Business Studies Department News
Business Studies students visit Bank Muscat
The Business Studies Department organized an industrial visit to Bank Muscat, Head Office at Al Dakhliyah Region last Tuesday, 16th June 2009. The purpose of this visit is to enable the students to enhance their theoretical knowledge and skills through relating with the practical situations in the company.
At 9.30 a.m., Mr. Abdullah Al-Mahrooqi, the Regional Manager, welcomed the college staff and students at Bank Muscat. Then, he took the group in the training centre hall where Mr. Qais Al-Hinai, the Human Resource Manager, delivered a presentation about human resources of the company. Mr. Qais Al-Hinai covered many issues such as definition of HR, employees competencies, branches of Bank Muscat, internal communications, monetary and non-monetary motivations, current trends, discipline and challenges in HR. At the end of the presentation, the students raised many questions regarding Human Resources Management.
Finally, Mr. Abdullah guided the group to the Bank's Sections, and explained the roles and responsibilities of each personnel from operation, customer service, and cashier. The visit ended at 1.30 p.m. All students were satisfied and happy. They found it beneficial and wanted more future industrial visits. /saud al-fahdi
Business Studies department holds specialization exhibition
The Business Studies Department of the college held an exhibition of the department’s four specializations last June 21 at the Multi-purpose Hall. The specializations exhibited are the e-Business, Marketing and Retailing, Human Resources, and Certified Accounting Technician disciplines. The exhibition was conceptualized and initiated by Ms. Thurkiya Al-Busaidi, lecturer in Business, and was made possible with the support and cooperation of higher level students of the department’s different specializations.
Displayed in the exhibit hall are posters and other notices of various Business Studies specializations, books related to different Business Studies disciplines, presentations of different specializations in LCD projectors, and other things related to business and management. A scale model of the Business Simulation Centre that is currently awaiting completion is also prominently placed at the entrance of the exhibit hall.
The exhibition was well-attended by both students and staff. Business Studies staff say that this is one way of introducing their specializations and making prospective business students interested in the specializations that they offer./junlontok
Workshop in Communication Skills for EPT Students held
The Business Studies Department conducted a workshop in Communication Skills for all enhancement training students last June 3, 2009. Present in the event were the Asst. Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr. Bader Ahmed, and the Asst. Dean of Student Affairs, Mr. Mohammed Al-Ma’ni.
The said workshop was conducted by Dr. Imran Hameed Khan, Head of Business Studies Department. Dr. Imran started the workshop by giving a short presentation about the meaning of communication and the difference between hearing and listening. He said that all of us can hear but not all of us can listen because in listening we need to use our mind and not only our ears.
After his presentation, Dr. Imran started the practical side of the workshop to let the students practice what they had understood. He conducted three exercises. In the first one, Dr. Imran described a picture and asked the participants to draw what they understood. This was followed by discussion on why the drawings were different and associated with listening. In the second exercise, he distributed a long sentence and asked one participant to read it and tell the next participant and so on to check how much of information the other participants received at the end. In the third exercise the audience were made to sit in trios, where two participants would communicate with each other and the third participant would be the observer, to see how the others communicated.
At the end of the activity, an open discussion was held to see how the exercises could be applied in real life situations. Feedback was also collected to see the effectiveness of the activity. /thurkiya al-busaidi
CAT student wins Public Speaking competition
Ms. Badriya Nasser Khamis Al-Hadrami, an Advanced Level CAT student from the Business Studies department, won the annual College-wide Public Speaking competition held last June 1, 2009 at the College Multi-purpose Hall. Ms. Badriya bested 11 other finalists with her topic “Wasta” – A Social and Moral Issue. The public speaking competition was held amid a jampacked crowd of about 200 staff and students of the college.
Ms. Bushra Humood Said Al-Sinani, a Diploma Level IT student, copped the second place in the competition. Ms. Bushra was equally witty and powerful in her presentation of the topic “Wrong belief of students” but was edged out by Ms. Badriya in the judges scorecards in the final tallying.
The two winners both received certificates of recognition as well as gifts from the College Administration for their efforts.
Twelve students from the three academic departments – Engineering, IT and Business Studies – and the ELC participated in this year’s Public Speaking competition. Ms. Stefanie Brown, an ELC lecturer, served as the overall Chair and coordinator of the event. /junlontok
ODB Manager speaks to EPT and OJT students
Mr. Sultan Al-Hanai, Manager of Oman Development Bank Nizwa Branch, gave a talk to students of Business Studies department about the roles of banks in financing small entrepreneurs last 26th May 2009, at the College Multi-purpose Hall. Included in the audience are the assessors of EPT and OJT, as well as EPT students from Business, IT and Engineering, and the Asst. Dean of Student Affairs, Mr. Mohammed Al-Ma’ni.
