Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
StarSpecial
Possibilities
The complex flavours
of higher learning.
Students trust that high-ranking universities will provide opportunities for a world-class education.
With that caveat in mind, the
rankings can highlight some
interesting and thought-provoking
trends.
In one of the most recently
published rankings, the QS World
University Rankings by Subject
released in late April, the United
States and the United Kingdom
dominate. The ranking identifies
the top 50 universities worldwide
in a range of different subject
areas.
Together, the US (36%) and
the UK (14%) account for 50% of
the global top 50 rankings. Asia
accounts for 17% and mainland
Europe 15.5%.
Given that both countries tend
to dominate the broad-based
world rankings, their dominance
in the subject rankings may not
be surprising.
At the same time, it does raise
questions about what lies behind
their disproportionate success.
Put another way, why do the US
and the UK have such a large share
of the worlds best universities?
Of course, history matters
and both these countries are
home to many long-established
universities.
But resources matter too and
US universities are some of the
worlds biggest spenders.
That said, however, the
expenditure on higher education
in the UK is significantly less,
yet the countrys universities
continue to deliver outstanding
performances in research and
teaching.
Both countries have the
academic reputations.
There are other elements
present in the US and UK higher
education systems that contribute
significantly to the success of both
countries universities.
Universities in both countries
enjoy significant autonomy from
their respective governments.
These academic institutions may
be subject to the governments
regulation especially regarding
quality assurance but they
retain considerable autonomy in
terms of what they teach, what
they research and who does the
teaching and research.
A key challenge for countries
that wish to improve their
performance in research-related
rankings is creating conditions
that allow universities to attract,
support and retain the most
talented individuals and to ensure
that they have the resources and
freedom to pursue important
research.
In many senses, the challenge
is in ensuring an appropriate level
of regulation is observed for the
maintenance of proper education
quality without stripping away the
autonomy needed by academics
to deliver research of the highest
quality.
n For more information, visit
www.nottingham.edu.my
in cross-cultural communications,
building a global network
and possibly creating a future
international career.
In addition, students are able
to develop management skills
and techniques, obtain strategic
orientation and implement the
strategies formulated.
The MSU-MBA helps students
develop skills in leadership,
entrepreneurship, strategic
management and decision making
so that they become successful
leaders in competitive markets.
The programme aims to build
on the foundations of work
experience and, by equipping
them with new skills and
knowledge, enable students to
make a smooth transition to a
higher level of responsibility.
The MSU-MBA provides
sufficient knowledge for students
to understand the various facets
of an organisation to formulate
successful strategies. It also instils
confidence in them.
The MSU-MBA is popular with
employers as it is a recognised
currency in the human
resources marketplace. Employers
know the value of the qualification
and what they can expect from an
MBA graduate.
They also recognise the
commitment shown by MSU-MBA
students in investing heavily in
their careers. Such candidates are
likely to be dynamic self-starters
who will be an asset to any
organisation.
There are a multitude of
MSUs Master in Business Administration programme develops leaders who have strong skills in entrepreneurship, strategic
management and decision making.
reasons so many students now
consider an MSU-MBA to be
an integral step in their career
pathway. Just having an MSU-MBA
can be the determinant in getting
a high-paying and high-power job.
Active learning exercises
within the programme act
as a basis for verbal analysis
and discussion, allowing for a
rich learning environment by
integrating the classroom with
the real world.
These exercises broaden
students understanding of issues
by inviting them to think beyond
the text material. New terms
and concepts are defined in the
margins to facilitate learning.
The universitys Graduate
School of Management has
established collaborative
educational links with a number
of top overseas universities,
including in the United Kingdom,
the United States, Australia, New
Zealand, South Korea, Japan,
Germany, Russia and China.
The Global Mobility
Programme (GMP) is a means
to provide MSU postgraduate
students with international
exposure. Through this
programme, students have
the opportunity to develop an
awareness and appreciation
of other cultures, political and
economic environments, and
approaches of doing business.
Professors of the MSU-MBA are
accomplished teachers who have
made significant contributions
POSTGRADUATE 3
Expand to
new horizons
Prof Brian Charles Imrie (left) presents a token of appreciation to the guest
speaker, Prof Datuk Razali Mahfar, at the Sunway Universitys MBA networking
dinner.
ETWORKING
opportunities are
often deemed to be
one of the key benefits of
pursuing a masters of business
administration (MBA).
Sunway Universitys premier
dual-award MBA programme
provides networking
opportunities for its students,
one of them being through the
recently held MBA networking
dinner.
