Understanding IFRS

I saw an article in the Sunday Star today signifying lack of understanding of the various International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) not just among individuals and practitioners. In fact a lot of public listed companies (PLCs) are also experiencing difficulties in reporting their financial statements. As such, there's a lot of opportunities for ARI members to conduct research and organising training programs on IFRs. Those interested, please submit a proposal to ARI...

ARI's New Strategic Direction

Very soon, ARI and the Faculty of Accountancy will be organising a collaborative workshop to discuss our new strategic direction. As a Centre of Excellence, ARI is entrusted to lead research and publication activities in the university. In addition to our normal KPIs being set to support the RU aspiration (e.g. no of publication in indexed journals and proceedings; publication of book chapters, publication in international journals and other innovation & industrial linkage requirements), ARI will also engage in transdiciplinary research (TD) and will be collaborating with other TD research institutes globally

Management and Social Research Journal

In 2003, when the Faculty of Accountancy hosted the annual Conference on Science and Social Research (CSSR), we initiated two journals namely the Management and Social Research Journal (MSRJ) and the Scientific Research Journal. Then, every year whenever the CSSR conference is held, an ad-hoc committee would be formed to undertake the tasks of revieiwing and publishing the journals. This year, ARI and the Faculty of Accountancy were assigned the total responsibility of publishing the MSRJ journal. The journal is now published twice a year. Today, the editorial committee which is headed by Prof Dr Rashidah Abdul Rahman has successfully submitted the journal for possible indexing with Scopus. Basically, the papers for the journal is sourced from the annual CSSR conference. In addition, the call for paper is also opened to everyone else who has a paper to contribute....

PhD is a Journey...

Ms Amrizah Kamaluddin, one of ARI's associate member, will be attending her viva tomorrow, Friday 28th August. Insyaallah, my prayer that she will pass her viva with flying colours. PhD is a journey. Hers is a showcase of a great partnership between herself and her three supervisors. . They have as a team presented and published a number of papers. That by itself is a great testimonial of her effort. She has grown tremendously in term of confidence, wisdom and maturity. Amrizah's research is in the area of intellectual capital. I am looking forward for having her around as an active researcher. Congratulations....

ARI Welcomes Dr Mohd Nizal

Insyaallah, if everything goes as planned, ARI will be appointing Dr Mohd Nizal as a new research fellow. Dr Nizal's term as a Deputy Dean ended on 15th August 2009 and he had indicated his interest to join ARI. ARI welcomes you and I am sure we can work well as a team. Congratulations for your two articles recently accepted to be included in ISI Thomson conference proceeding. What a way to start your journey with ARI...

Congratulations Dr Nawal Kassim

Dr Nawal Kasim passed her viva recently and she is now the Faculty of Accountancy's 50th PhD qualified lecturer. She was doing her PhD at the International Islamic University. Congratulations to you. ARI welcomes you as an associate member. We look forward to your publications in Islamic Accounting....

Finishing the Dividend Policy Report...

We finally managed to complete the report today. Once the report is content and English-edited, we hope to send it to the sponsor - Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group (MSWG) by Friday. Of course the report will be further deliberated upon by the MSWG group. Insyaallah the plan is to launch the report sometimes in October 2009. Seen here is Associate Professor Dr Wee Shu Hui, our project leader who was showing us the final draft report at today's meeting.

FRGS Reports 2/2007 Due Now....

For those of you who obtained the second FRGS grant in 2007 (ARI obtained 9 grants), please remember that the due date to submit your final research reports is 30th September 2009. Do not wait till the last minute to prepare your reports. For Muslim ARI members, Ramadhan will be the best time to finish off your reports. Do not sleep after your sahur meal. Instead spend an hour every morning to write the report. Once the report is submitted you can look forward to applying for new grants by the end of this year. ARI will organize a final FRGS presentation by the middle of September 2009. Please get ready....

Wish You a Blessed Ramadhan...

I wish all ARI members a blessed Ramadhan 1430. May Allah bless all of us Insyaallah... Personally, I find Ramadhan to be the most productive month in a year. We can plan our time for sunnat prayers including Tarawih and at the same time, use the after sahur meal to finish off whatever work that need to be completed. May be that paper that you want to send to the ISI/Scopus-indexed conference, the chapter that you want to contribute to the book chapters, the article that you want to submit to the indexed journal....imagine what we can accomplish in 29 days of Ramadhan

Going for AACSB...

