Dr Marina Papalexi

Profile picture of Marina Papalexi

Dr Marina Papalexi

Senior lecturer in Operations and Project Management and Programme Leader for MSc Operations and Supply Chain Management

My profile

Biography

Marina Papalexi is a Senior lecturer in Operations and Project Management and the Programme leader for the MSc in Operations and Supply Chain Management at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. She has published articles in high rated international journals and has been author of a number of book chapters. Her research area is related to operations management improvement strategies, supply chain optimisation, innovation, Industry 4.0 and sustainability. Her research has contributed to academic literature as it adds more theoretical and empirical insights to innovative delivery processes, especially those that have been characterised as highly complex. She has also been involved in research regarding quality management,  Internet of things, sport management, knowledge transfer and social media. She has presented her work in a number of international and national conferences including EurOMA and BAM. Additionally, Marina has contributed and led in the implementation and execution of research projects, e.g. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) projects. She has also participated in BSc, MSc and MBA lectures in Operations Management, Supply Chain Management and Project Management.

PHD Supervision

I have currently capacity to supervise PGR students in the areas of: 

  • Sustainable supply chains, resilience 
  • Digital transformation  

Prizes and Awards

Research

Staff awards 2022 - Manchester Metropolitan University – nominated for: Research Citizenship

OTEHM Staff Award 2021 - Manchester Metropolitan University – nominated for: Cool Under pressure Award

2021 Emerald Literati Awards - Outstanding Paper: ‘Papalexi, M., Bamford, D, Breen, L., (2020) Key sources of operational inefficiency in the pharmaceutical supply chain, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol.25, Iss.6, pp.617-635’

2019 Best Paper Award - University of Huddersfield Research Conference: ‘Papalexi, M., Cheng, S., Dehe, B. and Bamford, D., (2019), ‘The use of social media and its use in the research lifecycle’

Research Grants Awarded

  • Vivo barefoot: Digital Supply Chain - Funding body KTP - £186,977 funding from Innovate UK / Academic supervisor        
  • Digital supply chain in footwear sector - Business Transformations Seed Corn Grant Scheme 2022-23: £2,000/ prime-investigator.
  • Understanding Logistics 4.0 in Organisations - Business Transformations Research Development Grant 2021: £2,000/ prime-investigator
  • Training Programme Abroad - LLP/Erasmus Programme - 3,096€ / prime-investigator.
  • Subsidy for new scientists - Managing Employment Organisation of Greece - 20,000€ / prime-investigator.
  • The implementation of reverse logistics in the pharmaceutical supply chain - UoH Business School grant: £2,500 / prime-investigator.
  • The dissemination and implementation of strategic Lean thinking and decision making optimisation within the NHS - ESRC grant ES/K000667/1: £105,962 / Project Support Officer.
  • Sport Management - UoH Business School grant: £2,500 / co-investigator.
  • Passenger-facing innovation IT infrastructure - AIR3 Enhancing Customer Experience in Rail: £1.7m / Project Support Officer

Teaching

University of Huddersfield, ‘Thank You’ Awards: 2018, 2017, 2016

Membership of professional associations

Fellow Member of The Higher Education Academy, PR091814

Certified Management & Business Educator

Full Member of Technical Chamber of Greece

Full Member of the Pan-Hellenic Association of Production and Management Engineer

Get in touch

2.01 Business School

Projects

Marina has contributed and led in the implementation and execution of research projects, e.g. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) projects. 

She is currently the Lead Academic  for Vivobarefoot: Digital Supply Chain- Funding body KTP

Other projects that she has been involved in:

KTP: deliver improved Operational Agility, Deluxe Beds

(Grant Holder: £123,000/ Project Support Officer)
Deluxe Beds Ltd is a UK based beds and mattress manufacturing company located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Deluxe has a turnover of £6.2M and employ 93 personals (including part timers). The KTP project delivers improved Operational Agility enabling the management team within the business to achieve their ambitious profitability targets. The project also present opportunities for identifying SCRUM thinking through developing bespoke learning solutions through ‘value optimisation’ and strategic process improvement.

Project Stefano (Building an IT infrastructure to transform the Rail Industry’s capacity for innovation)
(£40,000/ Project Support Officer)
InnovateUK = Project Stefano; part of a joint £1.7M project with the University of Huddersfield ‘Institute for Railway research’. The Business School elements = Project Case Study; Thought Leadership; Mapping the Research Agenda; Stakeholder Management; Future Funding. Communication and Dissemination: Project journal; Lessons learnt log. Exploitation requirement: Accessing funding; Business models.

