Professor Trevor Cadden is Professor of Operations Management at Ulster University Business School. His research focuses on supply chain management, digital transformation, inter-organisational relationships and organisational capability development, with a particular emphasis on SMEs, regional productivity and economic development.

His work operates at the interface of academia, industry and public policy. He has led and contributed to numerous collaborative initiatives with government departments, economic development agencies and industry bodies across the UK and Ireland, supporting organisations to enhance innovation capability, supply chain resilience and operational performance. His research impact was selected as one of only three case studies submitted by Ulster University Business School to the Research Excellence Framework (REF2021).

A major commissioned study for InterTradeIreland examining cross-border SME supply chain capability directly informed its Corporate Plan 2020 and contributed to the creation of a cross-directorate Brexit Taskforce and a dedicated Brexit Voucher funding stream for micro and small firms. He subsequently led the development of online Brexit supply chain readiness management capability resources in partnership with Manufacturing Northern Ireland and government departments in both jurisdictions. Since launch in 2020, the resources have been accessed almost 100,000 times across 13 manufacturing sectors, with over 80% of participating firms reporting improved resilience and preparedness and follow-on support exceeding £12 million.

Through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the Social Enterprise sector in Northern Ireland, Trevor led the development of a framework for measuring social value within public procurement, applying to tenders worth approximately £3 billion annually. The initiative contributed to substantial sector growth, including increased employment, turnover and expansion of social enterprises into disadvantaged communities.

He is currently a Co-Investigator on several major funded programmes, including the £3.3m Shared Island project The Atlantic Innovation Corridor: Social Capital and Co-Ordinating Capacity in a Multi-City Distributed Border Region, the £1.9m Healthy Sustainable Traceable Nutrition programme funded by DAERA and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, and the €3.2m PeacePlus STRIDE (SMART Rural Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship) initiative. He also contributes to European projects addressing food waste using Industry 4.0 technologies and supply-chain traceability using blockchain and IoT technologies.

Trevor has led more than 20 Knowledge Transfer Partnership and Innovation Boost projects and has undertaken commissioned studies for the Department for the Economy and the Consumer Council Northern Ireland, including research on SME export barriers and food perishability in supply chains.

His research is widely published in leading international journals including Journal of Business Research, Business Strategy and the Environment, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Information Management and International Journal of Production Research. He has received the Ulster University Business School Distinguished Research Award and a British Academy of Management Best Paper Award.

Trevor has over 23 years of teaching experience and served as Programme Director of the Ulster University MBA for 15 years, leading three successful revalidations, and founded the Mini-MBA executive development programme. His teaching has been recognised through multiple institutional awards including Ulster University Educator of the Year and three Distinguished Education Excellence Awards for sustained, collaborative and innovative educational practice.

He is an External Examiner at Newcastle University, University College Dublin and Cardiff University, and has undertaken international programme reviews including the American College of Greece and Zayed University. He has served on international conference committees, journal editorial activities and academic association committees, and has reviewed for leading journals since 2004.

Before entering academia, Trevor spent eight years in industry with Northern Telecom and Nortel Networks in process engineering and supply chain project management roles. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Centre for Higher Education Practice and a Certified Management & Business Educator (CMBE) with the Chartered Association of Business Schools.

Research Funding and Knowledge Exchange (Dr Trevor Cadden: as off September 2022)