UTP Quality Day 2013

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Assalamualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
Salam Sejahtera
dan Salam 1Malaysia

Datuk Ir. (Dr.) Abdul Rahim B. Hj. Hashim, Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS,

Tuan Haji Mohamed Noor Rosli B. Baharom, Chairman of UTP Quality Day 2013

Deputy Vice Chancellors,

Members of UTP Management Committee & Senate,

Ladies & Gentlemen,

It is an honour and pleasure to be with all of you today to celebrate the outstanding achievement of our colleagues over the past year. I congratulate the organising committee and the award recipients who will be conferred with various awards as mentioned by the Vice Chancellor in his speech. Also, I must congratulate UTP for the achievements attained in 2013. These achievements will not be possible if not for each and every one of us believing in ‘Quality as a corporate way of life’. By inculcating PETRONAS’ Five Quality Principles in our daily work.

2. Indeed, we can be proud of our achievements to date, despite our young age. Relatively speaking, we are ‘teenagers’ compared to our local big brothers like UM and UPM. Nevertheless, our achievements speak volumes about us. To date, UTP has produced 10,716 highly skilled graduates worth almost RM1.1 billion. We have received research grants exceeding RM245 million; 221 patents filed and granted; and more than 10,000 publications in journals and conference proceedings. Over 400 medals in research and innovation exhibitions. All these show, we have remained focused on our priorities. Our academic programmes conform to international standards and meet the expectations of our stakeholders. We place great emphasis on the quality of graduates, academic staff, and facilities. It is always heartening to hear people sing praises on the quality of our graduates. To hear that we produce among the best graduates in the country and UTP graduates are much sought after by the industry, both locally and abroad. We must be doing many things right. And I believe Quality is the key. Quality work. Quality mindset. It is only apt we celebrate Quality achievements of our colleagues.

3. And this year, our Quality Day has an added significance. This year, we have made it to the top 200 in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject i.e. for Chemical Engineering. Our 30-year roadmap targets this milestone to be achieved in 2020. We achieved it 6 years ahead of plan! This is a feat each and every one of us should be proud of.

4. As I understand, QS formulates the World University Ranking by Subject based on two important criteria – research quality and graduates employability, in other words, quality of graduates. As we celebrate the quality achievements of our colleagues today, we are assured that our celebration of quality is not an exercise in self-glorification. What we term as ‘quality’ has been acknowledged by an international body as something that is indeed world class. Our yardstick is no less significant than global standards.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

5. Quality must be seen in relative terms. It cannot be static or absolute. Quality today must be better than that of yesterday. Similarly, our quality must be benchmarked against the best. Not against those who are our peers or those below us. If before we were benchmarking ourselves against the top 200 in the world, now, our benchmark should be against the top 150.

6. Education is very competitive. There are new institutions being established every year. Each one of them is working harder every day to be recognised as the best in what they do. Sure, there are some institutions established purely as a business entity and not focused about becoming world-class. But that is not our game and that is not our concern. Our concern is the hundreds of others who are investing tremendous resources into becoming the best.

7. While our current pace has taken us to where we are, continuing at the same pace is guaranteed to throw us back, not move forward. Our peers are training harder and running faster. We need to work harder and smarter just to keep pace with others, and to keep our place. To progress, we need superhuman effort. Unrealistic goals and unrealistic timeframe. Some may say that is only setting our self up for failure! I disagree.

8. If we look back to the time when the UTP roadmap was established, we might have thought it will take a hundred years to get to the top 200. I exaggerate – just to make the point. So we said, “let’s stretch a little and aim for 2020”. But in reality, all along, we were indeed capable of ‘superhuman effort’. We achieved the target by 2014. And we know now, it didn’t require ‘super human effort’. Only ‘super human mindset’. Forget about doing our usual business better. Think business unusual. Rather than reducing the number of steps in a process, we need to ask “Do we need this process?”

9. Many people in Government and the corporate sector are proud of the achievements of PEMUDAH, the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business, which the Prime Minister established in 2007. It was set up to improve public sector delivery through Public-Private Partnership. As KSN, I chaired PEMUDAH together with Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon, then President of Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) as co-chair.

10. One way of measuring and benchmarking public sector delivery is by using the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index. When PEMUDAH was established, Malaysia was ranked number 25 in the world. We set the target of top 10 by 2015, then a very big-hairy-audacious-goal, or BHAG. There were many detractors, of course. And some in PEMUDAH itself initially were not fully convinced it can be done. Some called PEMUDAH a waste of time. Others simply dismissed it outright.

11. In 2013, Malaysia was ranked by the World Bank as the country with the Sixth most business-friendly regulatory environment. Not Tenth, but Sixth. Against target, that is four positions higher, and two years earlier. That is what BHAGs are capable of. They bring the best out of us. Levels of achievement we may not even know we are capable of.

12. To be clear, we didn’t embark on the improvements to chase World Bank ranking. We did it for ourselves. For our Country.

13. The same must apply to UTP. Our quality targets must be BHAGs. Not incremental improvements! That will not do justice to the research and academic capabilities we have here. Our leadership capabilities. Incremental improvements will not do justice to the legacy of PETRONAS. Today we are proud to be associated with PETRONAS. But we should be setting our sails towards the day when PETRONAS will be more proud of UTP! But how do we get there? Can one VC alone do it? Or the Senate? Not in a million years. We need more than one VC to do it. In fact, all the 741 of us in UTP must behave like the VC to get to the day of ‘Top 50’ in the world. Top 10 even.

14. We need each and every one of us to think with a VC’s head and see with a VC’s lens. To think not what is important for my department or my faculty, but what is important for UTP.

15. We must get to the point where giving up something from our Unit for the greater good of UTP is not seen as a sacrifice, but as a duty. Of course, that requires our functions, performance targets and rewards to be aligned to support such behaviour and mindset. And that is an evaluation we as an organisation must do continuously. To see whether our systems, processes and rules are facilitating quality outcomes, or hindering it. And get rid of those that are not serving us. Fast.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

16. Quality is not an end in itself. It’s a means towards an end, the outcome. The outcome reflected in researches we conduct and students we graduate. How will we know if our efforts are of high quality? When top Oil & Gas companies want to collaborate with us. When funding agencies prioritise our requests, because they have confidence in our research capabilities and expertise. When our students are highly sought-after by choice employers and quickly employed upon graduation. Maybe even before graduation. When others see us as THE yardstick, rather than us looking for yardsticks.

17. Today’s theme ‘Embrace Quality, Enhance Productivity’ tells us that quality is not an afterthought or a nice to have. It must be an integral part of our actions. We cannot improve our performance or enhance our productivity in isolation – without quality mindset. Even if one claims he can, the outcome will be hollow. And definitely not sustainable. We need to embrace quality culture to do justice to the amanah we are entrusted with – the future of our country. Educating generations of men and women who will determine the destiny of our Nation. This amanah shouldn’t be taken lightly. And we must not.

18. On that note, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all winners today for your excellence and exemplary work. Your achievements are a testimony that when hardwork is delivered with passion and commitment, quality outcomes are inevitable. The stories of our quality journeys should be documented and shared. May your achievements inspire our colleagues. And may your qualities rub on our students.

19. I am certain that my belief in UTP is not misplaced. On what UTP is made of and what it is capable of.

20. The roadmap has been chartered. We need to stay the course, but we can always reimagine the route. And let’s hasten our journey.