ABEST21 e-News
No.109, June-August 2020
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 conversations in
Close proximity.”

ABEST21 Office Report＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
June
・04th : Conducting online Accreditation Seminar II for the schools
・16th : Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for Institut Teknologi Bandung (Indonesia)
・18th : Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for Universitas Jendal Soedirman (Indonesia)
・22nd : Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for Universitas Jendal Soedirman (Indonesia)
・30th : Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for PPM School of Management (Indonesia)
July・04th : Holding online meeting for the 2nd Research Project-8 “Humanizing”
・Posting Accreditation Certificate and KAIZEN Review Report for schools
・15th: Granting Accreditation Certificate and Crystal Shield for Waseda Business School
・16th: Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for GSM-Kyoto University (Japan)
・20th: Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for Universitas Islam Sultan Agung (Indonesia)
・21st: Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for Management and Science University (Malaysia)
・27th: Conducting online Accreditation Seminar for Universitas Udayana (Indonesia)
August・03rd : Conducting online PRV Training Seminar for PRT Group-A
・04th : Conducting online PRV Training Seminar for PRT Group-B
・05th : Conducting online PRV Training Seminar for PRT Group-C
・06th : Conducting online PRV Training Seminar for PRT Group-D
・07th : Conducting online PRV Training Seminar for PRT Group-E
・11th : Conducting online PRV Training Seminar for PRT Group-F
・12th : Conducting online PRV Training Seminar for PRT Group-G
・15th : Holding online meeting for the 3rd Research Project-8 “Humanizing”
・28th : Conducting online PRV for Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana (Indonesia)
・28th : Conducting online PRV for Management & Science University (Malaysia)

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・29th : Conducting online PRV for Management & Science University (Malaysia)
・31st : Conducting online PRV for Universitas Bengkulu (Indonesia)
September・01st : Conducting online PRV for Universitas Bengkulu (Indonesia)
・02nd: Conducting online PRV for Universitas Islamic Indonesia (Indonesia)
・03rd: Conducting online PRV for Universitas Islamic Indonesia (Indonesia)
・07th: Conducting online PRV for Universitas Jenderal Soedirman (Indonesia)
・08th: Conducting online PRV for Universitas Jenderal Soedirman (Indonesia)

I. General Information＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝1．New ABEST21 Website
The ABEST21 website has been renewed recently. Upon renewal, we have maintained all thecontents from the past and redesigned the site focusing on the following three points. Concerning
the top page in particular, in order to pursue the image of ABEST21 Accreditation as “Assessing
Today for Tomorrow” and to steadily proceed with our Accreditation activities based on the same
policy as in the past, even under the environmental changes including the spread of COVID-19, thesacred Mt. Fuji (photo by ABEST21) is shown on the navigation page which introduces our latest
accreditation activities. The new website provides up-to-date information through the “ABEST21
bulletin board”, as well as “ABEST21 Members Only” page to offer opportunities for “enhancement ofeducation quality” for ABEST21 members.

2II. Quality Assurance: “Assessing Today for Tomorrow”＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

1. Quality Assurance Note-No. 43: Quality Assurance for Online Lectures
As we all know, teaching at universities is greatly affected by the spread of COVID-19. The resultof the survey “Hiraku Universities in Japan” jointly conducted by the Asahi Shimbun and
Kawaijuku was presented on July 29, 2020 and August 24, 2020 by the Asahi Shimbun. This survey
was sent to 768 public and private universities in Japan and returned by 652 universities (85%). It
was reported that the impact of the COVID-19 on “class methods” was significant, with 82% of theschools replying that they have introduced online lectures. The survey points out the challenges theschools faced in practicing online lectures, as well as their efforts to solve the problems.
The key for this issue is whether to take this change of education environment as an “Opportunity”
for the university to reform further, or to take it as a “Threat” for the education system. The choice
between these two attitudes produces very different problem-solving approaches. This change ofenvironment offers an opportunity for the school to discuss how to develop from “how the school
wants to be” to “how the school should be”. The solution differs depending on whether to see thisissue merely as a short-term problem, or as a chance for a school renovation with a vision for the
future. At any rate, it is a good opportunity to discuss the reorganization of the education system.
Universities promise to their students the realization of “Mission Statement” as an input ofeducation system, and assure the “Learning Outcome” acquired through educational programs as an
output. In the educational programs, “achievement goals” are set in the “syllabi” as a promise ofwhat can be achieved through respective courses. Thus, under the change of environment caused
by COVID-19, schools are required to rebuild a system to ensure the “assurance of educational
quality”, i.e. how to realize the “Mission Statement”, how to assure the “Learning Outcome” to thesociety, or how to assure the “achievement goals” set in the syllabi to the students.
In rebuilding the educational system, this change of environment may be an “opportunity” for theuniversities to reform and promote diversified educational opportunities and globalization.
Introduction of online lectures enables classes that are free from “time” and “space” limit, andcontributes to expansion of educational opportunities and diversification of students. Such education
can be practiced beyond country borders and relates to globalization of education. This fact wasproved by the “Global Classroom” conducted online, real time, through teleconferencing system in1992 with Carnegie Mellon University based in Pittsburgh, U.S.A. However, not all the courses can betaught online. Some classes are not suitable for online education. Therefore, the important point is
to find the best mix of online and offline lectures.
This is a procedure to build a double-track instead of the traditional single-track class method,to build an educational system compatible for various environmental changes by combining online
and offline courses. Therefore the issue should not be seen as a comparison of online and offline
lectures, but as an opportunity to think “how universities should be” in this 21st century of globalized
economy, society and culture.
When actually developing the online lectures, speaking about the software aspect, a system tosupport the faculty such as teaching assistants to support the smooth flow of class activities is
indispensable. Furthermore, IT staff to conduct smooth online lectures is also needed. As for
hardware aspect, students must be able to study online without problems either on campus or athome. It may be necessary to prepare labs for students to review their classes. Therefore in3

