FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

MGT420: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF

MANAGEMENT

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 1: A FAMOUS CONTEMPORARY LEADER

(TAN SRI SYED MOKHTAR SHAH BIN SYED NOR ALBUKHARY)

PREPARED BY:

NAME STUDENT ID GROUP

NUR’MURFIQAH BINTI AZLI 2023387641 BA2431B

PREPARED FOR:
MISS AFIQAH MOHD BAKRI

DEADLINE:
25th May 2023
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

NO. CONTENTS PAGES

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

PROFILE AND DETAILS OF THE LEADER

 Early Life and Education
2.0 2-3
 Career and Personal Life
 Awards and Recognitions

3.0 LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS 4

4.0 CONCLUSIONS 5

5.0 REFERENCES 6
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I would like to praise and thank the Almighty God for giving me
the strength and because of His blessing, I managed to accomplish this individual
assignment. Without His blessing, I would not have gone this far. Therefore, I would like
to acknowledge with thanks to my lecturer Miss Afiqah Mohd Bakri because of her
supports and guidance on how to do this assignment in purpose to produce a good
outcome.

Additionally, I want to thank Jeong Jaehyun and NCT, who have been a source of
strength for me throughout my academic journey, and all of my other friends for their
assistance and support. Not to mention my cherished family, who were always there for
me during the difficult periods of my life while doing this assignment and were there for
me when I needed them. I also wanted to extend my responsibilities and thanks to them
for their unwavering support, patience, prayers, and kindness throughout my studies. I
would also like to thank everyone who helped me finish this assignment. Your generosity,
support, ideas, and counsel are highly appreciated. Thank you very much.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Leaders can be found in a wide range of circumstances, including large and small
enterprises, for profit and non-profit organizations, governmental and non-governmental
organizations, and military and non-military systems. To properly comprehend the
definitions of leader, one must first consider what makes a leader effective. Everyone has
a somewhat different perspective of what it means to be a leader. It is an influence
relationship between individuals in power and others who follow them in pursuit of a
purpose or change that is perceived as reflecting a similar aim. A person’s leadership style
and philosophy can be used to explain a variety of traits. The democratic leader theory,
behaviourism, the great-man theory, and the servant leader theory are among the most
popular leadership ideas. There are quite many different leadership styles to choose from.
Which of these leadership styles is most appropriate depends on the scenario at hand in
the organization.
For this assignment about a famous contemporary leader, I have chosen Tan Sri Syed
Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. This is because his entrepreneurial success, a proven by the
expansion of the Al-Bukhary Group, demonstrating his business intelligence. He is also
well-known for his charitable efforts through the Albukhary Foundation, exhibiting a
commitment to social responsibility. He has produced a lot of job opportunities and
helped the economic development through his business. Tan Sri Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s
hands-ons leadership style and strategic decision-making have earned him international
recognition. Other than that, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary is also one of the richest
persons in Malaysia. According to Forbes in 2022, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary was
ranked No. 15 on the Malaysia’s 50 Richest List.

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2.0 PROFILE AND DETAILS OF THE LEADER

2.1 Early Life and Education

Syed Mokhtar Shah bin Syed Nor Al-Bukhary is his full name was born in Alor Setar,
Kedah in 1951. He also was a Hadhrami Arab descent from Yemen that came from a
middle-class household. Before his father settling in Kedah in the 1940s, his father
travelled to Central Asia and Thailand to trade. His family sent him to Johor Bahru to
study with his uncle Syed Omar due to financial constraints. He was moved to live with
his uncle, Syed Omar, in Johor Bahru when he was nine years old and studied there until
he was in form two. He then returned to Kedah to complete his schooling until form five
at Saint Michael’s School. However, he never attended a university to enhance his
education.

2.2 Career and Personal Life

Due to his modest family background, he had to work while attending school in his
early years. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary used to help his mother in growing and
selling vegetables in the market, as well as his father in the cattle breeding business.
Following the outbreak of food and mouth disease in the mid-1970s, his father’s cattle
company plunged into problems. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary took over his father’s
business and opted to start a meat-selling business. To begin, at the age of nineteen, he
explored marketplaces near Alor Setar for unsold meat from sellers. The meat was
subsequently resold to Bumiputera vendors in the neighbourhood. Although this was
unsold meat, it was neatly wrapped and placed on ice to retain freshness. As a result of his
experience in dealing with high quality items, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar’s business received a
positive reaction from the public. This accomplishment fueled his desire to grow his
business.

