On the first day of July 1921, the University of Dhaka opened its door to the students with Sir P.J. Hartog as the first Vice-Chancellor of the University. In 2021 Dhaka University (DU) has celebrated its centennial anniversary with one hundred years of glorious past, being blossomed into a giant educational and political powerhouse in all aspects. DU now has the pride of housing 13 faculties, 13 institutes, 84 departments, 60 bureau and research centers, 19 halls of residence, four hostels, 138 affiliated colleges and institutions, 46,150 students and 2,008 teachers.
It is the leading and forerunner university in the country. The main objective of the university is to create new areas of knowledge and disseminate this knowledge to the society through its students. Since its inception, the university has a distinct character of having renowned scholars as faculties who have enriched the global pool of knowledge by making notable contributions to the fields of education and research.
It started its journey with three faculties (such as Arts, Science, and Law), 12 departments, 60 teachers, and 877 students in the first academic session. Subsequently, the number of faculties, departments, teachers, and students were increased gradually. It is located at the heart of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The university campus spreads over 200 acres of land surrounded by many renowned establishments. With the passage of time, the university came to be known as the ‘Oxford of the East’. University of Dhaka is now one of the leading institutions of higher education in Asia, and the largest university in Bangladesh. This university, in the public sector, is administered as an autonomous body in accordance with the provisions of the Dhaka University Order, 1973.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a combination of 17 interlinked goals that are designed to achieve a better and more sustainable world for all. The SDGs were set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by 2030. Though there are some challenges, Bangladesh’s progress towards the attainment of SDGs is quite satisfactory. Management education makes efficient and skilled management experts who possess the competencies to provide realistic and inclusive strategic action plans for achieving various SDGs at different levels.
It gives me immense pleasure that the Department of Management, University of Dhaka has published a book titled Management Education for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in the Context of Bangladesh to mark the 100 years of the University of Dhaka and the 50th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh. The book presents how management education plays a significant role in achieving the SDGs in Bangladesh. The book would also assist the policymakers to deepen and broaden their sustainable efforts and align their plans with SDGs with the help of the management experts. The authority of the University of Dhaka has taken numerous progressive steps to achieve the SDGs. The authority has also taken initiatives to celebrate the 100 years of the University of Dhaka and the 50th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh. My deepest gratitude to the authority of the University of Dhaka to provide the necessary financial support and assistance to publish this book.
The chapters in this book are multifaceted covering (a) Role of Networking Skill to Career Success — Networking is viewed as a critical competency when employees are pursuing protean or boundaryless careers as employees are making frequent career moves. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to discuss the concept, benefits, determinants, barriers, and challenges of networking and then suggest strategies or ways that an individual should use to increase their networking skills throughout the course of their career development. (b) High-Performance Human Resource Management and Organizational Performance — Aligning HR strategies to performance culture recognizes that employees are the valued owners and partners who can think strategically, contribute to implement strategies, and add value through identifying and optimizing opportunities to create and maintain sustained competitive advantage. To
support SDGs in the Bangladesh government’s five-year plan, both private and public sector’s organizations should focus on creating performance- oriented culture keeping people at the center of performance excellence. HPHRM could be an enabler to this purpose. (c) Artificial Intelligence in Human Resource Management —AI has the potential to revolutionize HR processes in areas where there is sufficient data and where that data can be used to increase efficiency, communicate at scale, give suggestions, and anticipate outcomes since AI-based solutions can predict, recommend, and communicate based on data. (d) Fourth Industrial Revolution and Preparedness Required for the 21st Century Managers. This chapter has covered the meaning and different phases of the industrial revolution, skills, characteristics, and intelligence required by company leaders and employees, practices that must be performed by leaders, and a new concept: Smart HR 4.0. The chapter has also focused on the impact of 4IR on human resources and therefore how HR departments of different organizations need to respond to this situation. (e) Trajectory of the Internationalisation of Small and Medium Enterprises and Effectuation Theory — Effectuation has emerged as an important theory for the creation of new ventures and it also plays a pivotal role in the internationalisation of the SMEs. The chapter covers the five principles of effectuation, and small and medium enterprises internationalization. (f) Career Depression among University Graduates: Causes and Consequences. Career depression is a common phenomenon and the actual number of people suffering from it may be much higher than known due to limited understanding of the concept and the stigma associated with reporting depression. This chapter has covered the causes, consequences of career depression and prevention and coping mechanisms with it. (g) Personality and Career Choice —This chapter examines how individuals explore a suitable career that fits their characteristics. It discusses the domains of careers and personality. It also explores the link between personality and career choice. (h) Role of Big Data for Achieving Competitive Advantage — Big Data isa data set that is so huge and complicated that no typical data management technologies can effectively store or process it. This chapter examines the characteristics of big data, sources of competitive advantage, the role of big data in achieving competitive advantage. (i) Robotic Process Automation — Robotic Process Automation uses robotic technology to automate various repetitive tasks in business. This chapter covers the applications of RPA, cases for robotic process automation in HR, the benefits of implementing RPA technology.