KTP: ‘Lean Law’: To create and embed service modularity in legal services through lean and agile practices in order to deliver significant business growth, LCF Law
(Grant Holder: £123,000/Project Support Officer)
LCF is a UK based law firm with expert solicitors in four locations across Northern England: Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate and Ilkley. With a £7M turnover.
Project = ‘Lean Law’: To create and embed service modularity in legal services through lean and agile practices in order to deliver significant business growth.

TP: create and embed innovative management and business processes to enhance planning, design and execution of the supply chain, acdc Lighting
(Grant Holder: £123,000/Project Support Officer)
Throughout the KTP project, the company developed and embedded new methods and systems for design, control, and execution of improved supply chain and operationalisation.

ESRC Knowledge Exchange Project: The dissemination and implementation of strategic Lean thinking and decision making optimisation within the NHS
(Grant Holder: £105,962/Project Support Officer)

This dissemination project will distribute further the findings and methodologies developed during five years of Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) collaboration with the National Health Service (NHS), each funded in-part by the ESRC.

Teaching

Supervision

Current PhD supervision

PhD: Tom Mitchell- Sports Analytics (University Funded Scholarship)

Successful PhD supervision

  • PhD: Innovation Adoption within the Legal Sector. 
  • PhD: Innovation to strategically drive improvement in the NHS

Teaching

  • Strategic Supply Chain Management, MSc Operations and Supply Chain Management 
  • Business Relationship Management and Strategic Procurement, MSc Operations and Supply Chain Management
  • Operations and Technology Management, CMDA programme - Unit Leader

Research outputs

  • Books (authored/edited/special issues)

    Bamford, D., Cheng, S.Y., Dehe, B., Duggan, M., Papalexi, M. (2014) Lean Thinking Theory, Application and Dissemination.

  • Chapters in books

    Bak, O., Papalexi, M. (2024) 'A Preliminary Analysis of Blockchain Impact on Sustainable Supply Chains: COVID-19 Perspective.' Environmental Footprints and Eco-Design of Products and Processes. pp. 133-150.

    Breen, L., Papalexi, M., Xie, Y. (2020) 'Managing the pharmaceutical supply chain-to sustainability and beyond.' Global Pharmaceutical Policy. pp. 29-52.

    Bamford, D., Dehe, B., Reid, I., Bamford, J., Papalexi, M. (2017) 'POM for Sports.' The Routledge Companion to Production and Operations Management. Taylor & Francis,

    Bamford, D., Dehe, B., Reid, I., Bamford, J., Papalexi, M. (2017) 'Sports operations management: The whole nine yards.' The Routledge Companion to Production and Operations Management. Taylor & Francis, pp. 443-466.

    Dale, B.G., Papalexi, M., Bamford, D., Van Der Wiele, A. (2016) 'TQM: An Overview and the Role of Management.' Managing Quality An Essential Guide and Resource Gateway. John Wiley & Sons,

    Papalexi, M., Dale, B.G., Bamford, D., Van Der Wiele, A. (2016) 'TQM: The Received Wisdom on TQM.' Managing Quality An Essential Guide and Resource Gateway. John Wiley & Sons,

    Dale, B.G., Papalexi, M., Bamford, D., Van Der Wiele, A. (2016) 'TQM: The Introduction and a Framework for TQM.' Managing Quality An Essential Guide and Resource Gateway. John Wiley & Sons,

    Reid, I., Papalexi, M., Slater, N. (2016) 'The influence of socially orientated growth of virtual teams: A conceptual model.' Phantom Ex Machina: Digital Disruption's Role in Business Model Transformation. Springer, pp. 237-249.

    Dale, B.G., Bamford, D., van der Wiele, A., Papalexi, M. (2016) 'The Introduction and a Framework for TQM.' Managing Quality: An Essential Guide and Resource Gateway, Sixth Edition. pp. 53-76.

    Dale, B.G., Bamford, D., van der Wiele, A., Papalexi, M. (2016) 'The Received Wisdom on TQM.' Managing Quality: An Essential Guide and Resource Gateway, Sixth Edition. pp. 37-51.

  • Reports

    Papalexi, M. (2015) An Investigation Into Aspect of Innovation Within the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain. EurOMA Conference 2015 - Doctoral Seminar.

    Papalexi, M., Bamford, D., Dehe, B. (2013) Lean Deployment in Healthcare: A Systematic Literature Review.

  • Journal articles

    Plakias, S., Tsatalas, T., Moustakidis, S., Kalapotharakos, V., Kokkotis, C., Papalexi, M., Giakas, G., Tsaopoulos, D. (2023) 'Exploring the influence of playing styles on physical demands in professional football.' Human Movement, 24(4) pp. 36-43.

    Bamford, D., Reid, I., Forrester, P., Dehe, B., Bamford, J., Papalexi, M. (2023) 'An empirical investigation into UK University - Industry collaboration: the development of an impact framework.' Journal of Technology Transfer, 49(4) pp. 1411-1443.