rebuilding the educational system, not only the soft side but also the hard side must be taken into
consideration. It is a total university reform.
Universities are the place to produce “human resources” but not “manpower”. In response to thechanges of environment, schools must review their “Mission Statement”, discuss the educational
system factors such as “Educational Programs”, “Students”, “Faculty” and “Educational
Infrastructure”, to rebuild the educational system. Universities do not exist in a “vacuum” but in an“environment”. To survive, they should analyze the kaizen issues carefully against the environmental
changes and assure to the stakeholders the “Futurity” of the universities. (ITOH Fumio, President)

2．Accreditation Certificate dispatched
Due to the spread of COVID-19 which affected the international
mailing system, we could not dispatch the Accreditation Certificatesand Accreditation Reports to the schools in the Southeast Asian
countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. After themailing restriction was cancelled, the certificates and reports weresent to the following schools from ABEST21 on July 16.
(APAS)
Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Diponegoro,
Indonesia
Putra Business School, Malaysia
Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
College of Graduate Study in Management, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Faculty of Business, Economics and Communications, Naresuan University, Thailand
Graduate School of Business and Finance, Waseda University, Japan(AAAS)
Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia
Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia
Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Lampung, Indonesia
Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia
As for Waseda University, Japan, entry to the campus was accepted. On July 15, the Accreditation
Certificate for the following programs and Good Practice Award-A ABEST21 Accreditation Review
Report was handed to Waseda Business School.
・Master of Business Administration
・Master of Science in Finance3. Online Accreditation Seminar II
Accreditation Seminar I for 2020 was held onsite on
February 4 in Kuala Lumpur and on February 6 in Jakarta;
this was before the spread of COVID-19. However, after the
spread of COVID-19 overseas travels were restricted. Wethen switched to online Accreditation Seminar. Individual
online Accreditation Seminar II was held as follows to meetthe needs of respective applicant schools. Considering the4

time difference, the Seminar was held at 15:00-16:00 (Tokyo time) during the period from June 16
to July 27 for 7 schools. Our experience in this online Accreditation Seminar had a great impact on
the practice of online Peer Review Visit that followed.

4. Online PRT Training Seminar
PRT Training Seminar for 2020 was held for 12 days startingon August 3, 2020, in total 7 groups, from Group A to Group G.
In particular, the issues of how to cope with the timedifference while practicing online PRV internationally, how toutilize the limited time, clarification of the purpose of online
PRV, were examined. The Seminar was held at 15:00-16:00(Tokyo Time) lectured by Dr. Danaipong Chetchotosak (Khon
Kaen university, Thailand), Dr. Siti Zaleha Sahak (Universiti
Teknologi MARA, Malaysia), Dr. Sudarso Kaderi Wiryono(Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia), and Dr. KAWANO
Hirotaka (Kyoto University).
・August 3, Group A, Lecturer: Dr. Danaipong Chetchotsak (Khon Kaen University)
・August 4, Group-B, Lecturer: Dr. Siti Zaleha Sahak (Universiti Teknologi MARA)
・August 5, Group-C, Lecturer: Dr. Danaipong Chetchotsak (Khon Kaen University)
・August 6, Group-D, Lecturer: Dr. Siti Zaleha Sahak (Universiti Teknologi MARA)
・August 7, Group-E, Lecturer: Prof. Dr. KAWANO Hirotaka (Kyoto University)
・August 11, Group-F, Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Sudarso Kaderi Wiryono (Institut Teknologi Bandung)・August 12, Group-G, Lecturer: President ITOH Fumio

