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IN ASIA, PURSUING WESTERN MBAs--WITHOUT LEAVING HOME (int'l edition)Asians get more options as North American and European B-schools set up outposts in the regionWhen Ken Shimizu joined a unit of trading company Nissho Iwai Corp. in Tokyo five years ago, he thought he had a job for life--and he could pick up management skills on the way. Now Japan is sliding deeper into recession, and those assumptions look shaky. So he's keeping his options open, going to weekend classes for an executive master's in business administration at Temple University's Tokyo campus. ''I don't know what will happen,'' says 28-year-old Shimizu. ''I need to improve my skills.'' In Shanghai, Liu Jun also wants the insurance of an MBA, which he is seeking from China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), which is sponsored by the European Union. ''Five years ago, if you were willing to take a risk, you could make money,'' says Liu, part-owner of a manufacturing startup. ''Now you need to run your business according to the rules of a market economy.'' Shimizu and Liu are just the kind of Asians that Western business schools are counting on as they expand their global reach. From Tokyo to Bangkok, North American and European business schools are offering courses in everything from accounting to information-technology management, mostly through partnerships with local universities. Faculty from such universities as Stanford, Northwestern, and INSEAD are taking up residence at campuses across Asia, or running crash courses on finance in corporate conference rooms. Other schools are offering long-distance learning programs over the Internet. The result is that Asians now have more options than ever for pursuing Western-style management education close to home. Even the crisis is not curbing these ambitious plans. ''We view ourselves as an international school,'' says Wallace B. Crowston, dean of the management faculty at Montreal's McGill University, which began an executive MBA program in Tokyo in July. Crowston still sees a vibrant market in Asia. Others see a mixed market, but remain upbeat. ''Some are now unable to attend executive MBA programs because they have more work to do as people in their departments are laid off,'' says Joseph Di Stefano, executive director for the Hong Kong campus of the Richard Ivey School of Business, which is part of the University of Western Ontario. ''But others say it is exactly the time to take the program. So the two tend to cancel each other out.'' AMBITIOUS PLANS. It's no surprise then that more programs will spring up soon. France's INSEAD will invest $36 million on a school in Singapore similar in size to its Fontainebleau program. Wharton School and Northwestern's J.L. Kellogg School are joining forces to found the Indian School of Business (ISB). Its campus will open in Hyderabad in 2000. The school, which aims to attract 120 students its first year, will offer a classic Western program but with some customized content. ''India will be a great laboratory to study the problems of an emerging economy,'' says Jitendra Singh, a Wharton professor involved in the venture. Such local B-schools may become the only alternative for some students. In Thailand, Chulalongkorn University's Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration, which is affiliated with Wharton and Kellogg, saw applications jump by as much as 60% this year. ''A lot of people are coming to our school rather than traveling to the U.S.,'' says Lalida Ruangtrakool, admissions chief for SGIBA. As the value of the baht has tumbled, the caliber of students interested in the program has risen. If the Asian crisis persists, more and more Asians may find that local schooling with the Western touch is the way to go.
By Emily Thornton in Tokyo, with bureau reports RELATED ITEMS
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Updated Oct. 8, 1998 by bwwebmaster
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