Introduction

The Business Week 2018 is a regular initiative of the Faculty of Business Administration to strengthen students’ skills and aptitude for learning. This is an opportunity for the FBA students to associate and establish fellowship with all the students of FBA.  It was an exciting  event when students have to fit talents with one another as they demonstrate their aptitude, competencies and interest on certain activities organized by the faculty. The presence of the alumni, parents/guardians and students from other Faculty and Departments added challenge to the students to showcase their best and at the same time the actual exhibits of what the FBA has inculcated to enhance the students theoretical and practical capabilities. This event is one of the many valuable measures, the university is undertaking to make the students’ life more enjoyable and academically sound on their way to complete their studies and apply what they have learned from the university during their search for job. An account of the daily activities are described below highlighting how these activities were carried out.

Objectives

The weeklong celebration has the following objectives to achieve:

• To orient the students to the current practices and opportunities in business application and contemporary ideas
• To involve several corporate brands, in a number of capacities and competencies build up
• To provide a platform for the talented students to challenge among themselves and develop their  potentials in the business market

 

Day 1

 Business Plan Exhibition

On the first day nof the celebration, a Business Plan Competition was held  to bring out  new business ideas  exhibited by the Entrepreneurship Development Course students. All of the projects focused development of Bangladesh on the broader aspects that included facilities for individuals, community and a whole nation.  The Champion is the team whose Project was titled ‘Black Ash Ltd’ the first runner up came up with the idea called ‘Happy Day Care Centre’ and the second runner up concentrated on ‘Pet Makeover’. Business ideas were evaluated on different criterion:  Feasibility, Return on Investment and Uniqueness were crucial among all.  Judges and viewers were immensely happy and one of the judges was stating that ‘I am very hopeful about our students’ future in the Business World, they have enormous potentials to be the successful Entrepreneurs and this competition will help them to be ready for their Entrepreneurial transition’. The Exhibition was jointly organized by Ms.Samia Shabnaz, Senior Assistant Professor and Coordinator, Ms. Anisa Sultana, Senior Assistant Professor, Ms. Nusrat Huq, Lecturer, Department of Management and HRM. All the ideas will be preserved in AIUB Business Archive for further use. Ideas will be available upon investors request and for  inter-university Business Plan competition.

Black Ash Ltd. : Champion Quazi Ehsan Hossain-14-25498-1 Sharear Alam Talukder-4-25463-1 Bhiyan,Ismail Hossain-16-31089-1 Maruf Hasan-14-25633-1

Happy Day Care Centre : 1st Runner up Alam Shahanur,-15-28655-1 Alvee Ahanaf Shahriar-14-27999-3 Khan,Md.Nazmul Alam-15-28890-1 Mahmud,Md.Raiyan-15-29100-1

Pet Makeover: 2nd Runner up Nipa Afsana Tahsin-15-29955-2 Mim, Mst. Sumona Akter  15-30221-2 Shuvo, Saif Hasan-15-30216-2 Lima, Shahanara-15-29369-2 Susmita, Nusrat Parvin – 15-29208-1 Hamim SM-15-28512-2

# Seminar on “Career Prospect of Business Graduates”

The Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration (FBA), AIUB has organized a seminar on “Career Prospect of Business Graduates” for the students of BBA to enhance the students’ academic learning. Mr. Mohammad Mahabub Ullah, Head of Alternative Business Development and Mr. Adib Islam Khan, Deputy Manager, Alternative Business Development of Lanka Bangla Securities Ltd, shared their experience in the financial sector. The seminar was indeed a fruitful knowledge sharing platform that was followed by a question-answer session from the participating students. The seminar started with a welcome speech by Dr. Nisar Ahmed, Director, MBA program FBA and concluded with a vote of thanks to the Guest Speaker given by Mr. R. Tareque Moudud FCMA, Director of OPA. In appreciate of the valuable discussion on academic-industry collaboration, the guest speakers were provided with a Certificate and token of appreciation. The seminar was also graced by the presence of Mr. M. Taseen Chowdhury, Coordinator, Finance Department, FBA and the faculty members. Mrs. Anisa Sultana, Senior Assistant Professor, FBA, AIUB were present to facilitate the event. This event was coordinated and organized by Samia Shabnaz, Coordinator, Management and HRM Department, FBA, AIUB. The students were enlightened and delighted to have gained from the inputs of the resource speakers.

