In conjunction with Visit Malaysia (VM) 2026, a young Business Development Manager from AIM School of Executive Education and Lifelong Learning (SEELL), Jared Kaine O. Serzo & his best half, Angela “Lala” Singian-Serzo, Editorial Producer - Lifestyle, had a series of business appointments in KL. On the recommendation of my long-time friend, Bernardino “Bernie” J. Jiao, the Executive Managing Director of AIM Alumni Relations Office, Jared & Lala managed to set aside time from tight work schedules to meet me at the Holiday Inn Kuala Lumpur Bangsar. It was heartwarming for a senior citizen & alumnus of AIM. We enjoyed an engaging, insightful communications and an excellent update about the world-class professional development programs offered by AIM-SEELL.
At the sidelines of our conversation, Jared asked me what the Professors had taught me at AIM during my Master in Management (MM) program in the 1980s? I responded by stating that “I can still remember the significant learning on ‘Sources and Uses of Power’ (SUOP) that explored the relationship between sources and the nature of influencing factors on the behavior of people in varying political, economic, cultural, social and organizational contexts. Putting emphasis on applying and explaining why people react the way they do to stimuli, SUOP relies on understanding systemic structures to explain people's behavior and reactions. SUOP emphasized discussion cases & interviews with prominent leaders as learning tools, which served as springboard to class deliberations.”
Even after 40 years of leaving AIM, I am still a student of leadership & corporate accountability which curriculum allow students to discuss the perils of chasing ringgits down ethical sewers. This is time to access the moral compass I had read about those years ago and which had been going haywire with so much talk of money & power. AIM then had carved out a niche on business values.
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