    Plakias, S., Moustakidis, E., Mitrotasios, M., Kokkotis, C., Tsatalas, T., Papalexi, M., Giakas, G., Tsaopoulos, D. (2023) 'A multivariate and cluster analysis of diverse playing styles across European football leagues.' Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 23(7) pp. 1631-1641.

    Plakias, S., Moustakidis, S., Kokkotis, C., Papalexi, M., Tsatalas, T., Giakas, G., Tsaopoulos, D. (2023) 'Identifying soccer players’ playing styles: a systematic review.' Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 8(3) pp. 104-104.

    Plakias, S., Moustakidis, S., Mitrotasios, M., Kokkotis, C., Tsatalas, T., Papalexi, M., Giakas, G., Tsaopoulos, D. (2023) 'Analysis of playing styles in European football: insights from a visual mapping approach.' Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 23(6) pp. 1385-1393.

    Plakias, S., Kokkotis, C., Moustakidis, S., Tsatalas, T., Papalexi, M., Kasioura, C., Giakas, G., Tsaopoulos, D. (2023) 'Identifying playing styles of European soccer teams during the key moments of the game.' Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 23(4) pp. 878-890.

    Plakias, S., Moustakidis, S., Kokkotis, C., Tsatalas, T., Papalexi, M., Plakias, D., Giakas, G., Tsaopoulos, D. (2023) 'Identifying soccer teams’ styles of play: a scoping and critical review.' Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 8(2) pp. 39-39.

    Plakias, S., Kokkotis, C., Tsaopoulos, D., Moustakidis, S., Papalexi, M., Giakas, G., Tsatalas, T. (2023) 'The effectiveness of direct corners in high level soccer depending on the type and the zone of delivery.' Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 23(2) pp. 449-456.

    Papalexi, M., Bamford, D., Nikitas, A., Breen, L., Tipi, N. (2022) 'Pharmaceutical supply chains and management innovation?.' Supply Chain Management, 27(4) pp. 485-508.

    Heinis, S., Bamford, D., Papalexi, M., Vafadarnikjoo, A. (2021) 'Services procurement: a systematic literature review of practices and challenges.' International Journal of Management Reviews, 24(3) pp. 352-372.

    Cranmer, E., Marina, P., tom Dieck, M., Bamford, D. (2021) 'Internet of Things: Aspiration, Implementation and Contribution.' Journal of Business Research, 139

    Abdallah, A., Anchor, J., Papalexi, M., Dastgir, S. (2021) 'Organisational Performance and the Use of Multiple Performance Measures in an Emerging Market.' International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 39(1) pp. 236-257.

    Papalexi, M., Bamford, D., Breen, L. (2020) 'Key sources of operational inefficiency in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain.' Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 25(6) pp. 617-635.

    Still, K., Papalexi, M., Fan, Y., Bamford, D. (2020) 'Place crowd safety, crowd science? Case studies and application.' Journal of Place Management and Development, 13(4)

    Kassela, K., Papalexi, M., Bamford, D. (2017) 'Applying quality function deployment to social housing?.' The TQM Journal, 29(3) pp. 422-436.

    Kassela, K., Papalexi, M., Bamford, D. (2016) 'QFD as a Tool for Process Improvement: A Case Study.' The TQM Journal, 29(3) pp. 422-427.

    Papalexi, M., Bamford, D., Dehe, B. (2015) 'A case study of kanban implementation within the pharmaceutical supply chain.' International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, 19(4) pp. 239-255.

    Cheng, S.Y., Bamford, D., Papalexi, M., Dehe, B. (2015) 'Improving access to health Services - Challenges in lean application.' International Journal of Public Sector Management, 28(2) pp. 121-135.

  • Conference papers

    Reid, I., Bamford, D., Forrester, P., Dehe, B., Bamford, J., Papalexi, M. 'Where is the Competitive Edge in Knowledge Transfer? - The Impact of KTPs.' In European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference.

    Rowney, N., Reid, I., Papalexi, M., Laird, J. (2023) 'Digitalising sustainable supply chains: a case study approach.' 3/7/2023 - 5/7/2023. European Operations Management Association (EurOMA),

    Papalexi, M., Bamford, D., Breen, L. (2019) 'Finding the common (inefficient) ground: An examination of the downstream Pharmaceutical Supply Chain (PSC).' In POMS International Conference 2019. Brighton, 1/9/2019 - 4/9/2019.

    Abualqumboz, M., Reid, I., Papalexi, M., Bamford, D. (2017) 'Can knowledge be retained in informal organisational networks?.' 1. 7/9/2017 - 8/9/2017. ACPI,

    Bamford, J., Dehe, B., Bamford, D., Reid, I., Papalexi, M. (2017) 'Benchmarking Stadium Operations to Identify the Effects of Operations on Performance.' In POMS Annual Conference. Seattle, USA, 1/1/2017 - 1/1/2017.