More than 40 guests
comprising MBA students and
Sunway University and Sunway
groups top management
attended the dinner.
Besides gaining valuable
contacts, attendees were
treated to an inspiring
talk titled Extraordinary
Leadership and Strategic
Management Competencies
Driving Sustainable Growth
by Prof Datuk Razali Mahfar,
adjunct professor of a local
public university.
Prof Razali shared insights
into his extensive years of work
experience at top local oil and
gas companies. He was full of
praise for Sunway Universitys
premier MBA programme.
This dual-award MBA
complies with the high
standards of the British
and Malaysian higher
education systems. The entry
requirement is stringent as
students are working adults
from management positions
who are eager for personal and
career transformation, says
Prof Razali.
Partnering with Lancaster
University, the dual-award
programme aims to aid in
transforming todays managers
into tomorrows leaders.
Upon graduation, students
will receive two certificates
one from Sunway University
and another from Lancaster
University.
Lancaster University
is ranked in the top 1% of
universities globally and the
Lancaster MBA programmes
are triple accredited by the
Association to Advance
Collegiate Schools of Business
(AACSB), European Quality
Improvement System (EQUIS)
and the Association of MBAs
(AMBA).
The Lancaster Global MBA
has recorded the best progress
of any university globally in the
last 12 months, as reported in
the Financial Times (FT) World
MBA Ranking 2015 published on
Jan 26, jumping 27 places to be
50th in the world.
This is a standout
performance compared to
other MBA programmes in
Malaysia. Besides this, the FT
ranked the Lancaster MBA
programme ninth in the UK
and 18th in Europe, says Prof
Brian Charles Imrie, associate
dean (postgraduate) of Sunway
University Business School.
Dr Cheng Boon Liat, Sunway
Universitys MBA programme
chair, revealed that to date,
many industry experts,
executives and managers have
enrolled for the programme.
Subash Raj Krishnan, one of
the first few students enrolled
in the programme, says, It has
been challenging but the effects
and impact of the programme
are almost immediate. The
business knowledge that I
gained supplemented my work.
For example, the corporate
finance and management
accounting modules have
taught me about profit and loss
statements, net present value
and accounting directives,
which I can apply at work to
forecast my project to the sales
and finance team within the
company, says Subash, project
manager of an international
telecommunications company.
Sunway Universitys dualaward MBA has many desirable
features and benefits for
aspiring managers.
n For more information, attend
a preview session on May 23 at
the university or call 03-7491
8701 or visit www.sunway.edu.
my/university/MBA
Global prominence
Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, president and vice-chancellor of Open University
Malaysia (OUM).
This is done through various
channels such as social media,
print, weekly exhibitions and
events as well as comprehensive
marketing strategies. He was
among the many who contributed
greatly to the construction of the
MEB(HE).
In addition, OUM is one of the
main centres for the Accreditation
of Prior Experiential Learning
(APEL) system.
Many of its students have
enrolled in programmes through
this system, leveraging on their
experience as a requirement to
further their studies.
OUM is a strong advocate
of learners from diverse
Delivering transformed
higher education
Quality British
education
RECOGNISED internationally for its high
calibre activities in science, technology
and business, Heriot Watt Universitys
commitment to excellence has earned
it high rankings across major university
league tables.
One such table is the Guardian University
Guide 2015, which ranked Heriot-Watt
13th in the United Kingdom and second
in Scotland.
The university was also commended for
several of its programmes. For instance, it
was ranked top in the UK and Scotland for
civil engineering as well as top in Scotland
forchemical engineering.
It was also placed in the top 10 in the
UK for a number of its subjects, including
building, town and country planning.
Besides that, The Complete University
Guide ranked the university 33rd in the UK
and fourth inScotland as well as among
the top 10 in the UK for building, town and
country planning as well as art and design.
Over the years, Heriot-Watt University
has expanded to encompass five campuses.
These include its main campus in
Edinburgh, two branch campuses in the UK
and two international campuses comprising
Dubai and Malaysia.
Heriot-Watt University Malaysia officially
welcomed students into its green campus in
Putrajaya in September last year, with the
official campuslaunch held in February this
year.
With the opening of this campus,
students in Malaysia andaround the
region now have access to top-notch
Britisheducation.
In addition to a variety of foundation and
undergraduate programmes, the university
currently offers postgraduate programmes
in business psychology, international
HILE it is difficult to
determine the time of
an economic upswing,
Multimedia University (MMU) is
confident that when it happens,
technology and sustainability will
be the main forces to drive the
economy.
