A Study on the Success Factors of Full-time MBA Program: The Case of NUS Business School

1. The State of MBA Education

To understand the challenges facing graduate business education, one must figure out the underlying forces of supply and demand. Although the MBA degree may be a highly distinctive product, it also follows the forces of the marketplace. Thus, it is important to identify these forces for better grasping of the state of MBA education (Fitzgerald et al. 2015; Phillips, 2019).

The global MBA education industry disclose three broad forces. First, the global MBA industry is forced to move away from two-year, full-time, and in-resident programs, leading to a more diverse set of offerings such as one-year MBAs, part-time MBAs and specialized master’s degrees. Second, employees or prospective candidates are becoming more skeptical on the value added by the MBA degrees because they are no longer “golden passport” to climb up the corporate ladder. Third, both students and employers tend to pass around the MBA degrees. More undergraduates are hired directly by companies, promoted internally, and remaining on the job rather than leaving for an MBA. In short, these three forces combined have led to a hollowing-out of the MBA marketplace (Datar et al. 2010, pp. 13-16).

The MBA education in Korea is also no exception, suffering from the lowered demand of applicants (Cho, 2015; Lee et al. 2017). For example, an internal report of a national university “A” in Busan documented a continual decrease of freshman enrollment for full-time MBA program between 2013 and 2017, plummeting from 100% to 63.07% (Lee, 2019; Lee & Choi, 2017).

2. Global MBA Ranking

The Global MBA 100 Ranking 2020 published by The Financial Times is presented in <Table 1>. For brevity, top 20 and Sungkyunkwan University GSB are reported out of 100 schools. The United States enjoys its dominance, occupying 12 out of 20 top spots. Harvard Business School is ranked No. 1 in 2020, elevating one place from 2019. Stanford Graduate School of Business, ranked No.1 both in 2018 and 2019, tops the list with weighted salary of USD 222,625 and salary percentage increase of 117%. The NUS Business School’s MBA program is ranked 15th, climbing up two spots from 2019.

<Table 1>

Global MBA 100 Ranking 2020*

In Korea, only Sungkyunkwan University GSB enters the list as ranking No.54, descended 8 spots from 2019. It has been consecutively included within the 100 ranking since its first inclusion in 2012. However, KAIST, Korea University and Yonsei University are not selected in the 100 ranking although they had once been included (Chung, 2020).

Number of world's best 100 MBA schools is summarized by continent and country in <Table 2>. Sixteen countries have at least one world’s best MBA school. North America (54) tops the list, followed by Europe (26) and Asia (20). The United States (51) has the most number of world's best 100 MBA schools, came behind by UK (9) and China (9), France (5), and India (4).

<Table 2>

Number of Best Global MBA Schools by Continent and Country

Singapore is ranked 6th with three MBA programs, namely, NUS Business School (15th), Nanyang Business School (22nd), and Singapore Management University (49th). The NUS enjoys two spots up from No. 17 in 2019, being the highest of any MBA programs among Singapore universities. Considering a city-state with small population (176th in the world), Singapore’s high ranking is very impressive.

1. Pragmatic leadership of the late Lee Kuan Yew

As the founding father of Singapore, the late Lee Kuan Yew embraced a pragmatic approach in formulating economic policy rather than a dogmatic stance. Instead of adopting the then-politically correct approach of being anti-American and anti-multinational corporations (MNCs) in the 1960s and 1970s, Lee and Singapore eagerly invited MNCs because they had the technology, know-how, techniques, expertise and the markets (Quah, 2018).

2. Effective public bureaucracy

Th second secret of Singapore’s success is that it has an effective public bureaucracy consisting of 16 ministries and 64 statutory boards. The number of employees in ministries and statutory boards has grown from 127,279 to 144,980 during 2010-2016 (Quah, 2018, p. 8). The public bureaucracy Singapore is ranked 1st for government effectiveness across the globe, followed by Denmark and New Zealand (World Bank, 2017).

3. Effective control of corruption

Corruption was a serious matter in Singapore during the British colonial period due to the government’s lack of political will and ineffective Anti-Corruption Branch. However, as a result of the effectiveness of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau in enforcing the Prevention of Corruption Act impartially, corruption has been minimized in Singapore. According to the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index in 2016 and 2017, Singapore was the least corrupt Asian country (Quah, 2018, p. 6).

4. Heavy investment in education and competitive compensation

Education is the key to the long-term future of population in Singapore. The Government expenditure on education has increased by about 200 times from 1959 (USD 21.13 million) to 2016 (USD 9,164 million). Singapore has compensated for its shortage of natural resources by heavy investment in education to enhance the skills of its population and to attract the “best and brightest” Singaporeans to join and remain in the public bureaucracy and government. To achieve these goals, Singapore has maintained its policies of meritocracy and paying these citizens market-competitive salaries.

5. Learning from other countries

Since the independence in 1965, Singapore has preserved an open-mind policy to learn as much as possible from other countries, leading to avoid similar mistakes in solving their problems.