5. Online Peer Review Visit
Online Peer Review Visit for 2020 started on
August 28. Thanks to our experience from theonline Accreditation Seminar and online PRT
Training Seminar, the visits were conductedsmoothly as planned without any confusion.
Online PRV is carried out for 2 days per school.
Up to the end of October 2020, a total of 24
programs will be reviewed.

6. Amendment of Accreditation Standards
The amendment of Accreditation Standards referred to in the ABEST21 e-News No. 103 wasplanned to be discussed in the Accreditation Committee 2020. However, since online lectures are
introduced due to the spread of COVID-19, we decided to renew the current Accreditation Standard
9-8. We will survey the situation with online lectures at member schools and systemize the Standard
related to the enhancement of education quality.

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7．“Online Education Quality Assurance Case Study Session”
The spread of COVID-19 forced the universities to introduce distance learning to avoid
crowdedness. Under such condition, we need to understand the reality of online lectures throughcase studies. ABEST21 will start studying the online lecture cases at member schools in respective
countries and discuss how to realize “educational quality assurance”. The 1st Online Case Study
Session is planned around the end of October 2020. Member schools that wish to participate in thissession, please apply to the ABEST21 Office.

8．The Aim of ABEST21 Accreditation
As you all know, the origin of ABEST21 goes back to the
Global Classroom International Conference launched on
October 28, 1994. At SIPEB, Aoyama Gakuin University,
business schools of 7 universities around the world
participated in the set-up of the Global Classroom aiming at
joint classes utilizing the cutting-edge information
communication technology, going beyond point, place andspace.
Then on June 28, 2002, the Global Classroom was renamed
Global Knowledge Network to promote interchanges among
the faculty and students to further improve the quality ofbusiness school education. On July 1, 2005, to further
promote the quality of Global Classroom education andexchange of faculty and students, it was reorganized into THE
ALLIANCE ON BUSINESS EDUCATION AND SCHOLARSHIPFOR TOMORROW, a 21st century organization (hereinafter,“ABEST21”). ABEST21 was founded adopting the following
Mission Statement.
ABEST21 Mission Statement“We believe that there are many areas where we can explore and interact in the interest ofinternational cooperation in the XXI century. We will advance business school education on a global
basis by encouraging the mutually beneficial collaboration among member institutions. We,
therefore, have come to the conclusion that we shall use our efforts to establish THE ALLIANCE ON
BUSINESS EDUCATION AND SCHOLARSHIP FOR TOMORROW, a 21st century organization.”
The mission of ABEST21 is to advance education in business schools on a global basis byencouraging the mutual cooperation among its member institutions. The mission can beaccomplished through the following activities.
1. Sharing the information on curricular and teaching materials between the member institutions.
2. Promoting joint research projects, joint courses, international symposium and global classroom
opportunities.
3. Providing advice and coordination for the member institutions in the research activities andencouraging the members to continually strive to advance the global business education.
4. Facilitating the continuous improvement of the business education through accreditation.

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With the adoption of the Mission Statement, ABEST21 started its accreditation activities. ABEST21
was certified by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(MEXT) as an accrediting agency for Professional Graduate School in the field of “Management” on
October 12, 2007, and in the field of “Intellectual Property” on October 31, 2011.

Management

Intellectual Property

Accreditation activities by ABEST21 were reviewed by MEXT Central Council for Education,
Subdivision of Universities, “Review Committee on certification of accrediting agency” on December
18, 2019. The comments that were given after the review are as follows.
Outstanding points:○The review is extensive covering the areas such as study encouragement, student mobility, faculty
diversity, industry-academia joint projects, and extracurricular educational programs.
○Peer review members are mainly international, and seminars to improve the level of the peer
review are held in various countries.
Points to be improved:○Adequacy of the accreditation standards and methods should be analyzed for improvement basedon survey such as questionnaire for accredited schools or peer review members after theaccreditation process.
○ As a public accrediting institution, the information (including financial information) of theorganization itself should be disclosed in a readily understandable manner.
○In dividing the accounting between the review of overseas universities and accreditation ofJapanese universities, adequate management is necessary such as clarifying the concept ofindividual expense and overhead cost.
Following the above comments, ABEST21 aims to conduct accreditation activities based on peer

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reviews and, as an international accrediting agency, strives to assure the quality of education atuniversities in the changing environment. The reason why ABEST21 holds “Assessing Today for
Tomorrow” as its motto is because creating “universities for tomorrow” is necessary in our rapidly
globalizing society.

