Prepared by: Azra Ayue Abdul Rahman and Lily Suriani Mohd Arif
International Conference on Social Sciences, Management and Accounting (ICSSMA) 2019 recently concluded its two days conference, where practitioners, researchers and academicians alike cametogether to share and discuss latest issues on industrial revolution 4.0 and how IR 4.0 affects the present environment. This in line with the main theme of conference which is “Socialpreneur in the 4.0 IR: Challenges and Opportunities.
The conference was a collaborative effort between School of Human Resource Development and Psychology (SHARPS), Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Ekonomi Makassar (STIEM), Bongaya, Indonesia and UTM Talent Development Section, Human Resources Division Registrar’s. The conference was held from 24-26th of September 2019 at Holiday Villa Hotel, Johor Bahru, Johor and was officiated by Yang Berhormat Dr. Sulaiman bin Mohd Nor, State Assemblyman for Kemelah, Johor.
Yang Berhormat Dr. Sulaiman in his opening speech, said that the new state government has taken proactive steps to enhance the competency and capabilities of the education system and human resources potentials in the state. He asserted that, “In the latest developments, the state government plans to extend the variety of courses and certification to soft skills such as public speaking, communication, entrepreneurship and leadership.”
ICSSMA 2019 was also honored with the presence of two prominent and distinguished corporate leaders, Datuk Zunaidah Idris, a Senior Vice-President of Corporate and Institutional Business Group (CIBG) Public, Hong Leong Investment Bank Berhad and Mrs. Rahmah Ismail, the Director of HR consulting at NBO Leadership Sdn. Bhd. as well the inspirational socialpreneur speaker, Mr. Imran Harith, who is the co-founder and CEO of Discover Muay Thai (DMT).
The conference has successfully gathered participants from various countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. 81 papers were presented at the conference through 16 parallel sessions, which were then classified into 13 tracks. The tracks were Human Resource Development, Human Resource Management, Economics, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Psychology, Counselling, Education, Communication, Entrepreneurship, Sociology and Culture.
The Conference Director, Dr. Lily Suriani Mohd Arif concluded that the conference has fulfilled its objectives to become a good avenue for participants to share their insights as well as take part in academic debates and discussions. According to the Chair of School of Human Resource and Psychology (SHARPS), Associate Professor Dr. Siti Aisyah Abdul Rahman, the similar conference should be conducted again in future to create and strengthen cooperation as well as networking. Congratulation ICSSMA 2019!