For Assoc Prof Dr Lee Ching
Kwang, director of MMUs
Graduate Institute of
Engineering (pic), there
are no two ways about
it. He holds the view that
technology has become
mankinds panacea for
every problem real or
perceived.
For those who are sick,
technology has created new
drugs and better procedures to
treat them. Millions of lonely
people turn to websites and apps
to find friends or partners. As for
individuals who are strapped for
cash, the Internet can be used
to sell products and services to
friends and strangers alike.
From personal problems to
natural disasters, we look to
technology for solutions.
However, technology alone
cannot preserve the health of
an economy. Dr Lee views that
sustainability has a very strong
impact on any companys bottom
line.
Sustainability involves
everything that goes into or
supports production, including
the use of raw materials such as
wood and steel, the electricity
that powers the production
machinery, the liquefied
petroleum gas that fuels industrial
burners, and the water that is
required not only as raw material,
but also to regulate temperatures
POSTGRADUATE 5
Pioneers in sustainability
and cool machines.
Lest all this comes across as
merely an academic conjecture,
we need to consider that at
the height of the water
crisis in the Klang
Valley mid last year,
a multinational fastmoving consumer
goods company, which
had been operating
for decades in Selangor,
voiced out that it was seriously
considering relocating to another
state because the lack of water
was negatively impacting its
production.
If the water problem had not
been addressed, and the firm had
gone ahead with the plan to move,
not only would thousands of jobs
be lost, the state would have also
lost significant revenue. In other
words, sustainability is a very real
issue with real ramifications.
Although technology and
sustainability have extremely
important roles with regards to
our future economic well-being,
tapping into this opportunity is
another challenge entirely.
For many working adults who
have spent their respective careers
in non-tech companies, going to
work for a tech or sustainability
firm seems beyond their reach.
However, Dr Lee assures
the public that with sufficient
planning and initiative, working
adults can successfully make their
way into tech- or sustainabilityrelated firms.
While multinational
corporations or even publiclisted companies are known
to offer good packages for
their employees, the public
needs to remember that bigger
opportunities lie with small and
medium enterprises (SME), he
says.
For example, while Japan and
Germany respectively the third
and fourth largest economies
of the world have a slew of
household-name corporations,
much of their wealth come from
technology-based SMEs.
The products of these smaller
firms are exported across the
world, not just as finished
consumer products, but as
highly specialised pieces that
serve as components of bigger
equipment manufactured in other
industrialised countries.
Although they are small,
the collective power of SMEs is
nothing short of breathtaking.
When Greece needed a bailout in
2010, Germany and its army of
small firms served as the financial
backstop and enabled Greece to
stabilise.
With this in mind, Dr Lee
hopes many will take advantage
of MMUs two unique masters
programmes so that they are able
to take part in the massive growth
potential of the technology and
sustainability areas.
n For more information, visit
www.mmu.edu.my
Famous advancers
of arts and science
HE discovery of new
knowledge through research
is a valuable and noble
pursuit. Our understanding of
science and the way the world
works has improved throughout
the centuries because of research.
Human civilisation and culture
has also developed through
the influence of the arts; the
exploration and discovery of
new ways to express ourselves is
invaluable to our evolution.
Arts and science both benefit
from open-minded inquisitiveness
and, nowadays, the lines between
the two are blurred.
A person can be an
accomplished artiste as well as
Brian Cox.
Mayim Bialik.
>> TURN TO PAGE 8
POSTGRADUATE 7
Students with a
global perspective
Mingling with peers of various
nationalities can help expand
students worldview.
Gain an
added edge
I
Taylors MBA
graduates are
exposed to more
networking
opportunities,
ideas and insight
during the
Taylors MBA
Business Circle
sessions.
UK industry leaders.
Students can also opt to
join the European Summer
Programme where they either
go to France from July 6 to 19
to spend time at ISEG School
of Management, Universit
Catholique de Lille or opt to take
two modules at the School of
Management, University of Bath.
Taylors MBA is offered on
a full-time basis for one-year
duration or part-time basis for
a minimum of two years to a
maximum of five years.
Financial aid of up to a
50% tuition fee waiver is also
available.
The next intake is in
September.
n For more information,
call 03-5629 5000, e-mail
postgraduate@taylors.edu.my or
visit www.taylors.edu.my/mba
Brian May.
StarSpecial 9
Welly Salim is
appreciative of
the support he
receives from
his family.
Focus on the
business community
RESEARCH and development (R&D) in
the business world is vital in providing
viable solutions to overcoming issues and
challenges in a highly competitive and
dynamic business environment.
