1st National Conference on Business, Management, and Accounting: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice.

For the first time ever, the UPH Business School held a national conference entitled: ?1^st National Conference on Business, Management, and Accounting? (NCBMA) with the theme, ?Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice?, on 19 March, 2015. A total of 142 researchers, 22 participants, and 96 students attended this conference from various educational institutions from all over Indonesia (see List of Institutions).

This first NCBMA aimed to encourage academicians and practitioners to publish their research results, which could be theoretical or real business-based research. ?The research results will hopefully contribute to the practitioners and, in return, the phenomena that happen in actual business practice could help the theory so it can be used to predict and understand the facts or phenomena,? explained Dr. Sabrina O. Sihombing, SE., M.Bus, the Head of Committee for NCBMA 2015.

The conference was opened with a prayer by Grace Salim, Executive Director of the UPH Business School and was followed by the opening speech delivered by John Riady, B.A., MBA., JD, as the Executive Dean of UPH Business School. In his speech, Riady argued that lots of Business Schools fail because of a gap between theory and practice. ?We want our students not only to learn things in class but also to be able to sense the ?winds? of change that happen in the world. This conference theme is highly relevant so that all the educational institutions can cooperate in order to blend the academic and practice perfectly,? he elaborated. Prof. Dr. Ir. Roy H. Sembel, MBA, and Suwandy Lee, SE., MBA, also presented their views regarding the conference topic. Dr. Kim Sung Suk B.A., M.Sc., served as moderator.

Opening speech by John Riady

In his presentation, Dr. Sembel stated that while a gap does exist, it must be seen in a broader perspective in order to better understand the current situation in which there is a good gap and a bad gap. To illustrate his point, Dr. Sembel shared his experiences as a hybrid careerist, which is essentially a professional who works as both academician and practitioner simultaneously. The session was delivered in an interactive way highlighting current issues along with eye-catching illustrations.

Mr. Lee, who has already reached the position of Senior Vice President at an international bank in only 7 years, really motivated the students, particularly young researchers, to reach their dreams. Lee, an alumnus of the UPH Business School, concluded that a university in a very early stage should create a theoretical atmosphere, which in turn can be reflected in real practices. He suggested, however, that we also have to accept the fact that theory and practice are not always similar. Finally, although we may have good skills, experience still counts.

The main events of this event were the two Panel Discussions held in the morning and afternoon, respectively. In addition, the researchers were divided into 7 classes based on their paper topics, including Marketing, Accounting, Human Capital Management, Finance, and Entrepreneurship. The participants were then given 15 minutes to offer their presentation with a subsequent Q&A session. The Panel Discussion was finished at 4 pm and closed with the announcement of the 7 Best Papers (see Table 2. (el).

A Panel Discussion in Finance group