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[Korean Economic Daily] SKK GSB MBA Ranked No.1 in Korea for 10 Consecutive Years
Sungkyunkwan University SKK GSB’s MBA Ranked No.1 in Korea for 10 Consecutive Years, and Aiming to Become a Household Name Internationally Sungkyunkwan University’s SKK GSB (Graduate School of Business) has set an all-time record, ranking first in Korea for 10 consecutive years, and 35th in the world in the UK’s Financial Times (FT) 2021 Global MBA Ranking. The school has risen 19 places over the past year. SKK GSB has continued to achieve outstanding results in the aspects of internationalization and career development every year over the past decade. The rankings reveal further remarkable achievements, such as ranking 5th in the world for job satisfaction because of its career development services, 16th for value for money, 17th for international faculty ratio (68%), and 39th for international students ratio (58%). All of these factors have contributed towards the school’s increasingly dominant position. Fostering business experts to lead the AI era SKK GSB constantly updates its curricula in response to the ever-changing demands of the business market. Dean Eric Shih says: “In order for companies to dominate the market in the AI era, it is critical to secure experts who have a deep understanding of fast-changing technologies and businesses. Our focus is on fostering MBA graduates with such abilities.” SKK GSB launched new AI MBA and Business Analytics programs in 2020, and it offers related courses such as AI, Machine Learning, Blockchain, and Analytics Programming, alongside existing curricula. Alumna So Dam Choi, who joined an e-commerce company in the UK after graduating from the Full-Time MBA this year, says: “I achieved both of my objectives—career transition, and getting a job overseas—thanks to the skills I accumulated at SKK GSB as a global MBA student.” To further facilitate such career transitions, SKK GSB has recently recruited an HR specialist from a multinational corporation to head the Career Development Center in order to provide more systematic and specialized career services. SKK GSB offers six programs: Full-Time MBA (18 months, daytime classes), Professional MBA (2 years, evenings), Indiana University Kelley–SKK GSB Executive MBA (18 months, weekends), AI MBA (2 years, weekends) Master of Science in Business Analytics (18 months, weekends), Master in Management Studies (2 years, daytime). Full-Time MBA More than half of the students enrolled on the Full-Time MBA are international students, and the international faculty ratio is 68%, making SKK GSB’s Full-Time MBA Korea’s leading global MBA program. In response to the sharp increase of demand for data managers, the new Business Analytics track to allow students not only to learn about big data and business analytics, but also to get practical hands-on experience. Moreover, students can specialize in fields such as Global Management and Brand Management to strengthen their expertise and competitiveness in each discipline. Professional MBA The Professional MBA is for professionals who intend to study while working. Classes take place after work two or three times a week, and all classes are run 100% in English. Its innovative and hands-on curriculum allows helps students to analyze business cases from companies around the world and to collaborate with colleagues of various nationalities. During the first year, students complete the compulsory courses in various fields, and during the second year, they can select specialist courses to foster their own field of expertise. Indiana University Kelley School of Business–SKK GSB Executive MBA The IU Kelley–SKK GSB Executive MBA is run jointly by Indiana University Kelley School and SKK GSB. Through this program, students can obtain MBA degrees from both Indiana University and Sungkyunkwan University through weekend classes alone. All classes are run in English, and at least 55% of the classes are taught by IU Kelley faculty. This program is aimed at senior managers with eight or more years’ experience. AI MBA AI MBA is a program for students to develop into MBA graduates with AI and business expertise. Lectures are given by the SKK GSB faculty, as well as computer science, statistics, and mathematics faculty from Sungkyunkwan University, and external data experts. The AI subjects are run in Korean and the MBA subjects are run in English, allowing the students to grow into AI experts with global business capabilities. This program is only run as a corporate contract department. Master of Science in Business Analytics The Business Analytics program nurtures students’ ability to deal systematically with data analytics. It fosters the knowledge and skills required for hands-on jobs, from fundamentals to uses, and it applies these to business contexts. Since various business fields and functions depend on analytics, this program appeals to professionals who wish to advance their competitiveness. Master in Management Studies (MMS) MMS is a two-year daytime program run at three prestigious schools: SKK GSB, EDHEC Business School (France), and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business (US). Graduates can obtain Masters in Management Studies from both SKK GSB and EDHEC. All of SKK GSB’s programs are currently recruiting new students for the second half of 2021.