 

# Role-Play Competition of HR Major Students

 One of the initiatives during the celebration  was a role-playing competition designed to encourage HR students to assume various roles and act out short plays centered on issues related to training, development, leadership, recruitment and conflict management. The faculty members in charge of the event were Ms. Anisa Sultana, Senior Assistant Professor, and Ms. Kishwar Mubin Chowdhury, lecturer of Department of Management and HRM. A total of five short acts were performed from which a winning team and a runner up were selected. The winning act was based on Sexual Harassment at the Workplace which addressed issues of victim blaming and debunked the myth of female attire as one of the underlying reasons for falling victim to sexual harassment. The members of the winning team were awarded medals for their outstanding performance during the closing ceremony. The members of the winning team were:
Winners of Role-Playing Competition

Sultana, Nargis	13-25388-3
Akhter, Sahmid Sajjad	15-27427-1
Islam, Nadimul	15-29170-1
Mamun, Md. Abdullah	15-30636-3
Rashid, Md. Rezuanul	15-28993-1
Sabah, Samia	14-28010-3

The other noteworthy acts focused on group conflict during presentations; interview etiquette; good leadership versus bad leadership; and racial conflict during the presidency of Nelson Mandela. Overall the selection of such global issues and their execution through role-playing were praiseworthy to say the least. The competition was judged by Obaidul Islam Sr., Associate Professor and Ms. Nusrat Huq, Lecturer, Department of Management and HRM. The students of HRM truely enjoyed applying their theoretical knowledge to real life issues through performances which were both educational and entertaining.

 

# Seminar on Investment Decision Making

A seminar entitled: “Understanding Trend, Support and Resistance and Market Indicators in Dhaka Stock Exchange: An Introduction to Technical Analysis” was held  on the first day of the AIUB Business Week 2018. The seminar was organized by the Department of Finance, FBA, AIUB. Mr. Mohammad Ali Xahangir, CEO and Mr. Asad Ul Islam, Investment Analyst of Amarstock  Ltd. were the key speakers of the Seminar. Mr. M. Taseen Chowdhury, Assistant Professor and Coordinator; Department of Finance, AIUB also enriched the seminar as a resource person.

Professor Dr. Nisar Ahmed, Director MBA Program delivered the welcome speech as the chief guest of the seminar. He encouraged the students to relate their theoretical understanding of the subjects studied in AIUB with the contemporary practice in the Industry. The seminar was dedicated for the BBA and MBA students taking the ‘Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management’ course. It helped the students to understand the practical aspects of investment based on technical analysis of the capital market. The speakers of the seminar explained how to identify market trend, support and resistance levels and the use of market indicators. They also introduced ‘Amar Stock’ web site and demonstrated how students could use the database to do assignments and research reports. After the presentation, an open question-answer session was held where students asked specific questions on investment analysis, market timing and money management strategies.

At the end of the seminar, Mr. M. Taseen Chowdhury presented the Certificate of Appreciation to the guest speakers signed by Professor Dr. Nisar Ahmed, Director MBA Program and Professor Dr. Charles C. Villanueva, Pro Vice Chancellor & Dean, Faculty of Business Administration.

 

 

Day 2

 Seminar on “Career Prospect in Capital Market”

The Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration (FBA), AIUB has organized a seminar on “Career Prospect in Capital Market” for the students of MBA. Mr. Ahmed Kamrul Hasan, Head of Human Resource,  from Lanka Bangla Securities Ltd shared his experience of the financial sector. The seminar was indeed a fruitful knowledge sharing platform followed by a question-answer session with the participating students. The speaker highlighted the skills required for the career in the capital market. The seminar started with the welcome speech by prof. Dr. Md. Faruque Hossain and concluded with a vote of thanks by Mrs. Samia Shabnaz, Program Coordinator Management Department. A  Certificate and token of appreciation were presented to the speaker.