The Faculty of Accountancy and the Faculty of Business Management are applying to abtain the prestigous US-based AACSB accreditation for their undergraduate and post graduate programs. AACSB accreditation represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. Being AACSB-accredited means a business/accounting school is able to continuously pass a strict set of standards that are designed to ensure quality. This morning we met Mr Jon, the CEO of a data management company that facilitates keen universities to record and maintain AACSB-compliant data. Mr Jon is from Tennessee, USA

What a Way to Treat Your Guest.....

I was invited to UiTM Perak today and to give talk to staff on "publication in indexed-journals". The minute I reached the campus gate this morning, a "rider" was already waiting to take me to the meeting place. I was able to capture that moment on camera. I was given a first class treatment and I really felt honoured and humbled for the kind hospitality shown by everyone there. Thank you. The hall was full for the afternoon talk. Wow what an enthusiastic group. It was really a worthwhile trip....

Contract Research

ARI will be bidding for more contract research this year. We recently had received an invitation from Riyadh University for a contract research project and Prof Dr Rashidah has submitted a research proposal. The prospect looks promising. Next, ARI will be submitting proposals to agencies such as the World Bank and United Nations and working collaboratively with other international research centres, Insyaallah...

New Appointment of RO and ARO

Today I received the registrar's letters of appointment of ARI's Research Officer (RO) and Assistant Research Officer (ARO). They should be reporting for duty on 1st September 2009. Both of these staff have wide experiences of doing research in medicine and micro-biology. In view of this, ARI is planning to collaborate with other science-based research centres and be involved with transdiciplinary research projects. Perhaps studies examining the economic implications of treatments for dengue and H1N1? Now ARI should move towards e-Science grants. Why not?

So You Want to Present Papers at Conferences?

"Be effective and be focused" - this should be our tag line this year. As a director of ARI, I wish to advice all fellows and associate members to only present your papers at either Scopus or ISI Thomson-indexed conferences. Listed below are examples of conferences that you can participate in 2009/2010:
1. 2009 International Conference on Information Theory and ...
ICITE is the main annual Information research conference aimed at presenting current research being carried out. ... and be submitted to Ei Compendex and Thomson ISI for indexing. ... (C) ICITE 2009-2010 Kota Kinabalu , Malaysia.www.iacsit.org/icite/index.htm
2. 2009 International Conference on Education and Management ...
5 Jun 2009 ... Conference Chairman Dr. Prof. Subhas Misra in Harvard University will deliver a Keynote ... which will be indexed by Thomson ISI Proceeding (ISTP). ... 2009-2010 ICEMT 2009. Chengdu, China Oct.23-25, 2009.www.iacsit.org/icemt/index.htm
3. 5th International Conference on e-Learning ICEL 2010
The proceedings for this conference are listed in the Thomson Reuters ISI Index to Scientific and Technical Proceedings (ISTP), the Thomson Reuters ISI ...www.academic-conferences.org
4. ICTTA 2010
2010 The 2nd International Conference on Telecom Technology and Applications ... the conference proceeding, and will be indexed by the Nielsen, Thomson ISI ...www.ictta.org/
5. International Conference on Humanities, Historical and Social ...
CHHSS 2010 Proceedings will be indexed by the Nielsen, Thomson ISI, ...www.mladiinfo.com/...conferences/international-conference-on-humanities-historical-and-social-sciences-singapore.html
6. ICKD 2010
The 2nd International Conference on Knowledge Discovery (ICKD 2010) ... submitted to IEE INSPEC, CSDL, Thomson ISI (ISTP), and EI Compendex for indexing. ...www.ickd.org/

Alumni "Pay" Back

I have been invited to be a member of one of the UiTM Alumni Committees on "Intellectual Discourse and Event". Basically the committee hopes to get successful alumni to share their experiences with the current students and recent graduates on "what it takes to get them there". The alumni chosen will be from different cohorts and age groups. The project "Alumni Pay Back", wants to encourage our alumni to "pay back" to UiTM by sharing their experiences, ideology, thought processes and preseverence with our students.

