Featured in the Media – Page 30 – Asia School of Business

Dubai: Over 50 MBA students from 19 countries took part in the “first-ever climate and healthcare-focused hackathon” in Dubai on Tuesday to develop solutions to real-world problems. The five-hour hackathon saw students proposing several innovative ‘hacks’ like AI-based predictive analytics combining patient data with meteorological data and other historical data to inform capacity planning.

Another solution focused on a real-time carbon tracking dashboard using procurement and planning data to simulate the impact of a new project or policy. The hackathon, jointly organised by Asia School of Business (ASB), a collaboration between the MIT Sloan School of Management and Malaysia’s central bank (Bank Negara Malaysia), and VPS Healthcare, one of the leading integrated healthcare providers in the region with 24 operational hospitals and over 125 healthcare centres, resulted in several innovative solutions.

Problem-solving approach

Students also learned about Dubai’s healthcare industry through applying ‘Action Learning ‘problem-solving approaches and frameworks gained during their MBA to address a pressing real-world challenge faced by VPS Healthcare and healthcare groups all over the world – climate change.

The students, hailing from 19 different countries, had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the city of Dubai as part of a longer four-day Dubai visit that included visiting Expo 2020 Dubai and interactions with corporate partners to understand how Dubai has transformed itself from its reliance on oil, which used to account for 50 percent of GDP, into a global trade and tourism destination with over 95 percent of GDP coming from non-oil industries.

This includes healthcare and medical tourism, which has grown into one of Dubai’s top sectors, thanks to a rapidly growing urban population as well as a high influx of medical tourists who trust Dubai’s high-tech facilities to receive treatment.

Climate change and healthcare

Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, Founder and Chairman of VPS Healthcare, said: “We believe it will take collective effort globally to mitigate and address the climate risks we face today. There are unique challenges in the health care sector that needs to factor in challenges that will become increasingly hard to ignore, including increased fatalities and injuries due to extreme weather events and a rise in chronic health conditions like asthma, infectious diseases, and mental illness.

The partnership between VPS Healthcare and Asia School of Business represents our commitment towards addressing what experts are calling one of the greatest public health threats of our time.” At the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, 45 countries, including UAE, committed to transforming their health systems to be less carbon-emitting and more environmentally sustainable.

Sean Ferguason, Senior Associate Dean of the Asia School of Business said: “We’re extremely grateful to be able to partner with VPS Healthcare to address such an important challenge while providing our students with a rich, international learning experience, especially during these volatile pandemic times.”

Read the full article HERE.
Originally published by Gulf News.

Technological innovation is at the heart of Asia’s growth. Asia accounts for over two-thirds of worldwide tech exports, and the region’s use of technology to combat Covid has aided Asia’s robust economic recovery from the pandemic.

When it comes to the future of digital currencies it’s no different. Decentralized cryptocurrencies that rely on blockchain technology, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, have gained traction across Asia, with Vietnam and the Philippines ranking as the second and third highest users of cryptocurrencies respectively in a recent survey. Many countries across Asia are even designing their own centralized digital currencies, or Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), to keep pace with digital transformation.

What could the future of digital currencies in Asia look like?

Like unregulated digital currencies, CBDCs can support better financial inclusion and cheaper cross-border transfers, while allowing governments to maintain greater control of their country’s monetary systems. Banks can also design CBDCs in a way that’s less harmful to the environment than some cryptocurrencies.

“If we want a resilient, inclusive financial ecosystem, then the environmental footprint of fully decentralized platforms like Bitcoin is way too high for it to be the future of the payment system,” says Anella Munro, professor of economics at Malaysia’s Asia School of Business (ASB), speaking at ASB’s Leadership for Enterprise Sustainability Asia (LESA) 2021 conference.

Currently, Bitcoin, one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, consumes roughly the same amount of electricity as Finland. There are other problems facing existing decentralized digital currencies. China banned all cryptocurrency transactions in 2021, while India looks set to follow suit. This is mainly due to the lack of control countries have over virtual currencies like Bitcoin, another issue CBDCs could solve.

“Many central banks are looking at CBDCs and experimenting with blockchain technology,” says Anella. “It’s within most central banks’ mandates to keep on top of payments technology and know what the options are.” There are various versions of CBDCs cropping up. Retail CBDCs are available for everyone, while wholesale versions are limited to banks and payment service providers.

The People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank, has created a Chinese digital currency called the ‘e-yuan’, or the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) system. The digital yuan is currently being trialed by consumers as well as Chinese tech giants like JD.com.

