HKUST MBA

MBA Sundial Seventh Issue, November 2019

CURRICULUM REVAMP AND NEW ELECTIVE COURSE HIGHLIGHTS
New MBA Curriculum for Tomorrow’s Global Business Leaders

The new curriculum offers greater flexibility and customization.

The onset of digital transformation has brought unprecedented challenges to business leaders. To arm graduates with an arsenal of skills and knowledge in face of these disruptions, it is imperative for MBA programs to evolve with time. At the same time, our research has showed that top business schools have lightened the study load of core courses to focus more on electives in their MBA curriculums. Among those programs, elective courses account for roughly half to 55% of the curriculum, indicating that students have more flexibility to choose their courses.

As the leading business school in Asia, we are committed to offering top global MBA education to our students. After in-depth research and exploration, we are pleased to provide the revamped MBA curriculum from the next intake (2020) onwards to reflect the changing times.

This reform is driven by our belief that every student is different and we should recognize the strengths and developmental needs of each individual. The existing curriculum will undergo two major changes — reducing half of the core courses and introducing the concept of flexible cores. The original 14 core courses will be cut to 7, and students can choose 6 out of a pool of 12 courses as flexible cores.

Apart from shifting a number of core courses to the flexible pool, a series of new courses emphasizing hard skills in finance and business technology will be added. This will enable students to further customize their MBA experience and dive into advanced studies, focusing on their career goals and setting themselves apart from the competition. Meanwhile, we will continue to review our curriculum and courses regularly to respond to global business trends.

The higher curriculum flexibility brings along a more career-oriented study plan to our upcoming students. They can choose courses from the combined pools of electives and flexible cores along the 6 career streams: Business Technology and Analytics, Finance, Consulting and Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and General Management.

Here are some of the workshops and electives introduced this fall. We will share more details about the curriculum revamp in the coming issues.

Python Accelerator Workshop

Python is becoming an essential programming skill for new hires in many sizable corporates nowadays. In view of the market demand, two sections of a 1.5-day Introduction to Python Programming were first introduced this Summer. Taught by Prof. James Kwok from the HKUST Department of Computer Science and Engineering, they were very well received with over 100 registrations.

The Python Accelerator is essential in preparing students for more advanced elective courses.

Global Implications of FinTech Innovations

This is a new initiative to host a purely online course taught by Prof. Theodore Clark in collaboration with the Global Network of Advanced Management (GNAM), a network of top global business schools including Yale, Oxford, IE and Berkeley. Our students can benefit from international exposure, joining the online classes with other 30 students from our partner schools without going abroad. This course covers the analysis of risks and challenges associated with technology, which enables students to gain a solid understanding of the social, economic, and political challenges and trade-offs associated with the transformation of financial markets using technology-enabled innovations.

IoT Management Strategy

IoT stands for the Internet of Things, the access to data from billions of connected devices. The course is taught by Prof. Samson Tai who is the Chief Technologist at IBM Innovation Network. He will demonstrate how these data accelerate digital transformation in an organization based on his exceptional industry experiences.

By Jason Wong, Academic Team

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UPCOMING EVENT

The HKUST Global MBA Challenge (GMC)

It will take place in April 2020 on the HKUST Clearwater Bay campus. We are currently looking for sponsors to support this flagship event.

Being one of the sponsors, you and your company will be getting new ideas and consultancy advice in presentations delivered by MBA student teams from globally renowned business schools.

If you are interested in sponsoring, please contact Ms. Pauline Cheung from the MBA Office at cpauline@ust.hk or Mr. Ling Kong from the MBA Association at lfkong@connect.ust.hk

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Our MBA students and graduates are hungry for new opportunities. If you or your organization are looking for talent, send your thoughts, needs and contact details to mbacareer@ust.hk. We will connect you to the right candidates from within our community.

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