Researchers in the Faculty of Business
and Humanities of Curtin University,
Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) work on
research themes that incorporate the many
aspects of business and provide cuttingedge information relevant to various
segments of the business community.
With an emphasis on business
sustainability and community-focused
research, the facultys interdisciplinary
research approach covers seven key
research focus areas.
These areas are tourism and hospitality,
entrepreneurship and human resources,
brand, communications and customer
relationships, business performance,
economics and finance, learning
pedagogies, and humanities.
The area of tourism and hospitality
includes studies of ecotourism as well as
the hospitality and services industries.
Subjects such as entrepreneurship and
human resources are also researched,
especially human resources management
and development, indigenous
entrepreneurship, ecopreneurship and
entrepreneurship education.
Green marketing, stakeholder
empowerment, international public
relations, corporate social responsibility,
retailing and service marketing are
some aspects covered under the
brand, communications and customer
relationships focus area.
The business performance focus area
focuses on financial and managerial
accounting, ethical issues, accounting
standards and performance analysis,
among others.
In the area of economics and finance,
the performance of financial institutions,
behavioural finance, biofuels, energy
and natural resource economics,
macroeconomic factors, monetary
economics, business fluctuations and cycles,
government and the monetary system, and
other aspects of economics are scrutinised.
Teaching and learning in higher
education, discipline-based education for
classroom improvement, and curriculum
and pedagogy development are the foci
of researchers in the learning pedagogies
focus area.
As for researchers in the humanities
POSTGRADUATE 11
IMUs MSc in Public Health students experience unique learning opportunities in the field.
Campaigning
against smoking
O
Dr Lim
guiding her
postgraduate
students in
their research.
Research success
for academician
Scholarships
to finance
your studies
Future plans
POSTGRADUATE 13
HE World Health
Organization (WHO)
describes that the goal of
universal health coverage is to
ensure everyone obtains the
health services they need without
suffering financial hardships
when paying for them.
It is thus a critical component
of sustainable development
and poverty reduction, and a
key element to reducing social
inequities.
In comparison with her Asean
neighbours, Malaysia is doing very
well, especially with regards to
incidence of catastrophic medical
expenditures, says Nathorn
Chaiyakunapruk, professor of
health economics at the School
of Pharmacy, Monash University
Malaysia.
However, the country
should look at improving the
quality and services at public
hospitals to reduce out-of-pocket
expenditure.
He elaborates that the amount
of out-of-pocket payments
required for health services in
Malaysia is high.
In a recent paper titled
Progress towards Universal
Health Coverage in ASEAN
published in Global Health Action
in 2014, it was reported that
Asean countries face several
common barriers in achieving
universal health coverage.
These include financial
constraints due to low levels
of government funding,
insufficient health workforces,
unequal distribution of health
professionals, increasing burdens
of no claims discount, persisting
infectious diseases
POSTGRADUATE 14
POSTGRADUATE 15
SEGi University
offers a wide
range of
postgraduate
programmes to
suit the needs of
every learner.
Postgraduate Studies
Rethinking
the MBA
IN the past, the primary reason for getting
a masters of business administration (MBA)
was to increase your salary or move up
the career ladder. Today, employability is a
valued virtue in graduates.
The founding universities of International
University of Malaya-Wales (IUMW)
the University of Malaya (UM) and
the University of Wales (UW) offer
programmes of the highest calibre and
award degrees of impeccable standards.
These standards have been adopted by
IUMW.
We aim to produce graduates tailored to
meet the stringent expectations of todays
highly competitive business world, says Dr
Chong Aik Lee, dean of Faculty of Business
and Law, IUMW.
The universitys combined credentials
of UM and UW ensure the quality of its
programme delivery and the standards of
the degrees awarded.
The IUMW MBA programme is taught
by highly qualified academic experts. In
addition, the universitys MBA and other
postgraduate students have access to UMs
digital library, online databases and other
facilities.
IUMW is the first university in SouthEast Asia to be accepted as a member of
the United Kingdoms Higher Education
Academy (HEA), which formally recognises
and rewards excellent teaching practices.
The MBA programme is accredited by
the Education Ministry and the Malaysian
Qualifications Agency.
Take the
Next Step Forward
Programmes
MSc in Public Health
KP/JPS(KA10261)09/2015
KPM/JPT(R/720/7/0049)06/2019
KPT/JPS(N/421/7/0010)07/2017
Coming Soon
Sep
KPM/JPT (N/422/7/0005)07/2019
FIND
OUT
MORE
imu.my/pg1-star
DENTISTRY
PHARMACY
HEALTH SCIENCES
16 StarSpecial