The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith College of Business hosted the Advances in Business Research Symposium, an intensive academic research event, Nov. 11-12, 2019, welcoming 30 presenters representing nine universities from Texas to Florida to the UAFS campus.
The theme of the symposium, which was hosted in cooperation with Tarleton State University, was “Contemporary Issues of Business Research.” Serving academic researchers, professional business leaders and experts in the business fields, the symposium provided a platform for stakeholders to exchange ideas about, identify emerging trends in, learn new approaches to and examine issues about the various disciplines of business administration, entrepreneurship and leadership.
Presentations included research by Nova Southeastern University on the exploration of entrepreneurs in Cuba that utilized experimental learning, as well as research by Northeastern State University on the skills regional university employers look for when hiring recent graduates.
UAFS faculty Dr. Ahmad Rahal and Dr. Mohamed Zainuba presented “Students’ Intentions with Respect to Selecting Majors: The Case of Foundations of Business,” and Dr. Balbir Bhasin presented on “The Need for Global Perspective in Today’s Competitive Marketplace.” Additional research was conducted by Dr. Jaejoo Lim, Dr. Rahal, Dr. Dan Settlage and Dr. Jim Wollscheid in regards to the “Curricular Intervention to Improve Student Success in Courses with High Failure: A Data Driven Approach.”
“The ABR Symposium is a wonderful opportunity for academic and non-academic professionals and students to meet together to hear presentations on current research in business and to discuss these with other participants,” said Dr. Zainuba, coordinator for the project.
In addition to promoting academic research in the field, the ABR Symposium also offered corporate executives and managers, entrepreneurs, leaders of not-for-profit organizations and other professionals an opportunity to increase their awareness about the world of business, as well as a unique opportunity to network with peers and colleagues.
Over 100 UAFS students attended the research event to learn more about global environmental issues, small business perspectives, leadership and most importantly the steps to academically succeed in business.
In addition to the symposium, the partnership with Tarleton State included the publication of the online journal “Advances in Business Research,” which was published by the UAFS College of Business from 2010-2017.