ARI-IKAZ Research Collaboration

Researchers from the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) and the Institute of Zakat Research (IKAZ)met up today to discuss possible research collaboration in the area of Zakat and Waqaf. Ikaz was represented by its director, associate professor Dr Hasan Baharom, his deputy, associate professor Dr Halim and two researchers, Dr Afandi and Associate Professor Dr Noraini.
ARI on the other hand was represented by Professor Dr Normah Omar (ARI Director), Professor Dr Rashidah Abdul Rahman (Deputy Director), Dr Nawal Kassim, head of the Islamic Accounting and Muamalat research centre and Hj Ismail (ARI Senior fellow). The meeting agreed in principle to undertake several collaborative research projects related to Zakat and Waqaf. With the aim of obliterating poverty among the Muslim ummah, two projects, "Waqaf Investment as a tool to elevate institutionals' economic performance" and "Supply-Backed Islamic Microfinancing of Zakat's Asnaf recepients" will be carried out immediately in February 2012.

ARI-Al Wafiq Network Collaboration

The Accounting Research Institute welcomes Mr Roslan Abdul Razak, Managing Director of Al Wafiq Network, who met up with researchers from the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) this morning. Mr Roslan's prior experiences include being(1)Director, Training & Professionals Development di Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM), (2) Director, Shariah Investments di Prudential Fund Management Berhad, Kuala Lumpur and (3)Director, Shariah Business Advisory at the Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM). ARI was represented by Prof Dr Normah Omar, Prof Dr Rashidah Abdul Rahman, Dr Nawal Kasim and Hj Ismail. In tandem with ARI's niche research agenda in Islamic Financial Criminology, the meeting was held to specifically discuss possible collaborations between ARI and Al Wafiq Network. In fact, Al Wafiq Network was established with the specific purpose of enhancing the Islamic Finance industry in Malaysia and globally. At the end of the meeting, five possible collaborations were identified: (1) Lecture series in Islamic Finance for ARI researchers and students; (2) Post graduate specialization course in "Shariah Audit"; (3) Collaborative research related to issues and challenges faced by Islamic financial institutions; (4)the establishment of a "mini" consultancy entity and (5) the development of an Islamic finance portal.

ARI's February Conferences

Apart from the two-day International Convention on Boards to be held in New Delhi India on 9-10 February 2012, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) will also be co-organzing two other conferences in February 2012. The first conference 2012 International Conference on Governance and Accountability (ICGA 2012) will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Kuching, Sarawak on 15-18 February 2012. Themed "Ethics, Accountability and Governance: Towards Sustaining Value Creation", the ICGA 2012 will be co-organized with the Sebelas Maret Universit, Indonesia; SRRNet & De Monfort University, UK; University of South Australia; Curtin University Australia; CSR Asia; APCeS-ACCA and IGonGFERS. The Kuching Conference is supported by the Sarawak State Government, Sarawak Convention Bureau, Kuching City Council and the Sarawak Tourism Board. Another conference, The 2nd Accounting Research & Education Conference (AREC 2012) will be held at Universiti Teknologi MARA on 21-23 February 2012. This conference, with the theme "Economic Transformation Programme:The Role of Accounting Education and Profession" is co-organized with the Malaysian Association of Accounting Academic (MyAA); Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA; The Malaysian Accounting Research & Education Foundation (MAREF)and supported by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE).

International Convention on Boards

As part of its internationalization initiatives, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) will be co-organizing an International Convention on Boards in New Delhi, India. The international convention will be co-organized with five other organizations namely (1) Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE), India (2)Institute of Business Research, University of Waikato, New Zealand (3)ONCG, India (4)Oil India Limited and (5)NMDC Limited, India. At the upcoming event in New Delhi on 9-10 February 2012, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed between Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and the Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE). UiTM Vice Chancellor Dato' Professor Ir Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar and Professor Dr Mishra will be signing the MOU on behalf of UiTM and IPE respectively on 9th February 2012. Themed “Meeting the challenges of the Boards through sharing experiences and deliberations”, the international convention is expected to attract a lot of corporate leaders to the event.

ARI-IIM Collaboration

Collaboration between the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) of Universiti Teknologi MARA and the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM)has been long standing. Recently, several researchers from ARI were involved and participated in the Corporate Integrity System Roundtable at IIM. Today, two IIM Officers: Ms Nurul and Mr Roszaidi from the Private Sector Division of IIM came to discuss with ARI researchers on other possible future collaborations. ARI researchers could possibly contribute in terms of collaborative research and joint-publications. The two entities (UiTM and IIM)will hopefully be signing an MOU soon to formalize their collaboration.

