Sharifah Zannierah Syed Marzuki has served as an educator in Universiti Teknologi MARA for more than 20 years and have published articles in reputable journals in Web of Science (WoS), SCOPUS, Emerald, Springer and Elsevier. Her research interest is in halal certification, halal foodways, halal tourism, halal consumerism, entrepreneurship and international relations. Several books and chapter of books have been written that include:
- Syed Marzuki, S. Z. (2013). Halal Certification Perspectives Among Malaysian Restaurant Managers. In S. Z. Syed Marzuki & W. K. Yahya (Ed). The Emergence of Global Halal Business. UiTM Press. (ISBN:9789673636709)
- Syed Marzuki, S.Z., Hall, C. M., Ballantine, P. W. (2019). Islamic Tourism: The Practices of a Shariah- Compliant Hotel in De Palma Hotel, Malaysia In C. Michael Hall & Girish Prayag (Ed). The Routledge Handbook of Halal Hospitality and Islamic Tourism. London: Routledge.
(9781315150604)
- Syed Marzuki, S. Z., Hall, C. M., & Ballantine, P. W. (2013). Sustaining Halal Certification at Restaurants in Malaysia. In C.M. Hall & S. Gössling (Ed). Sustainable Culinary Systems: Local Foods, Innovation and Tourism & Hospitality. New York: Routledge. (9781138081697)
- Mohamad Arshad, A. Z., Kamall Khan, Y., Zainal Abidin, Z., Mohammad Kamaruddin, L., Syed Marzuki, S.Z. (2022). Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship, UiTM Printing Centre, Shah Alam. (9789673638376)
Sharifah Zannierah has also won several medals that include gold and silver at International Invention, Innovation and Design (IID) Competition. Her innovation is on Design Thinking in Teaching and Learning where book cards in entrepreneurship learning has been developed. In addition, book card for Human Resource learning activities has also won several awards in IID competition. This book card is small, compact and practical and is registered under copyright under Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) (Refer to Picture 1).
Picture 1 : Intellectual Property (Copyright)
Several research studies on Africa are of Sharifah’s interest; Contributions of Peace and Security to Self-Development Among Nigerian Educators (quantitative study) and Social Justice Among Educators in Nigeria While Maintaining Peace and Security in Promoting Self-Development (qualitative study). She believes that Nigeria in particular has the potential to achieve high rankings in terms of education at the international level and so does Africa as a whole. Africa is known to be very proactive in achieving its mission and vision to stand tall with other countries around the globe.
Sharifah Zannierah and her team have initiated networking and collaborations with Tashkent State University of Economics (TSUE), Uzbekistan in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and that has opened an opportunity to her to be invited as the guest lecturer in that University. She has spent two weeks in Tashkent teaching Human Resource Management and other classes through online. Apart from that, she actively spoke on women entrepreneurship and joined research collaborations. She has been invited to be one of the speakers in TSUE’s conferences for three times. Sharifah also initiated an MOU with Universitas PGRI in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and was invited to be one of the keynote speakers in its conference in 2023 to talk on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education (Picture 2).
Picture 2: Keynote Speaker
One of the most interesting contributions in Sharifah’s academic career was when she was requested to come up with a write up on halal matters to be included in Malaysian New Economic Policy to be tabled in the Parliament. Sharifah Zannierah has also contributed to the community in terms of consultation with respect to entrepreneurship training. Entrepreneurs of micro businesses were trained in several aspects like marketing, finance and operations management. The consultation project was awarded by one of the leading banks in Malaysia. The amount of consultation training for three consecutive years was RM1,398,000. Sharifah believes that education is not only meant for the learners in schools and higher learning institutions but also the communities and societies outside the academic formal environment.
Sharifah has held several academic positions that include Head of Department of Education that handled Master of Applied Entrepreneurship and other academic matters and Head of Department of Research. She was also the Managing Editor of Asean Entrepreneurship Journal for two years (2022-2024) and held several Editorial Positions in international journals. Looking at global perspective, Sharifah Zannierah has attended several meetings related to entrepreneurship education at UNESCO meeting in Bangkok and China. She was appointed as the Moderator in 2019 8th UNESCO-APEID Meeting on Entrepreneurship Education held in Hangzhou, China. Sharifah has also presented her research on entrepreneurship education in that meeting.
Most of Sharifah’s research are in halal matters, entrepreneurship and governmental affairs but related to businesses. She has high confidence that small things can be turned into big outcomes. That is why a student under her mentorship has won the Best Student Entrepreneurship Award by the Malaysian Ministry of Education, Entrepreneurial Award that was help on 8th March, 2024 (Picture 3). The student has won first place and beaten 9 other finalists from other higher learning institutions. The link for the video is attached (received award; 2:46:22):
Picture 3: With the student and the Vice Chancellor of UiTM
Small steps have made a big impact on the business initiated by the student who was just a child from a fisherman’s village. With right guidance and support, this students can be developed to have her own business and obtained sales of thousand of ringgit. Education is wide and everyone deserves to have an education whether in a formal or in an informal setting. Sharifah Zannierah has high expectations on anyone who are eager to learn as knowledge is a powerful weapon to protect someone and to develop in becoming a better person. The most important part is to have the courage, discipline and determination to stand up to every challenges, hurdles and obstacles. The sweetness of victory will come after patience and hardship are tested.