IT WAS THE course content that made the University of Newcastle top choice for Lawrence Tang. When he was searching for a doctorate level programme, friends mentioned the university, which is ranked as one of the top 10 research universities in Australia.
Mr Tang, being the accountant that he is, did a quick cost-benefit analysis comparing Newcastle University's DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) programme with similar ones that were available in Hong Kong.
Newcastle University emerged very strong in research methodology, something that was important to Mr Tang, but it was the corporate governance subject that clinched the deal.
'This is a very hot topic and it is very important in the commercial world. It was also a new topic for me - something that I had not learnt in my previous master programmes,' Mr Tang said.
He had two master's degrees under his belt - one in business administration the other in applied finance - at the time he registered for the DBA course.
Armed with new insight and in-depth knowledge in research methods, relationship marketing and corporate governance, among others, he finds that his quality of work has improved.
'The management field has changed drastically. We need to keep learning new things. This course helps us to think from different angles,' said Mr Tang, who did his dissertation on corporate governance in China from the earnings management point of view.