Business Education

Faculty of Management and Finance among world’s best

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

The Faculty of Management and Finance, University of Colombo has been listed among the official selection of the 1000 best worldwide business schools in 2008 by the EDUNIVERSAL, a global information crossroad for educational matters.

Dean Management and Financial Faculty Dr. P.S.M. Gunaratne said this achievement is an invaluable reward for collective endeavours of all stakeholders of the Faculty.

He said the selection of these 1000 business schools has been based on the excellence of educational level and the international dimension.

It is also an emanation of a worldwide experience which is done through research, work and participation of nine well known international experts coming from nine geographical areas namely Africa, North America, Latin America, Central Asia, Eurasia and the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Far East and Oceania, and the representatives of the Academic Council of the United Nations System.

The Faculty of Management and Finance, University of Colombo is the only institution in Sri Lanka to reach this cardinal height in the academia according to Dr. Gunaratna.

The EDUNIVERSAL has selected these 1,000 schools from nine academic zones covering a total of 151 countries, inhabited by more than 97 per cent of world population. It helps the students to choose the best schools, HR department to measure their talents, business schools to measure their performance and ability to make international influence.

Pilot Training Academy to strengthen “Ruhunu Open Skies”

The proposed Asian Academy of Aeronautics (AAA), is due to be active in the very near future. The academy was granted “provisional approval” by the Civil Aviation Authority and further granted approval to import training aircraft by the Ministry of Defence. The aircraft are due to arrive and meanwhile the academy was approved by BOI.

Promoter of the project Capt. Suranjan De Silva , is a senior industrialist, aviator with a wealth of experience in the “general aviation industry”.

The academy’s facilities are located at Ratmalana airport having its own hangar and the admin building, which consists of spacious lecture rooms for private and commercial pilot programmes, technical work shop including facilities for maintenance of the academy’s fleet, flight briefing, library and crew rest facilities, including aircraft parking and hangaring.

Capt. de Silva has trained over 200 pupil pilots who are now flying with their respective national and other domestic carriers.....ie; Air India, Indian Airlines, Jet, Sahara, Air Maldives, Maldivian Air Taxi, Trans Maldivian Airways, Jersy-UK, Singapore and Malaysian airlines and also with the national carrier SriLankan airlines. Some are working as ‘flying instructors’, building experience and awaiting opportunities.

“At present the demand for pilots in this region is huge, the Indian aviation industry is looking at over 5000 pilots within the next few years to service their major domestic carriers - Jet, Sahara, Deccan and Kingfisher, who operate a “mixed fleet” concept and having 30 to 50 aircraft in their respective inventories....... we shall strengthen the industry and make Sri Lanka a training hub in the region,” said De Silva.

He further said that “the academy will extend its facilities to Katukurunda airport, which is being administered by the SLAF and further will be focused at a “Training Village” concept, which will be introduced at the Wirawila Regional airport, and will be initiated upon evidence of the first light.”

Training village concept at Wirawila will create aviation / travel awareness and promote the destination, whilst strengthening the “Ruhunu open skies policy” launched by President Rajapaksa.

British Degrees at APIIT

‘APIIT - Sri Lanka’, a leading higher education institution renowned for adhering to high standards and quality in higher education offers Staffordshire University, UK degree programmes in Computing/IT and Business Management in Colombo.

APIIT - Sri Lanka’s principal purpose is to produce internationally recognised computing and business professionals who will meet the demands of the industry and commerce and pursue rewarding careers.

Since commencement, APIIT - Sri Lanka has attracted thousands of students (full-time and part-time) from all parts of Sri Lanka to follow the various degree programmes in Computing and Business Management. APIIT Sri Lanka in having produced outstanding graduates who are acknowledged as dynamic professionals geared to taking on the challenges of the industry and commerce.

APIIT Foundation Programme, quality assured by Staffordshire University, UK, is specially designed for students with O-Level qualifications and offers a comprehensive introduction to Business and Computing disciplines.

APIIT - Sri Lanka also provides the option of transferring to an affiliated university in the UK or Australia after one year or two years of study in Colombo. Students have the option of choosing from over twenty-one affiliated universities in the UK and Australia to complete their degree.

APIIT degree programmes are internal degree programmes and the degree certificates awarded by Staffordshire University are identical to those awarded to internal students studying in the UK.

Further, as a higher education institute offering British degree programmes in Sri Lanka, APIIT - Sri Lanka comes under the purview of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) of the United Kingdom.

PMP certification training at Singapore Informatics

More and More corporate or organisational leaders with an eye on professionalism and productivity are seeing the value of Project Management Professional (PMP) certification for their project management practitioners.

They know PMP-certified practitioners give their companies a competitive edge by having true professionalism in Project Management.

If you are already one on the top practitioners on your field, now make it official by earning the prestigious project Management Professional (PMP) certification credential, granted by the Project Management Institute, USA (PMI).

The PMI certification programme department maintains ISO 9001 certification in quality management systems underscoring its commitment to excellence for a credential that is globally recognised and valued by project management practitioners and their employers.

PMI’s certification examination development is state-of-the-art and is based on global standards in certification examination development.

PMP exam questions are developed by individuals around the world who already hold the credential.

These factors set the PMP apart from other certification programmes, and they contribute to the global transferability of this credential and industries.

The letters ‘PMP’ following your name communicate a solid project management foundation that can be readily applied in the workplace.

Thousands of project professionals have found that the PMP credential makes a significant difference to current and potential employers.

The aim of the latest project management training programme to be conducted in Sri Lanka is to offer the necessary training for you obtain the PMP certification.

Informatics Education Limited, of Singapore world-wide has forged a strategic alliance with Project Management Institute, USA to offer highest quality Project Management Training through their Professional Certification Training Division, Professional and Skills Development Center (PSD).

Next Project Management course in Sri Lanka would be conducted at Singapore Informatics Professional and Skills Development Centre.

CIM to educate marketers on Personal Management

With the objective of conveying the significance of effective Human Resource Management as a tool of Sales and Marketing Management, The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region has organised a full day programme titled “Driving Growth through Personal Development: Human Resource Management for Effective Marketing and Sales” under the CIM Professional Series.

The programme will be conducted by Nanada Dediyagala and will be held on September, 23, from 8.30am to 5.00pm at Salon Lilac, Galadari Hotel.

Dialog Telekom is the sponsor of the CIM Professional Series for the year 2008; this will be the fifth programme to be conducted under the CIM Professional Series during the year.

Marketing and Sales the essential link with Human Resource Management, the job characteristics approach to assist effective HR decisions in Sales and Marketing, developing competencies as strategic drivers, applying learning models for CRM, effective role management for performance excellence, self motivating techniques and career development for Marketing and Sales personnel, and achieving balance between work and family will be some of the areas that will be discussed at the programme through a variety of case study and team exercises.

The presenter, Nanda Deiyagala is the Chairman of Brainpower Management Consultancy and a member of the Board of Studies, MBA Programme, and University of Peradeniya. He holds a Master of Science from Henley Management College - Brunel University (UK), a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies from the University of South Bank (UK) and a Certificate in Industrial Management from South East London Technical College (UK).

The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region organises versatile programmes under its Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programmes, aiding its members to elevate themselves in their professional careers. The CIM Professional Series is one of the CPD programmes conducted by The Institute.