ABEST21 e-News
No.118, April-June 2022
ABEST21 International
THE ALLIANCE ON BUSINESS EDUCATION AND SCHOLARSHIP FOR TOMORROW,
a 21st century organization

TEL. +81-3-3498-6220

FAX. +81-3-3498-6221

Editor: ITOH Fumio“Due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have conducted all meetings online for avoiding
the so-called “Three Cs” -- Closed places with poor ventilation, Crowded places and conversationsin Close proximity.”eNews No.118: Contents＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝I.

ABEST21 General Information･･････････････････････････････････････････････ 1

II.

Member’s Voice for Tomorrow ･････････････････････････････････････････････ 6

III.

“Assessing Today for Tomorrow” ･･････････････････････････････････････････7IV.

“Assuring Quality for Tomorrow” ･････････････････････････････････････････14

V.

Global Knowledge Network･･･････････････････････････････････････････････16

I. ABEST21 General Information＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

1. ABEST21 Office Report
April
・19th：Conducting the online Accreditation Seminar II
・20th：Visit to JICA
・25th：Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for Putra Business School, Malaysia
・26th：Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for AAAS KAIZEN Report
・28th：Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for UPSI, Malaysia
May・17th : Conducting the online Accreditation 2022-granting Ceremony
・24th : Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for Waseda Business School, JapanJune
・07th : Conducting the online KAIZEN Award-granting Ceremony
・09th : Conducting the online Accreditation Seminar for Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia
・16th : Holding the 41st online meeting of ABEST21 Council for Human Resource Development
・17th : Holding a meeting with Japan Foundation for United Nations University

1

・28th : Meeting with CEO Prof. DATO’ Dr. Mohammad Shatar Bin Sabran, Malaysia Qualifications
Agency, Malaysiath・28 : Visit to Faculty of Management and Economics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia
・29th : Visit to Embassy of Japan in Malaysia

2. Visit to Embassy of Japan in Malaysia
In 1982 the Malaysian government launched the Look East Policy(LEP) aimed at accelerating social and economic development of
Malaysia through learning from Japan. Since that time, 26,000
bright Malaysian youngsters have studied in Japan. They've been
active in Malaysia, serving as a bridge between the two nations.
The LEP's benefits aren't restricted to Malaysians who study inJapan due to government assistance. It's extended to encompass
infrastructure and human resource development, boosting
Malaysia's economy.
The 40th anniversary is a great chance to highlight the LEP's
contributions and inspire Japanese and Malaysians to promotemutual understanding and cordial collaboration in the future.
ABEST21 President Professor Emeritus Dr. ITOH Fumio met MQA CEO Prof Dato' Dr Mohammad
Shatar Bin Sabran on June 28, 2022 and First Secretary, Education and Science Attaché Mr Yukiyoshi
SAITO on June 29, 2022 to discuss the collaboration between Malaysian higher education institutions
and ABEST21. (reported by Dean Ali Khatibi, MSU)
On the Look East Policy, we can learn from a pamphlet issued by the Embassy of Japan in Malaysia
as follows:“The Look East Policy (LEP) is a Malaysian policy launched
in 1982, with the aim to develop Malaysia’s economy andsociety through learning from Japan. The idea was that
economic development of modern Japan was supported by
Japanese values, such as work ethic, enthusiasm for learningand working and morality. Since then, about 26,000 Malaysian
students and government officials have studied in Japan atuniversities, KOSEN (National Institute of Technology), privatecompanies, local governments, and the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JAICA). After returning to Malaysia,
these alumni have been active in a wide range of public andprivate industries. The LEP will continue to evolve to copewith the changing times. The Government of Japan and theEmbassy of Japan in Malaysia will continue to support the LEP
for future generations.” (from “THE 40th ANNIVERSARY OF
THE LOOK EAST POLICY” p.3)2

