Heightening Work Experience and Bringing New Opportunity(1)

Heightening Work Experience and Bringing New Opportunity

After coming back to work on February, I have been noticing what I wrote at the first Fujitsu scholarship assignment is being realized step by step. Summary of my first assignment goes like this: First of all, thanks to EWKLP program, my global horizon was amazingly broadened. Course works, group discussion and presentation, field studies, outdoor activities and travelling combined together, really worked to widen my global sights on various issues. 

From Switzerland, England to Chinese, Japanese and South American backgrounds, faculty diversity gave the entire class a big hand to share different values and gain global perspectives. Just like the instructor profile, course work profile was also colorful. The fact that not all instructors are full-time professors rings a big bell to me.

Broadening Global Horizon and Establishing Rich Friendship(6)

Broadening Global Horizon and Establishing Rich Friendship

In this time of economic downturns when CEOs (Chief Executive Officer) seek more business opportunities from liberal arts, non-business curriculums made EWKLP classes richer and richer. Moreover, the fact that not all instructors are full-time professors rings a big bell to me. Some instructors are involved in real business practices such as consulting, leadership and legal industries. Also, some of the guests run their own business globally. 

In that even full-time MBA education pays more and more attention on real work experience these days, through non-academic instructors, delivering the hot issues of the outside world is remarkable merits of EWKLP. In doing so, not only EWKLP succeeded in differentiating itself from similar scholarship programs, but also students could balance between the 'Gemba' and textbook theories and models as a professor Ikujiro Nonaka pointed out during his class. These lessons approached me as something more global, timely and practical.

HKBU introduces professional development series for faculty(1)

HKBU launches Hong Kong's first internationally recognized professional development series for faculty

To upgrade teaching and learning quality and to enhance Hong Kong Baptist University's (HKBU) quality assurance mechanism, its Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning (CHTL) launched the Faculty Professional Development Series (FPDS), Hong Kong's first internationally recognized professional development series for the university's teaching staff, in February 2011. 

The FPDS is open to full-time and part-time faculty members, teaching assistants, postgraduate students with teaching responsibilities and academic administrators. It will comprise 10 workshops, covering a wide range of areas, including outcome-based teaching and learning, using electronic platforms in teaching and assessment, learning theories and motivating student learning.

Broadening global horizon and building up rich friendship(7)

Broadening global horizon and building up rich friendship

In that even full-time MBA education pays more and more attention on real work experience these days, through non-academic instructors, delivering the hot issues of the outside world is remarkable merits of EWKLP. 

In doing so, not only EWKLP succeeded in differentiating itself from similar scholarship programs, but also students could balance between the 'Gemba' and textbook theories and models as a professor Ikujiro Nonaka pointed out during his class. These lessons approached me as something more global, timely and practical.

Secondly, I'd like to make special comments on friendship. In the individual page of the yearbook, I wrote down, "Let's keep our thicker-than-blood friendship for good!" Truly speaking, it is exactly what I felt from the 19 dear classmates.

Broadening global horizon and building up rich friendship(6)

Broadening global horizon and building up rich friendship

As a management institution, to some extent, business related subjects are mostly stressed over the whole curriculum inevitably. However, time to time, non-business subjects, to name a few, philosophy, anthropology, Buddhism and Confucianism, decently covered as well. 

In this time of economic downturns when CEOs (Chief Executive Officer) seek more business opportunities from liberal arts, non-business curriculums made EWKLP classes richer and richer. 

Moreover, the fact that not all instructors are full-time professors rings a big bell to me. Some instructors are involved in real business practices such as consulting, leadership and legal industries. Also, some of the guests run their own business globally. 

Improving the Quality of MBA Education in Korea, Japan and China(4)

Improving the Quality of MBA Education in Korea, Japan and China(4) - Integrating East & West

Last but not least, inducing western applications to Korean, Japanese and Chinese MBA schools is of great significance. It is basically because Asian value needs be passed to Western students so that they can broaden or deepen their horizon in Asian context.

However, it is also true that we still need Western value in many ways. Thus, the ideal model of Asian MBA education can be achieved by balancing Western curriculum with newly-introduced Eastern curriculum. For example, existing subjects such as international strategy, management information system and new subjects such as Confucianism and Buddhism, both of them should make their presence.

Moreover, when it comes to class profile, apart from the Asian student dominant class, the number of non-Asian students is better to reach half. This is no exception to faculty profile. According to the 2009-2010 global MBA program of College of Business at Seoul National University, 48 out of 49 full-time professors are Western Ph.D. But to integrate East and West, around 30% should be Asian Ph.D. professors.

Of course, Eastern-Western value integration is not enough to fully improve the quality of MBA education in Korea, Japan and China. We also need additional initiatives, to name a few, active globalization, regional cooperation, practical and timely education. Going without saying, more English class and profile diversity is a must to most Asian MBA schools for real globalization.

Improving the Quality of MBA Education in Korea, Japan and China(2)

Improving the Quality of MBA Education in Korea, Japan and China(2) - Integrating East & West

In fact, deans of top Korean and Japanese business schools shared this idea when they discussed the future of Asian MBA schools last August. Taeshik Ahn, dean of the College of Business at Seoul National University of Korea said the desirable MBA education is to highlight both talent and co-existence. He added that a MBA school must be a place where students can learn not only knowledge but also life. Hirotaka Takeuchi, dean of the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsubashi University of Japan, showed similar opinions as well. He stressed that leaders should be equipped with ethics and cultural diversity. He further developed his argument that the core competitiveness of Asian business schools lies in delivering these values to students. 

Against this background, it isn’t too much to say that this is the right time to improve the quality of MBA education especially in Korea, Japan and China. It is mainly because MBA schools in these countries have not met corporate expectation in spite of the countries' economic status in the global stage. Needless to say, integrating Eastern-Western value into MBA curriculums will be the most desirable and persuasive way to upgrade MBA education in three countries.

In fact, general analysis of 13 Korean, 29 Japanese, over 45 Chinese schools (defined as professional schools with full-time MBA programs) supports our idea. SWOT analysis indicates that western-oriented curriculum such as marketing, financial accounting, organizational behavior and insufficient globalization and lack of practical education constitutes the weakness of Asian MBA schools.

However, at the same time, Asian MBA schools also have a life-time chance. With the rapid growth of Eastern economy and subsequent highlights on Eastern value, they draw more and more attention from all over the world.

HKBU launches professional development series for faculty

HKBU launches Hong Kong’s first internationally recognized professional development series for faculty

To upgrade teaching and learning quality and to enhance Hong Kong Baptist University's (HKBU) quality assurance mechanism, its Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning (CHTL) launched the Faculty Professional Development Series (FPDS), Hong Kong's first internationally recognized professional development series for the university’s teaching staff, in February 2011. 

The FPDS is open to full-time and part-time faculty members, teaching assistants, postgraduate students with teaching responsibilities and academic administrators. It will comprise 10 workshops, covering a wide range of areas, including outcome-based teaching and learning, using electronic platforms in teaching and assessment, learning theories and motivating student learning.

Upon completion of the series, teaching staff will be able to adopt practical pedagogies that will help them provide students with HKBU graduate attributes. They will also be able to make use of electronic platforms and technologies in teaching and the design of assessment strategies. 

The FPDS will lead to an internationally recognized pathway for further study in education. Participants who have successfully completed eight workshops out of 10 and the final assessment will be eligible for exemption from six credits of the Graduate Diploma in Professional Studies or the Master in Education offered by the University of Western Australia (UWA).