More Ideas on Book Chapters

There's a lot that we can write as book chapters. PM Dr Rozainun, Head of the Asia-Pacific Forensic Accounting Research Centre will be editing a book on "Developing Forensic Accounting Professionals". Each chapter will be contributed by lecturers who are teaching the various courses for the Master in Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology Program. Even if you are not directly involved with research, you can still write a chapter. I am sure, that everyday, we are involved with a lot of activities. Put these activities into perspectives and write them down as chapters of a book that you can somehow contribute. Very soon, a group of our postgraduate students will be participating in a "How to do a Literature Review". Well, at the end of the workshop, you can write something on what you have just learned. Add some more literature to substantiate your write up....

Three New ISI Papers

ARI is happy to announce three new papers that will be published in ISI conference proceedings. The first paper is written by Associate Professor Dr Asmah Abdul Aziz, ARI's research fellow together with her team for the 2009 International Conference on Machine and Language, Perth Australia. Two other papers are written by Dr Mohd Nizal Hanif and his team for the forthcoming business conference in Singapore. Congratulations to all of you....

Content Editing & English Editing

In our efforts to write a lot of book chapters, please remember that one of the most important steps in the publication process is to get our chapters professionally edited. Prospective readers are only exposed to our finished products, i.e the book/s. So all ARI members are advised to edit their work properly. Both content and english editing. If you have problem in getting the right editors, please do not hesitate to contact ARI.

Especially for You Novice Researchers.....

As scholars and researchers, our ultimate aim is always to publish our work in reputable, indexed journals. Perhaps nothing less than journals indexed with Scopus and ISI-Web of Science. For novice researchers, this could be a daunting task. Today I found a website that handles an online journal called Academic Leadership Online Journal. I attach here excerpts from the website that you may find interesting. The message is, faculties and COEs do not have to start a new journal. For young researchers, you can submit your articles through this kind of online platform. Later on when you are more confident, your target should be to submit in indexed journals.

About this Journal

"The online Journal of Academic Leadership is aimed at those in the academic world who are dedicated to advancing the field through their research. ALJ provides an array of articles and essays that speak to the major issues of the field faced by those in leadership roles across all content areas and disciplines – from classroom instructors to university presidents. The Journal is peer edited through a blind review process that utilizes national and international editorial boards and peer reviewers. It is listed in Cabell's and has a 45% acceptance rate.I encourage novice authors to submit their work. To provide some support for new writers, the Journal includes a section called Publishing Assistance."

For details, please browse the website as follow http://www.academicleadership.org/pages/About_the_Journal.shtml

IID 2010 and IPR

The forthcoming IID 2010 will be organized in January 2010. ARI members (including your respective students) are encouraged to participate in this event. But this time around, we will be focusing on getting the Intellectual Property Right (IPR) prior to your IID registration. This is in line with the RU requirement under the sub-heading of "Innovation". IPR in the forms of copyright and trademarks would be the most appropriate for that purpose. For ARI members to participate, that would certainly be the main pre-requisite.

Dividend Policy Research Monograph

Our team members are finalising the research monograph on dividend policy to be submitted to the Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group (MSWG) by the end of this week. The MSWG has been a very good client and has been sponsoring various research projects for ARI members. This time around, our project is covering all public listed companies in Malaysia. Once submitted, MSWG will be organising a research seminar where the research monographs will be launched and sold to the participants.

New Phd Candidate

A potential PhD candidate from USIM came to ARI recently to enquire about the possibility of doing PhD in Islamic Finance and Management Accounting at ARI. The topic reminded me of one of NAfMA's 2008 Practice Solution Award winner, Bank Muamalat Berhad whose Islamic-based product has really impressed the judges. Perhaps this is a great opportunity to collaborate with Bank Muamalat for a high level academic research and case study on the company...

Our Guest from the AG office.....

Dr Kalsom (ARI's associate member) and her Master in Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology students had this morning, invited Mr Y. Hamdan from the Auditor General Office in Putrajaya to give a talk on computer auditing. Mr Y. Hamdan is a specialist in computer audit and he has been conducting related workshops for the government auditors. During the lunch break, I was informed by Mr Y. Hamdan on how he has developed a mechanism that allows him to extraxt financial statements of the organisations that he conducts audit on. How impressive...

Starting Them Right....