Across South East Asia (SEA), Bank Negara Malaysia (Malaysia’s central bank), the State Bank of Vietnam, and the Bank of Thailand are also investigating ways to introduce regulated digital currencies in retail or wholesale forms.

Since people across SEA have embraced mobile phone payments—proven by the popularity of ecommerce services like Thailand’s PromptPay and SEA’s ShopeePay—SEA’s population is likely to adapt to digital money with relative ease.

How can you tap into the future of digital currencies?

The rise of digital currencies in Asia offers an opportunity for the brightest business minds to lead the future of the sector. Governments will need professionals with sound project management skills to perfect the infrastructure required to roll out their own digital currencies, while a business solution is needed to lessen the environmental impact they have.

ASB’s 20-month MBA program offers courses dedicated to financial trends such as Financial Analytics and Innovation and Strategic Management of Financial Institutions. There are also opportunities to explore SEA’s fintech scene during Action Learning projects, where students participate in five real life consultancy projects across organizations like Bangkok Bank, Maxis Communications, and Microsoft.

Many ASB grads land MBA jobs in the South East Asian fintech industry. One successful alum, Varun Singhi, leveraged his MBA to become head of blockchain at a Malaysian fintech startup, Stealth Mode. For more experienced professionals, ASB provides two-day courses under its executive education arm, offering an introductory overview of the rapidly changing world of digital currencies.

Business school can be a way for ambitious professionals to keep up to speed with the evolving financial landscape, the latest cryptocurrencies, and changing policy decisions impacting virtual currencies across Asia.

As Anella from ASB puts it, digital currencies are here to stay. “We have these wonderful, cheaper, faster, more transparent ways to transmit value in data, and this really is an exciting new generation of technology that’s going to generate a lot of interesting applications,” she says.

Read the full article HERE.
Originally published by BusinessBecause, a network helping MBA students make connections before, during and after their MBA.

PETALING JAYA: Zangabir is a brand of homemade ginger beer with a twist. The range of non-alcoholic carbonated beverages was created by 25-year-old Moorgan Kris, who started the business in August after pitching his idea under the Rapid Youth Success Entrepreneurship (RYSE) programme. RYSE is a research and social outreach project that aims to reduce youth unemployment and empower them by funding feasible business ideas.

Moorgan tells FMT he completed his education degree in 2020 but decided to put his teaching career on hold. He currently has a day job in events, although his passion lies in the food and beverage business. The programme, he says, provided him the opportunity to get into the F&B industry. Zangabir isn’t your average ginger beer – Moorgan has given it a twist by creating flavours that cater to the Malaysian palette.

There are currently four flavours: Ginger Kaw, Lemony Ginger, Flower Power and Pandan Grass. As ginger is an acquired taste, those who enjoy that spicy kick will love the “strong” ginger or lemon ginger, the latter of which is his current bestseller. Meanwhile, those who prefer something milder will enjoy the hibiscus or pandan lemongrass, which are made with natural ingredients.

Moorgan says he came up with the brand name after toying with variations on the word “Zingiber” – the Latin for “ginger” – and also learnt about fermentation to create his homemade brews. “I follow the natural fermentation process, which takes at least three days,” he explains. “I like to know exactly what goes into the drink, to ensure everything is of good quality.”

Each 300ml bottle is priced at between RM12 and RM15, and customers have the option of ordering in packs of six, which is priced between RM70 and RM75. They can opt to mix flavours as well. Orders have to be placed at least a week in advance, as he only makes each batch once orders have been received to ensure freshness. And once they have received their drinks, customers are advised to refrigerate and consume them within two weeks.

Moorgan says setting up pop-up stalls has helped boost sales of Zangabir. (Moorgan Kris pic)

Moorgan says public response to Zangabir was initially slow as many were not familiar with the brand. But business began to improve after he set up pop-up stalls in Kuala Lumpur, which allowed people to sample his products before buying. He is currently running the business on his own, although he has the help of family and friends.

“The process of meeting orders can be quite time-consuming, especially as I have a day job,” he says. “However, I hope to one day fully transition into solely running the business.” Moorgan teases that he has plans to introduce new flavours, and even hints at a mandarin orange flavour for Chinese New Year next month.

Zangabir currently delivers within the Klang Valley. To give these bubbly drinks a try, visit Instagram or Shopee to place an order.

Read the full article HERE.
Originally published by Free Malaysia Today.