3. Meeting with CEO Prof. DATO’ Dr. Mohammad Shatar Bin Sabran,
Malaysia Qualifications Agency
On June 28, 2022, President Itoh had a meeting withChief Executive Officer of Malaysian Qualifications Agency
CEO, Professor Dato' Dr Mohammad Shatar Sabran at Seri
Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. As a result, a generalagreement was reached to work on the renewal of
Memorandum of Arrangement (MOA) between MQA andABEST21 which was signed previously by both parties. The
signing ceremony of the said MOA will be held in Kuala
Lumpur this year as a part of the 40th anniversary of
Malaysian Look East Policy (LEP). During the meeting,
Professor Itoh had also invited Professor Dato' Mohammad
Shatar to attend ABEST21 Annual General Assembly which will take place on March 9, 2023 in Kyoto,
Japan. (reported by Dr. Zulkornain Yusop)
The main areas of co-operation covered by the Memorandum are: a) exchange of operational
information, b) exchange of information on status of accreditation, c) mutual understanding ofapproaches to enhance the understanding of quality assurance in higher education, d) quality
system to ensure the role of both agencies, e) promotion of developmental opportunities for the staff
of both agencies, f) engaging reviewers from both parties, g) collaborative accreditation programs,h) sharing Good Practice Database, etc.

3

4. New Dean
Dean Prof. Norio SAWABE, Ph.D.
Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Norio Sawabe, Professor of accounting, has been appointed Dean of
Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University (GSM-Kyoto), sinceApril 2022. Prof Sawabe has studied accounting at Kyoto University
and awarded his PhD in 1998. He has been active in research andeducation both nationally and internationally. He is currently a directorof European Accounting Association representing Asia and vicepresident of Japan Cost Management Association. He also served asvice dean of Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University, vicepresident of Japan Management Accounting Association, advisingcommittee member of Global Management Accounting Principles,international committee member of the management accounting
section of American Accounting Association, and so on. He is afounding member and a director of Maki Makoto Foundation, which is a research foundation with aparticular aim to promote management accounting research and education in Japan.
GSM-Kyoto was established in April, 2006 in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan where
culture/tradition and technology/innovation meets. GSM-Kyoto is proud of having highly competitive
faculty members from a wide range of academic disciplines and practice areas, such as management
science, economics, accounting, engineering, informatics. Together they collaborate to develop
unique educational programs that offer opportunities for students to master valuable knowledge andskills that are in need more than ever in this turbulent economic environment. GSM-Kyoto has
established strong research practice alliances in various fields, that are illustrated by the number ofendowed chairs. As the Dean of GSM-Kyoto, Prof. Sawabe is committed to lead developing researchand educational activities to promote meaningful working life that contributes to improvesustainability of our world.

5. New School Members
Faculty of Management and Economics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris,
Malaysia
Dean Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Asri Mohd Noor
The faculty began its journey when it started offering Bachelor of
Education (Business Management) with Honors and Bachelor of
Education (Accounting) with Honors programs under theadministration of the Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human
Development.
The Faculty of Business and Economics was officially established in
October 2002, with the approval of the Ministry of Education Malaysia.
Upon the establishment, two more programs were introduced:
Bachelor of Education (Economics) with Honors; and Bachelor of
Education (Educational Management) with Honors. Yet another4