Research Collaboration and Competency Training

Late last year, researchers from the Accounting Research Institutes (ARI) completed two research collaboration projects with the Accountants General Department (AGD). The two projects were namely (i) Financial Reporting Analysis of Malaysian Local Authorities and (ii) Forensic Accounting Skills of Government Accountant. Following those successful research projects, the AGD has recently asked ARI researchers to conduct another research project related to Accrual Accounting in the Public Sector. In addition, ARI researchers, comprising Associate Professor Dr Nafsiah Mohammed, Associate Professor Dr Roshayani Arshad and Associate Professor Dr Ruhaya Atan have been asked to conduct several training programs on Accrual Accounting for government accountants. A meeting to discuss the collaborative project was held today at ARI Office.

UiTM Futuristic Workshop in Malacca

Day 3
On the third day of the workshop, participants were briefed on other important aspects of the university by the other Deputy Vice Chancellors. Prof Dr Azni Zain Ahmed (Deputy VC Academic & Internationalization) spoke of new futuristic programs, state campus autonomy, international collaboration, Vice Chancellor Special Projects (VCSPs). Prof Dato' Dr Abdullah Said (Deputy VC Students Affairs) deliberated on students' extra-cullicular activities, Soft Skill, Finishing Schools, Community Services, graduate placement and Graduate Accountability. Prof Dr Norsaadah Ismail (Deputy VC ICAN) explained her networking plans with the Industry, Community and Alumni. All in all, UiTM Futuristic aims to place the university on the world map through its research collaboration, academic programs, student placements & internship, Industry & Community engagements and Alumni Network. To summarize it all, the Vice Chancellor, Dato' Prof Ir Dr Sahol Hamid addressed the workshop participants and emphasized his vision for the university. As a member of this large "family", everyone has a role to play. Together, we can achieve...

UiTM Futuristic Workshop in Malacca

Day Two
The second day of the workshop deliberates on organizational as well as operational strategies of the research entities.
Included in the "research entities" category are (i) Centres of Excellence (CoE), (ii) Research Interest Groups (RIG) and (iii) Research segment or division of faculties and state campuses. The workshop started with a briefing by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation)on research aspiration of the university. Participants of this workshop comprise Deans of faculties, Rectors of state campuses, Directors of CoEs, Heads of Research Management Institute (RMI) and Heads of the University's Strategic Planning Unit. Discussions include strategies and milestones towards the enhancement of the MyRA scores for each research entity. As incentives, the university has allocated special "seed research funding" for qualified research entities. It's heartfelt to know that the university (UiTM)has the highest number research collaborations from among Higher Learning Institutions in Malaysia...

UiTM Futuristic Workshop in Malacca

Day 1
In its effort to enhance research output within the university, the Research Management Institute (RMI)organizes a three day workshop (13-15 January 2012)in Malacca.
Themed UiTM Futuristic, the three-day workshop is divided into three different segments: (i) Workshop on Research Entities and Centres of Excellence (ii)UiTM Research Initiatives 2012-2013 and (iii) UiTM Futuristic Briefings by Deputy Vice Chancellors (Academics & Internationalisation, Students Affairs and Industry, Community & Alumni linkages). On the first day of the workshop, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Prof Dr Abdul Rahman Omar met up with the directors of centres of excellence (CoE). Discussions were basically focused on the newly launched Research Policy of the university. One of the most important aspects of the policy is the move to appoint research fellows on a secondment basis (rather than a dual-appointment as previously practiced)to the centre of excellence. This will allow researchers to focus on their research activities during their tenureship as research fellows. Centres of Excellence are also advised to identify and to focus on a specific niche research area.

ARI-RMCD Collaboration

In its effort to champion research in financial criminology, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI)has initiated preliminary discussions with the Royal Malaysia Custom Department (RMCD)in Putrajaya on possible research collaboration. Today, ARI director, Prof Dr Normah Omar and another taxation researcher, Associate Professor Dr Rohaya Mohd Nor visited the RMCD Office and met up with Dato' Shaharuddin Ibrahim, Deputy Director General RMCD. Initial discussions include a collaborative research project to develop risk profiles of indirect tax payers in Malaysia. The development of such profiles would facilitate RMCD in handling the issue of tax evasion among prospective tax payers. In addition, the collaborative research also aspires to develop fraud risk indicators for indirect taxation. Future collaborations will include training in forensic accounting and joint-publications.

