The inaugural class of a new Executive MBA course was held in Hong Kong in May, with 35 students travelling from various countries to attend. The EMBA Global Asia programme is the result of a collaboration between three of the world's top business schools: University of Hong Kong, Columbia Business School and London Business School.
'The Columbia Business School and the London Business School have already worked together for several years, and our joint EMBA Global programme was ranked No1 in the world by the Financial Times last year,' said Lynn Hoffman, associate dean of the London Business School.
'While working together it became clear to us that one of the most important elements that was missing from our partnership was a focus on Asia.'
Professor Hoffman said as HKU was now part of the new course, the EMBA Global Asia combined the individual strengths of each school and gave students the opportunity to learn on a global stage, because courses would be taught in New York, London and Hong Kong.
Gary Biddle, dean of the faculty of business and economics at HKU, said: 'These are the cities that drive the global economy, so participants are getting the top business schools in the top cities of the world.'
He said that at the heart of the course were the carefully selected students who had already proved themselves as successes in the industries they worked in.
'They are each immensely talented and accomplished. More than half have masters or law degrees,' he said. 'They have come here from around the world because they believe in Asia's bright future and in theirs as business leaders.'
The inaugural class is made up of 34 participants from 12 nationalities. About 9 per cent come from the mainland and Hong Kong, and the average age of the class is 36. Participants have about 12 years of work experience and come from a variety of industries including finance, consulting, and upstream oil and gas.
The first set of classes took place in Hong Kong and covered leadership, change management and financial accounting. Students returned to their jobs after the two-week intensive programme, before flying to New York and then London for further courses.
David Flament, from France, is chief budget officer at the African Development Bank and is based in Tunisia. He is a student in this year's class. 'We have just started the course and I have found that even in the first few hours I have begun to learn things and to think about my style of leadership and management that I hadn't thought about before,' he said.
'I chose this course as it offered a truly global perspective on issues that I will face during my career.'
Shuo Wang, another student on the course, is business development director at RAE systems based in Beijing and the United States. He said that he chose the course 'because of the true international nature of the students and the outstanding faculty'.
Ms Hoffman said the multinational aspect of the course was of vital importance to a programme such as this because it brought together different perspectives from around the world and from a variety of industries.
'It means that our students are able to open up an entire world of experiences and perspectives so that they can go on to do business anywhere in the world,' Ms Hoffman said. 'More importantly, perhaps, they form a network that is global.'
Ethan Hanabury, associate dean of EMBA programmes at Columbia Business School, said what students would learn from the course was directly applicable to real-world situations. 'It will equip the students with the ability to respond to an ever-changing economic landscape,' he said.
Professor Hanabury said Columbia Business School emphasised the importance of having an entrepreneurial mindset - the ability to recognise and capture opportunity, 'while mitigating risk in this changing world'.
'It's a characteristic of successful business leaders around the world, whether they are leading multinational corporations or small venture start-ups. The EMBA Global Asia will instil this entrepreneurial mindset in preparing the next generation of business leaders,' Professor Hanabury said.
The EMBA Global Asia offers students electives. Choices include marketing, finance and human resources management among others.
Professor Biddle said: 'They can study these electives in other parts of the world outside our hub cities of Hong Kong, New York and London, in places such as Dubai, the Ukraine, Germany, Brazil and India.
'The world-spanning network is joined by business leaders and policymakers who make up our faculty. So, no matter where our students' careers take them, they are always connected at the highest level.'