Business Studies (172)
The Business Studies Department, represented by Mr Mohammed Al Sakiti, participated in a research-gathering event entitled “Towards Spreading the Culture of Research and Innovation” on Tuesday, 12 February 2019, at the College of Applied Sciences, Suhar.
The main aim of this event was to encourage academics to share their thoughts on different areas of research. The keynote speakers of this event, Dr Shahid Al Balushi and Dr Reynaldo, shared their experiences on how conferences, workshops and symposiums can benefit higher education institutions to promote research activities.
The symposium consisted of three sessions emphasising Arabic and Education studies, Mathematics studies, and Business and Communication studies. At the end of the gathering, certificates of appreciation were given to the keynote speakers and presenters.
The Students Research Committee of the Business Studies Department organised a presentation on “REVIEW OF LITERATURE”, on 5 February 2019, from 12.30pm to 1.30pm at A016B.
The purpose of the presentation was to train the project students on how to use the previous studies, in their field of research, in order to find research gaps and formulate research problems.
Dr Balaji Swami Nathan, Faculty of Business Studies Department, College of Applied Science, Ibri, was the key speaker at the session and he demonstrated to the students how to review pioneering research papers and highly cited publications using prominent a database such as Google Scholar, Ebsco and so on.
The students learned how to review literature and identify research gaps and other relevant matters. Around 45 students, from both the Advanced Diploma and Bachelor classes, participated and benefitted from the presentation. Dr Ansarul Haque and Dr M. Tamilslevan, project coordinators, organised and coordinated the presentation.
The Learning Resource Committee of the Business Studies Department organised a student training programme on Sunday, 3 February 2019, from 12 to 2pm in the Lecture Theatre.
The objective of the programme was to familiarise and equip the students with the advanced options in MS Excel that can be used for student projects and future research.
The speaker Dr Syeda Zubaida Hashmi explained the data compilation techniques, different tools of data analysis techniques such as Correlation, Regression, and Multiple Regression etc., using MS Excel 2016.
The students were made aware of setting hypothesis, accept, and reject criterion using p-value, R2 and setting the statements in findings and conclusions allied to the results of analysis.
The student Research Committee of the Business Studies Department conducted a workshop on “Sampling Techniques” on 12 February 2019 from 12 to 1pm in A204 for the senior/graduation project students. The purpose of the workshop was to give training to the students on sampling design, sampling size and application of sampling techniques that they may apply to their current projects.
Dr Ansarul Haque, coordinator, Students Research Committee, welcomed the project students and resource persons of the workshop, Mr Muhammed Faisal and Mr Asif Mahmood.
The workshop was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, Mr Muhammed Faisal discussed the sampling techniques mostly used for HR projects. He elaborated how students can design the sample and sample size for their respective studies. Further, he explained this by using some of the project titles as samples.
In the next stage of training, Mr Asif Mahmood explained how sampling techniques can be used for the projects in Accounting Specialisation. He further added how the studies can be conducted in the areas of accounting and finance considering secondary data.
The faculty and students who attended this session showed their enthusiasm by participating in the discussion and requested for more such training sessions to be conducted in future.
The workshop ended at 1pm with a vote of thanks by Dr Ansarul Haque.
The Entrepreneurship Committee, Career Guidance Office and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support Unit of Ibri College of Technology arranged an industrial visit to Ocean Plastic Industry in Ibri, on 28 January 2019. The students pursuing the Entrepreneurship course in their second-year diploma were taken to the company at 10am. They were accompanied by Mr Syed Akram Pasha (course teacher) and Mr Zaid (CGO).
The main objective of the visit was to enlighten the students’ practical knowledge on entrepreneurship processes. During their visit, students saw the entire factory, received an overview of the organisational structure, and witnessed various processes carried out in plastic manufacturing. In addition to this, the company personnel explained to the students the types of plastic bags produced and their quality aspects to be accounted for making plastics. Furthermore, the importance of recycling process was also explained, and the students were shown how it is done. The visit ended with question and answer session with the company employees and the visit ended at 11.45am. Around 25 students were present and benefited from the experience.
The visit was successfully conducted and on behalf of Entrepreneurship Committee I am thankful to the college management, assistant dean for student affairs, assistant dean for administration and finance, head of the Business Studies Department, Ocean Plastic Industry management and its employees and special word of thanks is extended to the Career Guidance Office coordinator, Mr Zaid Al-Badi, Ms Amal Al Mamari (Head of IESU Unit) and faculty members of the Business Studies Department.
On 15 January 2019 the Learning Resource Committee of the Business Studies Department organised a workshop for its staff members on ‘Adapting ProQuest’ in their teaching methodology.
