For an MBA programme that is tuned in to developments around the Greater Bay Area (GBA), applicants can consider the offerings from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).

At HKU, the MBA programme is founded on three pillars: critical thinking, problem solving and decision making.

“The programme is designed to inspire future business leaders to comprehend, manage and capitalise on the region’s dynamic and rapidly evolving business environment, while providing them with maximum flexibility to balance work-study life,” said Sachin Tipnis, senior executive director at HKU. “This is reinforced through a case-based, experiential-learning approach infusing all-rounded knowledge. We have following theme areas in our curriculum: business tech and innovation, managing in China and Asia, marketing and general management, strategy, and consulting and finance.”

The programme is aligned with the development of the GBA, and bridges global and regional businesses with Hong Kong’s world-class talent, while providing students maximum flexibility of work-study balance, Tipnis added.

HKU Business School also plans to open campuses in Beijing and Shenzhen. Its Hong Kong-based students will benefit from having increased exposure to neighbouring cities in Guangdong province, while Guangdong-based students will receive the same from Hong Kong.

CUHK’s MBA programme has a strong focus on Asia, especially the GBA, combining international business concepts with exposure to the business world in China. In addition to its curriculum, the degree includes business field trips, study tours and exchange programmes so students can gain valuable insights into Asia and enhance their global perspective. And with CUHK located in the New Territories, the university is also in the unique position of being almost at the halfway point between the stock exchanges in both Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

“Asian economies are dominating the world in the 21st century, and understanding Asian business based on a solid Western management education is a must for any young professional, regardless of where they are from,” said Roanne Law, senior manager, marketing and admissions, for MBA programmes at CUHK Business School. “It is common for students to learn Western management theories, strategies and finance. CUHK provides the Eastern side of the knowledge and network for our students. They learn more about management culture, style and the way of doing business in the East,” she said.

As the FTX collapse has demonstrated, cryptocurrencies and technology are a massive part of business now, and Hong Kong’s universities are ensuring their MBA students are studying all the latest developments.

Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), in addition to its general MBA degree, gives students the option to specialise in aviation or fashion after completing their designated electives – a novel and appealing offering for applicants already working in, or interested in furthering their career in, those industries.

•Yet the university’s MBA is focused on the future as well industries that have been traditional pillars of the Hong Kong economy. In fact, PolyU’s MBA curriculum has a heavy focus on technology with the inclusion of a raft of tech-related subjects including data mining and analytics, crowdfunding, cryptocurrency assets and diversification, machine learning techniques in forecasting, management of information systems and information technologies and more.

“To help students embrace technological changes and digital transformation, five elements – namely artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, data science and entrepreneurship – have been embedded across a wide range of subjects,” said a spokesperson at PolyU. “Our curriculum is aimed at fostering awareness about the impact of technological innovations, in addition to enabling students to handle data and adopt technology to tackle business and organisational issues, while enhancing management and leadership.”

It’s not all about tech, though. When redesigning its curriculum, HKU based the new one on five key themes: business tech and innovation; managing in China and Asia; marketing and general management; strategy; and consulting and finance.

“These themes were developed by working closely with our corporate partners and gaining their input on what businesses are focusing on within Industry 4.0, and the key skills and knowledge they are seeking in their people,” Tipnis explained.

In addition, HKU’s programme includes workshops on soft skills such as business communication and presentation; high-performing teams and collaborations; managerial leadership and executive presence; and problem solving and critical thinking, so that its students get well-rounded training to succeed in the workforce.

For the 2022-23 academic year, the CUHK MBA programme offers six concentrations that are optional – business analytics, China business, entrepreneurship and innovation, finance, information and technology management, and marketing. Students can go for the general MBA or include a maximum of two concentration options to their degree.

“Our management team reviews our curriculum regularly and keeps it up to date with the market’s need,” said Law at CUHK. “In 2022, we offer new concentration options to our students, including business analytics and information technology management.”

CUHK has also recognised the increasing importance of soft skills and incorporates a relevant course into its programme, one that focuses on communications.

Creating Self Efficacy and Impact on Communication is a practical course to equip students with soft communication skills. “These skills rarely get sufficient attention in MBA study, yet they will be key to students’ success and advancement in the future. No matter how great your mind and your skill set, if you cannot communicate properly they will be useless, especially in the entrepreneurial world,” Law said.