    Reid, I., Bamford, D., Dehe, B., Bamford, J., Papalexi, M. (2017) 'Sports Operations Management: The Whole Nine Yards.' In POMS Annual Conference. Seattle, USA, 1/1/2017 - 1/1/2017.

    Papalexi, M., Bamford, D., Dehe, B., Tipi, N. (2016) 'The Impact of Supply Chain Characteristics on the Adoption of Innovation.' In 5th World Conference on Production and Operations Management P&OM. Havana, Cuba, 6/9/2016 - 10/9/2016.

    Zielinska, K., Dehe, B., Papalexi, M. (2016) 'Orientation to Work: Comparison Between the British Workforce and Polish Migrant Workers.' In 5th World Conference on Production and Operations Management P&OM. Havana, Cuba, 6/9/2016 - 10/9/2016.

    Cockayne, D., Papalexi, M., Jordan, C. (2016) 'Location, location, location: exploring macro-market influences and impacts of re-shoring on operational decision-making.' In Academy of Marketing B2B SIG. Paris, France, 23/6/2016 - 24/6/2016.

    Papalexi, M., Dehe, B., Bamford, D., Bamford, J., Reid, I. (2016) 'Research Opportunities Through The Use of Social Media?.' In 23rd EurOMA Conference. Trondheim, Norway, 17/6/2016 - 22/6/2016.

    Reid, I., Bamford, D., Bamford, J., Papalexi, M., Dehe, B. (2016) 'Professional Service Operations Management: Sustaining the Discipline?.' In 23rd EurOMA Conference. Trondheim, Norway, 17/6/2016 - 22/6/2016. pp. 1-10.

    Papalexi, M. (2015) 'An Investigation Into Aspect of Innovation Within the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain.' In 22nd EurOMA PhD Workshop 2015. Neuchatel, Switzerland, 26/6/2015 - 1/7/2015.

    Papalexi, M., Breen, L., Bamford, D., Tipi, N. (2014) 'A Preliminary Examination of the Deployment of Lean and Reverse Logistics Within the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain (PSC) UK.' In LRN Annual Conference and PhD Workshop. University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom, 3/9/2014 - 5/9/2014.

    Cheng, S., Bamford, D., Dehe, B., Papalexi, M. (2014) 'Healthcare 'Single Point of Access' and the Application of Lean.' In European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference. Palermo, Italy, 20/6/2014 - 25/6/2014.

    Papalexi, M., Cheng, S., Dehe, B., Bamford, D. (2014) 'The Use of Social Media and Its Potential in the Research Lifecycle.' In European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference. Palermo, Italy, 20/6/2014 - 25/6/2014.

    Papalexi, M. (2014) 'Lean Deployment in Healthcare: A Case Study of a Pharmaceutical Supply Chain.' In The e-Business and e-Government Special Interest Group of the British Academy of Management. Newcastle, United Kingdom, 1/1/2014 - 1/1/2014.

    Papalexi, M., Bamford, D., Dehe, B. (2013) 'Lean Deployment in Healthcare: A Systematic Literature Review.' In BAM 2013 Conference. Liverpool, United Kingdom, 10/9/2013 - 12/9/2013.

    Kontogianni, K., Theocharakis, S., Papalexi, M., Tsigkas, A. (2010) 'Health and Safety in the Workplace Environment to Lean Hospital.' In 6th National Conference on Management, Economics and Health Policy. Athens, Greece, 15/12/2010 - 18/12/2010.

    Papalexi, M., Theocharakis, S., Goulidakis, B., Katsougkrakis, J., Tsigkas, A. (2010) 'Implementation of Lean Management in the Provision of Health Services.' In 36th Annual Panhellenic Medical Conference. Athens, Greece, 4/5/2010 - 8/5/2010.

    Theocharakis, S., Katsougkrakis, I., Goulidakis, B., Papalexi, M., Tsigkas, A. (2009) 'Lean Hospital and Study of Implementation to a Provincial Hospital.' In 5th National Conference on Management, Economics and Health Policy. Athens, Greece, 2/12/2009 - 5/12/2009.

    Papalexi, M., Theocharakis, S., Tsigkas, A. (2009) 'The Kanban and Applicability of the Pharmacy.' In 5th National Conference on Management, Economics and Health Policy. Athens, Greece, 2/12/2009 - 5/12/2009.

  • Theses and dissertations

    Papalexi, M. (2017) An Investigation Into the Aspects of Innovation With the Downstream Domain of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain.

  • Other

    Papalexi, M. (2013) Strategic Process Improvement: First TransPennine Express UK.