program (Bachelor of Education (Entrepreneurship & Commerce) with Honors) was introduced in
2005/2006 academic year.
In June 2010, UPSI went through a major restructuring. As a result, the Faculty was renamed, andbecame a Faculty of Management and Economics (FPE). Starting from 2013, the Faculty has further
increased the number of programs offered in various fields including Bachelor of Accounting withHonors, Bachelor of Economics (Finance) with Honors, Bachelor of Economics (Islamic Finance) withHonors, Bachelor of Business Administration (Human Resource Management) with Honors, andBachelor of Business Administration (Financial Services) with Honors.
Today, in addition to the programs described above, FPE also offers Diploma in Entrepreneurshipat the undergraduate level. At the postgraduate level, the Faculty offers Masters of Education,
Masters in Management, Masters in Economics, Masters in Accounting, Masters in Business
Administration, Doctor of Philosophy, and Doctor of Education.
With a strength of 83 academic and 18 administrative staff, the Faculty continues to strive inproviding high quality, comprehensive, practical and up-to-date education to its more than 3000
students. The Faculty believes that in order to maintain high quality of education, it needs tobenchmark its programs against standards set by various agencies and professional bodies. Hence,
besides getting full accreditation from the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), the Bachelor of
Accounting program has also been accredited by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) andthe Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). The Faculty’s various programs have also
been accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) which allows
students to be enrolled in its Chartered Global Management Accountant Finance Leadership Program(CGMA FLP). The Bachelor of Business Administration (Financial Services) program, on the other
hand, has also been accredited by the Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC) which ensuresthat students become Registered Financial Planners upon graduation.
With “Leading Future Minds” as its motto, the Faculty of Management and Economics isdetermined to become a leader in the field of education specializing in business, management,
economics and accountancy. We hope that by joining the Alliance of Business Education and
Scholarship for Tomorrow, a 21st Century Organization (ABEST21), we will move closer to our aim.
Visit to Faculty ofManagement andEconomics, Universiti
Pendidikan Sultan Idris,
Malaysia on June 28,
2022.

5

6. Holding the ABEST21 General Assembly 2023
The ABEST21 General Assembly will be held on March 8-10, 2023 in Kyoto University, Kyoto.

7. Holding the 2nd online Japan Studies Seminar
The Seminar will be held in October and November 2022.

II. Member’s Voice for Tomorrow-No. 5＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝“To know the status of the Learning Outcomes, we need to observe how the students’ ability
acquired at school is actually demonstrated in the society. We also need to collect observation datafrom various stakeholders.”＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝“A Reflection on Project 8: Humanizing Management Education for Sustainable
Economic Development”
Prof. Dr. Ming Yu Cheng
Faculty of Accountancy and Management, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman,
Malaysia
The research team met for the first time in Kuala Lumpur on June 19,
2019, to brainstorm ideas on a special task assigned by ABEST21. We
have been asked to work on a project focusing on issues related todeveloping humanizing management education among ABEST21
schools, to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of theUnited Nations. ABEST21 has introduced “Humanizing the School’s
Research and Education” as one of the criteria of its accreditation
system since 2016. Hence, it is timely to review how has thehumanizing concept been incorporated into our management education
and what are the implications to the business world.
President Itoh, Dr. Riani, and Dr. Rapeenporn travelled from Japan,
Indonesia and Thailand to attend the meeting, while Prof. Arfah Sallehjoined the meeting online. On that sunny beautiful morning in Kuala Lumpur, we were quite
productive in coming out with a proposal for the research project. We didn’t spend too much timereaching a conclusion that it is extremely important and timely to look into the “human” aspect ofwhat we do every day. We were too excited to be given the opportunity to work on this topic. As
educators, we play an important role in educating our future generation. In the increasingly
complicated and fast-changing environment, it is particularly crucial for business schools to develop
humanizing management education to nurture responsible management professionals to resolve
complex problems. Business is not just about making money; it is more about creating value in
responsible ways. But how shall we convey the message clearly and effectively to all stakeholders?
We decided to work on this project gradually so that we can delve further and deeper into the
topic with various stakeholders. We planned to complete the project in early 2021 and present thefindings at the ABEST21 annual international symposium in March 2021. Prof. Ma Qinhai from China