The green agenda outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) bodes well for Malaysia’s energy industry as it moves in line with global transition towards clean and sustainable practices. Asia School of Business assistant professor of business and society Dr Renato Lima de Oliveira (pic) said the 12MP was the first “green” Malaysia plan, in part because of the one-year gap between when it was originally scheduled to be tabled back in August 2020.

Speaking to Bernama, de Oliveira said the green growth agenda is much stronger now and the new five-year plan captured that sentiment. “In the meantime, the European Union has pushed an ambitious carbon reduction strategy, making its stand with border-adjusted carbon taxes for the future; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds have grown tremendously and several companies announced net-zero targets by 2050, including Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) which did so in November last year.

“Carbon-intensive long duration assets like new coal power plants are a liability in today’s world. They should be avoided, from an environmental standpoint but also because they are losing competitiveness. So this readjustment of priorities should be very welcomed,” he pointed out. Under the 12MP, the government announced that carbon pricing instruments will be introduced in the form of carbon tax and a domestic emissions trading scheme.

These tools essentially set a value or price on greenhouse gas emissions to be paid by the parties responsible, and effectively make it a necessity for businesses to reduce emissions to remain competitive and sustainable. Details of other measures for carbon reduction will be announced once the low-carbon long-term development strategy study is finalised by the end of 2022.

According to de Oliveira, a carbon tax is technically the best solution to encourage less carbon intensive investments. “However, it has shown to be politically hard to implement. Instead, governments frequently resort to other ways to encourage renewable sources of energy, such as tax breaks and large-scale solar auctions, or penalise carbon-heavy production via direct emission regulations,” he added.

For a carbon tax to work, it will be key to gather the necessary political support for implementation. De Oliveira pointed out that a very high carbon price at the beginning will create political backlash while a very low price will not have an impact. “It may also be important to make this revenue neutral. The 12MP announced a feasibility study on carbon pricing but (it’s) not a firm commitment yet,” he added.

Read the full article HERE.
Originally published by The Star.

Many students pursue an MBA for reasons that don’t always revolve around attaining sky-high salaries and fancy titles. For Asia School of Business (ASB) MBA grad Mathias Varming, it was about developing the business skills to have an impact on the world and tackle climate change issues head-on.

After graduating from the MBA, he’s now combining his sustainability sector experience with everything he learned at business school to head up Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) at energy company Ping Petroleum in the heart of Southeast Asia (SEA).

Finding the right MBA

Denmark-born Mathias worked in greenhouse gas management and as a partner in climate change mitigation for a risk consulting firm across Malaysia prior to joining ASB. During that time, he developed a passion for and strengthened his expertise in environmental issues.

But he wanted to learn more about sustainability strategy alongside developing a generalist skillset. That’s when he landed on an MBA as the solution. “I wanted to develop the tools to frame the sustainability problems I knew within the language of business and urge companies to consider these as core business issues,” he explains.

When he began looking for the perfect program, the fact that the ASB MBA is partnered with the MIT Sloan School of Management and connected to the Bank Negara Malaysia were both extremely tempting factors to him, he explains. “Since graduating, I’ve found that ASB’s connections have been resonant with employers, particularly those who are more government-oriented,” he adds.

Developing skills to combat climate change on the ASB MBA

Like many prospective MBA students, Mathias wanted to join an MBA program that emphasized project-oriented and problem-focused learning. Learning about the ASB MBA’s Action Learning (AL) program—an immersive initiative where students participate in five projects and work with global companies to tackle real-world problems—further spurred Mathias on to join the MBA program there.

From figuring out ways to tackle the social inequalities faced by gig economy workers in Malaysia to working with a semiconductor manufacturing plant to improve its business efficiencies, Mathias learned how to strategize and think on his feet—skills that have proved valuable in his sustainability career. “It was in these AL projects where I had the sudden realization that I can actually go into a completely new industry, with relatively short introduction periods, and make a difference,” he says.

Throughout these projects and within his MBA courses, Mathias developed hard and soft, or ‘Smart X Sharp’, skills. In terms of ‘sharp’ skills, he built his knowledge of financial modelling, which has helped him in his current role as head of ESG at Ping Petroleum, where he’s involved in quantifying the impact of ESG measures. On the ‘smart’ skills side, he says he’s enhanced his ability to understand multiple perspectives from working alongside peers from vastly different educational and cultural backgrounds to him on the ASB MBA.

