WITH the vision to be a global university of educational excellence with transformative societal impact, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) has been working tirelessly to bring positive impact to the community by leveraging various resources.
UTAR and Alibaba.com, a leading B2B marketplace for global trading under the Alibaba Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Sept 6, 2016 to better equip UTAR staff and students, as well as Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with e-commerce knowledge.
The MoU also served to kick-start the Global E-commerce Talent (GET) programme, an initiative by Alibaba.com to train more e-commerce talents as they recognised the shortage of such expertise in the market.
Right after the signing of the MoU, UTAR sent 30 lecturers from both the Kampar and Sungai Long Campuses to attend a five-day train trainers (TTT) workshop and they became the first batch of Alibaba.com GET certified trainers in Malaysia.
The lecturers soon started to revise postgraduate and undergraduate e-commerce courses by including more practical sessions in the curriculum. They studied the B2B (Alibaba test account) and B2C platforms (Lazada and Shopee) and incorporated these platforms into their teaching schedule.
The revision of syllabus to 100% coursework-based aims to emphasise on the entire ecosystem of e-commerce, with the coursework-based subject on e-commerce receiving a good response from the students. As part of the coursework assessment, a Preliminary GET Test was also implemented for the students.
UTAR’s Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FICT), Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF), Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES), and Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) participated in the Alibaba.com GET programme to ensure that staff and students have enough opportunities to broaden their reach to current and future business decision-makers in the community and nationwide. FICT, being the liaison faculty, provided free training accounts to various faculties to encourage participation in this e-commerce project.
UTAR FBF has also integrated Alibaba.com’s B2B platform into its degree programme by incorporating relevant tutorials, group assignments and coursework presentation. LKC FES is also undergoing a syllabus revision to include practical hands-on for the Alibaba B2B platform in a few courses.
Besides implementing coursework, UTAR had also organised some talks and training to create public awareness on e-commerce and has set up the Unovate Centre to promote entrepreneurship culture in the university. The E-Commerce Delivery Centre was also initiated to facilitate the online purchases made by staff and students. In addition, UTAR had also worked with Alibaba.com on a GET practice project and GET Preliminary Certification. As of 2019, 1,756 students have been awarded the Alibaba.com GET Preliminary Certification.
“The Alibaba.com GET programme enables students to be equipped with the skill sets required by today’s digital economy. With such skill sets, students are able to assist SMEs to tap into the vast opportunities offered by e-commerce. It also helps students to understand how the ecosystem of e-commerce works in the current cross border markets and businesses,” said FAM Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes Deputy Dean Dr Hen Kai Wah.
Riding on this e-commerce trend, UTAR has also collaborated with Alibaba.com on the ‘Global E-Commerce Talent (GET)’ programme to enhance staff
and students’ understanding of
e-commerce.
For more information, visit www.utar.edu.my or call 05-468 8888 (Kampar Campus), 03- 9086 0288 (Sungai Long Campus).
