LADAP (Training in Service) for School Teachers from Sek Keb Seri Sekamat, Kajang

Yesterday, as the Head Biro of Academic for the Parent-Teacher Association of Sek Keb Seri Sekamat, Kajang, I, with the help of the committee members had managed to successfully arranged another training for the school teachers. The topics this time around involved ethics and public speaking. For the first time, two speakers were involved; Professor Dr Turiman Suandi and Associate Professor Dr Ismi Ariff Ismail. Regardless of their busy schedule they had still managed to slot in these free and interesting sessions. Thank you very much....

The Fourth International Conference on Case Writing

The Fourth International Conference on Case Writing had been held from 2 to 3 October 2013. It was an effort carried out by Case Writers' Association of Malaysia (CWAM), a non-profit organization that came into being in 1986 with the aim of encouraging the development of local cases which are relevant, suitable and useful for Malaysian managers, officials and trainers. So far, CWAM with only about 10 committee members have managed to conduct a case conference every two years since 2005. The aim is not for profit making, but mostly for knowledge sharing on case writing issues. A case writing competition was also being held in conjunction with the conference. It is hoped that the winners will continue to be further motivated in writing case studies in the future. Congratulations!

In addition, the Annual General Meeting was carried out on the last day of the conference. Congratulations too to those elected to be in the 2014 committee.

Meetings on Graduates Issues

Recently meetings were conducted between MPC and UPM in the effort of providing free trainings for undergraduates to help increase the employability. In addition there was also a discussion on a case writing training for MPC employees.

Another meeting was done with a number of representatives from RSOG, JPA, SPA, and INTAN on programs for JPA scholars.

Air Asia: Behind the Scenes

Our visit to Air Asia was to formally invite the Group Head of the People Department, Encik Adzhar Ibrahim for our industrial colloquium on 18th October 2013. While there, we were fortunate to be given a tour of the facility. It is amazing to see how Tony Fernandes restructured the working culture to suit the low cost tagline. There are no big offices for the top management, nor there specific meeting rooms for discussions. The employees seem to be discussing everywhere. Very interesting indeed.

The Industrial Colloquium - Mr Roshan Thiran

This year, the department is going to have an international seminar at the Palace of the Golden Horses from 18-20 October. We have decided to create a difference this time by having an industrial colloquium as well entitled Transformational Challenges in Corporate Malaysia. So today, our team went to meet one of our panel speakers, Mr Roshan Thiran, Director of Operations for the STAR Media Group. At the moment, he leads all aspects of managing and growing the STAR Media Group’s operations, which includes its media businesses in Print, Radio, TV, Digital, Events and Training. He is going to share his views and input on leadership issues.

Research Module on FELDA New Generation Development

Ramadhan is already here. But the work goes on. The latest is the workshop held in Residence, Uniten to come up with the research module of the new generation in FELDA. The workshop will end on Saturday, 13 July 2013. Although fasting, everybody looks alert and motivated to finish up the report. The project has been going one for a year now.

FEP Research Proposal Workshop

From one workshop to another. This was the FEP Research Proposal Workshop conducted at the Royale Bintang from 4 to 7 July 2013. The performances of lecturers are partially determined by the ability to secure grants. This workshop is seen as very important to the rating of the faculty. A combination of panel discussion and group discussion were done with the help of top researchers from the faculty.

HR Talk on Pay Structure

Last two days, a HR Talk on Pay Structure was done by Ms Eunice H L Lee. She has more than 30 years of experience in human resources and has extensive background in Human Resource Strategic Planning, Operations and Training and Development. In addition, she has held positions of Senior Group General Manager, Human Resources of public listed organization and Head of Human Resources of a conglomerate. It was a closed session with about 25 attendees only. I hope more industrial captains will be willing to come in to share their expertise and knowledge with our students - full time and part time, for the benefits of our nation.

Case Study Training for FSKTM at Mines Wellness

On the 3rd of July 2013, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology had a workshop to improve the drafts of the case studies to be transformed as chapters in book. It is always interesting to read cases done on other areas apart from business and management. We learn so many things....

Dahlia's Book Xcess

I love books. When I was little, my parents always buy me books. It is through books that I learn the most. Therefore I have decided to put some of my old books in a used bookcase in front of my rooms for students to borrow. The rules are easy. Choose, Read, and Return. Everything will be based on trust.

Defining a Leader

The Managing Director of Eureka Efektif Sdn Bhd, a local company supplying state of the art and niche equipments and specialized services for oil and gas industry especially the upstream sector, Ms Aida Hanani Ayub had given a talk to the students last night on Leadership. She highlighted three things necessary to be a successful entrepreneur: a good mentor, positive thinking, and vast knowledge. This is another effort of bridging the academics and the industry. Thank you Ms Aida for finding the time to come and share your experience with us...

CEDAR Retreat Session

Today the first retreat began between 5 universities and CEDAR (Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research) for case studies development and collaborative industry research. To me, this is a very refreshing and exciting initiative that reflects the importance of bridging the industry and academics towards the development of our country. Apart from writing journal articles or chapters in books, this effort is another way to show impact on the society.

Collaborations with the Industry

Recently our Faculty has managed to engage in collaborative partnerships with two prominent industry players in Malaysia - the SME Bank and Petronas Leadership Center. The collaborations focused mostly on research outputs such as journal publications and case studies. For once, it began to feel like a business faculty. I hope more collaborations will materialize in the years to come. Now is the time for the academics and the practitioners to join hands for a better future. Synergy. So simple a word, and yet we ignore acknowledging the true impact of its power.

Seminar Pembangunan Kepimpinan Pembelajaran dan Pengajaran Pengajian Tinggi

MOHE had conducted a seminar on the leadership development in learning and teaching in higher institutions at AKEPT last week. The areas discussed were quite interesting. Among the presentations include Understanding Learning, Learner Diversity and Interactive Lecture. One remark that caught our attention was a study that highlighted the social sciences students to be deep learners as opposed to sciences students who were deemed to be more of surface learners. At night, discussions continued on the Student Centered Learning approaches including Problem-based Learning and Case Teaching. So far most studies only considered perspectives from the academics and students. In my opinion, the industry people should be engaged for feedbacks as well. Otherwise the danger is that we are going to create products that nobody will want to buy. Still.. this is a good start.

Workshop for Student Centered Learning (SCL) Techniques: Case Study

Universiti Putra Malaysia has created more opportunities to further enhance the faculty members' skills on student centered learning approaches for the year 2013. The workshop is meant for two days. One of the session includes case study technique. At the end of the day, the members are hoped to not only know how to use case studies, but also know the way to write case studies. The sessions on case study are conducted by Tn Hj Yaakob Ibrahim and me. Other techniques include problem based learning and modular approach.

The Razak Roundtable: Creating Brand Power for Countries and Companies

The Razak School of Government (RSOG) has managed to spark interesting and at one time emotional discussions around the subject of creating Malaysia as a brand. It was mentioned that this country said to already have a brand like 'Malaysia Truly Asia,' has done a pretty good job especially in the Tourism industry. But there is also the need to distinguish the brand created in Tourism and the brand of the country overall. A country brand is a message that the country believes in and is willing to deliver. Otherwise it can be merely a marketing gimmick that is difficult to sustain overtime. Further discussions also touched on issues of transformational leaders and brand communications. Among the speakers were Dr Andrew White, Associate Dean of Said Business School; Mr Kamran Khan, Program Director of the World Bank Group; Mr David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance Plc; and Mr Kam Raslan, Author, Columnist, and DJ of BFM Radio. The closing keynote speaker was our Deputy Prime Minister,Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.