[Korean Economic Daily] Interview with Eric Shih, Dean of SKK GSB
"Fostering Future-Orientated MBA Students Well-Versed in both AI Technology and Business" Interview with Eric Shih, Dean of SKK GSB Sungkyunkwan University’s Graduate School of Business (SKK GSB) recently set an impressive record, ranking 35th in the world in the 2021 Financial Times Global MBA Ranking and 1st in Korea for the 10th consecutive year. SKK GSB began participating in the FT Global MBA Ranking in 2012. Dean Shih had previously visited the UK Financial Times headquarters and coordinated the process from SKK GSB’s side. He also led SKK GSB's efforts to earn AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation and has played a significant role in SKK GSB's growth into a global MBA school since he joined in 2007. Currently, he is the only international Dean among major business schools in Korea. Driving forces behind SKK GSB’s rise: internationalization and career development Dean Shih notes that the driving forces behind SKK GSB's rapid advancement to its current ranking as the 35th best MBA program in the world comes from constantly focusing on internationalization and career development. "SKK GSB has not stopped its efforts to internationalize further and to focus on students’ career development even after being ranked among the world's top 60 MBA schools for the first time in the 2012 FT MBA Ranking. Those efforts have resulted in a significant increase in full-time international faculty members from 50% in 2012 to 67% in 2021, while the number of full-time international students in the MBA program has risen from 22% in 2012 to 58% in 2021. The number of MBA programs, fully run in English, has increased from 2 to 5, and the number of programs running double degree tracks in partnership with prestigious overseas universities has increased from 2 to 4. Despite the challenging economic conditions, SKK GSB has really strengthened its career development program, as evidenced by its strong showing in the career development category in the annual FT MBA Ranking. The average employment rate of SKK GSB students within 3 months of graduation has been 92% for the past 3 years, and promotion following graduation has been ranked in the top 15 globally for 3 consecutive years." Besides Dean Shih, SKK GSB’s Vice Dean and the Director of the Full-time MBA Program are also international, highlighting the school’s global mindset . In addition, 18 countries from around the world are represented among the student body of this year’s full-time MBA program, creating a truly unique international learning environment. It is commonplace at SKK GSB for Korean, Indian, and French students to come together to analyze the financial statements and sales data of global companies and discuss global market strategies with students from Chile and the Netherlands, under the guidance of an American professor. Securing competitive advantage in the job market Dean Shih emphasizes that "SKK GSB's MBA students graduate with a global mindset in combination with international business capabilities, both of which are developed organically throughout the course of the program.” He further adds, ”being able to quickly analyze various global markets, having the ability to collaborate effectively in global organizations, and having a rich understanding of different cultures provide strong competitive advantages in the job market. Since Korea has an outward-oriented economy, working with international markets and foreign companies is essential for success." Producing future-orientated MBA graduates sought after by companies in the AI era How should MBA education change in a post-COVID era that will also be largely influenced by artificial intelligence (AI)? Dean Shih pointed out how the pandemic that occurred amidst the rapid growth of the AI industry has led to a fundamental change in the business structure all around the world. "We see more and more utilization of AI and big data in companies and business areas every day. Analytics is becoming more important as well. We are in urgent need of talent well-versed in both new technology and business. If SKK GSB has been a leader in globalized MBA programs in Korea up until now, we have to become the business school that produces the most future-orientated MBA graduates going forward. AI and big data courses have already been added to all of our programs, and as a result, there is an increasing number of graduates entering related fields.” As evidence of Dean Shih’s remarks, several recent graduates from SKK GSB have pursued careers in AI. Asyl Uraimova (FMBA 2020) , a recent graduate originally from Kyrgyzstan, encountered the field of big data at SKK GSB for the first time and he is now working at a big data analytics company in Korea. Furthermore, SKK GSB established AI MBA and Business Analytics programs last year. Growing from MBA graduate to leader Elon Musk has famously critiqued that MBA graduates “may be good at PowerPoint, but they don’t know how things work”. Dean Shih says that an MBA degree does not automatically make one a leader. He emphasizes that “having the abilities required in the era we live in, realizing the essential competitiveness of companies to lead the present generation, and acting based on an outstanding sense of real-world business are the basic attitudes that MBA students need to have in order to grow into leaders.” With its strong focus on Action Based Learning, SKK GSB allows its students to analyze real business cases, work with data, and conduct projects throughout the entire duration of the MBA program in order to become the business leaders of tomorrow. Origianal article in Korean: https://www.hankyung.com/society/article/2021032168851
[Maeil Business Newspaper] SKK GSB leads the Korean MBA market