III. Quality Improvement: “Enriching Global Knowledge Network”＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

1. Introduction of the new Deans
Dean Prof. Dr. Hitoshi TAKEHARA
Graduate School of Business and Finance, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Hitoshi Takehara, a professor of finance and former associate dean of academic affairs, has been
appointed as the dean of the Graduate School of Business and Finance(Waseda Business School), effective September 21st, 2020.
Professor Takehara received his Ph.D. in Management Science andEngineering from the University of Tsukuba. After working at the MTB
Investment Technology Institute (current Mitsubishi UFJ Trust
Investment Technology Institute) as a researcher, he started hisacademic career as an assistant professor at the Institute ofSocio-Economic Planning, University of Tsukuba. Since 2006, he has
been a professor at the Waseda University Graduate School of Businessand Finance. Professor Takehara’s main research interest is asset pricing
models and portfolio management. He was appointed the president of the Nippon Finance
Association from 2010 to 2014. In 2016, he received the 59th Nikkei Prize for Excellent Books in
Economic Science.
Over the last decade, Megumi Suto, Professor Emeritus of Waseda University, and Professor
Takehara have been actively engaged in CSR and ESG research on Japanese firms. The culminationof their series of research is the book “Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Finance inJapan,” published by Springer in 2018.

Dean Efa Yonnedi, Ph.D.
Faculty of Economics of Universitas Andalas, Indonesia
I am Efa Yonnedi, the new Dean of Faculty of Economics ofUniversitas Andalas. The Faculty has encompassed a wide range ofstudy programs in accounting, business, management and economics
during the last 63 years. I am amazed by the energy and excitement
permeating this institution which is reflected by the faculty members,
students, alumni, staff, and friends I have been working with.
This is not business as usual. The COVID-19 situation has evolved
further and we are dealing with a significant global challenge. It is an
exciting task to be the Dean in this unique time of challenges. I haveemphasized our focus during this crisis of global pandemic to ourpeople. First, the safety of all of our staff is paramount. We can only make positive contributions and8realize our purpose and values if we stay healthy and avoid spreading the virus. Second, learning,education and research continuity is our priority. We need to focus our efforts and invest more ine-learning.
We want to continue making the investments in research, education, people, and programs thatare necessary to maintain the standard of excellence for which we want to be more recognizednationally and globally. To maintain our high academic standards in this ever-changing environment,
we must invest more in teaching, research, case studies, and course development.
This Faculty has been recognized in Indonesia as a symbol of quality, producing research andgraduating leaders who have an important effect on the government and business world. It was thisreputation that attracted prospective students to the Faculty. To maintain it, we need to keep up thetradition of intellectual engagement, innovate and create more impact to the government, society
and business world. Our ambition is to improve the quality of education, increase the productivity of
research and publications and serve the community in which we are more relevant to the society, thegovernment and the industry.
To my respected colleagues, it will be great to know your school and faculty, and I hope for more
fruitful collaboration in the near future.

2. Progress Report of the International Joint Research Project 8“Humanizing Management Education for Sustainable Economic Development”
1) The 2nd online meeting
Date: July 4, 2020
Time: 17:00-18:00 (Kuala Lumpur time)
Participants:
Prof. Emeritus Dr. ITOH Fumio, ABEST21
Dr. Alfah Salleh, Human Governance Institute Inc.
Prof. Dr. Ming Yu Cheng, Universiti Tanku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia
Prof. Dr. Qnhai Ma, Northeastern University, China
Dr. Rapeeporn Srijumpa, Burapha University, Thailand
Dr. Riani Rachmawati, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia
Report by Co-ordinator Prof. Dr. Ming Yu Cheng, UTAR, Malaysia
The research team met on July 4, 2020 for online meeting
via Zoom to discuss the research activities for the project“Humanizing Management Education for Sustainable
Economic Development”. The meeting was attended byPresident Fumio Itoh (Japan), Prof. Arfah Salleh and Prof.
Cheng Ming Yu (Malaysia), Dr. Riani Rachmawati (Indonesia),
Dr. Rapeeporn Srijumpa (Thailand), and Prof. Ma Qinhai(China).
The research team had initiated the research activity in
September 2019 with Phase 1 study to collect feedback from ABEST21 member schools on
humanizing practices in respective institution. A total of 35 responses were collected fromIndonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, China and Singapore. The data were analyzed and thepreliminary findings were discussed in the meeting. Generally, humanizing is considered an

