International Students Drop Forces Singapore MBA Programs to Embrace Innovation

Faced with a significant decline of 10 to 20% decline in international students in the first quarter of 2017, Singapore’s top Business schools are all set to revamp their MBA programs.

An increasingly competitive global arena saw a lesser number of students from China, Vietnam, and India joining the MBA programs in the island nation.

To meet the challenge, most of the schools are setting up new campuses and facilities, offering flexible internship arrangements, ramping up partnerships for international placements, and tapping on technology to deliver more accessible education for its multi-tasking student population. Traditional courses are being spruced up with more socially relevant themes, and new highly specialised degrees are being offered in conjunction with general tracks, says the Singapore Business Review.

MBA providers across the world are using innovation, economies of scale and employer recognition to establish their footprints in major financial hubs, in the process easing out smaller institutions and recent entrants. Singapore schools are no exception as they try to meet the challenge in various ways, including expanding international networks and strengthening partnerships with the national government, the Review quotes Lim Bee Ing, Director, Manchester Business School (MBS), Southeast Asia Centre.

MBS prides itself in its international network and the benefits of sharing knowledge and experience across this network. With its focus on applied learning, offers a selection of intensive face-to-face residential workshops at its centre, as well as with partner global centres in Asia, UK, the Middle East, and the Americas.

As providers innovate, it is crucial to differentiate and offer firsts, not mere rehashes of what others already have. Branding is key, and students hope to find the best institution that could provide them with a better individual market branding.

According to Prateek Nayak, Amity Global Business School’s Southeast Asia regional head, the market is in a state of consolidation. As the demand decreases due to government intervention, it is a good time for business schools to make improvements to their curricula and maintain their competitive position in the market.

Dr Sam Choon-Yin, dean, PSB Academy points out that people are now more aware of what they want with regard to their interest and career plans. Instead of pursuing a general degree, they enrol into programs that can equip them with specialised skills and knowledge in fields such as finance, human resource management, and entrepreneurship that help them to climb the career ladder.

Nayak says as the government initiatives on ‘SG Skillsfuture’ expanded the funding into a wider spread of ‘skill courses’ or VET courses, the local segment swung to a stabilised situation as the demand was captured by the publicly funded programs. However, these impacts may be marginal in the case of the MBA, he adds.

As providers innovate, it is crucial to differentiate and offer firsts, not mere rehashes of what others already have. Branding is key, and students hope to find the best institution that could provide them with a better individual market branding.

As part of efforts to boost recruitment and creativity. Marie-Antonie Chua Nan Sze, Director, Graduate Studies, NUS Business School, NUS, says it is offering greater flexibility in its MBA programs. The introduction of a credit-bearing internship will allow students to take on full-time internships when such opportunities become available even during the main study semesters. At the same time, they will earn modular credits that can be counted toward the MBA program.

The Amity Global Business School’s has set up a new main campus at Kay Siang Road. It boasts of a Fashion Studio, Engineering Laboratories, Moot Courts, and Business Incubators to assist students and alumni in business venture startups.

INSEAD has introduced an online platform for its accelerated 10-month MBA. The platform offers an early start to students by leveraging new technologies with online content, “integrated” digital cases and industry-specific orientation videos for participants.

Eric Lim, head of MDIS Business School, Management Development Institute of Singapore points out that the changes are aimed at equipping the students with life skills. The old school type rote learning and memorising have given way to applying textbook

knowledge to real-world scenarios and more current content. Language lessons and assessment now place more weight on communication skills to help students converse effectively in English, he says.

Urs Peyer, the dean of degree programmes and associate professor of finance at INSEAD, says for equipping students with the right set of life skills, each student’s personality, goals, and life situation are taken into consideration. Among the highlights of INSEAD’s new MBA curriculum is a personalised learning journey aimed to guide students to develop self-awareness, interpersonal skills, and communication effectiveness through professional and peer coaching.

Among the new specialised courses and programs being offered by B-schools in Singapore is the Specialisation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship to be launched by NUS in August 2017. It incorporates inputs by an Entrepreneurship Expert Panel comprising academics, practitioners and alumni. The new electives have more experiential and international learning opportunities for budding entrepreneurs and creative intrapreneurs.

Professionals and executives who wish to specialise further and reach the top of the business ladder have more than a wide array of career paths to choose from. For those who aim to take it a notch higher, the PSB Academy is set to launch its first Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) course with its partner Edinburgh Napier University as an additional option.

Choon-Yin says it is equivalent to the PhD in terms of originality of work and academic achievement, it blends theoretical learning with practical experience based on a business context to create a reflective practitioner. MBS’s long term strategy is the introduction of new programs in line with those already launched by the University of Manchester. One of these will be dual MBA degree programs with Kelley School of Business and Renmin University in China.

INSEAD’s accelerated 10-month MBA continues to attract students. The school topped the list with 1,055 students in 2017. NUS ranks second with 617 students across its various MBA programs, with most students enrolled for an NUS MBA and an NUS Executive MBA. James Cook University is in the third place with 311 students for its James Cook University MBA. The Manchester Business Schools comes in at a close fourth with 300 students enrolled in its Manchester Global Master of Business Administration. The Management Development Institute of Singapore finishes the top five with 248 students across its three MBA offerings.