 

# CV Writing Workshop for Undergraduate Students

A work shop on ‘Career Management Skills’ held on 2nd April 2018 at AIUB Permanent Campus during the business week. The resource person was Arifa Sultana, Manager – Performance Management System & Campus, Human Resources, Bkash. In the workshop Mr. Sayeed Nasir, General Manager, Organizational Development and Ariba Ayesha Sattar, Senior Officer, Organizational Development, Human Resources, bKash Limited were present.  The workshop attracted the attention of students from different Departments as it highlighted the importance of creating Personal/Self Branding. She made an interesting comparison between branding a product and branding a person. ‘Branding an object and branding a person is the same as people identify you the way you are selling yourself before them. Ms. Arifa also advised students to use social media with caution as recruiters now a days search the potential employees in different social networks to get the idea about their personality to make a selection decision. She also outlined a guideline   on how to prepare the right resume and how to win the job interview.  The workshop was organized by Ms. Samia Shabnaz, Senior Assistant Professor and Coordinator department of Management & HRM and Ms.Anisa Sultana, Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Management & HRM.

# Bazaar Bonanza

 As a part of the Business Week, Bazaar Bonanza; a one day business fair was opened.  In this event, the students were given an opportunity to become an entrepreneur. The students had set up business stalls to display and sell various products and services to customers. A total of 17 students’ group from the Faculty of Business Administration participated in the event selling various categories of products e.g. Food and Beverages, Clothing, Cosmetics and Fashion Accessories, Electronic Gadgets, and other services. The Bonanza was held on the premises adjacent to Annex 4 of AIUB Permanent Campus.

This event was inaugurated by the honorable director of BBA Program Ms. Farheen Hassan. Dr. Sazzadul Karim; Coordinator (Marketing), Ms. Samia Shabnaz; Coordinator (Management and HRM) were also present at the very moment along with distinguished faculty members and students. The esteemed guests visited each stall and had a detailed discussion about the respective product line up. The program was organized and coordinated by Mr. Adnan Hossain, Department of Management & HRM, Mr. Afdalin Bin Haque, Department of Management & HRM, Mr. Stanley Rodrick, Department of Marketing and Mr. Hamidul Islam, Department of Marketing with the support from the faculty and student volunteers.

 

Juniors:

Champion:

Ashikur Rahman Ashik 

First Runner-up:

Sumi Chakraborty

Second Runner-up:

Minhajul Islam Soton

 

# GLOBAL TRADE DEBATE COMPETITION

The  Department of Marketing organized a debate  competition on Global Trade at Room # 5104 of Annex 5, Permanent Campus of the university. Students were highly motivated and inspired by Dr. Khondaker Sazzadul Karim, Associate Professor, & Coordinator, Department of Marketing as he attended the event and motivated the participants.  Dr. Partha Prasad Chowdhury, Associate Professor and Mr.  A.K.M. Kamrul Haque, Sr. Assistant Professor, from the Department of Marketing organized the event. The topic of the debate was “Globalization is a blessing or curse?” The panel of judges evaluated the respective teams’ performance based on the clarity of topic, use of argument, use of cross examination and rebuttal and presentation style. Dr. Shahin Akter Sarker Assistant Professors of Department of Marketing and Ms. Sabrina Rahman, Lecturer, Tourism & Hospitality Management were the honorable members of the jury board. Members of champion group are Mim, Mehnaz Rahman (ID: 15-30653-3), Rahman, Md. Zillur (ID: 16-31776-1); Susmita, Fahima Afrin (15-30721-3); and Hasan, Mahamudul (15-28736-1) where as members of runner-up group are Tabassum, Lamia (ID: 13-23778-1); Bushra, Maliha Meharin (ID: 15-30562-3); Haque, Md. Nazmul (ID: 15-30344-2); and Khan, Md. Siam Uzzaman (ID: 16-31591-1).

