GREAT 
Research Title

Accounting and Finance cluster intends to provide a base for lecturers to develop and display their potential, proficiency, and involvement in research, as well as consultancy in relevant areas. Its long-term target is for UNIRAZAK to be the leader in spearheading research and consultancy in the areas of Accounting & Finance in Malaysia. The world of accounting and finance has become more intricate and in order to remain relevant, a university has to have the aptitude and prowess in this niche area.

The focus of this cluster embodies a quadruple entrepreneurship helix designed to engage and support academia, industry, government, and community within an increasingly knowledge-based economy. UNIRAZAK has focussed on entrepreneurship research and education both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels since 2008. This cluster follows from UNIRAZAK’s excellent tradition of creating an impact across many entrepreneurial fields e.g., education, marketing, and finance, directly benefiting UNIRAZAK students, SME’s, and government agencies.

Broadly this research cluster will engage our stakeholders across and via five key research bands.

Band 1 – Cognitive aspects of entrepreneurship. Here the cognitive aspects of entrepreneurship will be the focus.

Band 2 – Demographic and personality determinants of entrepreneurship. This covers entrepreneurship determinants e.g., social capital, human capital, and personality-types, all within the context of the macro-economy.

Band 3 – The theoretical perspectives on entrepreneurship. Conceptual papers that review, adapt, and maybe even revise theories that impact entrepreneurship will fit this band.

Band 4 – Entrepreneurial finance and innovation. This will encapsulate venture capital, business angels, SMEs finance, fintech and broader public policy that support such initiatives.

Band 5 – Entrepreneurial strategy. This considers the strategic importance of networks, partnerships, and innovation for and of resources, including knowledge, for superior sustainable performance.

(adapted from Thomson Reuters, Web of Science)

Overall, the entrepreneurial intent of this cluster is to foster an orientation for action research and in so doing pave the way for purposeful and practical applications.

This cluster addresses leadership research in its widest sense. Leadership research, education, training and best practices have been a strategic thrust and theme of the university for the past decade. With the support of Yayasan Tun Ismail Ali Berdaftar and Permodalan Nasional Berhad, the university was endowed with four professorial chairs in Leadership, Crisis Leadership and Resilience, Futuristic Leadership, and, Entrepreneurial Leadership.

The university has had an inclusive and broad perspective on leadership and strategy. Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, our researchers and students do not just focus on commercial organisations and the private sector, but also consider leadership in public service organisations – including the public sector and not-for-profit organisations – which better reflects the make-up of our student population and society in general.

Being culturally diverse with many ethnic and indigenous groups within the population, Malaysia has an interesting and rich perspective on leadership, tracing roots, belief systems and values across the Malay Archipelago (Nusantara), China, India and other Asia Pacific countries.

This cluster aims to make significant contribution to the advancement of management debate. It also aims to enhance the continuation of the UNIRAZAK research in the field of Applied management, where UNIRAZAK has obtained a leading position relative to its peers. The program’s emphasis is on empirical, applied and policy-oriented research. The empirical findings would serve as important inputs for strategic management formulations and contribute to future academia.

Malaysia needs highly skilled workers to fill demand gaps in numerous industries, especially those driving economic transformation. The government has identified technical and vocational education and training (TVET) as the key source of highly skilled workers. To define, TVET is education and training that prepares people for work through formal, non-formal and informal learning approach.

Today, TVET has been identified as a critical component in achieving the country’s aim of becoming a high-income nation by 2020. (JPM 2010). This is to ensure a continuous, adequate, and timely supply of multi-skilled workers capable of meeting the country’s development needs. Further initiatives to be done include a greater emphasis on improving the quality of education and skills-based training, increasing awareness and improving the perception of TVET, and strengthening engagement with companies for better recognition.

UNIRAZAK has established a TVET cluster as part of the GREAT Project to allow postgraduate students to focus their master’s or doctoral studies on TVET research. Those who are interested in the following topics should contact us for additional information about pursuing a postgraduate degree at UNIRAZAK.