Leading and Managing
in a VUCA Ecosystem
7 - 8 December 2022
Executive Chairman, QI Group of Companies & Chairman, QIU Council
Dato’ Sri Dr Vijay Eswaran is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the QI Group of Companies. In addition to being a prominent business leader, he is also a best-selling author, speaker, and respected philanthropist.
A proponent of value-based leadership, Dato’ Sri Dr Vijay Eswaran has ensured the QI Group adheres to sustainable practices in business, making a positive impact in the communities it operates in. A 2011 honouree of the Forbes Asia annual list of Heroes of Philanthropy, he has also received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Regional Philanthropy in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Asean community.
In addition to his role as the Chairman of the University council at QIU, in recent years, Dato’ Sri Vijay has committed to reviving the glory days of Malaysian football by investing in the PJ City Football Club, the only All-Malaysian team in the Super League.
A prolific writer, Dato’ Sri Vijay is a contributor to many international publications and his columns have appeared in Harvard Business Review, South China Morning Post, and many others.
He is also the recipient of a number of awards and honours which include a Special Award for Education Entrepreneurship and Leadership at 18th Malaysian Education Summit, CEO of the year at the Malaysian Business Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award for Global Entrepreneurship by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council among others. He was also conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Economics and Global Business by Pannasastra University, Cambodia in 2016.
Vice Chancellor, Quest International University, Perak
Professor Zita Mohd Fahmi has served in the public sector for more than 30 years. Prior to joining LAN, she served as a Dean and Professor of Law for the Faculty of Public Administration and Law in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). She was seconded to the National Accreditation Board, or Lembaga Akreditasi Negara (LAN) when it was established in 1997.
She previously held the position of Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), and was instrumental in developing QA standards and practices, the Malaysian Qualifications Framework, comparability QA and QF projects and regional TVET and capacity building. She was also the Special Advisor for the Association of Quality Assurance Agencies of the Islamic World (QA Islamic and the former Secretary of the ASEAN Quality Assurance Network (AQAN).
In recognition of Professor Zita’s outstanding contribution to the promotion of quality and excellence in higher education nationally and internationally, she was awarded the ‘Quality Champions Award’ by the APQN (Asia Pacific Quality Network) in 2014. Besides serving QIU, Professor Zita currently serves as a Non-Executive member of the Hong Kong Council for the Accreditation of Academic and Vocational qualifications since 2018 as well as advisor to ASEAN QA and AYQON.
Associate Professor, School of Global, Urban & Social Studies and Principal Fellow, Social & Global Studies Research Centre, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
Dr. Yaso Nadarajah’s research covers a range of fields, with a focus on the question of how ethnography and fieldwork may open a space for difficult conversations about the past and injustices; and offer the potential for healing, renewal and moving forward into sustainable community planning partnerships. A commitment to establishing an international and regional cross-sector reference in the Indo-Pacific and in collaboration with global partners has meant spending more than sixty percent of her time in the field; working through both local and global challenges in areas stretched and remade by reclaimed customary practices, national agendas, and global markets. Dr. Yaso’s long-term research in Australia, the Indo-Pacific and in collaboration with partners in Africa, Europe, Latin America and China is about jointly exploring innovative solutions for community-led development and human-centered design.
Dr. Yaso has extensive experience in social and economic development at the international, national and local levels; having worked both as leader and team member in national-level projects in Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. These projects have also generated recommendations, reports and academic publications, including influencing public policy in Australia, national community development policy in Papua New Guinea and post-tsunami community recovery strategies for AusAID.
More recently, Dr. Yaso’s work has begun to more deeply consolidate a body of work in the decolonial option – deconstructing the culturality and coloniality in the structures of power underpinning modernity. Her recent publications and works (text and non-textual) have focused on areas dealing with the sociological consequences of change and rebuilding lives. Currently, she is working on 2 books Locating Theory in Development – self, the Other and difference and The Rage of the Kumalu River in Papua New Guinea – place, spirit and the rainforest.