Post Doctoral Lecture

In his first post-doctoral lecture series at the Accounting Research Institute (ARI), Dr Ghani Majidi discussed a topic on "Poverty Eradication through Zakat and Islamic Microfinancing Vehicle". This research topic is part of ARI HICoE's fundamental research in Islamic Accounting & Finance. Dr Ghani is an economist by training and it is interesting to see how he blends economics, finance, accounting and theology in his research. Premised on a "Karamma model", the concept integrates Islamic microfinancing with supply-based business venture.
Dr Ghani is currently a post-doctoral scholar at ARI. He will be attached with the institute for a period of one year. Whilst here, he will embark on a few research projects with ARI researchers in the area of Islamic Microfinancing. Prior to joining ARI, Dr Ghani who obtained his PhD in Economics from Essex Universty, UK had several teaching experience in Sweden and England.

ARI-MPC Partnership

Today, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) received three visitors from Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC).
Our guests, Mr Ab Rahim Yusoff (Senior Director), Mr Omar Othman (Manager) and Mr Zaki Jaafar (Senior Consultants) are all from the Business Excellence Department, MPC. In essence the meeting discussed several potential collaborations: Research, Training, Consulting and Publication between ARI and MPC. MPC, whose core competency is in the areas of productivity and total quality management is the secretariate of several quality-based national awards. ARI on the other hand, is a national Higher Institutions' Centre of Excellence (HICoE), whose niche research agenda is in the area of Islamic Financial Criminology (IFC). In addition to IFC, ARI's core competency includes management accounting, financial reporting, corporate governance and public sector accounting. The win-win smart collaboration between the two entities will certainly benefit the country. ARI researchers who took part in the ARI-MPC discussions were namely Prof Dr Normah Omar (ARI Director), Prof Datin Dr Suzana (Head of CIMA-UiTM Asian Management Accounting Research Centre), Associate Professor Dr Wee Shu Hui (Research Fellow) and Madam Sharifah Fadzlon (ARI Associate).

New Office Bearers

The new year saw new appointments for the Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA. Prof Dr Rozainun Abdul Aziz is the new Dean for the faculty. Associate Professor Dr Arun and Professor Dr Norazam are respectively Deputy Deans for Academic & Internationalization and Research & Industry Linkages. Meanwhile, Professor Dr Rohana Othman is Head of the Asia Pacific Forensic Accounting Research Centre (AFARe), a research cluster under the governance of the Accounting Research Institute. Congratulations all and may 2012 be a great year.

Welcome Aboard ARI New Members

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) welcomes our two new research fellows: Associate Professor Dr Haryani Haron from the Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences (FSKM) and Dr Siti Arpah Nordin from the Faculty of Information Management who have just joined the institute this month. Both Dr Haryani and Dr Siti Arpah will be embarking on an international research on "Knowledge and Information Needs of Engineers and Managers". The research which is coordinated by the Socio-Technical Centre, Leeds University Business School will involve twelve other countries: Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and United Kingdom. For ARI, this international project will be placed under the Vice-Chancellor Special Projects (VCSP)under the category of "Strategic Alliance with Top Notch Research Centre". Seen in this photo are Dr Haryani (red scarf), Dr Siti Arpah (white scarf)and Razimah (floral scarf), a PhD student from Edith Cowan University, Australia

Happy New Year 2012

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) wishes a Happy New Year to all researchers, asssociate members and our stakeholders. The year 2011 has been a great year for ARI. Its first year activities as a Higher Institutions' Centre of Excellence (HICoE) have seen major results in its niche research in the area Islamic Financial Criminology (IFC). The results include among others: sixty articles in indexed journals, thirty publications in indexed proceedings, forty seven national and international research collaboration, the organizing of two conferences in Islamic Financial Criminology, the signing of several MOUs and letters of intent, the enrolment of fifteen new post graduate students, international benchmarking visits to Taiwan, Singapore, United Kingdom and Australia and the publication of several special issue journal in IFC. 2011 ended on a good footing with the research proposal Retreat 2011 where six research cluster projects have been identified. May 2012 be another great year for all of us... Happy New Year to all.