Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University; MBA kitty has much to offer; choose the one you prefer

Singapore, despite being a small country in Asia with fewer MBA colleges has built the reputation of providing world class MBA education to the students and has highest ratio of internationally accredited B-schools. This is evident from the fact that almost all the B-schools In Singapore have been awarded with the accreditation from one or other international accreditation agency like AACSB, AMBA or EQUIS.

As a country, Singapore is home to the reputed and prestigious international universities and B-schools like NUS, NTU and SMU offering qualitative education in their class rooms. Applicants from all over the world study here to enhance their skills and business concepts. The Lee Kong Chian School of Business of Singapore Management University, the youngest and often considered to be the National University for Business in Singapore or the Nanyang Business School of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore renowned to train students to practice work-life balance are only a few of such examples.

MBA from either of the 2 internationally reputed universities may carve niche in the future career. An  MBA Abroad applicant must choose between SMU and NTU keeping in mind his career goals. Candidates must check with the program curriculum and career outcomes before finalizing the B-school

Nanyang Business School (Nanyang Technological University)
The Nanyang MBA is regarded as one of the best in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region. The 12 month long and 40th best MBA program in the world according to the Financial Times ranking, is guided by international faculty from over 20 countries. The MBA from NTU is an intense, rigorous and compact program.

NBS Class Profile
Average GMAT: 670
Average Age: 27
Average work experience: 5 years
International Student Body: 20 countries

Multicultural class
Indians form 18% of the class profile. 16% of the students are from Singapore and South East Asia, 14% from EU and 6% from America. Other countries include Africa, China and NE Asia etc.

Nanyang MBA Programme Structure
The Nanyang MBA comprises of 3 unique tracks namely General Management Track, Strategy & Innovation Track, and Banking & Finance Track. Applicants can choose the track based on their career interests and requirements. The program irrespective of the tracks comprises

1. 9 core courses, 4 electives
2. Business Study Mission ( local and/or overseas)
3. Strategy Projects at Nanyang (SPAN)
4. Comprehensive Leading People Globally module
5. International student exchange programme

NTU is well known for MBA in Strategy, Finance and Operations Management, Technology and Analytics.

Nanyang Double Degree Programmes
Nanyang offers world-class double MBA degrees from partner universities namely the Nanyang - Waseda Double MBA and Nanyang-St Gallen Double MBA.

Post MBA careers
Highest number of Nanyang graduates were placed in the Consulting function (18%). Financial Services came second (17%) with the lowest (4%) in government jobs. 38% of the graduates of the class of 2014  relocated outside Singapore, 54% changed industry and 54% changed job functions. Accenture, Deloitte, Bain & Company, McKinsey & Company, SAP, Microsoft, PayPal are few companies hiring Nanyang MBA graduates.

Lee Kong Chain School of Business-Singapore Management University (SMU) -
The SMU MBA is delivered by the Lee Kong Chain School of Business. Singapore Management University (SMU) is built on the model of University of Pennsylvania-Wharton and highly reputed for its Finance and Accounting programmes. The SMU MBA is a full time MBA completed within a span of 12 months.

Youngest University to be accredited by AACSB and EQUIS
SMU is one of the youngest universities to receive AACSB and EQUIS accreditation. The MBA program of SMU was launched in the year 2008 making it a very new program. In order to qualify for Financial Times and The Economist ranking, programs must be running for more than 5 years. The MBA from SMU is relatively new and will soon feature in the ranking charts looking at its growth rate.

SMU MBA Class Profile
Average Work Experience: 5-7 years
Mean GMAT: 660
Average Age: 30 years
International student body: 60%

Diversity
Candidates to the SMU MBA are from Russia, America, France, India, China and many more countries. Participants come from various professional backgrounds such as Finance, Energy, IT, Media, Manufacturing, Engineering etc.

Curriculum
SMU MBA puts a high emphasis on communication and leadership skills.  The highly accelerated program is innovative with 8 cores and 10 electives. Based on their career interests, participants can choose a number of electives including Supply Chain Management, Design Thinking for Innovation, Asset Management, Applied Marketing Research and Analytics, Corporate Communication and many more.

Case Writing Initiative (CWI) at Lee Kong Chian School of Business
SMU’s Case Writing Initiative (CWI) is a key feature and a unique learning tool of the SMU MBA. The CWI focuses on writing case studies on the companies in Asia and Asian companies and the business complexities they face.  Almost 89% of the cases cover Asia. Cases written by SMU participates have been featured in Singapore’s Human Capital Summit and the Aquarius Programme; and published twice in the Financial Times, Cognella, McGraw and The Asian Case Research Journal.

Overseas Immersion
Another strong feature is the overseas immersion. This gives students the opportunity to gain inter-cultural and inter-industry learning through exchange programmes in several international destinations. Some exchange partners of SMU are University of British Columbia, IE Spain, KEIO University Japan, Seoul National University South Korea.

Careers after SMU MBA
Almost 60% of the MBA graduates from SMU received job offers immediately on graduation. Rest accepted offers within 3 months and some started their own ventures. Consulting is the industry where highest number (41%) of candidates was placed. Financial Services were in the second place with government jobs with the lowest.  Some of the companies recruiting SMU MBA graduates are Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG, Singapore Marine Technology, Microsoft, TCS (India) and many more.

SMU or NTU

Expert Comments
Nanyang is one of the prestigious universities in Singapore and the NTU MBA is one of the best in the entire Asia-Pacific Region. The relatively young Singapore Management University is rapidly becoming one of Asia’s premier business schools. MBA from both NTU and SMU can be completed in 12 months which means they are rigorous and accelerated programmes.

NTU has a class size of approx 100 whereas SMU enrolls around 55-60 candidates a year which allows more lively interaction with the peers and professors. SMU’s learning method is an interactive seminar-style class which puts high emphasis on leadership and communication skills.

The NTU MBA is inspiring and intense with a unique combination of technology and management.  Nanyang also recorded the highest salary of a MBA graduate amongst all schools in Singapore.

The young SMU campus boasts of a gymnasium, swimming pool, and dance studio, wide range of food and beverages outlets in addition to banking and healthcare services. Home to the inaugural Youth Olympics Games in 2010, NTU is voted as one of the most beautiful campuses in the world.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on NTU and SMU Singapore