Journal Archive

Weights for ranking criteria of the FT Global MBA Ranking 2018 are reported in Table 1. Three indicators are ‘alumni career progress,’ ‘diversity,’ and ‘idea generation.’ Their weights are 55%, 25%, and 20%, respectively. Each indicator is divided into 8, 9, and 3 criteria, totaling 20 sub-weights. Among them, ‘weighted salary’ and ‘salary increase’ are the highest with sub-weight of 20%. On the other hand, ‘Women on board’ and ‘languages’ are the lowest with sub-weight of 1%.

Top 25 out of 100 schools from the FT Global MBA Ranking 2018 are shown in Table 2. The United States enjoys its dominance, occupying 14 out of 25 top spots, or 50 out of 100 world’s best MBA programs. Standford Graduate School of Business tops the list with weighted salary of USD 214,742 and salary increase of 114%. Harvard Business School, London Business School, and Wharton School stay in the top elite club of schools.

Although not shown here, Sungkyunkwan University Graduate School of Business (SKK GSB) is ranked at 51 and at #58 in the 3-year average, both being the highest rankings in Korea. SKK GSB was also ranked #1 for 2012-2016 in Korea, placed within top 10 in Asia for 2012-2015, and top 1% in the world for 2012-2016. SKK GSB offers 100% English-medium classes, and dual-degree MBA program with Kelly School at Indiana University in the United States (Im, 2016; Lee et al., 2017).

The number of the world's best 100 full-time MBA programs by country is summarized in Table 3. Eighteen countries have at least one program among the world's best 100 full-time MBA programs. The United States tops the number with 50 programs or 50%, followed by UK with 13 programs. China is ranked third with 7 programs.

They are CEIBS (8th), HKUST Business School (14th), University of Hong Kong (33rd), Shanghai Jiao Tong University: Antai (34th), Renmin University of China School of Business (39th), and Fudan University School of Management (42nd). Of these 7 programs, CEIBS is ranked 8th by FT Global MBA Ranking 2018, higher than any other MBA programs in China.

The location of a business school is important. In her article “Moving targets,” Bradshaw argues that “business schools must bridge the gap between business and academia, and the place to do that is on the doorsteps of global companies.” According to her, London, Mumbai, New York, and Shanghai are set to be leading "global cities" for the coming decades. She emphasizes strategic importance of a business schools’ location inside a global metropolis such as Shanghai (Bradshaw, 2012).

As the global business hub of China and Asia, Shanghai is an ideal destination to live in, and to pursue global career. The city has gone through an unprecedented pace of development over the last three decades. As a result, many global companies have moved their Asia headquarters from Hong Kong and Singapore to Shanghai in order to directly access China's huge market of 1.3 billion consumers. Currently, it is home to many of the world's multinational companies (CEIBS, 2018a).

China focus is an important success factor of CEIBS MBA program. Until 2015, China was the fastest-growing major economy in the world, with growth rates averaging 10% over 30 years. As a member of the Group of Two (G2), China is the world's second largest economy behind the United States. Thus, ‘China focus’ becomes CEIBS’ most notable feature. This is clearly expressed in its positioning statement: “China Depth, Global Breadth.” CEIBS teaches the cutting-edge international business theories while attributing great importance to the practical application of these expertises in China.

Basic Chinese language proficiency is required for international students in order to improve their marketability in China. Chinese is the most spoken language, and China is the most populous country in the world. Thus, proficiency in Chinese is becoming more important than ever. Without question, Mandarin is vital if one seeks to explore new career opportunities in China or with China-related businesses (Lee & Choi, 2017, p. 1824).

World-class renowned faculty members are also an important success factor of CEIBS MBA program. They are a respected group of scholars that nurtures a rich source of international experience in professional management and practices. Most faculty members taught at world prestigious business schools before joining CEIBS. In addition, they are special for their synthesizing of East and West in teaching and research. They have an in-depth knowledge of the culture and business community of China (CEIBS, 2018).

