Founding Initiative of a PhD-student-run Business Administration Association

[chenzitian]

Please forward this initiative letter to all your PhD program colleagues in B.A. who are interested.

Future Asia Pacific Business Administration Association (FAPBAA)
- An association, which is run by Ph.D. students in business administration across the world, aiming to lead the future business administration of Asia Pacific region

Founding Initiative of FAPBAA
(A preliminary draft, updated on June 2008)

Scope
This initiative aims to gather ideas of founding an association which will be run by Ph.D. students in Business Administration across the world and aims to lead the future business administration of Asia Pacific region, such as Japan, China, India, Australia, etc. This association aims to evolve all the best potential Ph.D. students in Business Administration across the world who have strength and motivation to lead the future business administration in the Asia Pacific region, by not only theoretical thinking and research but also technical conducting and problem solving. Ph.D. students under all the business administration disciplines (e.g., accounting, marketing, finance, strategy, operations, MIS, etc.) are welcome.

FAPBAA - a differentiated, specialized, and diversified association
Future
This association, rather than a management academy, is run by Ph.D. students in Business Administration.

Asia Pacific
This association is confined to research, lead, and serve for Asia Pacific region. However, this means neither that our members have to be those who studying in a program in Asia Pacific region nor that they should be from Asia Pacific region.

Know-what and Know-why
Compared to executive educated graduates such M.B.A., Ph.D. graduates, many of whom having M.B.A. degrees as well, have been educated much more systematically and integratedly. Ph.D. graduates in Business Administration have strong ability to conduct research, to apply theories, to develop new theories, and to be fairy reasonable and rational in a business setting.

Know-how
This requirement for recruitment differentiates our members from other Ph.D. students in Business Administration. This association aims to assimilate members who are not just theory-driven, but more application-motivated. Our members are more practical than other Ph.D. students in Business Administration - they had much focused social experiences, or have obtained or have been proposing to obtain professional designations (e.g., CA, CMA, CPA, CFA, etc.), or both. They have strong ability not only in theoretical thinking and research, but also in technical conducting and problem solving.

Entrepreneurship- and Leadership-cultivation
Special settings and extensive opportunities can help to cultivate our members' entrepreneurship and leadership in prepare for their future challenges in serving and leading the business administration in Asia Pacific region.

Our members across the world are required to collect timing information of their economies, markets, and policies - those pieces of information will be integrated in the headquarter, and be summarized and circulated periodically in order to make sure our members all being close enough with what is happening in a real world. This will not only help to keep our members' studies fashionate and applicable, but also cultivate our members' sensitivity and capability to update their mind with the markets.

Special settings of the FAPBAA
FAPBAA will be organized both geographically and functionally.
FAPBAA will have local chapters in important countries across the world, not only in Asia Pacific region but also in elsewhere that is important to Asia Pacific region.
FAPBAA will also be organized by different functional departments.
- Headquarter is in charge of all information integration and board meetings;
- Board consists elected directors, mostly founding members and senior members, who are responsible for strategic decisions; FAPBAA welcomes all the best potential Ph.D. students in Business Administration across the world to join the board election;
- Chair of the board is responsible for organizing the FAPBAA, leading other functional departments, and making the final decision of important strategic planning. FAPBAA is calling for best potential Ph.D. students in Business Administration across the world to recommend themselves for nomination as chair of the board – the first chair could be elected by voting when the FAPBAA being founded. Tenure of chair could be 2 years and renewable by nomination and election as long as the chair has not been graduated.
- Membership department is in charge of attracting and recruiting new qualified members, managing existing membership, and contacting alumni;- Research department is in charge of gathering timing analytical works of our members and circulating internally for discussion;
- Public-relations department could be the most important department which aims to be the key dialogue channel with the industrial and financial sectors and the governments. This department is important as it is also a key channel for fund raising.
- Careers department will be composite of alumni -those members who have already graduated from Ph.D. programs and started working. It will guide, tutor, and help existing members for their career development.

This is a very preliminary initiative which aims to get echo from other Ph.D. students in Business Administration, to gather open-minded ideas, and to discuss detailed process of founding. One best place for talking in person could be Anaheim, CA, USA in August 2008 during 2008 Annual Meetings of Management-related Academies. I am looking forward to your ideas emailed to zca4@sfu.ca.

Victor Z. Chen
Post-Graduate Research Fellow, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
Ph.D. Candidate in Business Administration, Simon Fraser University