As originally printed in The Star on August 27, 2017: In collaboration with the Institute of Enterprise Risk Practitioners (IERP) based in London, KDU University
College unveils a new revolution to the business industry by introducing the world’s first Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme specialising in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM).
(From left) Paramount group chief executive officer and executive director Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong, Bank Negara Malaysia assistant governor Donald Joshua Jaganathan and International Institute of Enterprise Risk Practitioner chairman of the Board of Governors Ramesh Pillai during the signing ceremony.The programme saw its official launch on May 22 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur by Paramount group chief executive officer and executive director Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong and International Institute of Enterprise Risk Practitioner chairman of the Board of Governors Ramesh Pillai in conjunction with IERP’s Global Conference 2017 Enterprise Risk Management: Harnessing Disruption.
The officiation of the MBA programme was witnessed by Bank Negara Malaysia assistant governor Donald Joshua Jaganathan, KDU University College vice-chancellor Prof Dr Hiew Pang Leang, Academic of KDU University College deputy vice-chancellor Assoc Prof Dr Hon Wei Min, Administration of KDU University College deputy vice-chancellor Shanker Sathivellu, KDU University College chief marketing officer Sheikh Fahmy Sheikh Mohamed and the rest of the participants of the global conference as well as the KDU team.
The world is facing new challenges, repeated global crises and unprecedented threats.
All these have heightened the demand for professionals and experts in enterprise risk management as more businesses are starting to focus their attention more on sustainable business practices.
ERM is all about developing and ensuring commercial sustainability, agility and resilience.
It is the latest and most highly in demand business management discipline.
This MBA programme blends academic and professional knowledge focusing on practical and holistic aspects of ERM.
It covers the essential understanding and requirements of corporate governance, methods to enhance corporate strategy using ERM and how to add significant value to any organisation’s performance by crafting business strategy in a more effective forward thinking fashion.
According to Pillai, “ERM helps you craft realistic strategies for organisations to do better than everyone else as it enables you to disrupt the market and achieve your objectives.”
He added, “Our faculty members are essentially current risk practitioners. This means that students will not be exposed only to theoretical instructions but rather the theoretical knowledge will be overlaid with practical applications where these practitioners will share their own personalised war stories they encountered throughout their working experience.”
Pillai also explained, “This specialised MBA programme has been specially designed to provide postgraduate students with specific and applicable exemptions from the relevant subjects of the IERP’s professional certification examinations. Graduates from this programme will then have the option of utilising their exemptions to pursue the IERP’s professional International Enterprise Risk Management certification programmes.”
International IERP chief executive officer Chong Sui Wei also shared her thoughts on Risk Management Practitioners.
“If you want to stand out from the crowd, then you should definitely opt for this qualification as there is a shortage of ERM talent globally. ERM is a fairly new management science if you were to compare it to the other subjects like management, accounting, human resource and marketing. I would like to liken ERM as the Gen-Y of management sciences if you look at it from the evolution timeline. That means that a qualification in ERM would definitely increase your value to recruiting employers,” said Chong.
She added, “Graduates are welcome to participate in the IERP’s networking sessions, which would provide them with opportunities to meet other risk professionals. Some of whom may also be looking for talents to join them in their organisations.”
The MBA programme was developed with keen insights and the market needs in mind.
KDU’s School of Business senior lecturer Dr Tan Consilz mentioned, “We are very proud to be the first private higher education institution to offer such a niche programme in Malaysia and globally recognised to be the only MBA that offers specialisation in the Enterprise Risk Management area to provide cutting-edge exposure to our students for them to engage effectively in the current fast-moving business environment.”
She added, “We believe that our programme will produce graduates who can work independently and sustainably in order to achieve success in their career.”
As testimony to KDU’s dedication and commitment to its brand and academic excellence, the institution was recently awarded The BrandLaureate Most Sustainable Brand Award 2016-2017 for Brand Excellence in the Education – Private University College category.
■ To find out how you can hit the ground running with KDU University College, drop by its Glenmarie campus during the Open Day, on-going from now until Aug 27, from 10am to 5pm.
Alternatively, visit www.kdu.edu.my or call 03-5565 0538.
