1

HIGHLIGHTS:

September 2019/2020

WELCOME BACK TO FALL 2019

BUSINESS TALK - “DEDICATION IN

DIGITAL ERA”

SOB NOMINATIONS FOR ROWAD 2.0

- WARBA BANK

2

Welcome Back to Fall 2019

On 2 September 2019, classes started for the Fall semester 2019-2020.

3

Mr. Gao discussed the topic of

changes in China during recent

decades. Over the past 40 years,

China has transformed itself from a

country that was technologically

underdeveloped and poor, to an

increasingly modern and affluent

economy. Especially during the past

two decades, China’s economic

performance has been extraordinary

by any standard. Massive systematic

changes have taken place in the

world’s most populated nation, at

the same time as achieving a world-

leading economic growth rate,

single-digit inflation, huge build-up

of foreign exchange reserves, sharp

decline in poverty, and the wide

sharing of benefits from economic

growth.

Business Talk - “Dedication in Digital Era”

The Business Talk titled “Dedication

in Digital Era” was presented by Mr.

Jun Gao, Public Affairs Director of

Huawei’s North GCC Region (Kuwait,

Bahrain and Qatar) on 11 September

2019.

4

Mr. Gao discussed Huawei’s

“Dedication” philosophy and the

growth experience. He presented

some advances Huawei made in the

telecommunication technological field

in the past several decades. The

company was founded in 1987 and as

of recently, invested US $13.8 billion

in research and development. Huawei

has deployed its products and

services in more than 170 countries.

and as of 2011, it served 45 of the 50

largest telecom operators.

At the end of the talk, Mr. Gao

explained that Huawei’s remarkable

success was largely due to the

“Dedication” spirit. He has

encouraged our ACK students to study

hard to achieve exceptional results in

the near future.

5

Gesture of Gratitude to Boubyan Bank

for Hosting SoB Internship Students

On 12 September 2019, the ACK School of Business delivered a gesture of

gratitude to Mr. Bader Al Naseem and Mr. Nabil El Arab at Boubyan Bank

for supporting and hosting our interns at their branches. Boubyan Bank

placed students in departments such as Customer Service, Front Desk and

Treasury as part of their Internship Program. The students provided

feedback on their experiences and were always surprised at the level of

service expected from customers in the Banking Industry. One student in

particular talked about an incident where she had made a mistake and had

to take responsibility for the consequences – the incident helped her grow

as an individual and her integrity and work ethic resulted in her being

offered permanent employment at the bank.

6

Workshop for Managing Change Us-

ing Kotter's Model

School of Business Nominations for

ROWAD 2.0 - Warba Bank

This month, ACK has nominated 5 students for the ROWAD 2.0 program. The

program is launched by Warba Bank as one of the Innovation Challenges. Dr.

Arthur King - Dean of School of Business met with the nominated students on

16 September 2019 and explained the program. The team will be led by Ms.

Rupali Bhagat on behalf of School of Business. The students will attend many

training sessions as part of the program and then compete with other

universities while representing ACK in the final competition on 1 December

2019.

7

Warba Bank started ROWAD program in Week 5 and they selected five of ACK

students including two from School of Business.

8

ACK 2019 Annual Staff Dinner

On 17 September 2019, the ACK

2019 Annual Staff Dinner took

place at Salwa Sabah Al-Ahmad

Theater & Hall (Marina Hotel). The

dinner was meant to celebrate the

commencement of the new 2019-

2020 academic year and to reward

ACK staff who excelled in their

various roles.

9

Two faculty members from the School of Business were nominated for the

Teaching Excellence Award, Dr. Mohamad Atyeh and Ms. Rupali Bhagat.

Congratulations to our faculty for winning the School of Business Teaching

Excellence Award!

10

Gesture of Gratitude to VIVA for

Hosting SoB Internship Students

On 18 September 2019, the ACK School

of Business awarded VIVA a Gift of

Appreciation for hosting nine internship

students in the Spring 2019 semester.

Students were assigned to the Marina

Mall and Avenues branches and

charged with tasks related to Customer

Service and Telesales. The feedback

from students was very good, their

interpersonal skills improved and they

were able to deal with some very

difficult customers. VIVA was so

impressed with our students, that they

offered two students full–time

employment.

11

Research Seminar

The first Research Seminar for the ACK School of Business in the Fall 2019

semester took place on 18 September 2019. Professor Ayça Tekin-Koru, the

Research Fellow at the Scientific Research Center of ACK, gave a talk to the

SOB Faculty about the Elements of Research Success. She started with an

introduction about herself in the capacity of a researcher and continued

with a discussion about her experience in the realms of writing, networking

and funding. She explained what worked and what did not for her in the last

20 years. Prof. Tekin-Koru also touched on her role at ACK as a research

fellow and reminded the faculty about the approaching KFAS grant deadline.

She concluded with an open-floor discussion on the faculty expectations in

regards to improving research output and how to proceed in terms of

research activities in School of Business in the coming academic year.