6joined the team later, and we were guided by President Itoh and Prof. Arfah in our effort tounderstand more about humanizing management education among ABEST21 member schools.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our plan significantly. We put our project
on hold for a few months and only resumed after July 2020. Our activities have changed to phone
and online interviews, as physical meetings were completely impossible. It was quite challenging,but we managed to get support from our respondents and collected the required information.
Unfortunately, we lost a good friend and a great mentor in late 2020. Prof. Arfah, who was a strong
advocate of human governance, passed away on December 19, 2020. The late Prof. Arfah strongly
believed that business schools play an important role in nurturing responsible and ethical leaders tocreate a peaceful and harmonious world. She never missed our meetings and participated actively toshare her ideas and thoughts about the essence of humanizing management education. She hastaught me the meaning of humanizing through her actions and interactions with us, on how she
respected each individual as a “human”, not as a “resource” or “object” to achieve certain objectives.
According to her, the relationships and interactions among humans define the role of humans in therespective systems. “Every decision made and action taken will have an impact on others”, hence weneed to be responsible for all our actions and inactions.
I have learned a lot from this project, and I am grateful to have a great team accompanying me
throughout this learning journey. We supported each other in completing the project, amidst many
unexpected changes and challenges introduced mainly by COVID-19. Indeed, the values ofhumanizing become more vivid and relevant during crisis times like COVID-19. COVID-19 is a
wake-up call for everyone, inviting us to rethink what we want to achieve in our life. For us in thebusiness schools, we should continually reassess our roles and re-examine our curriculum to better
connect and improve the well-being of our society. How we define the role of “human” in thebusiness environment would depend on how we implement humanizing management education forsustainable development. Let’s think about it!

III. “Assessing Today for Tomorrow”＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝“There will be no problem if the School exists in a vacuum. However, in the society where the realenvironment is changing, improving the educational and research activities is essential in order for
the School to survive as a “Going Concern” in the future.”＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

1. ABEST21 International online Accreditation Certificate-granting
Ceremony for March, 2022
ABEST21 International online Accreditation Certificate-granting Ceremony for March, 2022, washeld on May 17, 2022. The accredited schools for March 2022 are listed below:

Master of Business Administration Program, Graduate School of Business
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia


Master of Business Administration Program, Faculty of Industrial Management
Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia

7Normally, the Accreditation-granting Ceremony is held
face-to-face. However, due to the spread of Omicron
Covid-19 variant, in 2022 we held the ceremony online.
Moreover, the ceremony became a part of celebration of
the 40th Anniversary of the Look East Policy adopted by
Malaysian Government in 1982. So, some Deans of ABEST21
School members in Malaysia joined the ceremony tocelebrate.
For the 40th Anniversary of the Look East Policy, please
visit the website below:
The 40th Anniversary of the Look East Policy | Embassy ofJapan in Malaysia (emb-japan.go.jp)

Program of the ceremony was as follows.
Opening Remarks/Congratulations:
ABEST21 President and CEO, Professor Emeritus Dr. ITOH Fumio
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Participants, Ladies andGentlemen, Good Afternoon and greetings to all.
First and foremost, on behalf of the ABEST21, I would liketo extend my deepest appreciation to First Secretary(Education Attaché) SAITO Yukiyoshi Embassy of Japan in
Malaysia for your attendance to the ABEST21 online
Accreditation Certificate-granting Ceremony, and I would liketo express my gratitude to Deputy Dean Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Helmi Ali, Graduate School of

8

Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and your faculty members, and Dean Senior Lecturer Dr.
Mohd Hanafiah Ahmad, Faculty of Industrial Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang and yourfaculty members.
My congratulations on gaining the ABEST21 management accreditation approved by the ABEST21
peer review system in March 2022. Normally, the Accreditation-granting Ceremony is held
face-to-face. However, due to the spread of Omicron Covid-19 variant, we have to hold the ceremony
online in real time and using the teleconference system. I hope you understand this situation.
Congratulations on being accredited under ABEST21 Peer Review System.
Today, we would like to celebrate successful accreditation of both accredited schools UKM and UMP.
We would like to highlight that the Accreditation-granting Ceremony is recognized as a part of thecelebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Look East Policy adopted by Malaysian Government in 1982.
We would like to remember that the present ceremony is one of the fruits of the Look East Policy.
Also, we believe that ABEST21 accreditation will build stronger bonds between our accredited
schools, and this will help them to collaborate. Collaboration is a key for quality enhancement,
because it is very difficult for the individual schools to recruit, develop or retain all the resources
needed for quality management education.
I sincerely hope that we can work together to enhance the quality of management education for
fostering management professionals who will contribute to peace and prosperity in Asia-Pacific.