In his speech, Mr. Sultan explained that the Sultanate’s banks are not established primarily for profit, but to develop the country and to help small investors. He mentioned about the many services that the banks provide to different sectors of the economy, particularly health, education, agricultural and industrial sectors. In addition, Mr. Sultan talked about conditions on providing loans to investors, as well as the added service that the banks provide related to investment such as giving advice on how to make sure that the business will grow.
In the end, Mr. Sultan encouraged all students to think of starting their own businesses by giving examples of people who successfully started their own business by taking advantage of bank loans. He also made mention of big corporations started through small capital and then slowly making it bigger and bigger. After his talk, Mr. Sultan entertained a few questions about banking activities from the audience. /junlontok
2 Cat Students Of Business Department Secured First Place In Acca Exam
Two (2) Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) students of the Business Department have secured First Place in the examinations held in Muscat by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), United Kingdom.
Ms. Zainab Ali Said Al Rawahi of CAT Batch 3 secured First Place in the Introductory Level Final Examinations with aggregate marks of 85% last December 4, 2008 while Ms. Badriya Nasser Khamis Al Hadhrami of CAT Batch 2 secured First Place in the first attempt of Advanced Level Final Examination for paper T7 last December 2, 2008.
The College, headed by the Dean, Dr. Ahmeed Al Ghasani congratulated the 2 students for their excellent performance in the examinations.
Business Studies Department Transfers To Its New Home
The Business Studies department recently transferred to its new home in the former girls' hostel in front of the ELC building. The building which is comprised of four floors will house staff offices, meeting rooms, and laboratories for Business Studies staff and students. A departmental library is also planned to be established in the new location.
In the existing transfer plan, the ground floor of the building will provide space for two free-access computer laboratories, one meeting room for staff, offices for the department head and section heads, as well as a few staff offices. The first floor will be mostly used for offices of staff, although two rooms have been allocated to be used as EPT workshop and e-Business laboratory. Meanwhile, rooms in the second and third floors will be used for staff offices.
In an interview with some business staff, the classrooms for Business Studies students as well as their computer laboratories will still be located in the administration building.
Business Studies holds Induction and Appreciation Program
The Business Studies department, through the leadership of Dr. Bader Ahmed, AD Academics and Acting HoD, held its induction program for new students at the NCT Multi-purpose Hall. The event also served as the Appreciation Program for CAT students who had recently finished their respective levels, and who passed as well in the given ACCA examinations.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Ghassani, the College Dean, gave the welcome remarks. In his speech, Dr. Al-Ghassani gave an introduction of the various specializations offered by the department. He also gave an informal introduction of the guest speakers, Mr. Yassin Samarah, Managing Director of Al Rawaj International Trading and Contracting LLC, and Mr. Mohammed Sajid Khan, Country Manager of ACCA for the Sultanate of Oman.
The induction part of the programme showed the various section heads of the department discussing about their respective specializations - what is it about, what courses need to be taken, and what are the prospects after graduating from the program. Dr. Yuvaraj, HoS of the Human Resource Management, talked about HRM prospects and issues; Mr. Atif, HoS of e-Business, discussed about the job prospects of combined IT and Business professionals by showing various websites in the Sultanate; Mr. Subramanian, HoS of Marketing and Retailing, intimated that the specialization will start in September 2008, and inasmuch as the current marketing positions are currently occupied by expatriates, there are plenty of opportunities for Omani graduates in this area in the near future; Mr. Valliappan Mutthia, HoS of CAT Program, expounded more on CAT, citing that students who will graduate from this program will get two certificates, one from the Ministry of Manpower, and another from ACCA. He also said that the CAT program is different from ordinary accounting program in such a way that it is a mix of accounting, information technology and management, as well as it is practice-based as there is one year practical training requirement before a student can graduate from the program.
The guest speakers on the occasion discussed two important topics: Mr. Samarah talked about the career prospects of ACCA qualifications, particularly in the gulf region, while Mr. Khan provided students with more detailed information on the CAT program.
After the discussion of the topics, a lively discussion ensued, where students asked questions regarding CAT in particular and business studies in general. Dr. Bader Ahmed gave the closing remarks by thanking the guests and congratulating both students and staff for a job well done.