Fresh graduates often find themselves in a startling reality when they enter the job market and discover that a significant portion of their undergraduate education has little use in the industry and the industry calls for a variety of new and different skills. To solve this misalignment of skills and meet the challenges of fourth industrial revolution (4IR), academia and industry must come together for a co-creation of knowledge. With that intent, BRAC Business School organised the second International Conference of Business and Management (ICBM) themed "Industry focused global research trends in business and management" at Hotel Westin from April 25 to 27, 2019.
Around 250 participants including more than 40 international delegates from 12 countries attended this year's ICBM. 170 selected papers were presented in 24 parallel sessions amidst national and international scholars, practitioners, academicians and students.
A workshop was conducted on "PhD colloquium and paper producing" on the first day to provide participants guidance on writing and submitting standard research papers and conducting fruitful, quality research. Professor Tzong-Ru Lee, department of marketing, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan and Associate Professor Mamun Habib of BRAC Business School conducted the workshop with Professor Mohammad Mahboob Rahman, dean of BRAC Business School as the session chair.
Four keynote presentations, nine invited scholars and eight industry leaders' talks were held in the conference involving academics and industry practitioners. Professor Tzong-Ru Lee, in his keynote speech, shared his insights and techniques about financial investment, marketing and blockchain in the context of Taiwan as well as shed light on the basic infrastructures needed to implement those. In light of the fourth industrial revolution, chairman of ACI group, M Anis Ud Dowla presented a portrayal of what future will look like and how to adapt to the changes and create leaders.
Dr Akbar Ali Khan and Dr Mirza Azizul Islam conducted keynote presentations as invited speakers. CEO of BBG, Singapore Sanjeev Gathani, Deputy Managing Director of Abdul Monem Limited ASM Mainuddin Monem, Managing Director and CEO of BRAC Bank Limited Selim R F Hussain, Chairman of Runner Automobiles Limited Hafizur Rahman Khan, Managing Director of IPDC Finance Limited Mominul Islam addressed the conference as industry experts.
An academia-industry discussion comprising local and international academics and corporates named, "Co-creation of knowledge" took place on second day of the conference. In that conference academic and corporates shared their ideas and expectations from one another.
Undergraduate students were able to explore new and unique aspects of their field. Inspired by their initiators and faculty members, student participants were overwhelmed with the appreciation and constructive feedbacks they received. "Since most companies do not practice theoretical models of business, I worked on my research to find out whether new and different models of business can be applicable in the context of Bangladesh", said Debendra Lama, a student from BRAC University.
Chief guest KM Khalid MP, state minister, Ministry of Cultural Affairs, special guests Dr Vincent Chang, vice chancellor of BRAC University, Pro-vice Chancellor of BRAC University Professor Mohammad Tamim, guest of honour M Anis Ud Dowla, Chairman of ACI Group, Session Chair Prof Mohammad Mahboob Rahman and Programme Chair Dr Md Mamun Habib addressed in the prize giving and closing ceremony.
The state minister handed prizes to authors of the top four papers -- Dr Erne Suzila Kassim of University of Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, Dr Maria Fregidou-Malama, University of Gävle, Sweden, Dr B Chandrachoodan Nair, Institute of Technology Mayyil and Dr Ireen Akter, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh.
"Conduct research based on your interest. When you're interested in what you do, you will understand and appreciate more of what you're doing and you'll be able to contribute back to the society", advised Dr. Erne Suzila Kassim, author of the winning paper, to young researchers.
The writer is currently studying in second year of CSE department at BRAC University. She can be reached at
