Japanese Student Enrolls in CUHK MBA Programme to Gain a Doorway to China

Current CUHK MBA student Atsushi Sugiyama says in an interview with The Nikkei that studying for an MBA at CUHK Business School helps him understand the China market and build social network for his family business’ future expansion in the Greater China.

A journalist from Japan’s top financial newspaper by circulation, The Nikkei《日本経済新聞》, visited The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School last November. During the visit, he not only sat in on some MBA classes but also interviewed Prof. Michael Ferguson, Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) and Director of MBA Programmes; Shige Makino, Professor of Department of Management and Director of the Centre for International Business Studies; Wilton Chau, Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurship, Associate Director of MBA Programs and Associate Director of Centre for Entrepreneurship at CUHK Business School and current full-time MBA student Atsushi Sugiyama(淳杉山)from Japan.

Sugiyama says in an interview with The Nikkei that he has enrolled in the MBA Programme at CUHK Business School because he is expected to succeed his father to run a family business after graduation. Studying an MBA in Hong Kong will not only help him understand the language and law but more importantly, build the people connection (guanxi), which is necessary for his family business’ future expansion in the Greater China.

The Nikkei article mentions the fact that CUHK launched Asia’s first MBA programme in 1966 with more than 6,000 graduates to date, over 1,000 of whom are currently working in Mainland China. CUHK MBA adopts the Western business education model with a unique emphasis on China and Asia. For example, instead of using case studies from the West, CUHK MBA Programme focuses on China and Taiwan’s real business cases. CUHK also provides intensive Mandarin training to students before the MBA programme starts.

The Nikkei story states that CUHK MBA offers courses on entrepreneurship with the use of real-life business projects to engage students. Prof. Wilton Chau says that the course is not only helpful to students looking to create startups, but is also of great value to large corporations… Read More

This article is available in Japanese only.

Source: The Nikkei《日本経済新聞》
Date published: 9 December, 2014