When Professor Chris Mayer took the stage in Hong Kong to give his presentation on REITs, he was greeted by an overflow crowd. Never mind that Hong Kong has only three real estate investment trusts, all of which have been public companies for just a few months. The hunger for information is so great in China that a panel discussion on REITs attracts a throng of paparazzi and attention more frequently associated with rock stars.
Mayer’s seminar is just one of the ways Columbia Business School is exploring the enormous opportunities in China. Last year, the School launched a partnership with Fudan University to train Chinese executives. The Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business is nearing the end of a two-year research project on China’s foreign exchange and financial markets. And in March, there were three overlapping trips by student groups: a Chazen study tour to Beijing and Shanghai, an EMBA emerging markets trip and a 28-student real estate tour.
For two decades, China has grown at a pace that no other country in modern history has sustained. It has a 1.3-billion-person market and an overwhelming need for the kind of training that a Columbia MBA provides. And in a country where professionals tend to establish almost family-like relationships with their business associates, Columbia’s 36,000-strong alumni network has particular resonance.
Earlier this spring, Dean Glenn Hubbard traveled to China as part of an eight-day journey through Asia. "China is an enormous opportunity for the whole world economy," he says. "I want to make sure that the best Chinese students come to Columbia Business School. And I want all of our students and faculty to have exposure to China." To that end, he announced a new partnership with the University of Hong Kong. Starting with the 2007 academic year, University of Hong Kong MBA students will have the opportunity to spend a full semester at the School, allowing for a cross-cultural exchange of insights, the dean says. “The students will be able to bring back innovative ideas that will help shape the way business is practiced in China."
In the future, Hubbard says, Hong Kong may become a key hub for an EMBA program that could enroll students throughout China. The School is also exploring executive education programs in China, South Korea and Japan. "When you look at Asia and how fast things are changing in this part of the world, you need MBAs who are enterprising, broad in perspective and capable of thinking on their feet and making decisions."
This was the dean’s second outreach trip to Asia. He spoke at the Seoul Financial Forum, met with the newly formed Shanghai alumni club and discussed entrepreneurship with senior Hong Kong government staff. At a lunch in Seoul sponsored by Ro Fallon, CEO of Korea Exchange Bank, he reflected on how the School has changed since it was founded 90 years ago to prepare students for careers in "accounting, banking and foreign trade." Now, the curriculum is designed to provide comprehensive skills and analytical training for a lifetime career.
During his journey through Seoul, Taipei, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo, the dean was struck by the strong connections alumni maintain with the School, even in seemingly far-flung locations. He heard from many graduates who said their education had prepared them for the business world in ways they hadn’t expected. "Students often look at the value of an MBA as their salary for their first job," Hubbard says. "But it is maybe five years, nine years later, that they realize what they gained from their classroom experience helped them succeed."