Professor Zairi was the Juran chair in TQM and previously the Sabic chair in Best Practice Management. He was also Emeritus Professor at the University Of Bradford School Of Management in the UK. He was The Executive Chairman of the European Centre for Best Practice Management and Founder of Zairi Institute.

Professor Zairi was involved in guiding, mentoring and advising on the implementation of excellence in both the government and private sector context. He acted also in the capacity of Jury chairman of various prestigious international awards around the world.

In 2005 Professor Zairi was awarded The Ishikawa/Harrington Medal by the Asian Pacific Quality Organisation (APQO) and the Grand Master Six Sigma Medal. In 2007, he received the Lancaster Medal from The American Society for Quality (ASQ). In 2010, he was presented with the 2009 ASQ Grant Medal for the development of exceptionally meritorious, technologically innovative, and intellectually challenging quality management educational programs. He was also presented with the Yoshio Kondo academic prize (2010) for outstanding research that has advanced the global body of quality knowledge.

In April 2013 the Australian Organization for Quality (AOQ) unanimously approved the presentation to Professor Zairi the medal: “Outstanding Contribution to Global Quality”. His achievements are backed with objective evidence and added value to many organisations worldwide.

In April 2013 Professor Mohamed Zairi received Fellow membership status from the ASQ for dedicated scholarship in Benchmarking and Best Practice Management, international leadership and promotion of total quality management, for pioneering expansion of education in quality throughout the Arab community by founding the first licensed, recognized online university in the United Arab Emirates and for founding the Middle East Quality Association.

Professor Zairi acted as Senior Advisor to several governments particularly in areas related to policy, strategy and governance related issues. He was also involved in mentoring board members of several businesses in the private sector.

He published over 50 books and 400 refereed papers in various fields of Quality Management and Organizational Excellence.