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Asian M.B.A. Programs Still Lag With Recruiters

by The Wall Street Journal
September 17, 2007

Business schools in Asia continue to have a hard time competing against their international counterparts in The Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey of recruiters. Again this year, no Asian M.B.A. program made it onto the international winners' list.

Many of these schools are still playing catch-up to the best programs in the U.S. and Europe, having come later to the M.B.A. game. "It takes time to establish a school's credentials, to attract quality students and academics," says Jeanette Purcell, chief executive of the Association of M.B.A.s, the London-based international membership and accreditation agency for M.B.A.s.

And many employers and recruiters in Asia remain resistant to the benefits of a master's of business administration, academic officials say.

The Journal's online survey rates full-time M.B.A. programs on 21 attributes, including students' leadership potential and strategic thinking, their previous work experience, the school's faculty and curriculum and its career-services facilities. In looking at students, recruiters say the characteristics that matter most include interpersonal and communication skills, teamwork orientation, personal integrity, problem-solving abilities and a strong work ethic.

This year, 4,430 recruiters participated in the survey, between mid-December and late March. To be eligible for the rankings, a school had to receive at least 20 rankings from survey respondents who recently recruited there. The survey is in its seventh year.

In recent years, the international list has been dominated by European, Canadian, Mexican and U.S. schools. Top schools have consistently included Barcelona's ESADE Business School, Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development, London Business School and IPADE Business School in Mexico. ESADE is the No. 1 school this year on the list.

To some outside observers, it seems like Asia's time has come. In an era of globalization, some of its business schools have seeming advantages: They don't have to "do" global, they are global to start with. A strong foreign component is a key attribute of an internationally competitive program, business-school experts say.

"It's disheartening," says Kulwant Singh, National University of Singapore Business School's vice dean of graduate studies. "Every year another ranking comes out, and you know your school should be up there, but it's not."

"Many Asian schools are better than their rankings," he says. "They're just new at this."

One of the Asian schools often cited as up-and-coming is China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.