Journal Archive

The MBA industry in Korea is bracing for the worsening environment of recruiting freshmen. Graduate business education, including the MBA industry, is not immune to market forces. In terms of supply and demand, the MBA industry in Korea is suffering from excessive supply and sluggish demand. For example, a decent national university 'A' in Busan has been experiencing a steady decline of freshmen enrollment ratio between 2013 and 2017, ranging from 100% (2013) to 63.07% (2017), their internal report documented. An MBA degree from Korean universities used to be a shortcut for significant salary increase and rapid promotion. But that is no longer true. Economic recession, low birth rate tsunami and declining applicants have negative impact on Korean MBA industry (Fouser, 2016; Park et al., 2016).

The global MBA industry is also facing the deteriorating environment of recruiting freshmen. Forty-eight percent of 133 two-year MBA programs in 16 countries have suffered reduction of applicants (GMAC, 2016). This crisis results from 'Trump effect' in the U.S., increasing financial burden, losing prestige of general MBA degrees, and formidable challenges from online higher education inclding the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), among the many.

Early 2017, U.S. President Trump signed an executive order to place travel ban on seven Muslim countries, namely, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Amid the Trump effect fear, 40% of American colleges suffer overall declines in foreign applicants. As the rhetoric and executive orders in the U.S. reveal an anti-Muslim attitude, international applications for American universities have dropped significantly (Saul, 2017).

After the demise of golden times of prestigious MBA programs between 1950-2000, financial burdens for the MBA students have mounted because the growth rate of total program tuitions exceeded those of annual salary. For example, the average starting salary was USD 94,000 in 2013

which was lower than the salary in 2008 by USD 1,500. On the other hand, the program tuition at Harvard in 2013 was higher than the tuition in 2008 by USD 25,000 (Cho, 2015).

Total program tuition and duration for the top 10 most expensive MBA programs in the world are presented in <Table 1>. They are all located in the United States with two years' program duration. The Sloan School at MIT (USD 122,880) tops the list, followed by Columbia Business School (USD 121,440) and Stanford University (USD 119,100). Duke University (USD 110,600) is the lowest.

The traditional MBA programs are facing growing challenges from online higher education. The formidable challenger is the MOOC (Christensen et al., 2014; Pukyong National University, 2017; Yoon, 2016). In 2012, The New York Times designated year 2012 as 'The year of MOOC,' expecting that the MOOC would completely change the higher education paradigm. In Korea, K-MOOC (Korea MOOC, http://www.kmooc.kr) platform was initiated by Korea Ministry of Education in October 2015.

The most important factor for the success of HKUST is the Hong Kong advantage. HKUST Business School fully enjoys the Hong Kong advantage such as #1 in the IMD world competitiveness rankings in 2016, #1 financial center in Asia, and one of the top three financial centers in the world following New York and London. In addition, Hong Kong is an ideal business hub, being strategically located in the heart of Asia and less than five flying hours away from half of the world's population.

The second most important factor for the success of HKUST is their flexible curriculum. It provides two study mode options, namely full 16-month program and accelerated 12-month program as shown in [Fig. 1].

[Fig. 1] 
Two Study Mode Options of HKUST Full-time MBA

Source : HKUST Full-time MBA (2017).

The 16-month program includes internships and overseas exchange. Regardless of option types, credit requirements are the same. The curriculum consists of 52 credits for both options. Students can choose freely the most suitable option for them depending on their objectives.

Another important factor for the success of HKUST is their diversity DNA. Diversity accounts for as much 25% of overall global MBA ranking as shown in <Table 2> entitled "Key to the 2016 FT Global MBA Rankings." The diversity figures for HKUST under eight sub-criteria are female faculty (21%), female students (34%), women on board (27%), international faculty (59%), international students (70%), international board (45%), international mobility rank (9), international course experience rank (8), and languages (1) (Ortmans, 2016, p. 24). Latest class profile of HKUST MBA graduates reveals non-local nationality 93%, and number of nationalities 28. Students come from different parts of Asia Pacific (Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand), Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom), North America (Canada, USA), and other regions (Brazil, Israel, South Africa).

Mandarin training is an essential part for the success of HKUST MBA program. Chinese is the most spoken language, and China is the most populous country in the world with a population of 1.41 billion (Korea Herald, 2017). Thus, proficiency in Chinese is becoming more important than ever. Without question, Mandarin is vital if one plans to develop new career opportunities in China or with China-related businesses.

Two options are available for Mandarin training. First, a basic Mandarin course for beginners is offered at two levels during the Immersion Program. The course aims to integrate Mandarin learning into different cultural activities to help students obtain and utilize Mandarin in everyday contexts. Second, as an optional 4-week course, inter-university program (IUP) for Chinese language studies is offered. IUP provides a tailor-made program for HKUST MBA students to improve their business-level Mandarin. Currently, IUP offers a 32-week academic year program, a 16-week semester option, and an 8-week summer intensive program. All these programs are located at the Tsinghua University campus in Beijing, China. The IUP is and will be the most intensive and cost effective Chinese language program for intermediate and advanced students across the world (IUP, 2017).

The exchange program provides a wonderful opportunity for full-time MBA students to obtain international exposure and maximize their experience at the HKUST. They can study for a full semester at one of 60 partner prestigious business schools in nearly 20 countries. Conversely, every year they will meet more than 100 exchange students from these top business schools on the HKUST campus (HKUST Business School, 2017; MBA Exchange at HKUST, 2017).

Partial list of exchange partners by region include North America (Columbia University, Cornell University, NYU, Northwestern University, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, Wharton School), Europe (LBS, IE Business School), and Asia (CEIBS, Peking University, Tsinghua University).

The HKUST MBA Program offers exciting self-enrichment opportunities for MBA students to become future business leaders. Some examples of recent enrichment talks include Angela Ahrendts, Ex-Chief Executive Officer, Burberry and Carlos Ghosn, President & Chief Executive Officer, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

The HKUST MBA Program also offers global networking events to prospective students or MBA students. A good example is the Seoul Info Session on June 19, 2017 at Park Hyatt Seoul (Email from HKUST MBA, 2017).

As one of the leading business schools in Asia, the HKUST maintains close ties with the corporate community, providing great opportunities for MBA graduates to meet with potential future employers. A partial list of the companies include Apple, BCG, Emirates, Expedia, Fosun, GM, Google, Goldman Sachs, Hilti, Metlife, Ping An Group, Pfizer, Schneider Electic, and Tencent. About 70% of MBA graduates eventually find a job in Asia, and 50% of them are outside of Hong Kong. The HKUST MBA graduates have been ranked the world's top 20 most employable, and the most employable in greater China over the past three years (HKUST Press Release; 2015, 2016).

The employment highlights from the latest class are reported in HKUST Full-time MBA (2017). Fifty-eight percent switched job functions post-MBA, 58% switched industries post-MBA, and 70% work in Asia post-MBA. Weighted salary for HKUST MBA graduates amounts to USD 144,303 in audit year 2016. Average salary percentage increase 3 years after graduation is as high as 114%, being ranked world #1 for the highest salary increase among Global Top 15 MBA Programs by The Financial Times in 2016 (Ortmans, 2016, p. 24).