A Highlights of Achievements
The vision to be a global university of educational excellence with transformative societal impact has led Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) to be agile in facing new frontiers and responsible in pursuit of excellence. Resonating with the qualities of a progressive university is the Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF), which has over the years improved its stature as a provider of business and finance knowledge at the threshold of the world of business and finance.
The World of Business and Finance
Steering the way into the competitive world, UTAR has strategies planned for the purpose to make every business and finance venture a success – your business in particular. Whether you plan to pursue accounting, business, marketing, retailing, economics, entrepreneurship, banking, or finance; your business is our concern.
Through the years of constant growth, FBF has produced a cadre of business professionals with the very first group graduating in 2008. With only a start of 512 students back then, FBF has now become the biggest faculty in UTAR Kampar Campus. It comprises 10 undergraduate programmes and three postgraduate programmes.
Interactive Classes
Classes are well conducted by vast-experienced lecturers who have worked in the industry before entering the academic field. These lecturers generously share insights that transform textbook theories to workplace practices, while those with PhD qualification are expected to nurture students in aspects of scholastic temperament. The FBF academics are effectively adapting to new changes and through in-house and external professional trainings, their teaching skills are further enhanced.
Interactive classes are just the tip of the iceberg in FBF, because at UTAR, there are more than meet the eyes. Piquing students’ interests towards FBF will enable them to understand that UTAR’s way of educating students is not limited to books only. Learning is also very much about the experience you get from the success you climb on, the failures you stumble over, and in the end, becoming an enriched individual. At UTAR, students are nurtured and trained to make opportunities out of challenges; echoing one of its mission – tenacity in overcoming challenges. As they steer through their study years, students are bound for a journey of learning, experience, and achievement.
Undergraduate programmes such as Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours), Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) Banking and Finance, Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) Entrepreneurship, Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) Retail Management, Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) Accounting, Bachelor of Economics (Honours) Financial Economics, Bachelor of Finance (Honours), Bachelor of Marketing (Honours), Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) Risk Management have attracted students from across local and international borders and ensures student’s employability rate of 95 - 97 percent within six months of graduation (statistic updated as at 2019).
While for those with the drive to further their business and financial acumen, our postgraduate programmes such as Master of Philosophy, Master of Business Administration (Corporate Management) (MBA), and Doctor of Philosophy will offer knowledge seekers the right resources for a continuous learning experience.
Take for example our MBA programme, which has been positively received by many local and international fresh graduates and industry candidates due to the insights offered that has enabled them to acquire specific skill sets to become effective corporate managers. With its rigorous, interactive and practical learning opportunities in projects relating to logistics and supply chain management, human resource management, finance, marketing and educational leadership, MBA candidates are ingrained with the capability to develop holistic views and in-depth understanding of social, cultural and ethical issues.
Soft Skills Advantages
As an excellent education institute, UTAR’s FBF programmes are actively being developed, incorporated with Soft Skills Competency, and implemented with strategic plans. “Those strategic plans are aimed to enhance and maintain the high standards of the programmes, developing and implementing research strategies, and to intensify local and international industry and professional bodies’ collaboration”, said Dean of FBF Dr Au Yong Hui Nee.
With the constant reviewing of its programme, FBF has not fallen short in any situation. Activities such as visitation by Industry Advisor where students and staff are given latest industrial information; online discourse where reputable personalities are invited to share their life successes; career talks, and recruitment drive allows the syllabus to be consistently updated.
Accredited Quality Education
Assuredly, FBF programmes are recognised and accredited by the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) and Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) Malaysia. FBF is also a member of Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and Alliance on Business Education and Scholarship for Tomorrow, a 21st century organisation (ABEST21). In efforts to stay on par with the market demands and to stay ahead in the business world, FBF also collaborates with prestigious professional bodies such as The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), CPA Australia, The Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia (CTIM), The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB), Chartered Governance Institute (CGI), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Planning Association of Malaysia (FPAM), Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC), and Malaysian Association of Company Secretaries (MACS). FBF’s strong collaboration with industry partners such as Public Bank Berhad, Dell, OCBC Bank, Vitrox and Jabil Circuit also enable students to obtain hands-on industrial experience.
“Our programmes are planned and set to meet the global benchmark for competency, ethics, and professional practice standards in accounting, banking, business administration, digital economy, financial analysis and financial planning services”, said Dr Au Yong.
Staff Achievements
Notably, the successful approach of FBF programmes is also accredited to the commitment and excellence shown by the academics. Among the many achievements by the FBF academics include being acknowledged for Emerald Literati Awards Highly Commended Paper; Elsevier Telematics and Informatics journal’s Top Cited Author (2014-2018); “Most Downloaded Article” award by Expert Systems with Applications (ESWA), Elsevier, USA; “Hot Paper” and “Highly Cited Paper” awards for May/June 2020 by Clarivate Analytics; “Most Downloaded Paper (ranked 11/25)” and “Top Downloaded Article 2020” awards by Elsevier (USA)’s Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (SSCI; JCR-2019 IF = 4.219; ABDC Ranked A) and Technology in Society (SSCI; JCR-2019 IF = 2.414); and so on. On top of these, FBF staff have also won best paper awards and excellent oral presentation awards at conferences and competitions.
As FBF programmes are set to instil the research culture among staff and students, FBF sees this effort as a gateway to establish research collaborations and projects that will bring a positive impact to the socio-economy. One example is the International Conference on Business, Accounting, Finance, and Economics (BAFE) Conference that has been organised by FBF since 2013. The successful event had gathered researchers and international participants to interact with one another and to share their experiences. Together with research centres, FBF also actively conducts research seminars, research colloquiums, research talks by international experts and professors, research workshops, and research conference on an annual basis.
The International Conference on Business, Accounting, Finance, and Economics (BAFE) Conference that organised by FBF since 2013 has been platform for academic discussions
Research papers by three FBF academics (from left) Assoc Prof Dr Lee Voon Hsien, Hew Jun Jie and Dr Leong Lai Ying , were recently awarded the “Hot Paper” and “Highly Cited Paper” awards for May/June 2020 by Clarivate Analytics