Congratulations:First Secretary (Education Attaché) SAITO Yukiyoshi
Embassy of Japan in Malaysia
Prof. Emeritus Dr. ITOH Fumio, Deputy Dean Associate
Professor Dr. Mohd Helmi Ali and Dean Senior Lecturer Dr.
Mohd Hanafiah Ahmad, distinguished guests and ladies andgentlemen.
Thank you very much for inviting me to the ceremony.
Please accept my hearty congratulations on the twocertificates of Accreditation for UKM and UMP. I can imagine
how challenging and exciting this assessment was for both
ABEST21 and the two universities. I surely believe that the process will enhance the quality ofeducation in the two universities.
Let me introduce bilateral relation between Japan and Malaysia. The relation has been strong anddynamic since diplomatic relations were established in 1957. What is unique about the relation
between Japan and Malaysia is that mutual trust has been cultivated through educational exchange
and cross-border business interaction under the Look East Policy which was launched by the
Malaysian government in 1982. This year, we celebrate the 55th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic relations, and also the LEP anniversary. Today’s ceremony also commemorates the 40th
anniversary of LEP. Japanese universities are expected to increase global competitiveness throughcollaboration with foreign institutions. More than ever, society expects universities to createtechnology and knowledge that drive innovation. In order to tackle social problems, problem solving
and management skills are necessary for students.
In the era of drastic changes, MBA program and ABEST21 will become more important. We, the9Japanese government, always would like to support the future of the youth and promote student
exchange. I would like to commend the tremendous efforts of ABEST21 that tries to contribute to theenhancement of the quality of education in Japanese universities and abroad since 2005.
There are more than 10 ABEST21 members from Malaysia, and I hope more Malaysian schools willtake assessments and obtain accreditation certificates for the development of higher education in
Malaysia. Lastly, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to all of you and offer you my hearty
congratulations again. Thank you very much.

President and CEO Professor Dr. Zulkornain bin Yusop
Putra Business School, Malaysia
Congratulations, Professor Emeritus Dr. Fumio ITOH andFirst Secretary SAITO Yukiyoshi. Congratulations, Dean Dr.
Mohd Hanafiah Afmad from Faculty of Industrial
Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia, Deputy
Dean Dr. Mohd Helmi Ali from Graduate School of Business,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. I would like to extend my
gratitude to ABEST21 for inviting me to this ceremony.
My further congratulations to my colleagues for working together as PRT members. University ofIndonesia is one of the top 10 schools in Indonesia, which is a very good ranking, and UPM is one of
the top 7 business schools in Malaysia. My further congratulations to the Faculty of Industrial
Management, Dean Dr. Mohd Ahmad for the successful efforts. Congratulations to the both schools.
I believe more and more business schools will join ABEST21, and I think it is a very important timefor Professor ITOH. Hopefully ABEST21 accreditation will be one of the important criteria that theschool needs to meet in order to be acknowledged as a top business school. I am very happy andfortunate to be a part of ABEST21. Once again, congratulations for Graduate School of Business,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and Faculty of Industrial Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang.

Dean Professor Dr. Syed Jamal Abdul Nasir Syed Mohamad
Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
Thank you very much for President ITOH. Congratulations
UPM and UKM for successfully receiving accreditation from
ABEST21. We hope that more schools will join ABEST21 as
this will help us to offer better quality of education for the
future.
Congratulations to UKI and UPM. Thank you.

