• AMC 2016 featured talks and discussions by deans from leading Asian business schools in 15 Asian economies as well as global thought leaders
• Two-day event drew 125 deans, directors and decision-makers from 65 business schools
• Asian business schools envisioned deeper collaboration for Asia to be the leader of global management education

Asia’s unprecedented growth is perhaps the most successful story of economic development in recent times. The rapid rise of Asia has witnessed significant economic power and opportunity shift from the West to the East. This presents immense potential for the 8,500 business schools in Asia, which account for 55 per cent of the total number of business schools in the world.

In an effort to enable Asian business schools to excel locally and compete globally, Singapore Management University (SMU) and MBAUniverse.com jointly organised the 2^nd Asian Management Conclave (AMC) at SMU, Singapore, on 7 and 8 March 2016. Themed ‘Enhancing Competitiveness of Asian Business Schools’, AMC 2016 featured talks and discussions by deans from top Asian business schools in 15 Asian economies as well as global thought leaders.

The event witnessed the participation of 125 deans, directors and decision-makers from 65 business schools in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

The core message that emerged from the two days of deliberation was that Asian business schools must not blindly follow the West. Instead, they must develop their own strategies that leverage the local context and prepare them to effectively compete with global players.

Delivering the opening address, Professor Gerard George, Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business and Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at SMU, 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.” 

He suggested having smarter management education through five steps – “fractionated” certifications that are unbundled and unbound; skills granularity through customisation and information efficiency; integration of career, life and social skills; localisation, in the sense of meeting local needs with global perspectives; and pedagogical innovation in learning models and delivery.

[Photo: SMU’s Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business and Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Professor Gerard George, presenting on innovation in business schools.]

Cautioning Asian business schools, Dr Kalok Chan, Dean of the Business School at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), shared his views on strategies for Asian management education, “First, Asian business schools need an Asian model and should not copy the American model because even the United States’ model is being questioned by many, and does not work for Asia. Second, we should address the needs of the communities we seek to serve. Third, it is not of comparative advantage to compete on western theories and practices. Most Asian business 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 first keynote address, Dr Hellmut Schütte, Emeritus Professor at INSEAD, and Emeritus Dean at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Shanghai, said, “Businesses need management education that is global in outlook and context. However, most business schools are rather local as they are geographically anchored in a city and country, and have constraints.” He highlighted that the internationalisation of Asian business schools face multi-faceted challenges. These include attracting international participants, faculty, research projects, and achieving international content and delivery, recognition of degrees and study experiences. Each business school needs to evolve its own strategy for its globalisation journey. 

[Photo: Dr Hellmut Schütte, Emeritus Professor at INSEAD, and Emeritus Dean at CEIBS, Shanghai, sharing his views on the internationalisation of Asian business schools.]

Delivering the second keynote address, innovation guru Scott D Anthony, Managing Partner of Innosight and co-author of Seeing What’s Next with Harvard’s Professor Clayton Christensen, said, “Innovation is changing the way that we live, work, learn and communicate. In Asia, startups are flourishing in innovation centres like Singapore’s ‘Block 71’, and large global companies like Singtel, Unilever and Ayala are investing heavily in innovation. Asian business schools must actively participate in the innovation circle.”

Mr K V Rao, Resident Director, ASEAN Region, Tata Sons, emphasised the need for Asian corporations and business schools to work together. During his presentation, he stressed on the need to develop Asian managers who understand geo-political realities, and local customs and practices across Asia. They should not just be confined to their respective countries and the West.

Dr Sin Hoon Hum, Deputy Dean at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School, and Mr Roland Siegers, Executive Director of CEMS, spoke on Asian and western business schools working together. The CEMS MiM Programme, jointly offered by 30 business schools, including NUS Business School, Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School, Keio University, Korea University Business School and Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, was cited as an example of this partnership.  

During the event, Dr Andy Zelleke, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School (HBS), provided an overview of the ‘FIELD’ course. Now in its fifth year in HBS’ required curriculum, the year-long FIELD course aims to enhance MBA students’ leadership and teaming capacity through challenging field-based innovation work. He added that the FIELD course has been well accepted at HBS. 

Speaking on the panel on ‘Promoting Partnerships and Alliances within Asian Business Schools: Opportunities and Models’, Ms Havovi Joshi, Head of Communications and Dissemination for the Centre for Management Practice (CMP) at SMU, spoke about the work of the Centre and its relevance to a business school.  While touching on CMP’s plans for the future, Ms Joshi also stressed on its efforts to forge partnerships with Asian business schools to ensure win-win situations all round.

[Photo: Ms Havovi Joshi, Head of Communications and Dissemination, CMP, SMU, (third from left) and the panel on promoting partnerships and alliances within Asian business schools.]

Concluding the second conclave, AMC Convener and MBAUniverse.com Founder, Mr Amit Agnihotri, said, “In just two years, the AMC has established itself as one of Asia’s pre-eminent annual knowledge platforms for Asian business schools. It allows for a frank and open discussion among the business schools on the challenges they face and the steps needed to address these challenges. Equally important is that it provides the opportunity for them to explore possible collaborations in an effort to propel Asia to the forefront of global management education.”

[Photo: Mr Amit Agnihotri, AMC Convener and MBAUniverse.com Founder, closing the two-day event.]

[Featured Photo: Dr Gerard George, Dean of the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business and Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (second from right), with several of the panellists at the Asian Management Conclave (from left to right): Dr Hellmut Schütte, Emeritus Professor at INSEAD, and Emeritus Dean at CEIBS, Shanghai; Mr Amit Agnihotri, AMC Convener and MBAUniverse.com Founder; Dr Charles H Fine, Founding President and Dean of Asia School of Business, Malaysia, and Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School, United States; and Dr Kalok Chan, Dean of CUHK Business School.]