# SEMINAR ON CORPORATE REPORTING: BEYOND NUMBERS

The Department of Accounting arranged a seminar entitled, Corporate Reporting: Beyond Numbers for the MBA students in the AIUB permanent campus.

The speaker was Khandaker Fokhrul Alam, Climate Change and Finance Expert DFID’s Climate Finance Transparency Mechanism Project, Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies. The speaker discussed about the importance of non-financial reporting like sustainability reporting, integrated reporting. Also he discussed how social and environmental reporting plays a vital role in the financial statements. In addition he also discussed different types of factors that affect the business decisions. The seminar was effective for the students of MBA since they can take managerial decisions not only considering financial figures but also non-financial perspectives.

The seminar was arranged by Niaz Mohammad, Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting. Mohammad Faridul Alam, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Accounting, Prof. Mr Maksudur Rahman Sarker and Mr. Moinuddin Ahmed were also present during the seminar. A certificate and gift of token were presented  to the key speaker.

Day 3

 Business Quiz Competition Organized by Department of Management and HRM

The Department of Management and HRM included a Business Quiz competition amongst its several activities organized during AIUB Business Week. The competition began with a round of multiple choice questions based on basic management related issues. The top scorers of the first round  qualified for the second round which was a timed buzzer round of questions where students were given clues to guess the proper terms for the definitions presented on the screen. Top scorers from the buzzer round then went on to a final rapid fire round based on acronyms and abbreviations of global organizations, names of fortune 500 companies and media. The versatility of the questions ensured an extremely engaging competition because the idea behind the initiative was to refrain from drawing heavily from theoretical or textual questions which usually lead to memorization and hence, poor retention of concepts. The competition was organized by Ms. Kishwar M Chowdhury, Lecturer and Mr. Afdalin Bin Haque, Assistant Professor, Department of Management and judged by Mr. Adnan Hossain, Assistant Professor and Ms. Nusrat Huq, Lecturer, from the Department of Management and HRM. The winner of the quiz competition was awarded a medal and certificate during the closing ceremony while the runners-up received certificates. Below are the names of the winners:

First Place: Karim Nabil Shad Bin 14-26110-1

Second Place: Sadia Tabassum Alam Ami 16-31979-2

Third Place: Md. Rafi 15-30071-2

# MS Excel Workshop

MS Excel software package is regarded as an essential for financial and statistical analysis. It is the most popular and effective spreadsheet tool today. It is user friendly, robust, and packed with excellent features. Keeping its popularity and effectiveness in a workplace in mind, the Department of Accounting and Finance, AIUB organized a workshop titled ‘Financial Decision Making using MS Excel’  to help students to learn the following functions:

1. PV, FV, RATE, and NPER to take real life financial planning related decisions.
2. EFFECT & NOMINAL to convert nominal interest rate to effective interest rate and vice versa.
3. Amortization Schedule to understand loan repayment.
4. Data Analysis to calculate descriptive statistics.
5. AVERAGE & STDEV.S to calculate risk and return.
6. CORREL to calculate and interpret correlation coefficient between two data sets.
7. TREND to forecast data using least squares method.
8. Regression Analysis to understand which among the independent variables are related to the dependent variable, and to explore the forms of these relationships
9. Pivot Table to extract the significance from a large, detailed data set.

Mr. M. Taseen Chowdhury, Assistant Professor and Coordinator; Department of Finance, AIUB was the instructor and facilitator of this workshop. He along with Mr. Mohammad Faridul Alam, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Accounting, encouraged the students to learn MS Excel in such a way that they could relate their theoretical understanding of the subjects studied in AIUB with the contemporary practice in the corporate world. The participants were awarded with certificate of participation at the end of the workshop signed by the Honorable Pro-VC and Dean of Faculty of Business administration, Professor Dr. Charles Villanueva and Professor Dr. Nisar Ahmed, Director MBA Program.