Sungkyunkwan University’s SKK GSB leads the Korean MBA market with customized career development services and lectures 100% in English Sungkyunkwan University’s SKK Graduate School of Business (SKK GSB) was ranked 35th in the world (1st in Korea, 7th in Asia) in this year’s Financial Times (FT) Global MBA Ranking, which is the world’s most widely recognized and authoritative one. SKK GSB is the leading successful example of the “Korean MBA Program“ project, which Korea’s Ministry of Education ran from 2006 to 2015 . This project aimed to develop Global MBA programs in Korea in which lectures would be delivered entirely in English by international faculty so that students would not have to travel abroad for world-class business education. Such programs were established in 14 Korean universities, but only SKK GSB’s has consistently been listed in the FT Global MBA Ranking. Other Korean business schools such as KAIST (99th in 2011) and Korea University (86th in 2013) were listed in the rankings only once before they dropped out. In the 2021 rankings, SKK GSB was ranked 35th in the world, 7th in Asia, and 1st in Korea. INSEAD (France/Singapore) topped the list, followed by London Business School and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. This year, Asian business schools featured strongly: 17 of the top 100 MBA schools in the world were Asian, with 12 in the top 50. These included China's CEIBS (6th), the National University of Singapore (15th), Hong Kong National University of Science and Technology (19th), and Hong Kong University (29th). SKK GSB has been the springboard for many students to change their career paths. For example, SKK GSB graduate Seong Chul Shin (FMBA 2017) is currently a member of Amazon headquarters’ finance team. Before entering SKK GSB, he worked for a Korean auto parts company. Mr. Shin explains, “I majored in industrial engineering as an undergraduate, and I was then employed in the auto parts business. I was unsatisfied in my job, so I wanted a change of career. After enrolling at SKK GSB, I acquired a range of useful knowledge. This alongside indirect experience gained through case studies helped me start my new career. I focused on finance at SKK GSB, where I learned a lot about the field and developed my capabilities. This put me in an ideal position to fulfill my role on my projects at Amazon, where I work on financial performance management and forecasting, business feasibility assessment, and financial analysis.” The SKK GSB success recipe: Global perspective & customized career development services SKK GSB is the only Korean business school to have been listed in the FT Global MBA Ranking every year since 2012, and the MBA is now ranked 35th in the world. The cornerstone of this success has been the steadfast work behind the scenes to internationalize thoroughly, and to lead the field in career development services. SKK GSB is a highly globalized school: 68 percent of SKK GSB faculty and 58 percent of the full-time MBA students are from outside Korea. Examples of international faculty include Dean Eric Shih (USA), Vice Dean Raunaq Pungaliya (India), and Full-Time MBA Program Director Aleksios Gotsopoulos (Greece). All SKK GSB courses are taught fully in English. SKK GSB’s career development services tailor their advice to individual students’ needs. Dedicated staff – including the new Director of the Career Development Center, who is an HR expert with over 20 years’ experience in multinational companies – partner with recruitment agencies to conduct a range of systematic and professional career development programs. The placement rate of SKK GSB full-time MBA graduates (within three months of graduation) has risen steadily from 88 percent in 2019 to 91 percent in 2021. SKK GSB’s strengths in globalization and career services were evident in the FT 2021 Global MBA Ranking, in which the school was ranked 17th in the world for international faculty, 5th for career services, 13th for career progress, and 16th for value for money. SKK GSB alumnus Eamon Byrne (FMBA 2019), management consultant at Simon-Kucher & Partners in the UK, notes: “I place great value on the exceedingly global nature of SKK GSB. While it is of course great to learn from the Korean perspective of business, it was critically important for me to become internationally competitive upon graduation. This was possible due to the school’s globally focused culture, which stems from having such a diverse range of nationalities of both students and faculty alike.” A customized curriculum for the AI era SKK GSB has transformed in recent years to foster the kind of management talent needed in the AI era. Novel courses focus on AI and machine learning, digital age corporate strategy, digital and social media analytics, business intelligence, data visualization, digital marketing, financial analytics, and business analytics. It is the school’s philosophy that students should be well-rounded and prepared for modern-day business realities. In the words of Dean Eric Shih, ”We see the future of the MBA as fostering graduates who are well-versed in both the art and the science of management – professionals who are comfortable in a creative advertising brainstorming session, and who the next minute become number geeks who can uncover new consumer trends by analyzing mountains of sales data – perfect SKK GSB graduates.” Original full article in Korean: https://www.mk.co.kr/news/special-edition/view/2021/03/226913/
[Maekyung Economic] “Green Bonds” remain popular despite low interest rates
Professor Youngju Nielsen (SKK GSB) has written a column about green bonds on MK News (Maekyung Economic). The latest change in Korea to attract my attention is the issuance of ”green bonds” . SK Rent-a-Car announced in early January that they would issue green bonds worth up to 90 billion won. The Ministry of Environment also published a guidebook in December 2020 to encourage revitalization of the green bond market. As we can assume from their name, green bonds are bonds that are related to the environment. Then what exactly is a green bond? A green bond is a type of bond. Bond investors are paid interest by the issuing entity at regular intervals. When a bond matures, its face value is returned, just as the principal is returned [JPB2] . Companies can use the money received from bond investors for corporate activities. However, funds accrued by issuing green bonds should only be invested in assets or business related to environmental protection. Prime examples of such green projects are development of renewable energy, clean transportation, and sustainable water resources. Green bonds cannot simply be issued under the name ‘green bond’. Rather, they are certified by the Climate Bonds Standard Board. There is no problem if regular bonds are used for green projects, so why is there a need for green bonds? An expense is incurred when companies issue bonds, and green bonds must satisfy more conditions, so these inevitably cost more to issue. However, companies can reap more benefits, outweighing the greater issuance cost. Original article in Korean: https://news.mk.co.kr/v2/economy/view.php?year=2021&no=79978
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