Business education is one of the growing phenomena both in the developed and developing world. Gl... more Business education is one of the growing phenomena both in the developed and developing world. Global argument in many contexts from the areas that are more connected to profit and loss (that is marketing, accounting, finance and management) activities of business have been heavily given emphasis recently. As a result, motivation of academics in teaching and students’ motivation in learning the course has recently maintained a low profile. However, a well established argument is that without adopting updated business ethics course as a fundamental of business education, neither long term business goal can be achieved nor a decent national development can be ensured. After the invention of ICT, most of the courses are trying to have a maximum benefit through the usage of IT. It is thus important to have a greater role of ICT in business ethics course. Based on the experience of courses taught by the author, this paper argues that an adequate use of ICT in the teaching of a business e...
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 2021
Purpose It is still unclear how Asian universities incorporate the theory or practice of sustaina... more Purpose It is still unclear how Asian universities incorporate the theory or practice of sustainable development (SD) in their research and education programmes. To address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to report on a study that has examined how universities in Asian countries handle and address matters related to SD. Design/methodology/approach The study used a bibliometric analysis and an online survey-method. The online survey data were analysed through descriptive analysis and one-sample student’s t-test. Findings The study indicates that there is considerable variation among the Asian countries regarding sustainability practices in higher education institutions (HEIs). The HEIs in far eastern countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are perceived to demonstrate more sustainability practices. Research limitations/implications Even though a substantial number of participants participated in the survey, it did not cover all Asian countries. The online survey wa...
Education is considered to be the most effective tool that people can use to lift themselves out ... more Education is considered to be the most effective tool that people can use to lift themselves out of poor socioeconomic backgrounds and lead to professional success, which in turn improves society. Since an education system often supports individuals with a higher socioeconomic status (SES), it may not resolve the issue of socioeconomic background impacting on career outcomes. Given the nature of the research questions, an individualistic approach is used for selecting tools. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis methods, we argue that graduates studying an 8-year engineering program fail to succeed compared to counterparts who studied a 4-year engineering program. Findings suggest that engineering graduates' socioeconomic backgrounds help them with their career advancement. A policy intervention may help to address the influence of SES on engineering education and professional employment.
Since its inception, Higher Education (HE) has always been playing a critical role for national d... more Since its inception, Higher Education (HE) has always been playing a critical role for national development through the development of skilled manpower and intellectual civic society. Continuous paradigm shifting in HE in term of institutions’ pattern and course delivery mode and method has always been the part of the process of HE transformation. Consequently, private HE bears a long heritage and history. However, ‘commercialisation’ of HE through private provision is relatively new and the developing nation has been experiencing this since early 1990s with rapid expansion. The modernistic concept known as ‘commodification in HE’ has significantly impacted HE by changing the course curricula, targeted students’, teachers’ community , delivery mode, and methods of HE. The current research which is first of its kind in Bangladesh is a qualitative study using interviews, ‘perception survey’ and observation conducted in private universities, which covers 71% of university students. Fi...
The current state of pharmacy education in Bangladesh and identification of the current gaps in t... more The current state of pharmacy education in Bangladesh and identification of the current gaps in terms of manpower development for the pharmaceutical sector are described in this paper. Information for the preparation of this paper was obtained from documents and interviews of stakeholders drawn from regulatory, industrial and educational agencies. Three levels of pharmacy education is currently offered in Bangladesh leading to either a university degree, a diploma or a certificate. Graduates with degrees work in industry while those with diplomas work in hospitals. Thus, hospitals are not benefiting from the training of pharmacy graduates just like community pharmacies that employ those with certificates. This situation is encouraged by lack of prescribed minimum standards required for the training of practitioners and practice of pharmacy in Bangladesh. Conflict of regulatory roles in the training of those with diplomas does exist. The state of pharmacy education in Bangladesh is less than satisfactory. A proper regulatory framework that ensures quality training of pharmaceutical manpower is lacking. Community and hospital pharmacies, therefore, have an unmet need in terms of the skill of the staff that operates them. The situation is further encouraged by the absence of minimum standards requirements for pharmacy practice.