For me, meeting newly appointed lecturers has always been inspiring. They are enthisiastic, full of energy and always having fresh, new ideas. As a director of ARI, I was invited by the dean to meet up with the faculty's new lecturers. After talking and listening to them, I have no doubt whatsoever that this new generation will continue our culture of excellence in UiTM. We just encouraged them to plan and chart their future early. My personal advice to them was for them to learn research, do research and to teach research to others. If we continue with this cycle, Insyaallah, UiTM too can become a research university...

Anugerah Akademik Negara (AAN)

The third AAN was held last night at the Royale Chulan's Grand Ballroom. The event was to honour academics who excelled in teaching, research and commercialisation. As a director of ARI, I was also invited to attend the dinner. It was a stimulating experience to see friends from fellow academics being recognized. The top award, Tokoh Akademik Negara was conferred to Professor Dr Muhammad Haji Salleh from USM. Congratulations Prof.

KMart's Ten Deadly Sins....

I presented a paper entitled "KMart's Ten Deadly Sins: a Counter Strategy by Mydin Hypermarket". The paper was based on a 2003 book KMart's 10 Deadly Sins by Marcia Layton Turner which according to Dato' Ameer Ali Mydin had a tremendous influence over the Mydin's business. Our research team comprising Dr Zuraidah, Dr Norashikin, Ms Noralmiah and myself had early this year interviewed Dato' Ameer, the managing director of Mydin Holding Bhd. It was interesting to learn from Dato' Ameer, how Mydin had used KMart's experiences to its own advantage. "Smart people learned from the experiences of others"....

What is the Worth of Your RM1?...

As he was officiating the 13th MACFEA seminar in Shah Alam, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister shared a story of how he recently had breakfast in a cafe which was owned by one cooperative in Kuala Lumpur. the cafe was promoting a "RM1 Breakfast package". With RM1, one could get roti canai for 40 sen and teh tarik for 60 sen. The minister was told by the cafe owner that he only incurred 18 sen to make roti canai and 20 sen for his teh tarik. Yet, he can make some profit from this business. Well, the concept is very simple: usually we make profit when we charge a higher selling price for our product; but we can also focus on selling higher volume at lower selling price. Aspiring researcher, may be you can do a case study on this cafe...."Now everyone can have a RM1 breakfast"...... fancy?

Meeting Two Lady VCs......

It was an interesting moment to meet Prof Dato' Aminah Ayub, the Vice Chancellor of UPSI at a recent event in UiTM. Dato' Aminah and I were attending the same university: University of Iowa, USA in the early 1980s. She was then doing her Master in Biology and I was in my third year BBA. Also present for the event was UKM's vice chancellor, Tan Sri Prof Dr Sharifah Hafsah. Perhaps ARI can soon initiative collaborative research with UPSI & UKM...After all, ARI must embark on multi-diciplinary research.

Effective Researchers: What to Focus On?

Whether you are a research student or a fellow academic researcher, the question I like to ask you, is "are you being effective?". To be an effective researcher, you must end each research task by writing it properly. Once your write up for that particular task is completed, attempt to publish your work. Focus on publishing your works in journals that are indexed with Scopus or ISI-Web of Science. Sometimes researchers spent a lot of time reading articles and books and no attempt is made to write their work quickly. As a result, writing will become a chore. Write at least one paragraph a day, then write a page a day. Very soon, you will get better at writing and publishing your work. That's how you become effective....

ARI to Offer PhD Program

The university senate had recently approved the proposal to allow centres of exclence such as ARI to offer graduate level programs. For a start, ARI would like to focus on offering PhD in Forensic & Criminology and Corporate Governance. Students could then be actively involved with the research projects undertaken by by two research centres namely AFARe and CGRC. As the researchers from these centres are already well-networked with relevant authorities/agencies such as the Malaysian Institute of Integrity, Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance, Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group, the Association on Fraud Examiners, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision, the Royal Malaysian Police etc, researchers will be much facilitated in getting research data. Interested researchers are welcome to register with ARI & you don't have to be an accountant....

Dana Kecemerlangan "Clinic"

A research "clinic" cum briefing session was organized today by the Research Management Institute. Basically, the event was organised to assist researchers whose research proposals were previously "rejected". Another opportunity was given for these researchers to update and improve their proposals so that they can resubmit them for the forthcoming evaluation meeting. Facilitators from among professors and experienced researchers were appointed to assist participants with their proposals.