Associate Dean, Director of GEMBA Programme, CEIBS
Dr. Bala Ramasamy is Professor of Economics, Associate Dean and Director of GEMBA Program at CEIBS. He joined CEIBS in 2006. He was the Associate Dean responsible for Accreditation and Learning Assurance between 2018-2020. Before joining CEIBS, Dr. Ramasamy was Professor of International Economics and Business and acting Director of Nottingham University Business School at the University of Nottingham in Malaysia. In the 1980s and 1990s Dr. Ramasamy was a faculty member at Massey University in New Zealand and the University of Macau. He has wide experience teaching students of different backgrounds and cultures in mainland China, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and the UK.
Dr. Ramasamy received his Ph.D. degree from University of Leicester, UK and his Master of Social Sciences from the University of Macau, both in Economics.
Dr. Ramasamy’s research interest focuses on Asian economies, Foreign Direct Investment, Corporate Social Responsibility and International Business Strategy. Since 2014, he was listed among the most Highly Cited Chinese Researchers by publishing giant, Elsevier. His research has been published in Journal of Business Ethics, World Economy, Journal of World Business, Journal of World Investment and Trade, Journal of Business Research and Tourism Analysis among others. His views are regularly sought by the media. He has been interviewed by CCTV, Bloomberg, AP, Al Jazeera, Channel News Asia etc. His comments have also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, China Daily, South China Morning Post, Global Times and other newspapers around the world.
Outside academia, Dr. Ramasamy runs leadership and moral empowerment programmes for young teenagers in China and Malaysia.
Professor Emeritus, Madinah International University
Prof. Emer. Barjoyai holds a PhD from the University of London – (University College London) in Taxation (1990). Prof. Emer. Barjoyai also holds a Diploma in International Taxation, from Harvard Law School, at Harvard University (1980), an MSc in Industrial Administration from the Aston Business School (1977) and a Professional Diploma in Accounting from the University of Malaya (1979). Prof. Emer. Barjoyai had his first degree in Economics (Accounting) from the University of Malaya in 1975.
After retiring from UKM, Prof. Emer. Barjoyai continued teaching at UKM voluntarily, at the International Business School UTM, The University of Malaya – IMPUMA, UNIRAZAK, UKM, Cyberjaya Medical University, INCEIF, UTAR, K FORCE and UNISEL. He teaches Creativity and Innovation at the MBA programme in UKM, UTM, UNISEL, UNIRAZAK and MUST. He also teaches Knowledge Management and Business Innovation and Global Strategy in the DBA program at IBS, UTM.
Prof. Emer. Barjoyai used to run an office at Silicon Valley capitalising ICT technologies in the late 1990s. He took up a serious hobby to venture into business. He has been involved in several venture capital activities in the area of Konjac and Glucomannan, Hydro fuels, Microwave technology, Nano-Technology, Enzyme production and Gelatines substitute research and development projects. He is also involved in a few oil and gas start up businesses. Barjoyai’s serious innovation is in the Islamic Banking and Finance products development including Waqf mechanism for affordable housing development and Retail Sukuk Waqf for development funding.
Prof. Emer. Barjoyai has been appointed as an academic associate at UNIRAZAK and appointed as a professor at the graduate school and the Program Director for the MBA Global Islamic Finance Program.
Prof. Emer.Barjoyai has been involved in the Entrepreneural development researches for the Federal and States governments in Malaysia including the Economic Planning Unit, Ministry of Public Enterprise, the State government of Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Selangor over the last 25 years.
Prof. Emer.Barjoyai has written two books on Entrepreneurships and another 15 books on Business, Investment, Accounting, Auditing, including two books in Tax Practices in Malaysia and the Malaysian Tax Policy.
Prof. Emer.Barjoyai had held some academic position while serving at UKM – from a head of Department, deputy dean, Dean and Professor of Accounting and Taxation.
