovations. He employs a variety of data science tools, such as web scraping and text analytics, to analyze unstructured and distributed data sources, including those from the web and social media. By leveraging these tools, he can develop actionable insights for businesses and policymakers in the supply chain domain.

His research has been widely recognized both academically and by industry practitioners, with publications in leading journals such as Production & Operations Management (POM), Journal of Supply Chain Management (JSCM), and the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR). In one of his notable studies, he developed new metrics to identify concentrations and bottlenecks in global supply chain networks. This work earned him a ~$200k funding grant from the U.S. government. 

Jafar has reviewed for several prestigious academic journals, including the Journal of Operations Management (JOM), Production & Operations Management (POM), Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management (JSCM), and International Journal of Production Research (IJPR).

Namdar, J., Pant, G., & Blackhurst, J. (2025). EXPRESS: Impact of Industrial and Geographical Concentrations of Upstream Industries on Firm Performance During COVID-19. Production and Operations Management, 10591478251313787.
Namdar, J., Blackhurst, J., Zhao, K., & Song, S. (2024). Cascading disruptions: Impact of modularity and nexus supplier predictions. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 60(3), 18-38.
Namdar, J., Modi, S., & Blackhurst, J. (2024). Diversify or Concentrate? Supply Chain Responses to Policy Uncertainty. Journal of Supply Chain Management.