1. Global Diversity of World-class Faculty

Global diversity of world-class faculty is probably the most important factor for the success of The NUS MBA program. Taking full advantage of locational advantage, NUS Business School has recruited prominent faculty members across the globe. They make the programs more dynamic and diverse, yet challenging. Most faculty members taught at world prestigious business schools before joining the NUS. They are also remarkable for their synthesizing East and West in teaching and research (NUS MBA, 2018b).

<Tables 3 and 4> reports the faculty diversity measured by bachelor and Ph.D. degrees by country, respectively. Here, bachelor and Ph.D. degrees by country are used as proxy variables for faculty diversity. There are six departments at NUS Business School, namely, Department of Accounting, Department of Analytics & Operations, Department of Finance, Department of Management & Organization, Department of Marketing and Department of Strategy & Policy. Of the 162 full-time faculty, 106 professors are male, and 56 are female. The overall ratio of female faculty is 35%, highest at Department of Marketing of 68%. About 30% of faculty members receive bachelor degrees from Singapore, followed by China (24%), USA (15%), and India (6%). <Table 7> documents that more than half of faculty members earn Ph.D. degrees from the United States (57%), chased remotely by UK (9%) and Canada (7%).

<Table 3>

Faculty Diversity: Bachelor Degree by Country

<Table 4>

Faculty Diversity: Ph.D. Degree by Country

2. Global Diversity of Students

Global diversity of student population is also an essential element for the success of the NUS MBA program. The students are an elite group of future leaders recruited from around the world. The admissions office aims to recruit a mix of students who will make for the diverse and professionally enriching course for everyone. The MBA cohort typically embodies more than 30 countries and a wide range of industries and professional backgrounds, delivering a truly global learning experience.

The MBA student demographic for the enrollments in 2016 and 2017 is reported in <Table 5>. Average GMAT^Ⓡ score is 664 for full-time and 662 for part-time students. Female students account for 36% for full-time and 40% for part-time students. Number of nationalities is 29 for full-time and 31 for part-time students. The GMAT^Ⓡ consists of four sections, ie. the analytical writing assessment section, the quantitative section, the verbal section and integrated reasoning section (for details, log on to http://www.mba.com).

<Table 5>

Student Demographic

3. Curriculum Flexibility

Curriculum flexibility is another success factor of the NUS MBA program. The NUS MBA program offers both a full-time and part-time options. If students choose a full-time MBA, they will complete their studies within 17 months. If they prefer part-time MBA, the typical duration of the program is between 24 and 30 months (NUS MBA, 2018a, p. 15).

Curriculum for full- and part-time MBA programs is shown in <Table 6>. Management Communication is an essential component of the program structure. The students should attend this boot camp for 5 days two weeks prior to the first semester in the first year. This is mandatory non-credit graduation requirement.

<Table 6>

Curriculum for Full-time and Part-time MBA Program

In addition, there are some modules for students to take (core module) and others they can choose from (elective module). The core modules provide them with the knowledge and concepts that are the backbone of a general management education. Included in the core modules are Management Accounting, Management and Organization, Leadership in Organization, Management Communication, Managerial Analytics and Operations, and Leading with Impact Management Skills.

Elective modules can be chosen from the following disciplines: Finance, Marketing, Healthcare Management, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Consulting, Analytics & Operations, Digital Business, Real Estate, and Strategy & Organization.

4. Double Degree Programs

The double degree programs provide students with unique opportunity of adding breadth and depth to their MBA experience. They are opt to complete part of the program at one of six elite schools in Asia, Europe and the United States. The benefits of earning a double degree include expansion of international exposure, building professional network across two countries, and gaining a first-hand view of business in other areas of the world. The double degree programs with six elite schools are NUS-Peking University double degree, NUS-Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) Paris double degree, NUS S³ Asia MBA, NUS MBA-Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy double degree, NUS MBA-Yale Master of Advanced Management double degree, and NUS MBA-Master of Science, Real Estate (MRE) double degree. Here, the S³ Asia MBA offers students an opportunity to explore three of the region’s most renowned universities, namely, NUS (Singapore), Fudan University School of Management (Shanghai, China) and Korea University Business School (Seoul, Korea).

5. Job Placement

The NUS Business School Career Services help MBA students achieve their career objectives. The activities organized by Career Services throughout the academic year include recruitment events, networking sessions, and corporate visits, as well as on-going support to support them to optimize their resumes and prepare for interview. Of 101 full-time MBA Class of 2016, 89 students sought to find jobs. Ninety-six percent of them successfully landed on full-time employment within 3 months of their graduation. The NUS Business School facilitated 94% and students 6% of job placement.

Graduate employment of NUS MBA Class of 2016 is reported in <Table 7>.

<Table 7>

Graduate Employment of NUS MBA Class of 2016

The 1st and the 2nd columns report the graduate employment by function and its percentage. The most popular function is marketing/sales with 14% each while the least popular function is general management with 7%. The 3rd and 4th columns by industry and its percentage, and 5th and 6th by country and its percentage. The mean of base salary is SGD 90,839, the median SGD 88,058, and the maximum SGD 180,000. As of 2 August 2018, the exchange rate between Singapore dollar (SGD) and Korean won (KRW) is 825.21. Thus, the mean base salary SGD 90,839 is equivalent to KRW 74,961,251 (NUS MBA, 2018a).