Dr. Umar Haiyat Abdul Kohar

Dr. Umar Haiyat Abdul Kohar, lovingly known by students as Pak Ngah, has been enchanting the halls of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) since July 2007. A Johorean academic with a wizard’s heart, he embodies UTM’s spirit “Kerana Tuhan Untuk Manusia” the way Hogwarts embodies magic: quietly, consistently, and with immense purpose. Currently, he serves as a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Entrepreneurship Panel, steadily stepping into his role as the Dumbledore-in-the-making of the Faculty of Management. He teaches Entrepreneurship and Principles of Marketing, fortified by 18 years of mastery across subjects such as Technology Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Marketing, Managing Technology Ventures, and Malaysia Culture and Society. Students often claim his classes feel like magical lessons, where theories turn into spells, insights land like enchantments, and attendance-taking itself feels like a charm cast flawlessly. His research expertise spans entrepreneurship, innovation management, digital adoption and transformation, and entrepreneurship education. With the calm confidence of a professor from the Great Hall, he transforms the chaos of SMEs, youth challenges, and digital ecosystems into polished Scopus papers. As of November 2025, he has produced 42 Scopus-indexed works with an H-index of 10, a proof that academic slayage can indeed be magical. Pak Ngah has supervised 16 PhD graduates, including 8 as main supervisor, from Oman, Ghana, Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, and Malaysia — forming his own multicultural Order of the PhD Phoenix. He has led 9 funded research projects, bridging communities and industries like a magical bridge between realms. He holds a First-Class Bachelor’s Degree in Corporate Administration (Hons.) and an MBA (2007) sponsored by Yayasan Temenggung Abdul Rahman Johor from UiTM Shah Alam, and a PhD from RMIT University, Melbourne (2014).

Indexed-Articles (Scopus & Web of Science)

Al Lawati, E. H., Jumaan, I. A., Kohar, U. H. A., & Tarhini, A. (2026). Entrepreneurial intention revisited: The roles of entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial culture, and social media usage. The International Journal of Management Education, 24(1), 101288. (Indexed by ISI / Q1) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1472811725001582

Aslan, M., Indiran, L., Vivekananth, S., Wiyata, W., Yanamandra, R., Abdul Kohar, U. H., & Quanzhen, B. (2025). Factors influencing entrepreneurial intention: a cross-country comparison of five countries. Studies in Higher Education, 1–20. (Indexed by ISI / Q1) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2025.2519787

Sumarmi, Putra, A.K., Sahrina, A., Abdul Kohar, U.H, Shaherani, N., Wibowo, N.A., Silviariza, W.Y. (2025). Promoting social innovation based on environmental volunteer to develop plastic waste management strategies in The Green Campus Model. International Journal of Environmental Impacts, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 185-193. (Indexed by Scopus) https://www.iieta.org/journals/ijei/paper/10.18280/ijei.080118

Sumarmi, S., Deliana, Y., Dirpan, A., Sanjaya, E. H., & Abdul Kohar, U. H.. (2025). Implementation Strategies for Green Products and Green Packaging for Tourism MSMEs to Support the SDGs. Journal of Sustainability Research, 7(1).(Indexed by Scopus) https://sustainability.hapres.com/UpLoad/PdfFile/JSR_1698.pdf

Samsuden, N. S., Abdul Kohar, U. H., Khatib, S. F., & Abbas, A. F. (2024). Digital Capabilities and Business Performance: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability (2071-1050), 16(24). (Indexed by ISI / Q2) https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/11108

Sikandar, H., Abdul Kohar, U. H., Sanda, G., Salman, A., Cilan, T., Shabbir, M. S., & Ramos-Meza, C. S. (2024). Eco-innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs): A systematic literature review. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 1-23. (Indexed by ISI / Q1) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13132-023-01367-w

Tian, X., Abdul Kohar, U. H., Khatib, S. F., & Wang, Y. (2024). Nudging Sustainable Development: Reviewing Energy Transition and Economic Development. Sustainability, 16(8), 3101. (Indexed by ISI / Q2) https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/8/3101

Sikandar, H., Abdul Kohar, U. H., Corzo-Palomo, E. E., Gamero-Huarcaya, V. K., Ramos-Meza, C. S., Shabbir, M. S., & Jain, V. (2024). Mapping the development of open innovation research in business and management field: A bibliometric analysis. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 15(2), 9868-9890. (Indexed by ISI / Q1) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13132-023-01280-2

Tian, X., Wang, Y., & Abdul Kohar, U. H. (2024). Capital structure, business model innovation, and firm performance: Evidence from Chinese listed corporate based on system GMM model. Plos one, 19(6), e0306054.

(Indexed by ISI / Q1) https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0306054 Al-Lawati, E. H., Abdul Kohar, U. H., & Shahrin Suleiman, E. (2022). Entrepreneurial culture in educational institutions: A scoping review. Cogent Business & Management, 9(1), 1997237 (Indexed by ISI & Scopus) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23311975.2021.1997237

Research Interest

Entrepreneurship, Innovation Management, Marketing Innovation. SMEs Development, Youth Education and Development

Number of PhD supervisees

Availability of Supervision

Yes

Research Title Available for Supervision

1. Entrepreneurship
2. Innovation Management
3. Firm Performance and Digital Marketing
4. Technology Adoption
5. Case Study and Qualitative Research