Interesting to see in the IHT today that INSEAD is setting up a joint EMBA with Tsinghua university.
I bet this will just be the beginning – more Western b-schools will establish joint MBAs, and Chinese (and Indian) campuses will follow. I’m interested in this of course because I spent a trimester at Tsinghua. A number of people I know, such as Qian Xiaojun, are mentioned. Also, as of this year, exchange students are also eligible to join the Tsinghua MBA alumni group, which (given Tsinghua’s prestige in China) you can bet I’ll be making the most of.
I’m also interested because it quotes Hooi Den Huan, who was my Marketing prof at NBS, and is now the vice-dean. He says “We have definitely seen a decreasing number of applications from China within the last couple of years, maybe something like 20 percent”. A 20% drop in applications is definitely not good – and I know NBS is worried about it, as I discussed this with people there when I was last back in Singapore.
The implications affect more than just NBS, though. Singapore is trying to position itself as an ‘education hub’ for Asia. (Members of my MBA Strategy class will know that I think the ‘hub’ strategy is too diffuse, but let’s not get started on that now). he trouble is, what can Singapore offer to attract world-clas institutions? It doesn’t have a domestic market. It does have a strong legal environment, which worked to attract MNCs, but as recent events with Warwick University showed, this isn’t necessarily going to help attract universities.
The other issue is that Singapore is often described as “Asia for Beginners” – a safe place to start for Westerners to get to know the Asian market. I wonder if the creation of CEIBS, this new EMBA, and plenty of other ventures such as the new university being set up in Suzhou by Xi’an Jiaotong and Liverpool universities, don’t show that Westerners have now confident enough to go further than Singapore?
Who knows? I think Singapore is going to have to raise its game a bit. I know the government is putting a lot of effort into this, so let’s wish them well.
