Economy Chosun, one of Korea’s most prestigious economic and business news weeklies, has named CKGSB as one of the world’s top business schools in terms of the quality and innovation strategies of its MBA program. CKGSB was the only Chinese school named in the list, which the magazine compiled for its most recent cover story.
Economy Chosun, a weekly magazine specializing in economic and business news published by Korea’s most prestigious media group Chosun Media Group, has named Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) as one of the world’s top business schools in terms of the quality and innovation strategies of its MBA program.
CKGSB was the only Chinese school named in the list, which the nation’s top-notch business weekly magazine compiled for the cover story of its August 3 issue.
Entitled ‘Global MBA Programs at Crisis,’ the cover story examined the present and future of MBA programs offered at major business schools across the globe.
The general impression of MBA programs has changed after the 2008 global financial crisis, the article wrote, criticized by some for being less useful for career success as the global economy remains stagnant.
As demand for MBAs has declined from Wall Street and the popularity of free online MBA lectures has grown, global business schools have recently come up with two breakthrough strategies: i) reinventing their identity by focusing on entrepreneurship studies to follow the legendary success of IT giants like Microsoft and Facebook, and ii) emphasizing strong business networks in an effort to offer practical assistance.
“Despite CKGSB not participating in any global MBA ranking programs, it has grown into one of China’s most representative business schools, especially with its strong alumni network that includes billionaire businesspeople like Jack Ma of Alibaba and Li Dongsheng of TCL Group,” the magazine wrote.
The following are the World’s Top 10 MBAs as named by Economy Chosun:
In line with the cover story, CKGSB’s MBA curriculum was introduced in depth in an interview with Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance at CKGSB, Li Haitao, also the Associate Dean of the school’s MBA Program.
Professor Li highlighted the school’s strong alumni network, which incorporates visits to global companies, and its collaboration with world-renowned institutions, both key competitive edges and aspects unique to CKGSB.
The following contains edited excerpts of the interview:
Q. An obvious change after the global financial crisis was the decline of high-paying financial sector jobs. With tuition costs and other fees for obtaining MBA degrees from top-notch business schools remaining high (or even higher than before), what trends have you seen with regards to overall applications. Has this influenced CKGSB in any way?
Professor Li: This phenomenon has not affected our program at all, given our focus on China business. In fact, the financial industry in China has been booming, and we’ve actually seen increased interest in our program. Both the number of applications and quality of applicants have further improved.
Q. What are the competitive edges of CKGSB’s MBA program?
Professor Li: CKGSB focuses on expanding the students’ business network by linking our MBA students to students and alumni from other CKGSB programs such as DBA, EMBA, Finance MBA and Executive Education programs. We also help our students improve and develop a global perspective via our US module and international exchange programs, during which our MBA students get a chance to learn first-hand lessons from leading hi-tech companies, like Google, LinkedIn and Apple. CKGSB has also collaborated with different business leader incubating institutions across the globe, including Harvard Kennedy School and IMD in Switzerland.
Q. What backgrounds do your MBA students come from?
Professor Li: Our MBA students have an average age of 29. They come from a wide range of backgrounds in terms of education, professional experience and career interests. Most of them have studied or worked overseas and are good at cross-cultural communication and collaboration. We have quite few Korean students in our MBA program. We find them extremely hard-working, respectful, intelligent and ambitious.
Q. What are the advantages that Koreans can obtain by choosing CKGSB’s MBA program over other MBA programs in western countries?
Professor Li: Korea has been China’s largest trading partner in Asia. There will continue to be huge potential for Koreans doing business with, and in, China. The CKGSB MBA program is an ideal choice for young Koreans who want to tap into the Chinese market.
To read the original Korean article in the Economy Chosun, please click here.