# GLOBAL TRADE POSTER COMPETITION

The Department of Marketing organized a poster competition on Global Trade. Over 40 teams from four different sections of Global Trade participated in the competition with high sincerity and very positive attitude. Eighteen groups qualified for the final round. Students were highly motivated and inspired by Ms. Farheen Hassan, Associate Professor and Director, BBA Program as she joined the event and shared her valuable ideas and guidelines to all group members. Dr. Khondaker Sazzadul Karim, Associate Professor, & Coordinator, Department of Marketing also attended the event and motivated the participants. This Global Trade Poster Competition is a unique concept that aims to help young BBA student enthusiasts become the future business leaders in Bangladesh. Dr. Partha Prasad Chowdhury, Associate Professor and Mr.  A.K.M. Kamrul Haque, Sr. Assistant Professor, from the Department of Marketing organized the event.  

The panel of judges evaluated the respective teams’ performance based on their presentation, communication skills and ability to confront questions regarding their posters. Dr. Shahin Akter Sarker and Dr. Khaled Amin, Assistant Professors of Department of Marketing were the honorable members of the jury board. Members of the champion group are Mim, Mehnaz Rahman (ID: 15-30653-3), Nawal, Nowshin (ID: 15-30655-3); Ria, Taslima Rahman (ID: 15-30680-3); Susmita, Fahima Afrin (15-30721-3) where as Members of the first runner-up group are Mitu, Ommy Kulsum (ID: 15-30234-2); Abedin Farzana (ID: 15-30077-2); Emu, Armina Akter (ID: 15-29923-2) and members of the second runner –up are Bushra, Maliha Meharin (ID: 15-30562-3); Haque, Md. Nazmul (ID: 15-30344-2); Banya, Fahmida Akter (ID: 15-30960-3).

Day 4:

#Poster Competition Power of People

As part of the event of AIUB Business Week 2018, the Department of Management & HRM organized a poster competition of Introduction to Behavioral Science entitled “Power of People” on 4^th April, 2018. Selected groups of All Introduction to Behavioral Science sections participated in the competition with high sincerity and enthusiasm. Students were highly motivated and inspired by Ms. Farheen Hassan, Associate Professor and Director, BBA Program, Faculty of Business Administration as she joined the event and shared her valuable ideas and guidelines to all group members. Dr. Khondoker Sazzadul Karim, Associate Professor, & Coordinator, Department of Marketing, Mr. Ashfaque A. Mohib, Head, Department of Operations and Supply Chain Management; Ms. Samia Shabnaz, Coordinator, Management and HRM Department; Mr. M. Taseen Chowdhury, Coordinator of Finance department were  also present in the event and motivated the participants. The panel of judges evaluated the respective teams’ performance based on their presentation,  communication skills and ability to respond  to the questions regarding their posters. Ms. Samia Sabnaz, Coordinator, Department of Management & HRM and Ms. Kiswar M. Chowdhury, Lecturer, Management Department were the honorable members of the jury board.

The result of the competition is as follows:

Campion: Emtiaz Hossain. Ferdous Rubab. Nurul Parvez Anik. Hisam Munwar Rid

First Runners Up: Navid Hossain. Sabbir Ahmed. Badhan Kumar Kundu. Akash Das. Carl Kaushik Saha.

Second Runners Up: Sara Mahjabin. Md. Abdur Rohman Shakil. Faisal Abedin. Sadman Sakib. Farah Hossain Maria.