Authentic Leadership: A Critical Review — A positive, genuine,
transparent, ethical form of leadership is known as authentic leadership.
This chapter examines the leadership in general perspectives, authentic leadership behaviors, and the significance of authentic leadership. (k) Soft Skills– The Key to Career Success – soft skill is a personal attribute that supports situational awareness and enhances an individual’s ability to get a job done. This chapter attempts to explore the necessity of soft skills for people to make their careers successful in the organizations. Here it is shown that the soft skills are highly essential for people to get success in the workplace. And (l) the final chapter focuses on Management Education to meet the Future Challenges.
We are grateful to the researchers who have contributed to the chapters for this book and the members who are extending their efforts for the publication. The selected chapters underwent double-blind review by the scholars in their respective fields before they were accepted for publication. Gratitude to the distinguished reviewers for their excellent contributions. Sincere thanks and gratitude to the Editorial Board and all its members including those who have supported in many ways to publish the book and also to ensure its quality. Thanks to the officers and staff at the Dhaka University Press who are involved in publishing this book.
Dr. Faruq Ahmed
Editor,
Management Education for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in the Context of Bangladesh
For celebrating the 100 years of the University of Dhaka and 50th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh
Today’s businesses are undergoing a massive transition from old, outdated technology to new ones. The new ones are very rapidly forming, and businesses that are going to be successful must adapt to this shift. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) uses robotic technology to automate various repetitive tasks in business. RPA is gaining popularity due to its ability to decrease costs, streamline processes, and improve customer experiences. Another benefit of RPA software is that it may be implemented without the need for business units to learn new tools or seek information technology (IT) help, as well as without modifying the underlying IT architecture of a company. As the popularity of RPA increases, enterprises will need to integrate RPA process automation into their IT platforms. Although RPA automatics can accelerate a previously managed business process substantially, it may be unacceptable if applications or processes change.
2. Definition of RPA in the Human Resource Department (HRD)
Businesses utilize robotic technology to automate numerous repetitive activities via RPA. The RPA-simplified HR operational procedures include employee interactions, recruitment, selection, training and development, benefits and remuneration, and general HR tasks. RPA in HRM decreases the amount of time workers spend on these activities, allowing them to focus on other important responsibilities like talent development, retention, and policy execution. As a consequence, productivity and efficiency are enhanced in the HR Department’s varied tasks. RPA employs a number of robots to do various tasks in order to be more precise and efficient. By utilizing RPA a firm can use a totally virtual workforce. RPA is defined as a relatively new technique for process automation based on software and algorithms that attempt to imitate human work and execute manual tasks by interacting with information systems via current user interfaces (Gejke, Mendling, &Ratia, 2018). Van Belkum et al. (2018) observed that most RPA is used to gather and analyze existing processing applications, modify data, trigger reactions, and engage from a commercial point 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Rangamati Science and Technology University…………
With the support of the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the University of Dhaka has taken the initiative to provide research grants to strengthen the research environment in the University at the start of the centennial celebration event in 2021. The University of Dhaka hopes that this initiative will help to develop some policy actions that will guide the university in its pursuit of becoming a center of excellence in quality research and education by revisiting its vision, mission, strategic goals, and road-maps through enhancing the academic environment and boosting its reputation in the international arena.
