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With globalisation taking hold, the development of higher education in Hong Kong and mainland China follows the global trend to internationalisation. Facing the fierce competition in the employment market, executives put much effort into selfenhancement by taking various management education programmes.
Besides internationally-renowned MBA programmes, more universities around the world are considering the result of GMAT exam as an admission requirement for MBA courses. GMAT is commonly regarded as a worldwide standard, by which the MBA courses of the top 100 business schools selected in Financial Times all adopt for admission application. In other words, to get into your ideal MBA course, you have to get well prepared for the GMAT exam.
Sharp Rise in Chinese GMAT Candidates
Research led by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) shows the growing numbers of Chinese students taking the GMAT exam and there is a 34 percent increase in mainland China taking the GMAT from 2009 to 2010. China even surpassed India as the second largest citizen group after the US in the GMAT pipeline with 30,264 candidates.
As told by Dr. David A. Wilson, President & Chief Executive Officer of Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), MBA is highly popular among Hong Kong and mainland students, and there are plenty of quality MBA programmes available in both the city and the mainland. With the strong economy in China, many new businesses have to be managed, and thus the huge demand for management talent. MBA exactly gives talent a lot of skills to help them understand the key of management, making sure that they have all the way through on board.
China Craves for Professional Talent
Prof. Tao Tang, Associate Vice-President & Director of Graduate School of Hong Kong Baptist University points out that the Ministry of Education of China plans to reduce the scale of academic Master’s degree courses and increase the admission of professional Master’s degree students, which is a new trend in the future.
“In line with the country’s economic development, the Chinese government invests considerably in higher education and increase the admission at universities. However, most students study academic courses and find it hard to find a job after graduation. So now students prefer practical courses like the MBA.”
Prof. Tang holds that it is appropriate to increase admission of professional Master’s degree students as there are really too many research students in the mainland now, which far exceeds the market demand. Meanwhile, academic Master’s degree courses are too theoretical that can’t meet actual needs. Given the social transformation, it is expected that in the next one or two decades, demand for professional talent will continue.
Emphasis on CSR
With the hit of the credit crunch earlier, business schools around the globe reviewed their teaching content and now put more emphasis on corporate social responsibility (CSR), business ethics and environmental protection.
“We see a lot of companies thinking about their responsibility to people, society, and environment. We see a lot of management education programmes now developing their CSR initiatives. That’s the picture. They still have to teach business, but now they were given the context of a sense of responsibility. Therefore, we now see more talking about the carbon footprint, taking care of the environment and the community.”
Dr. Wilson believes that executives always choose the programmes that meet their needs. However, in response to the change of the environment, they have also changed their mindset. They want a more responsible environment and a company that doesn’t just want profit. Thus, when they go back to school they expect to learn more about relevant topics.
International Collaboration Comes in
In recent years, there are more MBA and EMBA courses jointly launched by local and overseas business schools. Dr. Wilson says, “It is a trend and will continue. I think it is valuable because you get the best of both schools to come together to exchange and share ideas.”
Dr. Wilson mentions the four key elements of an MBA programme, including professors, curriculum, client’s cohort and the quest of culture. “An MBA programme is so much about sharing around the table. By creating the joint programme, students can study in different locations around the world. This is a great opportunity to get living in a different culture and that is incredibly valuable.
Americans for a long time didn’t want to study or travel outside the country. But now we see more of them are willing to travel outside the United States for more fruitful learning experiences.”
Talking about collaboration with overseas universities, Prof. Tang reveals that nowadays overseas elements are commonly added into local MBA courses. For example, universities set up international student office and launch various exchange programmes for students to go to mainland China, Asia and Europe for academic exchange. On the other hand, overseas students and professors come to Hong Kong for learning and teaching. Prof. Tang predicts that the trend will continue in the near future.
“The rise of dual degree programmes will be another trend in management education. To promote academic and cultural exchange as well as internationalisation, local universities actively cooperates with institutions in China and overseas. For instance, we jointly launch a dual degree programme with the business school of the University of Kent in the UK. Students and professors at Kent will come to our campus for exchange. Since dual degree programmes provide more exchange opportunities and are good for growing a global vision and for employment after graduation, I think dual degree programme will be even more popular in the future,” he adds.
More on China
Whether for MBA or EMBA, both the two interviewees agree that every programme will have more content about China. “The economic shift is significant. The reality is China is a very strong economy and is continue to grow. Professors will respond to the marketplace and create more Asian and Chinese content.” says Dr. Wilson.
With so many programmes available, students find it hard to make decision. Dr. Wilson suggests that students should look at what they want to do when they finish the programme in order to select the programmes that fit them. They should also take the time to do some homework on the content to make sure that the curriculum suits their needs.
Prof. Tang suggests students to have a few years of work experience before they consider taking an MBA as this would make the learning easier to handle. In addition, as English is the medium of instruction for most MBA courses, Prof. Tang reminds students to polish their English language skills before taking an MBA.
In Step with Social Development
On the future of management education, Dr. Wilson points out that business schools are always responsive to the marketplace in designing courses. “Remember the content they teach, there’s some stuff that is the language of business, and you have to learn that. But after that business is just what’s happening in today’s society. So as the world evolves, management education will evolve with it.”
Mainland MBA Students in Hong Kong
We have also interviewed two MBA students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from mainland China
to share their learning experience in Hong Kong.
Ms. Zetta Gu studied Computer Science for her undergraduate degree. She took up the post as Engineer for 3 years, and then entered the IT consulting industry for 2.5 years. As told by Zetta, she hopes to reinforce her soft skills and network through her MBA study. “One good thing to study in Hong Kong is that our peer students have different backgrounds but the same thinking and goal – self-enhancement, so we have the common language.”
She suggests students to think about their career development and have a clear goal before they take an MBA. In addition, since the teaching style in Hong Kong is more interactive and puts much emphasis on discussion and exchange, which is usually done in English, Zetta suggests students to strengthen their English skills beforehand.
Mr. Jacky Wen graduated from the Department of Electronic Engineering of Fudan University in Shanghai. He has been engaged in electronic engineering work since 2004. By studying MBA, he hopes to shift to the banking and finance industry.
“Hong Kong is a financial hub with a blend of Chinese and Western cultures. It is an international city where professors and students are of different nationalities; creating international learning experiences for students study there.”
He suggests that mainland students who are interested in studying in Hong Kong should first know more about their learning needs as the programme lasts for only 12 to 16 months and is highly intensive that requires good preparation. Moreover, Jacky also thinks that it is crucial to find a balance between learning and social life. It is good for students to join more school activities for networking, which will also be helpful after graduation. Finally, Jacky reminds students to have good time allocation as homework is busy and there are lots of things to prepare during the study.
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