Chan is a Singaporean who grew up in the tiny island nation,
Chan is a Singaporean who grew up in the tiny island nation, worked in the US, and is starting his MBA program at IMD in Switzerland.
Iglesias is from Spain who worked in London and Africa before applying and getting into CEIBS (China Europe International Business School) in Shanghai, China. By the way, he speaks Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, English, and is now learning Mandarin.
These are just two of the MBA students profiled by Business Week in a recent article. Interestingly, out of the four profiles featured, not a single one is attending a US-based business school.
Here is a little excerpt about Iglesias’ outlook:
“China was Iglesias’ destination of choice for the MBA because its economy is in hyperdrive. ‘It’s booming,’ he says. ‘This is a long-term investment. It’s a gamble, because the name of the school is not big yet, but maybe in 10 years [it will be].'”
Clearly, he is not the only person who is thinking this way. For today’s future business leaders, the global economy is not just an idea but a reality. My last client was a Vietnamese who worked in Asia and the US before attending Fuqua’s Cross Continental MBA program. I’m currently getting more interest in INSEAD and IE than for Stanford or Harvard.
More importantly, as in the case of Iglesias, MBA candidates are increasingly willing to take a chance on Asia given the potential there. What does this mean?
First, it’s the rise of the Asian MBA programs. Both INSEAD and Chicago/Booth have campuses in Singapore. INSEAD, which also has a campus in Abu Dhabi, recently hired Dipak Jain as its new dean. According to this WSJ report, Mr. Jain “will be charged with looking for opportunities to build programs in China and India, as well as maximizing the potential of the Abu Dhabi campus”.
Further, it signals the arrival on the scene of home-grown MBA programs. The latest ranking by Financial Times showed the following placings by Asian universities:
#9 (three-year rank of #14) Hong Kong UST Business School
#12 (#16) Indian School of Business
#22 (#14) CEIBS
#27 (#32) Nanyang Business School (Singapore)
#28 (not ranked) Chinese University of Hong Kong
Four out of the five Asian schools that were ranked went up in rankings. All these schools beat out the following programs:
#31 (#30) University of Virginia/Darden
#33 (#29) UCLA
#34 (#28) Emory/Goizueta
All of which sank in the rankings. Clearly one should be aware of the pitfalls of any form of rating system, but I think there is something here. I think we will see greater and greater demand for Asian programs, and many of these programs will gain prominence globally.
Posted by Worldwide MBA Admissions Consultancy