In Bangladesh, a four-year diploma program is the highest level of technical education provided b... more In Bangladesh, a four-year diploma program is the highest level of technical education provided by private and public polytechnic institutions. Using representative primary data of 1372 sample sizes from Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur, we examined whether students graduating from private polytechnics perform worse in higher engineering education than their public school counterparts. We mainly employed a multivariate regression model and found that students from private polytechnics receive lower grades by 0.120 cumulative grade points average (CGPA) despite similar socioeconomic, academic, and demographic backgrounds. These estimated effects imply that private polytechnics fail to significantly affect sustainable engineering education. These findings suggest that policy makers increase the number of teachers and laboratory facilities for sustainable engineering education.
There is a raging debate in literature about the effectiveness of 3D environments and virtual rea... more There is a raging debate in literature about the effectiveness of 3D environments and virtual realities. The debate seems an unending one with both the advocates and critiques striving to justify their various positions. A survey of literature, however, revealed the absence of sufficient data to justify taking a position. This led the authors to hypothesize that most of the evaluation carried out in this area did go beyond perception referents. Over one thousand articles in reputable journals and proceedings were consulted including a few others without affiliation. Twenty four that covered the amorphous subjects of evaluation, assessment, effectiveness, potentials and benefits were painstakingly analyzed for their coverage particularly over the three leaning outcomes of cognitive, skills and attitudes. The findings revealed that while there were evidences of learning improvement and performance enhancement, over eighty five percent of the data revolved around affective dispositions...
Several factors can work in concert to influence the students' attitudes and behavior towards qua... more Several factors can work in concert to influence the students' attitudes and behavior towards quantitative aspect of practical chemistry particularly volumetric analysis. This study investigated the influence of students' study habit, physiological and psychological factors on their attitudes and behavior towards the volumetric analysis in practical chemistry. Two hundred and forty randomly selected senior secondary two students from six secondary schools in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State constituted the sample. It was hypothesized that students' study habit variables such as time allocation, reading and note-taking, concentration, anxiety and stress, and teachers' consultation would not significantly influence students' attitudes during volumetric analysis practical exercises. The hypotheses were tested by using chi square at 0.05 levels of significance following the administration of study habit inventory on the subjects. The results indicated that these factors actually influenced the attitudes of the subjects towards volumetric analysis exercises. It was recommended that chemistry teachers need to have proper understanding of these physiological and psychological factors to enable them enhance students' attitudes and performances in practical chemistry.
African Journal of Business Management, Nov 30, 2010
The Education sector is one of the fundamental industries as described by the recent concept of "... more The Education sector is one of the fundamental industries as described by the recent concept of "state business," which is also the most critical player in making other sectors of a state functional. The criteria of Education governance and legislations as well as their schemata have evolved out of historical social practices. The interpretation of social events is guided and constrained by the prevailing rationality which itself reflects the dominant constellation of power. Since its inception, the Education sector has been informally governed by the ethics. Before this, Education especially in developing world was provided on a very small scale through Guru-Shiso provision and was not a major concern of public policy. However, its recent expansion in the early 1950's has made it a major cause for concern for developing world. The public policies currently available, particularly with regard to governance and regulatory control, are aimed at governing Education as a whole and Education itself lacks adequate rules and regulations. Now the question arises: is public policy, formal and informal governance, as well as regulatory approaches enough to control, monitor and to guide the Education sector while it experiences a numbers of challenges and dynamisms? Or is there a need for Education law? Law is considered as one of the fundamental tools for governance and regulatory control and once it is used; there will be little hope to control the sector with value and ethics. Therefore, the use of law is frequently unwelcome, since it is the method used when no other alternatives are available. With the phenomenal growth and challenges in Education, we need to revisit governance and regulatory control for the Education system. This article examines this issue, with a view at seeking the answer to the question: is there a need for Education laws or are ethics, value, policy and market-driven theory enough?