The purpose of this workshop was to create awareness among the staff members on ProQuest, its applications and how its resources support in research and learning. The workshop was aimed at encouraging teachers to include ProQuest in their teaching methodology so as to make the students’ learning process more fruitful.
Dr Syeda Zubaida Hashmi, the committee coordinator, gave the presentation wherein she introduced the staff members to ‘ProQuest’ and its uses. Later she demonstrated the steps involved in registering oneself as a member and the subsequent process on how it can be included into one’s research and learning. She also demonstrated on how to register the students on ProQuest and how they can use its applications in their learning.
She urged the members to encourage their students to register and start using various applications on ProQuest and make their learning more resourceful. All the members benefitted from this session and felt that ProQuest can indeed help the teachers and students in their teaching and learning pursuit.
The IQAC of the Business Studies Department, in coordination with the Policy Management Committee, organised a Policy Awareness (First) Session, for the staff of the department on Tuesday, 15 January 2019 in room 016B at 11.45am. Dr Surendar Vaddepalli, IQAC coordinator of the department, conducted the session.
He commenced the session by briefing the attendees on the purpose and importance of the awareness of different policies. The attendees were then divided into groups and each group was allocated one approved policy, to be read and discussed among the group members.
The groups were then asked to highlight the important points of their allotted policy in the form of a summary and deliver it to the audience in the form of presentation so as to make each staff aware of the policies.
Awareness activities on the Communication Policy, Documentation Policy, Exit Interview Policy, Mobile Phone and Gadgets Policy, Student Feedback Policy, Staff Induction Policy and Student Advising Policy were held during this first session.
All the staff attended and benefitted from attending the session. The session concluded at 12.45pm.
The Business Studies Department, represented by Mr Mohammed Al Sakiti, participated in a three-day workshop on “Train the Trainer” from 18 to 20 December 2018 in Muscat. The workshop was organised and delivered by Ishraqa as part of Khimji Ramdas Institute’s commitment towards the society. The training programme is certified by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), UK.
On the first day of the workshop, different topics were covered, including the characteristics of an exceptional trainer, learning styles, and how to design a training programme. All the participants delivered a training session on the second day of the workshop and received immediate feedback from the trainer. On the third day of the workshop, the participants were taught in depth on adult learning theory, and how to evaluate a training programme.
The Students Research Committee of the Business Studies Department organised a presentation on Secondary Data Analysis Using E-Views and Report Writing, on 4 December 2018, from 12pm to 2pm in the Free Access Lab (A018B). The purpose of the presentation was to demonstrate data analysis acumen and report writing skills for students who are doing Research Project for the first time.
Ms Laly Antony, Lecturer, Accounting, handled the first session. She demonstrated to the project students how to draft the Project Report using Microsoft Word.
Dr M. Tamilslevan conducted the second session in which he gave a presentation on how to perform data analysis using software such as E-Views and MS Excel. He performed regression analysis using independent and dependent variables and showed the cause and effect relationship between the variables.
The 25 students who participated learned how to perform data analysis and interpret the results. Students from both Advanced Diploma and Bachelor classes had a very interactive session which was coordinated by Dr Ansarul Haque, Project Coordinator.
The Entrepreneurship Committee and Career Guidance Office, in collaboration with Eshraqa-Khimji Ramdas Training and Consultancy Division, Muscat, organised the Campus to Corporate Leadership Workshop in the Multi-Purpose Hall on 14 November 2018. The workshop consisted of two sessions.
The first session started at 9.30 am with a presentation by Mr Nadeem Ahmed, General Manager, Khimji Training and Development Division - about the basic concepts of leadership, communication, innovation and team management skills. The presentation was followed by a creative activity ‘Castle with Flag’ for the students in groups. The objective was to enlighten the students on team building skills. The first session finished at 11.45am.
The second session started at 12.15pm. In this session the seven habits of successful people were discussed. The objective was to make students aware of the Professional Behavioural Skills, Personality Development Skills, the challenges ahead, and how to control the mind. The discussion was followed with an activity ‘Spaghetti- Marshmallow competition’. The objective was to explore the design process of thinking, doing, and iteration among the students. This session finished at 2.45pm.
Around 90 students from all departments, including alumni, attended the sessions. All of them, divided in groups, participated enthusiastically and interacted well with the presenters and gained awareness on various skills that will help them to move forward in their future. Each group leader shared the feedback of what their group learned from the workshop.
As a token of appreciation, a memento was given to the presenter by Dr Said Masoud Ali Kashoob, college dean. The event was successfully conducted and on behalf of the Entrepreneurship Committee and I am thankful to the college management, assistant dean for student affairs, assistant dean for administrative and finance department, head of Business Studies Department, Khimji Ramdas Company, and a special thanks to the Career Guidance Office coordinator, Mr Zaid Al Badi and faculty members of the Business Studies Department.