PRT Comments:
Leader for GSB-UKM, Professor SHIGETA Takao
Graduate School of Business Administration, SBI Graduate School, Japan
Thank you for President ITOH, distinguished guests, thefellow members of ABEST21. First of all, I would like tocongratulate Deputy Dean Dr. Mohd Helmi Ali from Graduate
School of Business, UKM, and all members of UKM. It was my10

privilege to be a part of the PRT last year. It has been a great experience to study self-check reportsof ABEST21 member schools and exchange opinions for better future. By preparing
Self-Check/Self-Evaluation Report, the school answered the following questions. (1) What is our
mission, why does the school exist in the first place? (2) Who are our customers? What is our target
profile? (3) What does our customer value? What do we provide to our stakeholders? (4) How do wemeasure success? (5) What is our plan? What are the strategic objectives, and action plans toachieve these strategic objectives? These questions are the most important questions. We have tocontinue to improve our performance, and therefore KAIZEN is an important aspect of ABEST21
accreditation. UKM is a well-known prestigious national university, and it is also internationallyrecognized. I would like to express my gratitude to President Itoh. Thank you very much for yourattention.

Leader for FIM-UMP, Assistant Professor Dodie Tricahyono, Ph.D.
School of Economics and Business, Universitas Telkom, Indonesia
Thank you very much. My name is Dodie Tricahyono and
I am the leader of the PRT for the Faculty of Industrial
Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia. First, I
want to say congratulations to Dean Mohd Ahanfiah
Ahmad and all the team that provided us with a good SCR.
To quote the school, “FIM UMP nurtures holistic graduates
who are skilled to excel in the competitive and globalized
marketplace based upon the business and technologicalknowledge”. I believe that this mission is unique. The school also shows a very good progress interms of humanizing management education. Collaborating with industry is also one of its strengths.
Thank you for your listening.

Reply Speech:
Deputy Dean Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Helmi Ali
Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
It is an honor for me to be a part of this ABEST21
Accreditation Certificate-granting ceremony. We are proud of
our educational activities and satisfied with the accreditation.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are being affected by the
COVID-19, and there are many issues to address, but thisunpredictable situation allowed us to succeed.
Therefore, we would like to achieve sustainability. Today,
there is global transformation of higher education. We aremoving forward to a new era. We hope that ABEST21 accreditation will contribute to enhancing thequality of management education at the business schools. I wish this international accreditation will
improve the quality of education. Thank you very much.

11

Dean Senior Lecturer Dr. Mohd Hanafiah Ahmad
Faculty of Industrial Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia
Thank you very much. Good afternoon. I would like tothank ABEST21 for organizing this event, and for its
feedback on the quality of our program. This is our second
time. Once again, thank you
ABEST21. We willcontinuously improve the quality of our program, and we will
benefit in other ways through our network with ABEST21
members. We can enhance our global competitiveness, andcontribute more to the industry. We are very happy. Once again, we thank ABEST21 and the Peer
Review Team. Continuously, we will improve the quality of our education program in every aspect.

Congratulations/Closing Remarks
ABEST21 Vice President, Professor Dr. Ali Khatibi
Dean, Graduate School of Management, Management & Science University,
Malaysia
I would like to thank President Itoh for his leadership for
more than 20 years in ABEST21. He has taken the lead tocontinuously improve the quality of business education. And
thanks to the government of Japan and the Embassy ofJapan in Malaysia for the support and commitment. The
ideal of continuous development of the business schools was
one of the priorities of President ITOH: how to build a goodeducation system. Through this system, we are going to produce better leaders to support the future.
This can happen with all the hard work and leadership of president ITOH in ABEST21. We aredifferent from any other accreditation organization around the world because we are focused oncontinuous improvement, not just spotting the weak points. Today we are very happy to see two
accredited schools in Malaysia. On behalf of ABEST21, I would like to visit them. They have done agood job. We are going to be proud of our achievements, and we are looking forward to seeing eachother face-to-face in March 2023 in Japan. Thank you.

