Master in Business Administration Program Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School at the Shah Alam Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

1. ABEST21 Accreditation Result

ABEST21 Accreditation Result of Master in Business Administration program at the Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School at the Shah Alam campus, Universiti Teknologi MARA is as follows:
“The School’s educational and research activities have generally met ABEST21 Management Accreditation Standards and the quality maintenance and improvement of education and research in the aforementioned program are promising and good.”
Accreditation commences April 1, 2020 for a five-year period.

2. The Peer Review Team
Leader Prof. Dr. Arumugam Seetharaman, SP Jain School of Global Management, Singapore
Member Prof. Dr. AAhad Osman Gani, International Islamic University Malaysia, Malaysia
Member Dr. Devika Nadarajah, Putra Business School, Malaysia
3. The Peer Review Schedule
Peer Review Process Date Remarks
Submission of “Quality Improvement Strategy” Jun. 30, 2018 –
Ratification of “Quality Improvement Strategy” Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, 2018 PRC
Submission of “Self-Check/Self-Evaluation Report” Jun. 30, 2019 –
Implementation of the Peer Review Visit Sep.12-13,2019 PRT
Ratification of “PRT Review Report” Nov. 18-19, 2019 PRC
Informal Announcement of the PRT Review Report Nov. 1, 2019 –
Ratification of the PRT Review Report Mar. 11, 2020 PRC
Recommendation of the ABEST21 Accreditation Mar. 12, 2020 AC
Ratification of the ABEST21 Accreditation Mar. 12, 2020 Board Meetings
  • Following issues were identified through the Peer Review.
  • Weaknesses: How to convert the weaknesses into strengths.
  • Number of faculty members: 55% of the faculty members are between 50 to 59 years, which raises a sustainability issue. Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School should initiate quick steps to recruit or attract younger faculty from other departments to avoid future lack of senior faculty.
  • Decline in the number of students: This is the global trend for MBA programs. Besides intensifying marketing activity in the Middle East, steps may be taken to add subjects related to management and future technology in the curriculum.
  • Lack of students’ counseling and career advice service: This is a very important issue. As an immediate measure, the School may employ the services of a psychologist from Psychology Department to do counselling work, or recruit suitable counsellors for the school.
  • Shortage of support staff: The School may review the work done by the existing support staff to eliminate duplication of effort, or introduce automation to overcome increased work.
  • Online education needs not be treated as competition. We suggest to treat this as an opportunity.
  • PRT strongly recommends re-accreditation of AAGBS. All standards and criteria have been fulfilled. The spirit of continuous improvement is embedded in the School’s structure and processes.
  • Following issues were identified after the desk review and PRT visit:
  • Misunderstanding concerning the concept of learning outcomes should be removed for the effective alignment with the mission statements.
  • SWOT analysis should be done more rigorously to explain the weaknesses and threats that could be addressed effectively in the action plan.
  • Networking with alumni and industry leaders are the key measure to be taken for improving teaching, research and overall education quality.
  • The School should address career and placement issues, because these concerns were expressed by both students and alumni.
  • Alumni are ready to play more active roles when the School invites them. They should be more actively involved.
  • Uniqueness of the School is the parent Mega University (UiTM), large alumni base and subsidized programs.
  • UiTM’s unique and distinctive features can be more effectively utilized for improving the MBA program.
5. Good Practice in the Program Management Education

(1) Title of Good Practice in Management Education

“Management Education based on ABR”

(2) Reason for selecting the title stated above

Real provider of the relevant training through its largest network of 35 campuses.

6. Matters to be noted
  • Student Intake – Diversity of students (local and foreign) should be improved.
  • Measuring Student Learning Outcomes and Improvement – A clear plan on how the student learning outcomes are measured and can be improved would be helpful.
  • Benchmarking with comparable business schools in the region to identify and mitigate threats and opportunities are recommended.