African Journal of Business Management, Jan 4, 2011
With the breathtaking success of African Journal of Business Management-AJBM in the recent years,... more With the breathtaking success of African Journal of Business Management-AJBM in the recent years, has become one of most commanding podiums for the scholar especially from the developing world. In 2009, not only its impact factor has increased substantially, but also one of its published papers "has been selected by Essential Science Indicators SM from Thomson Reuters as the most-cited paper in the research area of Economics and Business". With its success, submissions have increased dramatically with an equal increased figure of rejection. Huge rejection is not good news for any party. It is now thus important to provide a better editorial guideline for research community to prepare their works making it more suitable and also to help them in targeting the right journal for appropriate readership and audience. This editorial is prepared with the consultation of more than 800 papers submitted from around the globe for the publication in AJBM. A portion of them are published, while a significant numbers are also rejected. Since, research community from Africa, Fareast, Middle-East and the Western world are contributing for AJBM. Every community has some strengths and weaknesses to offer lessons for others. Keeping this in mind, it is thus also important to have a common understanding about the research in business management and writing manuscripts. With an optimistic attitude, this editorial aims to provide a guideline for writing manuscript in the field of Social Science with a special focus on AJBM.
African Journal of Business Management, Dec 18, 2010
This study examined the impact of foreign lecturers' recruitment on the higher education of Malay... more This study examined the impact of foreign lecturers' recruitment on the higher education of Malaysia in the following areas: publications in Web of Science journals, competition between local and foreign lecturers in terms of publications, the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process, and world ranking. A qualitative method was used, with data being collected mostly through interviews with local and foreign lecturers, students, and human resource management officials. The study found that the recruitment of foreign lecturers has a significant impact on improving the world ranking of higher education institutions and in increasing publications in Web of Science journals. Also, there was found to be a mixed reaction about their impact on the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process among local teachers and students. The extensive pressure to publish in Web of Science journals has caused the brain drain of experienced senior lecturers and professors. The findings of this study offer valuable information for educational policy makers, vice chancellors, human resource managers, local and foreign lecturers and students.
African Journal of Business Management, Jun 30, 2010
Inevitably, education is considered as the main tool for development. Regardless of nationality, ... more Inevitably, education is considered as the main tool for development. Regardless of nationality, race, age and culture, everyone in this contemporary world believes that education is the commonest medicine that cures every disease hindering the development of a nation. Keeping this view, countries put endless efforts in the development of education. Major phenomena for the development process of education include: privatization, teacher education, design of modern and well-timed course and curricula and establishment of infrastructure and logistics. For the allocation of national budget, most of the states provide the highest preference to education. Despite these efforts, many countries fail to achieve the target that is especially aimed for their national development through education. Why is this happening, since the purpose of education is to ensure national development? Encompassing of many research findings sums up that education is not playing the role according to its purpose. Thus, many prescriptions have been provided through researches with an ideology of "Education as Right" to solve the problems. All these suggestions are still unsuccessful to make the education system desired functional. The conducted research for this paper has to understand what would be the difference if students do not consider education as their rights, but do judge it as their assets and property. Results assert that this attitude would be able to change the psychological setup of poor students developing an ownership attitude toward education. This would irrevocably help to achieve the national goal of education. However, a new paradigm called voucherilization would be the key for the change of psychological and mental current setup of the underprivileged students.
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on COMMUNICATIONS archive, Feb 1, 2010
Though many organizations have developed their own approaches in ensuring reliable decision makin... more Though many organizations have developed their own approaches in ensuring reliable decision making processes, not many have used technology to ensure effective participatory based decision making. This paper presents a model that incorporates reliable participatory based decision making practices and quality management indicators through strategic use of technology-an initiative of a faculty in a higher institution of learning. The model, called QuESt (Quality E-management System), integrates web-based technologies into an interconnected system to enable decision making by all stakeholders at multi levels of responsibility. Discussion in this paper is first focused on the bureaucracy and participatory models of decision making, then moves on to the research context, description of QuESt and discussion of the features and functions of the system. The paper concludes with an assessment of the potentialities of the system in taking an organisation's internal and external processes to the next level-using technology to ensure evidence based decision making, to interconnect staff roles and responsibilities and to use feedback to take appropriate action. Implications are drawn for knowledge advancement, policy making and practice.