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 Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary then sought to go into the logistics company after
obtaining four class-A lorry permits. He established Syarikat Pengangkutan Sentosa, a
transport business in 1972. He began his logistics company by borrowing RM 110,000
from Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) to purchase two Mercedes 911LS lorries. As time
passed, the Syarikat Pengangkutan Sentosa expanded significantly by increasing the
number of trucks. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary began working as a rice trader in
Kedah in the 1990s. His business empire has expanded from rice trading to plantation,
property development, construction, engineering, power production,
infrastructure, and ports. He established Syarikat Shah the following year to broaden his
business which identified as a rice supplier to Federal Land Development Authority
(FELDA), Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), Pernas Edar, and Sergam Sdn. Bhd.
Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary also has involved in a variety of businesses. MMC
Corporation, Tradewinds Malaysia Berhad, and DRB-Hicom Bhd are among the
companies joining to form Al-Bukhary Company. These companies have been separated
into several subsidiaries, some of which include automotive, finance, non-finance,
residential, transportation and logistics, energy and utilities and other business.
Additionally, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary launched the Yayasan Albukhary
Foundation to provide free education to disadvantaged students all around the world. He
also has made significant contributions to the arts, having established the Islamic Arts
Museum Malaysia in 1998. Twenty years later, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar opened a new
permanent gallery exhibition at the British Museum devoted to Islamic Art.

2.3 Awards and Recognitions

Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary has received multiple awards and recognitions
during his career. One of them is the Panglima Setia Mohkota (P.S.M) award by His
Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong, which holds the tittle Tan Sri for
him. Other than that, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary was also awarded as Tokoh
Melayu Terbilang in 2009 for the contributions he made to Malaysian industry and
society. He was also got recognitions from Forbes Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy for his
enormous contributions to charity organizations and philanthropic endeavours. The Yang
di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia proclaimed and granted Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary
the title “Tokoh Ma’al Hijrah” in the appreciation of his foundation that has contributed
as much as RM 1 billion for charitable purposes.

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3.0 LEADERSHIP CHARATERISTICS
Leadership is a broad term that includes a variety of qualities and talents required for
directing and influencing individuals or groups towards a common objective. It includes
inspiring, motivating, self-assurance, and empowering people while showing good
decision-making, communication, and problem-solving talents. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-
Bukhary is a well-known Malaysia entrepreneur and philanthropist boasts a diverse set of
leadership traits and skills that have led to his exceptional success in a variety of business.
1) Bold and Courageous
Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary has a bold and courageous personality. For
example, in the mid-1980s, his major business initiatives were disrupted by the
worldwide economic crisis, and he suffered significant losses. However, his
determination to be a successful entrepreneur is unaffected by his commercial failure.
He adapted to the circumstances without hesitations. He wants to grow and spread his
business all over the world. Any failures and company losses he had faced already
made him more confident and courageous in conducting business operations and
cautious in making future decisions.
2) Inspiring and Humility
Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary receives an additional point for this attribute. His
charitable institution, the Al-Bukhary Foundation, shows his inspiring and humble
qualities. Al-Bukhary Foundation assisted in the construction of an Islamic Art
Museum worth RM 70 million, as well as the construction of other mosques and
charitable institutions in Kedah, Perak, and throughout the country. Every year, the
foundation funds English, Science, and Mathematics education for over 20,000
underachieving students, as well as a college scholarship programme for three
hundred students from over forty nations. Aside from that, he has contributed a large
portion of his profits to orphans and those in need. He also donated £1.25 million to
the Oxford Islamic Institute’s research and provides scholarships to Saudi Arabian
students to study in Malaysia.
3) Decisiveness
Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary also has the characteristic of being decisive. It is
shown when he has a meeting with his entire top management team in order to
preserve quality and lead them away from any mistakes that may be made. This
influenced him to become a decisive leader.

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4.0 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s audacity, inspirational modesty,

and decisive leadership continue to have an impact on people today. His bold attitude to
business and calculated risks motivates others to chase their goals. Despite his wealth,
Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary inspire people to perform the act of kindness and
always give back to the society such as underprivileged people. His ability in decision-
making set a high standard for effective leadership. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s
extraordinary characteristics and effective leadership style continue to inspire and
motivate others to overcome obstacles, strive for greatness and make a positive difference
in their own lives and communities.

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5.0 REFERENCES

Halimah Abdul Manaf & Ahmad Martadha Mohamed. (2014). Malay Business Leaders’
Characteristics and Their Success in Business. Journal of Governance and
Development. 10 (1). 109-135. ISSN 2289 – 4756.
https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/12451

Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary. (n.d.). Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/profile/syed-mokhtar-

albukhary/

Tania Jayatilaka. (2022). Fun Facts About These 5 Malaysian Billionaires on Forbes
Richest 2022. Tatler Asia. https://www.tatlerasia.com/power-purpose/wealth/fun-facts-
malaysian-billionaires-forbes-richest-2022 philanthropists

Syed Mokhtar awarded Tokoh Melayu Terbilang. (2009, May 12). The Star.
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2009/05/12/syed-mokhtar-awarded-tokoh-
melayu-terbilang

51 Tokoh Dianugerah Gelaran Tan Sri. (2017, September 09). mStar.

https://www.mstar.com.my/lokal/semasa/2017/09/09/anugerah-tan-sri

Syed Mokhtar, Tony Fernandes in Forbes Asia’s heroes of philanthropy list. (2014, June
26). New Straits Times. https://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/09/syed-mokhtar-
tony- fernandes-forbes-asias-heroes-philanthropy-list