ABEST21 Vice President, Assistant Professor Teguh Dartanto, Ph.D.
Dean, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia
Thank you very much, Professor Emeritus Fumio ITOH.
Today I would like to congratulate Professor Dr. Mohd Helmi
Ali from Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia, and Dean Dr. Mohd Hanafiah Ahmad from Facultyof Industrial Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang. The
accreditation is a long process, but it’s worth it. The
accreditation is not the end of process but the starting pointof improvement. When we join the accreditation process, it is very hard. We hope that not only theuniversities, but also ABEST21 continuously improve the standards of accreditation to address futurechallenges in society and economics. I hope that both schools are competitive in future. Thank you

12very much.

2. ABEST21 online Accreditation Seminar II 2022
1) ABEST21 online Accreditation Seminar II 2022 – KAIZEN Report 2022
On Tuesday, April 19, ABEST21 online
Accreditation Seminar II 2022 was held. At first,
ABEST21 President Professor Emeritus Dr. Fumio
ITOH talked about the Contents of ABEST21
International Accreditation and the Peer Review
System. Then, ABEST21 explained about theschedule of the Peer Review this year and the Peer
Review Visit. After that, an active Q&A session was
held.
2) ABEST21 online KAIZEN Report Seminar 2022 for AAASOn Tuesday, April 26, ABEST21 Online Intensive
Accreditation Seminar 2022 － KAIZEN Report 2022
was held. The topic of the seminar was focused on
KAIZEN Report 2022 under ABEST21 Academic
Unit-based Accreditation System (AAAS). President
Professor Emeritus Dr. Fumio ITOH explained about
how to analyze the AAAS-KAIZEN Report. At the Q&A
Session, participants clarified the characteristics of
KAIZEN under AAAS.
3) ABEST21 online Accreditation Seminar for APASIn April and May, several ABEST21 Online Individual Accreditation Seminars were held for theapplicant schools who submitted their reports by the end of June, 2022. These seminars aim tosupport the schools is their preparation for accreditation. They are held upon request and designed
individually because we believe that each school has questions specific to their unique educational
system. The seminars were held for the following schools:
Putra Business School, Malaysia
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia

Waseda Business School, Japan.

PBS

UPSI

Waseda13

3. online PRT Training Seminar 2022
online PRT Training Seminar for 2022 is scheduled as below.
1) Seminar for Group A: Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at 14:00-15:30 (Tokyo time)2) Seminar for Group B: Thursday, July 21, 2022 at 14:00-15:30 (Tokyo time)3) Seminar for Group C: Tuesday, July 26, 2022 at 14:00-15:30 (Tokyo time)4) Seminar for Group D: Thursday, July 28, 2022 at 10:00-11:00 (Tokyo time)

4. online PRT Leader Training Seminar 2022
online PRT Leader Training Seminar for 2022 will be scheduled in August, 2022.

IV. “Assuring Quality for Tomorrow”＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝“In the age of increasing globalization, it is a great challenge for the schools to create andmaintain first-class educational programs in management. But no single institution can maintain all
the required and ever-changing resources at hand nor continually keep those resources updated. It
is important for us to work together to leverage our complementary resources on a global scale.”＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

1. Conducting the online KAIZEN Award-granting ceremony

ABEST21 accredits schools in the full confidence that their Action Plans to improve the KAIZEN
issues found in the analysis of the Self-Check/Self-Evaluation Report (SCR) are promising. Since oneof the aims of ABEST21 accreditation is to assure a substantial improvement of the educational
quality to the stakeholders, we need to check the progress of the accredited schools on their Action

