Potential Research Collaboration with Lehigh University USA

Today ARI and the Faculty of Accountancy received two guests from the Office of International Affairs from Lehigh University, USA. Prof Dr Mohamed S. El-Assser is the Vice President for International Affairs and Ms Debra H. Nyby, the Director for International Services.
Our discussions focussed on three possible area of collaborations: (i) UiTM Students' Internship in the US, possibly in Fall of 2012, (ii)Student Exchange Program and (iii) collaborative international research. Some of ARI researchers may visit several related research centres at Lehigh University in early 2011 to discuss details of the collaborative projects.

Jumpstarting Scholarly Writing

The committee of the university's Vice Chancellor Special Project (VCSP) on Producing Top Notch Scholarly Writers organized a one day workshop themed "Jumpstarting Scholarly Writing" Series No 2.
In the morning session, the workshop participants were presented with three papers: (i) Getting to Know Scholarly Articles, Citation and Journal Impact Factor by Prof Szarina Abdullah (ii) Strategies From Centres of Excellence by Prof Dr Normah Omar and (iii)Writing for Flagship Journals: Best Practice by Assoc Prof Dr Norzaidi Mohd Daud.
In the afternoon, participants were invited to discuss on strategies on enhancing the quantity and quality of university publications. For this event, participants were mainly deputy deans, deputy campus directors, research and publication coordinators and other active researchers.

Vice Chancellor Quality Award Finalist

The Faculty of Accountancy and ARI are in the final round of the university's Vice Chancellor Quality Award 2010. This is a yearly competition and the responsibility centre with the best overall practices will be recognized at the end of the year. The final presentation was focused on evaluating three most important strengths of the responsibility centre.
For the faculty and ARI, the three most important strengths which brought about significant impact are (i) Academic Distinction & Global Recognition (ii) Students Quality and Development and (iii) Research Excellence.
In essence, accountancy was the first program introduced by the university way back in 1956. Hence, it makes logical sense that we have received a lot of global recognition from various accounting professional bodies such as ACCA, CIMA, MICPA, ICAEW, CPA Australia, CAT, CTIM, ACAMS, and ACFE. Due to our very stringent and high level entry point, the faculty has been able to produce high quality first class graduates.
The graduates do not just excell academically, they come in a complete package. We also equipped them with soft skills and entrepreneurship knowledge. As far as research excellence is concerned, the very fact that ARI has been recognized as a HICoE is testimonial of our contribution to the university. A total of nine finalists were invited to make their final presentation today.

ARI's Winning Products at International Exhibition

ARI showcases five award winning products at the Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Islamic Research (ICMHESR)2010. "Directors' Remuneration Benchmark" had won the overall Diamond Award at IID2008. ) The product was a spin-off of ARI's research collaboration with the Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group (MSWG). "AQuR" which stands for Audit Quality Rating was the result of a joint research between ARI and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants MIA). It was the overall diamond innovation winner for IID2009. "Industry MINS" is an industry benchmark and gold winners, the research of which was sponsored under the Prime Minister Programme (PERDANA).
"Shariah Audit Traits" is the outcome of a PhD research by one of our research fellows. "BOLD TRAG" is a management game devceloped by ARI's latest research centre: Government-Linked Companies Research Centre (GLCRC). Both of these later products were gold winners at the university's IID2010 Special Edition exhibition.

DPM's Visit to HICoE Booths

The Deputy Prime Minister, YB Tan Sri Muhyidin Yasin was the guest of honour to grace open the 5th Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research held on 19-21 October at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).
Themed "Enculturation of Quality in Academia, Research and Innovation Towards the Prosperity of the Ummah", the conference was attended by more than 300 international participants. In conjunction with the event, the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE)had invited all six HICoEs to set up booths and exhibit their products. Since this is an international conference attended mostly by policy makers, it is certainly a good a avenue to promote all the HICoEs.
ARI showcased five products namely AQuR, Shariah Audit Traits , BOLD TRAG, Industry Mins and Directors' Remuneration Benchmark. It is certainly a great networking event as researchers are able to meet up face-to-face with international research funders, especially those from the OIC countries.

Research on NPO and Charity Accounting

Several of ARI's research fellows will be involved in a collaborative research on Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs)and Charity Accounting with several national/ international agencies and top notch research centres. National agencies such as FIU and CCM have indicated their interest to collaborate with us on this research project. A research centre at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore is also interested to participate. Currently the proposal is being discussed by all parties. Upon completion of this project, we hope to develop a suitable financial reporting framework for non-profit organisations in this country. ARI's research fellow, Dr Radiah Othman will be the principal investigator for this research.

Congratulations Three Gold Winners

ARI wishes to congratulate our three gold medalists who won the innovation competition at the recent IID 2010 Special edition - all were from the staff category.
The first winner, Prof Dr Rozainun Abdul Aziz and her team showcased their product called EFP: Company VS Industry.
Second was Dr Azmi Abdul Hamid and his team with their product known as the BOLD TRAG. The third gold winner was Dr Nawal Kasim who developed a product called Narrating Shari'ah Audit Practices. Congratulations again and well done. All three products will be showcased at the forthcoming Ministers' of Higher Education Convention at the KLCC on 19-21 October 2010.