The CEIBS faculty members are highly diversified in terms of gender, nationality, and educational background. Of the 69 full-time faculty, 54 professors are male, and 15 are female. Chinese nationals account for 45 professors, followed by Taiwan (4), USA (4), India (3), Korea (3), Singapore (2), Spain (2), Australia (1), Germany (1), Ghana (1), Greece (1), Italy (1), and Malaysia (1). As many as 37 professor received BA degrees from China, come behind by USA (6), Taiwan (5), India (4), Korea (3), Singapore (3), Canada (2), Spain (2), UK (1), Ghana (1), Australia (1), Italy (1), Malaysia (1), Germany (1), and Greece (1). However, most faculty members earned their PhD degrees from USA (41), trailed by Canada (5), UK (4), China (4); Taiwan (2), Spain (1), New Zealand (1), Netherlands (1), Italy (1), Australia (1), Hong Kong (1), and Singapore (1).

Without doubt, the student diversity is another success factor of CEIBS MBA program. The students are an elite group of professionals from all over China and around the world.

They originate from diverse backgrounds, industries and functions (see Tables 4-6). The student diversity can help the students enrich their experience and raise the bar over their potential. The CEIBS student body is the most diverse group of any business school in mainland China (CEIBS, 2018).

Student demographics are reported in <Table 4>.

Of the 179 full-time MBA students, female account for 40.2%, while male 59.8%. The number of countries covered is 22, with 66.5% from mainland China. Two most popular academic backgrounds are science & engineering (41%) and business & management (37%). The average work experience is 5.8 years. International students represent 40.2% of students’ population. Average score for Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT^Ⓡ) is 682. The GMAT^Ⓡ consists of four parts, namely, the analytical writing assessment section, the quantitative section, the verbal section and integrated reasoning section (for details, please visit http://www.mba.com).

CEIBS' current MBA curriculum gives MBA students the flexibility to personally customize the second year of their studies. In the autumn of second year, they can choose to go on international exchange or stay at CEIBS to study with a large number of inbound students from the world’s leading business schools.

The regular length of the MBA program is 18 months, but an intensive expedited 12-month option is also available. The intensive option is designed for those who will return to their family business, sponsor company or plan to start their own venture after graduation([Fig. 1]).

[Fig. 1] 
Overview of Curriculum Structure

Source: CEIBS MBA (2018).

The regular length MBA program comprises of required and elective courses, totalling 33 and 31 credits, respectively. The curriculum is designed to lay a solid foundation of management fundamentals while providing the flexibility of customized programs to go with individual interests and career ambitions.

The international exchange program is one of the best among leading business schools around the globe. This program provides a unique opportunity with students to participate in bilateral exchange program with nearly 30 partner schools worldwide. Most of these schools are included in the Financial Tims Global Top MBA 50 list. Examples include University of London and University of Manchester in UK; University of Chicago, University of Virginia, Southern Methodist University, Duke University, Cornell University and Northwestern University in USA.

Over the past decade, more than 800 CEIBS students have taken advantage of this highly rewarding program. Students who choose to stay at CEIBS also benefit as they study with a large number of inbound exchange students from the world's foremost business schools. In 2017, about 45% of MBA 2018 participated in the international exchange program. On the other hand, about 100 exchange students came to CEIBS (CEIBS MBA, 2018).

As one of the prominent business schools in Asia, the CEIBS helps MBA students identify career interest and develop a career plan. The Career Development Center (CDC) is dedicated to satisfying the career needs of CEIBS MBA graduates. The CDC offers self-assessment test and job counselling to MBA graduates. The CDC also offers workshops, mock interviews and role plays to them. In addition, the CDC hosts not only on-campus presentations but also recruitment fairs outside of Shanghai. During the recruitment seasons of 2016-2017, 320 companies presented a total of 880 opportunities to the CEIBS students via the CDC. Within three months after graduation, 94.5% of Class of 2017 reported having received at least one offer, and 92.0% accepted an offer. Fifty percent of international students successfully landed jobs in mainland China and 78.1 remained in Asia (CEIBS, 2018b).

Salary statistics of CEIBS MBA Class of 2017 is shown in <Table 7>. Salary is consisted of annual base salary and other guaranteed compensation. Of the Chinese students, 76.5% found jobs in mainland China and the remaining 1.5% outside mainland China. While 11.8% of international students accepted jobs in mainland China and 10.3% outside mainland China. Chinese students working in mainland China (445) earn much more than those working outside mainland China (188). However, international students working in mainland China (375) are paid less than those working outside mainland China (485).