Since sustainability issues cannot be considered in a silo, working in the sustainability sector entails collaborating with global companies worldwide. So, having the ability to build meaningful relationships across regions is essential. “Having that playground to interact with a bunch of different people in a safe environment was really valuable for my career,” he notes.

Building a career within the SEA sustainability space

When thinking about the countries at the forefront of tackling environmental issues, people often look to European countries like Denmark or Norway. However, many SEA countries are becoming leading figures in the urgent fight against climate change, offering exciting MBA jobs in the sector. Malaysia is one country that’s proving its commitment to climate change mitigation, having announced its ambitious carbon neutral target for 2050.

Mathias was able to leverage this ambition post-MBA. Before he became the head of ESG at Ping Petroleum—based in Kuala Lumpur—he cofounded a startup, Evenergy, with Mimi Aminah Wan Nordin, an ASB MBA peer. The company is a trading platform for businesses to buy renewable energy certificates. Now, Mathias has further positioned himself at the center of the fast-moving sustainability sector in SEA.

He’s combining his sustainability and business expertise to lead Ping Petroleum towards a Net Zero agenda. “ESG is a really interesting space right now because there’s a lot going on in areas like building systems in existing organizations—there’s a lot of space to influence businesses’ impact on the environment,” he notes.

Besides making lifelong connections on the MBA in the form of his former cofounder, Mathias has widened his scope of the sustainability sector by sharpening his knowledge of business operations and finance, enabling him to tackle environmental issues from multiple directions. He credits the MBA for enhancing his career.

“A common term in sustainability is that the Net Zero will be the next CEO’s problem, but it should be the current CEO’s problem,” Mathias notes, “the MBA has provided me with the tools to bring sustainable issues higher up the priority list so that businesses confront these issues.”

Read the full article HERE.
Originally published by BusinessBecause, a network helping MBA students make connections before, during and after their MBA.

When it comes to our mobility, the popularisation of electric vehicles (EV) symbolises the combination of advancements in technology coupled with the urgency of climate change. Globally, we are still not meeting the target greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. Countries like China intend to phase out internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2030, Singapore by 2040, and now, the prospect of an increasingly electrified motor fleet in Malaysia is drawing closer.

Ultimately, the intent of EVs is to reduce fossil-fuel consumption in transport and the emissions to our atmosphere that come with it. However, EVs as standalone units are not going to be the single solution to a lower-carbon transition. In fact, electrification of vehicles is not likely to reduce our emissions significantly unless the grid electricity that we are powering them on sees an increasingly higher proportion of renewable energy in its energy mix.

The work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by Prof John Sterman illustrates how the lens of systems dynamics helps us view climate change challenges holistically — rarely does any significant change happen as a single independent event. His work helps educate people to catalyse positive change by designing high-leverage policies for sustained improvement.

Of course, “greening” the ecosystem of transport networks constitutes only one component of the battle to reduce carbon emissions, but automobiles are an essential component. Change requires leadership in all areas and many shapes and forms. Let us break it down: Who are the leaders that can make this impact?

Governmental leadership

The 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), unveiled in September, shows the government’s intention and aspiration to enhance green mobility to achieve low-carbon nation status. This is good news for climate action and sustainability in Malaysia. Incentives for local manufacturers producing EVs are being reviewed, incentives for consumers purchasing EVs are being discussed, and the general transition to a more sustainable transport system is being promoted.

With legislative mechanisms and policies, government leadership as an enabling force is intended to catalyse collaboration and innovation among the private, public, industry and governmental sectors. The central government’s master plan also encourages alignment by state-level policies, and that inclusivity will be necessary to ensure all of society can be a part of this.

Industry leadership

Major automakers are making bold commitments and pledges in their EV targets for this decade. Ford Motor Co has a 40% target of EVs by 2030, while Volkswagen AG goes as far beyond the pack as to expect half of its US sales and 70% of its European sales to be EVs by 2030. Such competition will help drive up innovation and drive down EV prices.

These targets by automotive manufacturers must be accompanied by significant capital investment, research and development, and management attention — to come close to accomplishing the goals set out. The challenges for manufacturers include battery development and manufacturing, semiconductor chip availability and reaping economies of scale in EV production.

Technology development plays a crucial role — as EVs must improve their appeal to certain market segments, for example, by offering batteries that can last longer and charge faster. EVs are becoming less expensive, and over the lifetime of owning an EV versus a conventional ICE vehicle, there are significant savings in maintenance and operational costs.