12

Workshop for Managing Change Us-

ing Kotter's Model ICDL Implementation

The periodic feedback we receive

from the industry and other

stakeholders (e.g. alumni) has

consistently indicated increasing

demand for graduates with skills

and competencies necessary to use

computers and common computer

applications in Kuwait. This implies

that graduates with these skills are

likely to have a competitive

advantage on the job market.

Indeed, the School Business has a

unit in its curriculum which helps

students develop various computer

skills.

However, currently none of these

units leads to a computer

qualification certified by a

professional board. The School of

Business has been aware of this

limitation for some time and has

now decided to put in place

strategies to ensure that its

students will have the computer

skills required by the industry, which

are underpinned by a professional

certification from a reputable

institution, when they graduate. As

part of this strategy, the School of

Business plans to offer students

computer training courses which

lead to an International Computer

Driving License (ICDL) certification.

13

Workshop for Managing Change Us-

ing Kotter's Model

The School of Business has since made great strides towards its

preparations to launch ICDL at ACK. On 19 September 2019, all key

stakeholders within ACK (e.g. Corporate Training, ACK Marketing, ACK

Finance, Institutional Excellence, IT, Security, Facilities Depts.) met and

agreed on the role each stakeholder will play to ensure that the ICDL launch

at ACK is successful. The current plan is to launch ICDL on 3 October 2019

and have the first exam on 1 November 2019.

14

Workshop for Managing Change Us-

ing Kotter's Model

Consumers & Markets Class - PBL

PBL has been applied to the

Consumers and Markets unit.

General Manager of Fapcotech, Mr.

Mazen Bou Diab addressed the

students on 23 and 24 September

2019 with a specific project he

would like them to work on during

their semester.

The tasks and deliverables are as

follows:

The groups will select an industry in

Kuwait and segment it to select

targeted companies. A list of

prospective customers with contact

details, Market Capitalization,

Product Usage etc. will be generated.

Thereafter, the groups will identify a

gap in the market and create user-

requirements for a new mobile

application or software that can be

developed. In collaboration with

Fapcotech, the Pricing Strategy and

Final Selling Price will be decided

upon. Then break-even analysis is

done.

Finally, students will conduct a

Competitor Analysis and Sales

Strategy to introduce the

application/software into the market.

15

Workshop for Managing Change Us-Future Coders Visit

Future Coders is a non-profit club in Kuwait aspiring to nurture passionate

future coders. They organize classes and workshops for people between

the ages of 3 – 21 year olds, covering IT coding, robotics and engineering

projects in a fun and caring atmosphere. Future Coders visited ACK campus

on 25 September 2019 and challenged volunteers and students with

mathematical and logical problems. For those who could not solve the

problems, they offered solutions at various timings on campus. Their

objective was to spread awareness and to encourage volunteering at the

organization.

16

Workshop for Managing Change Us-Business Talk- “Success in Business”

School of Business hosted a Business

Talk titled “Success in Business” on 25

September 2019, which was

presented by Mr. Abdullah Al Khanji,

the Founder and Owner of Mini

Delights, Founder of AlKhanji Real

Estate and a Consultant for

establishing and developing business.

Mr. Abdullah shared his inspiring

and motivating success story on

how he started a business at home

that grew to four different

countries. Mr. Abdullah was also

invited last year to present in Ms.

Nadeen Abbas’s Change

Management class which was a

great success. She invited him

again this year to present a

Business Talk and it was well

received by all students.

17

Workshop for Managing Change Us-

18

Workshop for Managing Change Us-

ing Kotter's Model

ACK Team Preparations for Injaz

Regional Competition

ACK team MEREN is preparing to participate in regionals that will be held in

Oman. MEREN will represent Kuwait and ACK in the competition, competing

with teams from different countries and universities.

The team MEREN met Dr Arthur King, Dean – School of Business with their

mentor Ms. Rupali Bhagat to share their progress and also receive feedback on

the preparations. The meeting went great as the students discussed their roles

in the presentation and in the company and received feedback about it.

19

MEREN also visited INJAZ – Kuwait recently in order to

submit the final report, presentation and other paper

work.

The team is meeting regularly and rehearsing for

different phases of the competition.

20

STUDENTS

CORNER

21

Students Corner Student Message to Instructor

Dear Ms. Dania,

I want to thank you for being patient with me and also wanting me and

everyone else to strive and do great. I was happy to see my final good grade,

as I was expecting much lower, as all Maths and equations studies are difficult

for me. I really appreciate it and I really enjoyed your class, and this is the

only reason I took Statistics this summer because you were teaching it. See

you around and wishing you a relaxing summer and super health. Take care.

Regards, Zaynalabdeen

Student Message to Instructor

Dear Ms. Dania,

To the world you may be just a teacher

But to your students you are a hero.

Regards,

Nouf

22

HAVE A

GREAT SEMESTER