Biography

Dr Okafor is a business and management senior lecturer at the University of Cumbria as well as an external MSc Project Supervisor at Warwick University, and a member of the Assessment and Moderation team at the Institute for Professional & Executive Development (IPED) UK. He is also an Associate Lecturer at Northampton University. Sebastian has several years of professional experience in business management, education practice, and policy. He is a specialist in interim Management Solutions for Schools and Colleges and has many years of UK public and private sector education experience. He has offered interim and project-based senior management support to International Colleges as well as handled a wide range of client portfolios; from company formation to developing strategic plans for profit and non-profit organizations. He specializes in setting up new institutions, module development, writing course materials, academic accreditations and affiliations, and university partnership development. Sebastian is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors.

Qualifications and memberships

Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), Newport University

Masters in Education (MEd), The Open University

Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in Financial Management, Newport University

Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP), The Open University

Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Studies in Education (PGCPSE), The Open University

BA (Hon) in Politics, The Open University

Fellow Higher Education Academy

Fellow Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors

Academic and research interests

I welcome prospective DBA/PhD students in the following research areas: CSR, Sustainability, Strategic Management of SMEs, Digital Marketing

Publications

Bowen, Gordon; Okafor, Sebastian; Arshad Jamal, Sumesh Dadwal and Hamid Jahankhani (2023) Big Data Approximations: Brand Communities and AI, Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics and Business Law, 2023, V12, Special Issue, pp. 37-57

Akuns, Uloh and Okafor, Sebastian (2022) Big data analytics: virtuosity in Lean Six Sigma for quality assurance in supply chain management. Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics and Business Law, 2022, Vol 11, Issue 2, pp.44-72.

Ayertey, Samuel; Ranfagni, Silvia and Okafor, Sebastian (2021) Online Service Failure and Recovery Strategies: Examining the Influences of User-Generated Content. In: Ozuem, Wilson and Ranfagni, Silvia, (eds.) The Art of Digital Marketing for Fashion and Luxury Brands. Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition, pp. 243-271

Bowen, Gordon; Appiah, Dominic and Okafor, Sebastian (2020). The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Social Media on the Strategy Formulation Process. Sustainability 2020, Volume 12, Issue 15, 6057.

Rai, Dipen; Appiah, Dominic and Okafor, Sebastian (2019) Managing online service failure and recovery strategies in the fashion industry: an empirical study. Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics and Business Law, 2019, Vol 9, Special Issue, pp.159-197.

Naem, Muhammad and Okafor, Sebastian (2019) User-generated content and consumer brand engagement. In: Bowen, Gordon and Ozuem, Wilson, (eds.) Leveraging computer-mediated marketing environments. IGI Global, Pennsylvania, US, pp. 193-220.

Usman, Ali and Okafor, Sebastian (2019) Exploring the relationship between social media and social influence. In: Bowen, Gordon and Ozuem, Wilson, (eds.) Leveraging computer-mediated marketing environments. IGI Global, Pennsylvania, US, pp. 83-103.

Usman, Ali and Okafor, Sebastian (2019) Social Media and purchase intentions: strategic marketing implications. In: Ozuem, Wilson, Patten, Elena and Azemi, Yllka, (eds.) Harnessing Omni-Channel Marketing Strategies for Fashion and Luxury Brands. BrownWalker Press, US, pp. 83-105.

Okafor, S. (2014). Professional Collaboration and teachers’ leadership processes in private FE. 7th Annual International Conference of Role, Competences and Responsibilities of Public Institutions on Generating New Scope Towards Europe (pp. 286-297). Prishtina: Globus Institute of Economic Research.