The Centennial Celebration Committee of the University of Dhaka invites book proposals and manuscripts for the “University of Dhaka Centennial Book Series Project.”Book proposals and manuscripts are invited from Departments, Institutes, and Research Centers. The proposed book must be written/edited in the Department, Institute, or Centre’s name. Departments, institutes, or centers in related fields may collaborate and publish books together.
The overarching goal of the “Centennial Book Series Project of the University of Dhaka” is to glorify the university’s history, culture, and contributions while also promoting research and academic activities that are critical to Bangladesh’s development journey. This initiative will also allow our faculty members to share their expert opinions, views, insights, analysis, and recommendations on a variety of current issues as well as on forecasting future academic and research route-map with relevant policymakers, industries, and other key stakeholders on a national and international scale.
Proposal for Books and Manuscripts can cover, however not limited to, the following areas:
Artificial Intelligence (AI), a key component of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, has become a hot topic in a variety of areas, including corporate management. Marketing, human resource management (HRM) and manufacturing are some of the sectors where AI and machine learning are currently being used (Son, Lee & Chang, 2019). In HRM, technology has been utilized to improve employee engagement, provide customized vocational training and evaluate diverse HR data in order to make business-critical choices (Dorel & Aleksandra, 2011). The use of these technological solutions in the HRM sector is a unique situation since it has always been viewed as a human realm that deals specifically with people (Lengnick-Hall et al., 2009).
AI has the potential to revolutionize HR processes in areas where there is sufficient data and where that data can be used to increase efficiency, communicate at scale, give suggestions, and anticipate outcomes since AI- based solutions can predict, recommend, and communicate based on data. With the use of AI-driven technologies, many organizations now have a wealth of data about applicants and workers that can be used to better efficiently find, analyze, hire, train, develop, and pay people (Bersin,2019). Global investment in AI systems is expected to reach $79 billion by 2022(International Data Corporation, 2019). According to Gartner, the value of AI-derived business will reach $3.9 trillion by 2022 (Gartner, 2018). HR has the opportunity to lead technological change and generate corporate value through AI-powered solutions because of its enormous volume of underused data. To function effectively, artificial intelligence necessitates a large amount of data, which necessitates adequate storage and administration. To run and maintain the sophisticated software, businesses would need additional employees. The best way to apply AI in HR management is to use AI tools to evaluate the data and delegate decision-making to human employees.
Professor, Department of Management, University of Dhaka
Assistant Professor, Green Business School, Green University of Bangladesh
Introduction
Contemporary researchers are in great interest to redress the devastating effect on natural resources and the overall environment of the exponential rise of human business and economic activities (Almarzooqi, Khan and Khalid, 2019; Stahl, Brewster, Collings, & Hajro, 2020). Latest studies have shown what could be done to combat the impact of human factors on resource preservation and sustainability performance (Chams, & García- Blandón, 2019; Islam et al., 2020). Accordingly, organizations are now found interested to set environmental goals other than making profits, such as sustainable development and social responsibility (De Prins, Beirendonck, Vos, & Segers, 2014; Aust, Matthews, & Muller-Camen, 2020). Even earlier in 2012, it was found that 70% of 2800 international organizations surveyed have business strategies and plans including sustainability issues (Kiron et al., 2012). After that in 2015, the General Assembly of the UN presented “the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development” comprising of 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 169 targets aiming to complete the unfinished objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). From these goals, three-dimensional sustainable development areas have been identified: economic, social, and environmental corresponding the goals related to 5 Ps: people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership.
Regarding “people” as well as “prosperity”, SDGs intend to ensure a decent workplace for the people to make efficient use of resources, sustained economic development and collective prosperity. The business perspective of SDGs is to establish an all-inclusive particularly women and young generation to create sustainable, innovative, and people- oriented economies. The mission set for the organizations focuses on having healthy and well-educated workforces, making them productive employees and preemptive citizens to make social contribution.