Celebrating Innovations

ARI wishes to congratulate all our participants (staff and students categories) who took part in today's competition of IID2010 special edition.
A total of 23 innovative products from ARI were showcased. Products are judged based on criteria such as Originality, Applicability, Commercial potentials, presentation and academic recognition.
Though ARI had originally registered 26 products, due to unforeseen circumstances, three products had to be withdrawn.
Of the 23 products, six were produced by staff, eight and nine were respectively developed by our Masters and Bachelor of Accountancy students. Well done..

ARI First Product at IID2010SE

Congratulations to Muthyaah and her team from the Master in Forensic Accounting & Financial Criminology team for showcasing our first innovative product at the Invention, Innovation and Design (IID 2010)special edition held today at the Innovation and Creativity Centre, Universiti Teknologi MARA. Titled "Fraud Saver", it is our only product exhibited on the first day, today. The remaining 25 products will be showcased tomorrow. This year sees a total of 499 products being selected for the event. Very competitive indeed. ARI wishes all our contestants the best of luck.

ARI HICoE Recognized at IID2010 Special Edition

It was really a pleasant surprise for ARI when it received a special HICoE Award from the vice chancellor of the university during the opening ceremony of the Invention, Innovation & Design (IID 2010 Special Edition) this morning. The award was a formal recognition by the university for our achievement as a national higher institutions' centre of excellence (HICoE). It was a great honour to be recognized and we will work harder to bring the university to greater height. Thanks again...

Congratulations Assoc Prof Dr Nafsiah Mohamed

ARI wishes to congratulate Associate Professor Dr Nafsiah Mohamed, Head of the UiTM-CPA Australia Public Sector Accounting Research Centre (PSARC), one of the seven research centres under ARI over her recent success in promoting her research product PAC Kit. This kit is a practice solution product developed by Dr Nafsiah and her team to facilite government agencies to prepare a transparent and accurate financial reporting.
PAC Kit is a very simple-to-use product, complete with a step-by-step instruction. Certainly it will be a great initiative for government agencies to enhance public accountability and transparency reporting. Recently, Dr Nafsiah presented her product to the PAC Committee, Perak State who is interested to explore using the practice solution for the state. Congratulations and well done Dr Nafsiah & PSARC

Hari Raya Do for ARI and the Faculty of Accountancy

It has a great joint Hari Raya "Open House" for the Faculty of Accountancy and ARI this afternoon. In conjunction with the event, it was also a great occasion to congratulate and appreciate several members: Associate Professor Andrew Leong's retirement; promotion of Mr Shameer & Ezrien, our two young researchers to senior lecturer position and the new title of "Datin" to Prof Dr Suzana Sulaiman, head of ARI's Asian Management Accounting Research Centre (AMARC). ARI also wish to congratulate ten of our researchers who will be performing the pilgrimige to Mecca this year. ARI members affected will be: Associate Prof Dr Roshayani Arshad, Head of the Financial Reporting Research Centre; Prof Dr Zubaidah, Head of the Accounting Education SIG; Dr Sharifah Khadijah and Associate Professor Dr Ruhaya Ata, ARI Associate members and Dr Nizal Haniff, ARI Research Fellow. Congratulations to all and well done...

Formation of the Islamic Accounting & Finance SIG

ARI during its monthly meeting today has approved the formation of the Islamic Accounting and Finance Special Interest Group. This latest SIG will be headed by Dr Nawal Kassim (ARI Associate Research Fellow)and assisted by Associate Prof Dr Azam, ARI's research fellow from the Centre of Islamic Thought and Understanding. It is greatly hoped that the formation of this SIG will enhance the quantity and quality of ARI research in this topic. Dr Nawal's research interest has always been in Islamic Accounting and Shari'ah Auditing. Meanwhile, Dr Azam's interest is in the area of Islamic Finance. Hence, the integration of both expertise would spur good quality research for ARI.

Celebrating Excellence

ARI wishes to congratulate our students who have been honoured for their great academic performance during a special "Excellence Day" ceremony held this afternoon.
The event was officiated by Dato' Zukri Samad, the Managing Director of Bank Islam (M) Berhad. In attendance to celebrate the occasion was UiTM vice chancellor, Dato' Prof Ir Dr Sahool Hamid and the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation),Associate Prof Dr Zaini Abdullah. Six of our Master in Forensic Accounting students received their congratulatory scrolls from the guest of honour. Congratulation to all.
A speacial mention is to Mr Khalid Kamaruzaman, a Certified Accouting Technician (CAT) student who was named the best "World list" candidate in the last examination. Congratulations to all...

Accounting and Reporting Issues in Family Firms

ARI receives a request "Call for Paper" from the guess-editor of the European Accounting Review Journal, an ISI THOMSON/SCOPUS-Indexed journal. Please find below the content of the email sent by Dr Annalisa Prencipe, guest editor of the special issue on "Accounting and Reporting Issues in Family Firms". Those interested to publish in reputable indexed journal should respond to this call for paper.

Dear Madam,

I am guest-editor of a special issue of the European Accounting Review on "Accounting and Reporting Issues in Family Firms".
I would like to advertise the call for papers on your website. Would you please be so kind to tell me whether it is possible and, if so, how much is the cost and what is the procedure to follow?
I believe that this special issue is a great opportunity for many Asian academics to publish their research on family firms.
Thank you in advance for your kind reply

Best regards

Annalisa Prencipe, PhD
Department of Accounting
Università Bocconi
Via Roentgen 1 - 20136 Milan (Italy)
Room 5-A4-07
Tel. +39-02-58362574
Fax +39-02-58362561