9important quality to develop in all educational programs, not limited to business management
education.
The content analysis will be conducted based on the information extracted from the Self-Check
Report to examine the approaches taken by ABEST21 members on humanizing practices. The
meeting also discussed the preparation for Phase 3 study which aims to collect stakeholders’viewpoints on the meaning and importance of humanizing education.

2) The 3rd online meeting
Date: August 15, 2020
Time: 10:00-11:00 (Kuala Lumpur time)
Report by Prof. Dr. Ming Yu Cheng
The 3rd research meeting was conducted via Zoom on
August 15, 2020 for the research team to update theprogress of the project “Humanizing Management Educationfor Sustainable Economic Development”. President Fumio
Itoh (Japan), Prof. Dr. Cheng Ming Yu (Malaysia), Dr. Riani
Rachmawati (Indonesia), Dr. Rapeeporn Srijumpa (Thailand),and Prof. Dr. Ma Qinhai (China) attended the meeting.
Phase 1 study involves the collection of feedback from
ABEST21 member schools on humanizing practices via survey questionnaire. The team has analyzed
35 responses collected from Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, China and Singapore, and willproceed with the discussion of research findings.
The humanizing practices implemented by the member schools were extracted from 33 Self-Check
Reports (SCRs) for the period from 2016 to 2019. Content analysis will be conducted to identify thetrends and practices among ABEST21 schools. The analysis will focus on key aspects such as the
purpose of education, the influence of local culture and globalization on humanizing practices, andexpected values to be cultivated from business education. Questions related to the nature of humanand the role of human in society were discussed.
The Phase 3 study aims to collect stakeholders' understanding of humanization in business
management education and to gather their perceptions of the importance of humanizing educationand its relation with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Discussions and interviews with alumni,
students and companies will be conducted.

3. Local News
1) Universitas Brawijaya Rector granted the Best Faculty Award to FEB-UB
Universitas Brawijaya ranks 3rd in the list of Top Universities inIndonesia. During the Celebration of 75th Independence Day, UB
Rector granted FEB (Dean Nurkholis, Ph.D.) an award for best facultywith international accreditation and international exposure.
The Faculty of Economics and Business was accredited on March 23,
2020 by ABEST21 Academic Unit-based Accreditation System.
FEB-UB has offered a wide variety of undergraduate and10

postgraduate programs including bachelor’s programs, Master’s programs and Doctral programs in
the fields of Economics, Management, and Accounting.

2) Universitas Indonesia Vocational Study Programs"Four of UI Vocational Study Programs Offer Graduates to Be Ready to Face the Creative Industry"
Responding to the need for human resources for the rapidly growing creative industry, University ofIndonesia (UI) through the UI Vocational Education Program presents several options forintermediate expert level study programs (D3). The four study programs mentioned are Creative
Advertising, Public Relations, Multimedia Broadcasting and Tourism. Students in these four study
programs will study a number of aspects that are important in the creative industry sub-sector suchas design, videography, photography, television and radio, advertising, and cultural arts. Besides
being based on unlimited creativity and creation, creative industry sector also offers big
opportunities for fresh graduates in Indonesia. Therefore, Vocational UI will support the students byproviding excellent teaching staff, qualified supporting facilities, and several collaborationagreements with industry, government, and strong communities. The decision of Universitas
Indonesia is aligned with the discussion held at "The 3rd Indonesia Council for Nurturing Global
Management Professionals" arranged by ABEST21 in University of Indonesia on February 7th. As one
speaker has stated, the company needs for MBA students who can work in Business Development tomeet the demand for collaboration of education and industry is increasing in Indonesia. Eachcorporation needs an innovator who is capable of building and competing in the business industry inIndonesia.
Source: Kompas news. Ayunda Pininta Kasih, (2020/07/07),"4 Prodi Vokasi UI Tawarkan Lulusan
Siap Hadapi Industri Kreatif", Retrieved fromhttps://edukasi.kompas.com/read/2020/07/07/122217471/4-prodi-vokasi-ui-tawarkan-lulusan-siap-hadapiindustri-kreatif.

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