Asia’s unprecedented growth is perhaps the most successful story of economic development in recent times. The rapid rise of Asia has witnessed a significant economic power and opportunity shift from the West to the East. This presents immense potential for 8,500 business schools in Asia, which account for 55 percent of total number of B-schools in the world.
To help Asian Business Schools excel locally and compete globally, MBAUniverse.com and Singapore Management University (SMU) jointly organised the 2nd Asian Management Conclave (AMC) in Singapore on 7 and 8 March 2016. Themed on ‘Enhancing competitiveness of Asian B-schools’, AMC 2016 featured talks and discussions by leading Asian business schools’ Deans from 15 Asian economies and global thought leaders.
With participation from 125 Deans, Directors & Decision-makers from 65 B-schools from 12 Asian countries including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malyasia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, conclave was a great success. The core message emerging from two days of deliberation was that Asian Business Schools must not blindly ape the West, but develop their own strategies that leverage the local context, and also prepares them to effectively compete with global players.
Delivering the opening address, Dr Gerard George, Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, SMU, Singapore said, “After almost a century of evolution, time has come for Management Education 3.0. We need to move towards a more creative, flexible, and meaningful management education model for an evolving society. Asia, and Asian business schools, must play a leading role in redefining the future of management education.”
Cautioning Asian B-schools, Dr Kalok Chan, Dean, CUHK Business School, The Chinese University of Hong Kong said, “Asian business should not copy the U.S. model. There are many reasons for this. First, even the US model is being questioned by many. Second, we should address the needs of the communities we seek to serve. Third, it’s not of comparative advantage to compete on western theories and practice. Most Asian B-schools have limited resources, and they have to balance knowledge creation and knowledge dissemination. Knowledge dissemination can create more immediate impact so as to obtain more resources.”
Delivering the 1st keynote address, Dr Hellmut Schütte, Emeritus Professor, INSEAD; Former Dean, INSEAD, Asia Campus and Emeritus Dean, CEIBS, Shanghai said, “Globalization is certainly upon us! Business needs Management Education that is global in Outlook and Context. But most Business Schools are rather local as they are geographically anchored in a city and country and have lots of Constraints.” Dr Schutte highlighted that Internationalization of Asian B-schools is a multifaceted challenge. These areas include attracting International Participants, International Faculty, International Research Projects, International Content and Delivery, International Recognition of Degrees, International Study Experience and many other areas. Each business school must evolve its own strategy for its globalization journey.
Chairing a panel on ‘Differentiation Strategies for Asian markets’, Dr Jitendra V Singh, Dean, School of Business and Management, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong, urged Asian B-schools to focus on creation of knowledge rooted in their own context. Addressing the panel, Dr Adith Cheosakul, Head, Accreditation & Awards, Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand said that their mission was to be a ‘ASEAN Knowledge Platform’ by focusing on Academic Excellence, Business Relevance and Social Significance. It’s proactively exploring possibilities of collaborating with top business schools in the region to fulfill its mission.
Delivering the 2nd keynote address, Innovation guru Scott D Anthony, Managing Partner, Innosight and co-author of Seeing What’s Next with Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen, said, “Innovation is something different that creates value. Innovation is changing the way that we live, work, learn and communicate. In Asia, startups are flourishing in innovation centers like Singapore’s ‘Block 71’, and large, global companies like Singtel, Unilever, and Ayala are investing big in innovation. Asian Business Schools must actively participate in the innovation opportunities.” Scott Anthony. KV Rao, Resident Director, ASEAN Region, Tata Sons spoke on the need for developing ‘Asian Managers’ who understands the geo-political realities and local customs and practices across Asia and ASEAN, and are not just confined to their respective countries and West.
Speaking on the topic of ‘Leveraging Technology Effectively: Asian Experiences & Lessons’ Dr Pasu Decharin, Dean, Chulalongkorn Business School, offered many specific examples from his business school. He described the concept of ‘Management Cockpit’, ‘Management Theatre’ and Chulalongkorn Business School Innovative Business Online (CBS IBO). These initiatives leveraged technology for furthering the reach and impact of the business school.
Offering an example of how Asian B-schools and western B-schools can work together, Dr Sin Hoon Hum, Deputy Dean, NUS Business School, Singapore and Mr Roland Siegers, Executive Director, CEMS highlighted the CEMS MiM Program jointly offered by 30 B-schools including NUS Business School, IIM Calcutta; HKUST Business School; Keio University; Korea University Business School; and Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.
Earlier, Harvard Business School’s Dr Andy Zelleke gave audience an overview of the ‘FIELD’ Course. Now in its 5th year in HBS’ Required Curriculum, the yearlong FIELD course aims to enhance MBA students’ leadership and teaming capacity through challenging field-based innovation work. Dr Zelleke said, “FIELD course has now been well accepted at HBS.”
Ending the conclave on a positive note, Deans and Directors from well known B-schools offered specific examples and approaches for collaborations amongst Asian B-schools. Speakers at this session included Ms Havovi Joshi, Head, Communications and Dissemination, Centre for Management Practice, SMU, Singapore; Dr B M Purwanto, Vice Dean, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia; Dr H Chaturvedi, Director, Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), India; Dr Sudarso Kaderi Wiryono, School of Business and Management, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia; Dr Zaher Zain, Dean, UKM Graduate School of Business, Malaysia and Dr Mohammed Abu Ali, Dean, School of Business Administration, American University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Two leading Asian B-schools CUHK Business School, Hong Kong, and SASIN, Thailand are Knowledge Partners of AMC. AMC 2016 was also supported by GMAC, Harvard Business Publishing, SP Jain Global, Emerald and Bloomberg.
Concluding the second conclave, AMC Convener and MBAUniverse.com Founder, Amit Agnihotri, said, “In just two years, AMC has established itself as one of Asia’s preeminent annual Deans & Decision-makers’ Knowledge Platform for Top 250 Asian B-schools. We are thankful to our hosts, partners, speakers and delegates. Building on this awareness and acceptance, AMC 2017 Singapore, will offer specific takeaways for the participating B-schools.”
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on Asian Management Conclave 2016