African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Jun 30, 2010
An investigation was carried out on students' study habit in volumetric analysis at the senior se... more An investigation was carried out on students' study habit in volumetric analysis at the senior secondary school level in Ondo State. A descriptive research design was adopted in the study. Questionnaire on study habit inventory was adapted and used to collect information from the respondents at various sampled schools. The sample comprised 240 senior secondary II chemistry students drawn from six schools in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State. The hypotheses investigated with respect to students' study habit problems such as home work/ assignment, reading and note-taking, students' concentration, time allocation, teachers' consultation as human variables were analyzed using chi-square statistics at 0.05 level of significance. The results indicated that the main sources of students' study problems have strong influence on students' study habit which is causally related to the performance and consequently the efficiency of the students during the practical lesson in volumetric analysis. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that chemistry teachers need proper exposure and orientation to some psychological study problems in order to understand students' developmental and intellectual progress so as to improved learners' performances. Hence, there is a need for workshops and seminar for teachers where the importance of effective study habit behavioural pattern would be stressed.
Researches from different disciplines are yet to provide a concrete standpoint on causal relation... more Researches from different disciplines are yet to provide a concrete standpoint on causal relationship between poverty and migration. With a market driven attitude, seasonal migration has been increasing dramatically with a hope to reduce the poverty. So far, research has not confirmed if migration helps to reduce poverty or poverty is forced to be migrated. Whatever the fact, it would be realistic that the local community will not migrate if they find better work opportunities with higher productivity for their livings. In this paper, an effort is made to discover the possible ways to make the local community in the Haor area to be productive, ensuring their stay in their homes. A development economic policy guideline is aimed to be provided in order to make the possible ways functional. Along drawing individual and household profile of migrant, a mixed method suggests that some interventions of food stamp, infrastructure facilities and cooperative activities are necessary for in-si...
This article examines the contribution made by the school system in Bangladesh using primary data... more This article examines the contribution made by the school system in Bangladesh using primary data gained form a small scale of research. Secondary data also supplements. Both formal and informal education gained from society and other sources are considered. Findings show that primary education contributes mainly for social development. Secondary provision also contributes for social development; a small contribution for economical development is also noted. Higher Education (HE) consumes a large portion of public and private fund to ensure economic development. Unfortunately, because of existing job pattern in Bangladesh and requirements placed for recruitments, contribution from HE is not satisfactory. Overall conclusion suggests that there is a scope for development at each provision. This study also advocates an urgent need to conduct a broader study on this issue to make the education system more effective towards the development. Key words: Rate of Return (RoR), investment i...
Criteria of development approaches and their schemata have evolved out of historical social pract... more Criteria of development approaches and their schemata have evolved out of historical social practices. Interpretation of social events is guided and constrained by the prevailing rationality which itself reflects the dominant constellation of power. With the course of change of time and modernization, a number of development approaches have taken place especially in the context of developing nations. However, the discourse of the development of a less number of populations who are having geographically disadvantaged, unskilled and physically challenged positions is always seen as critical, since it requires high investment from public subsidy but provides less public and private returns. Factually, without the development of these populations, state mission will be missed out. Considering this is an issue for research in the area of public policy and development studies, this study was conducted in Bangladesh with a scientific adoption of both quantitative and qualitative methods, i...
The conventions and ratifications made by the United Nations (UN) have a long history. They were ... more The conventions and ratifications made by the United Nations (UN) have a long history. They were well respected for their ability to unite the world’s countries on some issues. The paradigm transformation of UN ratifications to combine both business models and social justice has received both positive and negative responses. While adherents argue that such a transformation is fundamental to boost economic development, opponents assert that the ‘so-called paradigm transformation’ has benefited the West by victimising the East, which has essentially complicated the global ‘sustainability crisis’. This also hinders executing the ESD (education for sustainable development) concept, especially in developing countries. The concept of ‘sustainable development’ is now the main agenda item of UN conventions. COP21 (United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015, otherwise known as the 21st Conference of the Parties), is an example of the UN’s seriousness in addressing the ‘global sustainab...
African Journal of Business Management, Sep 30, 2009
The research for this paper, the first of its nature in Bangladesh, has been carried out through ... more The research for this paper, the first of its nature in Bangladesh, has been carried out through desk study, document review, interview, questionnaire and observation. Earlier findings had revealed that the community perceived education to be a social and public product. Significant changes to the perception of students and providers have been made recently. More recently, students and education providers have come to understand education as a commodity. However, although most academics fight against this change of attitude, they have failed to retain the traditional philosophy of education due to the privatization of education. Moreover, there are insufficient policies in place to regulate the marketing activities of private education institutions.
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