14

Plans found in the analysis of the SCR, and provide a status report to the stakeholders.
Therefore, after the accreditation, the accredited school must implement the yearly plan according
to its Action Plans, and respond to the expectations of the social stakeholders. In the SCR, the school
planned the “Basic Improvement Initiatives” based on the “Improvement Issues”, and drew up
three-year Action Plans on the basis of the planned “Improvement Initiatives.” So, the school has the
responsibilities to perform the yearly plan according to its Action Plans. Also, as quality enhancementof the school’s education must keep pace with the changes in the environment, the school is
responsible for monitoring the progress of the Action Plans to ensure that the PDCA cycle is working
efficiently.
The PRT conducts the Desk Review and the Peer Review Visit in order to confirm the school’s
quality improvement. The Peer Review Team (PRT) will have serious discussions with the school on
the results of implementing the Action Plans, including items accomplished, items not accomplishedwith the reasons for failure, modification of Plans according to the changes in the environment, etc.
If the School performed all or most of the Action Plans and made a dramatic improvement in thequality of the management education, ABEST21 would like to recognize the school’s performance bygiving it the “KAIZEN Award”. KAIZEN Award is endowed based on the recommendation of theAccreditation Committee.
The online Board of Trustees meeting held on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 ratified the accredited
schools to be granted KAIZEN Award as recommended by the Accreditation Committee. Following
this decision, ABEST21 KAIZEN Award plaque will be granted to the 7 schools:
・Graduate School of International Management, Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan・School of International Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
・MBA Program in International Business, Humanities and Social Sciences, Graduate School ofBusiness Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan・School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, China
・Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia
・Faculty of Economics, Universitas Sriwijaya, Indonesia
・Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia.
On June 7th, ABEST21 International Online KAIZEN Award-granting Ceremony for March 2022 took
place. Normally the Certificate Granting Ceremony takes place at the ABEST21 General Assembly
held every March. However, due to the spread of COVID-19 the ceremony was held online for therecipients of ABEST21 KAIZEN Award 2022. ABEST21 KAIZEN Award plaque was granted to sevenschools listed above.
For further details about the ABEST21 KAIZEN Award, please visit our webpage below:
https://www.abest21.org/accreditation/15

2. Holding the ABEST21 Council for Human Resource Development
1) The online 41st meeting of Japan Council for Nurturing Global
Management Professionals
The Council meeting was held online on Thursday, June
16. The meeting started with ABEST21 President’s
explanation on the agenda, objectives of the meeting andintroduction of some projects recently organized by
ABEST21. Mr. Takuya MIYAGAWA, Assistant Director of the
Office for Professional Graduate School, Technical
Education Division, Higher Education Bureau, MEXT, talked
about the recent topics at the Subcommittee of the Central
Council for Education such as Innovative strategies forhigher education in Japan. At the Q&A session after his presentation, participants actively discussed
the development of joint-degree program with overseas business schools, introduction of data
science program, and so on. At the next session, specially appointed professor Takeshi HIBIYA,
Sophia University shared his findings and insights that he had gained over 40 years of his working
experience at Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd, followed by Q&A session. The next 42nd Council meeting isscheduled in October 2022.

V. Global Knowledge Network＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝“In the age of increasing globalization, it is a great challenge for the schools to create andmaintain first-class educational programs in management. But no single institution can maintain all
the required and ever-changing resources at hand nor continually keep those resources updated. It
is important for us to work together to leverage our complementary resources on a global scale.”＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

1. Publishing “Humanizing Management Education for Sustainable
Economic Development in Asia-Pacific”
We would like to express our deep gratitude andappreciation to each business school that took part in thesurvey. Also, this survey report was the result of the warm
consent and effort of Professor Dr. Ming Yu Cheng(Universiti Tunk Abdul Rahman, Malaysia), Professor Dr.
Qinhai Ma (Northeastern University, China), AssistantProfessor Dr. Riani Rachmawati (Universitas Indonesia,
Indonesia), and Assistant Professor Dr. Rapeeporn Srijumpa(Burapha University, Thailand). They put a lot of time andeffort into analyzing the data and framing the findings. This
book was published as the result of Research Project 8, andis based on the presentations made by the schools who took
part in this project. We extend our appreciation to all our

16school members who made this project possible. The results of the research were published on June
7 under the title of “Humanizing Management Education for Sustainable Economic Development in
Asia-Pacific” (ISBN: 978-4-905204-02-2).
Please scan me for more information.

17