# Poster Competition “Management for Tomorrow”

On a very sunny morning of 04^th April 2018, the Department of Management and HRM organized a poster competition entitled, “Management for Tomorrow”, as one of the events of AIUB Business Week 2018. The competition was held for the students of "Principles of Management" course. The selected groups displayed their posters in the occasion. The program was  inaugurated by Mr. Ashfaque A. Mohib, Head, Department of Operations and Supply Chain Management; the Department Coordinators Ms. Samia Shabnaz of Management and HRM; Mr. M. Taseen Chowdhury of Finance, Dr. Khondaker Sazzadul Karim of Marketing Department and other honorable faculty members. The result of the competition is as follow:

CHAMPION AZ Garments                                                                Khatun Azmira. Suny Abedur. Islam, Tahmidul. Dey, Sowrav. Sadman Faize

First Runners Up: Jewelry Store Habiba Rahman Himu. MD. S. K. Mehedi Hasan. Anika Anjum. Mahbuba Binte Mustafiz. MD. Shohel Rana.

Second Runners Up: Online Homemade Catering Saha Pranta. Sarwoar,M,M, Suharto Maliha Islam Ekra. Md. Robi Bin Mostafa

# Seminar on: “Career choice and the journey”

Aligning with different events of the business week, the Department of Finance held a seminar entitled “Career choice and the journey” on 4th April 2018, in room 1113 for the Post graduate students of International Financial Management. The resource person of the seminar was Mr. Elias Ahmed, CFO Marico Bangladesh ltd.

The speaker was delighted on the positive vibes he got from the students. The speaker through his life example highlighted many issues on the career journey. He provided guide and tips for students to focus on their area of specialization also giving importance to some professional degrees on the basis on preference. He also emphasized students to have a clear understanding of how they want to move ahead so that they face lesser hardship in their career path. At the end of the session the students asked questions regarding different career problem which was well addressed by the speaker.

The session concluded with giving a vote of thanks to Mr Elias for his invaluable time to our students. At the end of the seminar, Professor & Dr. Nisar Ahmed, Director, MBA program gave a vote of thanks to the speaker and also handed over a certificate and token of appreciation to the speaker for his invaluable service. Other faculty members like Mr Romee Tareque Moudud FCMA, Director of OPA, Mr. Taseen Chowdhury, Coordinator of the Department of Finance, and Ms. Bohi Shajahan faculty of the Department of Finance were also present in the seminar.

# SEMINAR ON ACCOUNTING: THE DRIVING FORCE OF MODERN ECONOMY

On April 4, 2018 the Department of Accounting, FBA arranged a seminar titled Accounting: The driving force of Modern Economy for the Accounting & Finance major students in the AIUB permanent campus.

The key speaker was Touhidur Rahman FCA Director, Tax and Legal Compliance Howlader Yunus & Co. Mr. Touhid discussed about the importance of professional degrees in the field of accounting and finance. Since he is a partner of Howlader Yuuus and Co he also talked about different levels of Chartered Accountancy degree. The session was arranged by Mohammad Faridul Alam, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Accounting. Other faculties of accounting were also attending this seminar.

 

Day 5 and Closing

# FBA Faculty vs Student Football Match of AIUB Business Week 2018

To add some sporting flavor to AIUB Business Week 2018, the Faculty of Business Administration organized a Faculty vs. Student Friendly Football Match on 4^th April 2018. The cloudy sky, the drizzle and lightening had spiced up the environment and had increased delightedness of the event. Before the match was suspended due to heavy rain after half time; the Students’ team won by 4 to 1. The event was very successful in enhancing friendly relation among students and faculty members. The  Director of MBA Program, Dr. Nisar Ahmed and Director of BBA Program, Ms. Farheen Hassan  inaugurated the match. She  mentioned that the Faculty of Business Administration will look forward to have more matches like this one in future which is vital for creating a strong bond between faculty members and students with the sporting spirit. Respected Department Coordinators and faculty members were present to cheer both the teams on the ground. In the closing ceremony of AIUB Business Week, Professor Dr. Tafazzal Hossain, Honorable Dean, Faculty of Science and Information Technology handed over the winning trophy  to the students’ team. The Friendly Football match was organized and coordinated by Mr. Md. Joynal Abedin, Assistant Professor, and Department of Finance.