Andrew C. F. Chan Associate Dean, Faculty of Business Administration Director, MBA Programmes The Chinese University of Hong Kong

The recent business climate has put ever-greater demands on the range of skills needed in a leading position and increased pressure on business leaders. With companies now competing globally, stakes are high.

New techniques have also fast developed into more and more sophisticated tools of competition; take as an example the wide-raging effect of the Internet on business. Finance, marketing, personnel management, accounting, systems analysis, strategic management have all undergone revolutionary developments over the past twenty years.

Efficiency, strategic planning, cost control are just a few basic requirements which a manager has to master, not to mention personal qualities like excellent leadership and communication skills.

Formal MBA program: timesaving and cost effective

Promoted through ranks and file, managers often try to learn on the job through trial and error. But even if they are smart and have good connections, they do not necessarily know how to manage a company. Learning management through one's mistakes is a slow and circuitous path, wasting time and effort.

Enrolling in a formal MBA program can be hard work but will definitely help to acquire the professional know-how in a timesaving and cost-effective manner. But, of course, what an MBA programme offers does not end there.

Soft skills: essential for survival

A good MBA program now offers much more than academic training. One important factor is that it teaches the students "soft skills," such as leadership and communication skills, and a global perspective. The course also polishes the students' attitude and widens their aspirations.

This, however, cannot be acquired by just taking a few core subjects. It is achieved by providing activities that help the students understand clearly their own problems and weaknesses, and then help them to make improvements.

Activities like business competitions and seminars conducted by top business or government leaders giving their insight in the commercial world; outward-bound training; psychological testing and assessment are all geared towards honing the students' soft skills.

Networking

A third way in which formal business education stands its students in good stead is networking. Some students graduate from university without analytical skills and without building up their soft skills or making any friends. A good MBA program provides much-needed networking. The most important is networking among fellow students. A good program, which attracts good students, has already solved many issues because the students can learn from each other.

Furthermore, if the program has a good alumni and good business contacts, it can bring in successful managers and senior executives to share their experiences and provide opportunities for practical projects, internships or placements, through which the students may put theory into practice.

In present-day Hong Kong, contacts with mainland China and the international business community are very important. A program that enables students to have a full understanding of the Mainland conditions and international norms and practices paves the way for a successful career upon graduation.

Taken from Career Times 2002/05/03