In conversation with
Dr. Alexander SF Liang, MEng.

Higher Education Spotlight: What does education mean to you?

Dr. Alexander Liang: Education is a broad concept. It starts informally in the home, where you are educated by your parents. To me, education is lifelong learning from your birth to your death.

My own personal education is very important to me- I like learning. My parents migrated here from Guangzhou, China, and had no formal education at all. At home they taught me Chinese values, that stress the absolute importance of education. Anywhere in East and Southeast Asia you find the same Chinese outlook- parents are willing to sacrifice everything for their children’s education and, by extension, their future. My parents sacrificed a lot and that enabled me to finished my undergraduate study in civil engineering at Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung.

How would you identify PPM’s role within the government’s agenda for developing Indonesia’s education sector?

Dr. Alexander Liang: We must start with the history- every leader must know the roots of their organisation so that they have a comprehensive understanding of its founding philosophy. PPM was established in a very unique time. The story of its founding begins in 1967 when political conditions were in chaos as Indonesia transitioned from President Sukarno’s regime to President Suharto’s.

Our economy was in chaos- 600% inflation and such. I experienced the devaluing of the currency from 1000 Indonesia rupiah ( IDR) to 1 IDR. The new president started a 25 year development plan which placed heavy emphasis on economic development. Professor Kadarman, a Catholic priest our founder, had an idea for how to contribute to the country’s development in education. When no one else was thinking in terms of business schools and management education, he saw that Indonesia needed trained, professional managers.

He didn’t want to establish an exclusive, Catholic institution. He was an Indonesian citizen, but Dutch-born, and saw that Indonesia is a very diverse country. So he gathered like-minded individuals of different faiths- Muslim, Catholic, and Protestant- and together they formed the PPM foundation in July 1967. From the start we had a strong focus on integrity, pioneering in management, and innovation.

What is the institution doing to become more self-sustaining in the long-term?

Dr. Alexander Liang: Good education needs a lot of funds. We are very lucky that the foundation has other businesses that support us, as tuition fees alone are not enough to cover all the costs incurred. We rely on our other services- Organizational Development Services, Executive Development Services, and our book publishing business.

Executive Development Services are both in-house and public. Managers from various companies come for training. In the last five years we have served around 4,000 companies from all parts of Indonesia. Our clients are both from private and state owned enterprises in various industries.

In your role as Dean, what strategic goals are you setting in place for PPM?

Dr. Alexander Liang: We are going global, this is our main focus. To support our goals we joined the Association of Asia-Pacific Business Schools (AAPBS), the members of which are very prestigious business higher education institutions. It is absolutely necessary for us to create linkages with institutions like these.

We also joined ABEST21, an association and international accreditation body with membership mostly from the Asia-Pacific region. Two years ago PPM applied for international accreditation, achieving it last March.

We have a joint program with MBA Program in International Management at Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan. Our undergraduate students that have finished their course-work are eligible to complete their internship program and their undergraduate thesis at Fu Jen, and continue their MBA program there as well. The students attain their undergraduate and MBA degrees in five years.

We also have an exchange students program with KEGDE Business School of Bordeaux University, France which started in 2009.
As part of our strategy for globalisation we will open an international program in 2018, and as a preparation for that plan we send some of our lecturers abroad to for pursuing doctoral degree- to the UK and US, for example.

We as well conduct the Regional Business Case Competition (RBCC). This is a very unique event in the region that allows graduate business school students from ASEAN and beyond to participate. No other business school in Indonesia has conducted such an event. A major part of RBCC is PPM’s collaboration with Indonesian companies. In return for their sponsorship, PPM will write an in depth case study of their business, which will later be used in the competition.

Do you believe that ASEAN has presented more opportunities for higher education in Indonesia or more challenges?

Dr. Alexander Liang: Both opportunities and challenges, I think. For the ASEAN Free Trade Area AFTA many foreign institutions want to establish schools here. As a nation we have to prepare for that, especially the education sector. We are one of the founding members of the business school association in Indonesia, also known as APMMI. I am a member of the APMMI management, and every year at our conference we discuss how to face the challenge of internationalisation as a group. As a group we have more power to talk to with the government than we would individually.
In regards to the opportunities, PPM can collaborate with other business schools in ASEAN and the region, such as student exchange, faculty exchange, joint research and joint program. This will support our strategy to go global.

Which areas is your research focused on at present?

Dr. Alexander Liang: We just changed our focus for research in the last ten years. Before this we conducted research, but not intensively. Most of our lecturers are focused on applied science using case methods, so research was not the priority. But over the last several years we changed this approach in response to government and international accreditation requirements with strong research criteria. It is very hard to be internationally recognised as a higher education institution without a good publication records.

We focus our research in five areas – marketing, human capital, finance, operation, and strategic management. Our research centre has developed a long term research plan to concentrate on specific research topics for each area.

Because of our training and consultancy business group we have good links with industry. Our undergraduate and graduate programs include an internship component. After their internship students must conduct research for their thesis, which puts them in demand due to the problem solving skills they develop.

Do you feel a responsibility as a leader to impart a good sense of ethics in your students?

Dr. Alexander Liang: Business ethics is a serious problem for Indonesia. PPM are lucky to have had a founder with a strong sense of ethics whose philosophy we have maintained to this day. As I mentioned before, Professor Kadarman was a Catholic priest, and he stressed the importance of integrity. To this day, we have never used money to tip the tables in our favour when dealing with the government. If you do anything unethical at PPM you are out. Our employees and students know that integrity is our top priority.

We have strict regulations and impress on our students the impact of their behaviour. If they are not honest, if they copy work, for example, there is no mercy. We have implemented a computerised anti-plagiarism system to put our philosophy into action.

You have dedicated so much of your life to PPM. Did you ever imagine it would become what it is today? What is your proudest moment from your time here at PPM?

Dr. Alexander Liang: When I was in high school I didn’t dream of becoming a lecturer. As I told you, I came from an uneducated family but I like to learn. I only thought of becoming a lecturer when I took my doctorate degree in Tokyo University, Japan. After my undergraduate degree I worked with GTZ, a German government organisation specialising in assisting developing countries with their developing programs. In 1988 I applied for the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand (AIT) for a master program. I was blessed that I obtained a full scholarship from German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

During my final semester at AIT, I applied for a scholarship for doctoral program to Tokyo University, Japan. I was blessed once again and obtained a Monbusho Scholarship from the Government of Japan. While in the country, I had to think about my next career move. During that time is when I decided that teaching will be my calling. Since then, I have never regretted for a single moment that I took that decision.
The happiest and most proud moment during my 23 years at PPM is not hard to recall. Every time I stand in front of our graduates and their parents, giving my speech as a Dean, I know I have made a difference in those people’s lives.