Students pursue an MBA for a variety of reasons, one of which is to gain skills and insights that will enable them to be more effective as an entrepreneur. A good MBA programme nurtures this in its students, providing ample resources to grow, especially if they plan to start their own business after the degree.

HKU offers an elective – an entrepreneurial incubation lab – that it conducts with Cyberport Academy, to help students develop entrepreneurial abilities. The course goes one step further to help students form a start-up, from the initial stage of building the concept through to the incubation phase.

“Students also have the opportunity to pitch for the Cyberport Creative Micro Fund [CCMF] or Cyberport Incubation Programme [CIP],” Tipnis said.

One of the greatest appeals of an MBA course is the many networking opportunities and valuable connections that come with it, both through the curriculum and the university’s alumni network.

According to CUHK, its MBA programme is the longest-established programme in the region, with more than 6,000 graduates from some 40 countries or regions. Current students can benefit from a mentorship programme, where they will be paired with alumni who are also senior executives from established, reputable organisations. The mentors guide students, providing advice and insights to help them hone their leadership skills and map out the next stage of their career.

“I chose CUHK’s MBA because it was the first school in Hong Kong to offer the programme and it has the largest alumni community in the city. This gives me access to alumni from different sectors and chances to learn the ins and outs of various industries,” said Vernon Tam, vice-president, IPO vetting (biotech), Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, who graduated with an MBA in 2011. “My mentor was the former division head of a multinational investment bank. He helped me learn about investment banking and suggested ways for me to join the sector,” he added.

Some CUHK MBA graduates, who currently are in middle management roles, also contribute by taking part in the programme’s Alumni Career Adviser Scheme. “Current MBA students and recent graduates can connect with them for professional insights across industries, functions and geographic areas,” Law said.

As the name makes clear, PolyU started as a technical college and polytechnic before it attained university status in 1994, and the institution’s education ethos reflects that, emphasising the application of concepts learned in class. PolyU has more than 50,000 alumni and its graduates have established an MBA Alumni Association.

According to the PolyU spokesperson, its MBA students have ample opportunities to build strong professional network, thanks to the school’s close ties with business sectors and its alumni who are leaders in listed companies; commercial, government, non-profit organisations; and entrepreneurial ventures. “Our strong business network and alumni support form an integral part of our programmes,” the spokesperson said.

For those looking further afield, HKU offers the opportunity to go on an exchange with London Business School and Columbia Business School, both renowned institutions that make the prospect a highly attractive one for its MBA students.

In addition, the university has expanded its international presence with an innovation hub in Tel Aviv, Israel, providing a platform for its students and alumni to network with start-ups there. The university will run courses through the innovation hub that will include design thinking methodologies, fintech, product management and more, for both its undergraduates and graduates in Hong Kong and mainland China. “The curricula are expected to combine academic content and hands-on experience with start-ups, multinationals, and venture capital firms in Israel,” Tipnis said.

HKU also took serious note of Vietnam’s rising profile in the business world by opening a centre there. “HKU and HKU Business School aim to strengthen connections with Vietnam by providing market-oriented research, superior learning experience and instrumental resources,” Tipnis said.

The university’s innovation hub in Tel Aviv and centres in Vietnam, Beijing and Shenzhen together provide an impressive wealth of international exposure – and all the learning that comes with it – to its students. “Combined with the impressive technological innovation in the GBA, students will get an unmatched exposure to world-class technology and entrepreneurship ecosystems locally and internationally. We are also in the process of setting up more such centres internationally,” Tipnis said.

The pandemic changed the way we work. Employees can now work from anywhere, whether it is because they are travelling, in quarantine or because of adverse weather, such as typhoons. This new working norm represents a significant change that HR departments have had to adapt to, and MBA graduates planning to start their own business or secure a senior management role will need to learn how to lead a hybrid workforce.

MBA programmes are responding to this. HKU included remote working in its professional skills workshops, hosted by experts, that is part of the MBA curriculum. The university also brings in industry leaders to share their experiences in remote working, and covers such topics in its annual HR Leadership Forum attended by top HR executives.

PolyU has already made technology and its impact on business a significant aspect of its curriculum, helping its students better understand how to be a business leader in the digital era. “The pandemic has sped up the digital transformation processes and disrupted many ways in which businesses were done,” said the PolyU spokesperson.