If EVs are powered with electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind energy, then vehicle carbon emissions per kilometre will be dramatically reduced compared to ICE engines. This leads to a bigger question: What are the opportunities for us to lower our individual emissions from the transport choices we make?

Society as the leader

Choosing an EV is becoming an increasingly attractive solution for consumers. EV product appeal, complemented by incentives to purchase, subsidies to maintain and operate, and a charging-station infrastructure that is accessible, will drive sales growth for EVs. However, just replacing all ICE vehicles with EVs will not address all our transport challenges.

Beyond encouraging EVs over ICE vehicles, society must also consider citizen behaviour and the larger transport networks that complement automobiles. Rather than choosing to own an automobile, whether electric powered or not, there is an increasing demand in society for broader sustainable transport services. For non-vehicle owners who rely on ride-shares, for example, we might consider how they can encourage the further “greening” of transport.

Having ride-sharing apps that allow the choice to ride only in electric vehicles, for example, might speed the transition to EVs. Additionally, ride-sharing apps that add a “carbon price” of fuel in ride-shares could empower riders to make better and more sustainable choices.

Individual citizens need to be transformation leaders — each in their own way — raising their consciousness about climate risk and pushing individual, professional and institutional contributions towards a common agenda of carbon reduction. The only way forward is through active discussions as we all strengthen the dynamic processes that lead us to continuous improvement.

Read the full article HERE.
Originally published by The Edge Malaysia – a business and investment weekly.

Professor Charles Fine, President and Dean of Asia School of Business gives us an update on whether the supply chain disruptions taking place globally is easing and whether these disruptions will likely persist at the end of the year. “The underlying cause was the pandemic… The pandemic was global and hit every factory and supply chain at the same time. Usually, disruptions [are local].

It would be very expensive to build up enough inventory to insure against another global pandemic. Some companies are going to rethink their supply chain strategy and try to have more production capabilities closer to their market. It takes a simultaneous global disaster of some sort to cause what we are seeing now, and hopefully those are very few and far between.”

Listen to the full interview below:

Originally published by BFM.

Tonight, we focus on electric vehicles and whether they’re truly a viable option in Malaysia. First, what would it really take for EVs to become the vehicle of choice, and what stands in the way right now? Professor Loredana, Senior Associate Dean at Asia School of Business weighs in. Then, we hear from the president of the Malaysian Electric Vehicle Owners Club about the pain points and how they’re being overcome.

“No matter what we choose, if we only choose one change, it will not make an impact. If we bring change into all aspects of our behaviors, then we will be able to make a [meaningful] change.”

Listen to the full interview below.

Originally published by BFM.

“Renato Lima-de-Oliveira, an assistant professor of business and society at Asia School of Business and a fellow of the Centre for Market Education, said this year has been a positive year for oil companies after a disastrous 2020. He said it is likely that 2022 would be even better, with the full recovery of production beyond pre-pandemic levels or above 100 million barrels per day.

But in the medium to long term, he said crude oil is still a sunset business as the world renews the calls to decarbonise by 2050 or earlier in order to deal with climate change. He noted that many countries are facing an energy crisis now like Brazil, China and the UK. “The core of the problem is that investments in fossil fuels are going down because of the push to decarbonise the economy and their lower long-term growth prospects in a net-zero emissions world but renewables are not yet mature enough to fully replace them.

“This is the time to put in place policies that are aligned with this emerging energy economy and are resilient to the climate challenge we face. “In particular, the aspiration to be net zero by 2050, as expressed in the 12th Malaysia Plan, is a start but it needs to be followed up soon with a concrete roadmap to boost investments in green economy,” Renato said.

Read the full article HERE.
Originally published by The Star.

For the energy sector, a decarbonization strategy will take a “carrot and stick” approach by governments, according to Professor Renato Lima-de-Oliveira, Assistant Professor at ASB and an expert on energy and environmental politics, which some countries have already adopted.

In a recent Malaysiakini article, he said: “You have policies to promote renewables, such as net metering, feed-in tariffs, large scale solar options, tax credit subsidies and you also have policies to discourage fossil fuels.”

He notes that we shouldn’t discount the role each of us play within society either: “A key thing within the political economy of any transition has been societal pressure. If you see where these policies have been adopted most, you will see a lot of activity coming from NGOs and from green parties, pushing society in one direction.”

Read the full article HERE.
Originally published by Malaysiakini.

Category: Featured in the Media