This year's graduate Caroline Frangopoulos works in banking. Her motivation for pursuing an MBA was to keep her skills current in an ever-changing business world.

'Having not done any serious study since university more than a decade ago, I decided an MBA was important to broaden my perspective and equip me for the future,' she said, adding that the programme's reputation and flexibility were also critical factors.

Similarly, 2005 graduate Lawrence Chan, former chief financial officer of STACI Corp, a United States-based provider of custom-designed products and service solutions to the automotive and telecommunications industries, believed he needed formal business training.

'The AGSM MBA was the one I chose due to its ranking and reputation,' Chan said.

The desire for a promotion motivated Anita Billings, now owner of the Marew Asia consultancy and a 2004 graduate, to obtain an MBA. 'I felt like I was running out of tricks,' she said.

An MBA can also help specialists such as scientists and engineers broaden their skills, according to 2008 graduate Eric Lin, a senior business development manager with Nortel. 'It allows every technically oriented professional to connect the technical world to the business world.'

The consensus among alumni is that AGSM MBA empowered them, personally and professionally, in myriad ways - both tangible and intangible.

Having always worked within the operations department of large global investment banks, Frangopoulos believes her perspective was limited. She reckons her graduate business studies and the people she met helped remove her blind spots.

The programme also took her out of her comfort zone, allowing her to grow professionally and intellectually. 'Working through areas where I had less experience was where the value was derived,' Frangopoulos said.

While Chan did gain the analytical skills traditionally associated with an MBA, he also touts major improvements to his soft skills and leadership prowess.

The programme made Billings more confident in dealing with corporate executives and enhanced her ability to start and grow her business. She contends that the programme took her from having no entrepreneurial skills to being a fully fledged business owner - and, for that reason, regards her degree as invaluable.

'It seems like everything I do as an entrepreneur could not be possible had I not had an MBA,' Billings said.

Even Frangopoulos, with no inclination of starting a business, concedes that the breadth of an MBA programme gives students a good idea of where to begin. 'I never really considered myself to be particularly innovative, but the innovation and strategy course ended up being one of my strongest courses,' she said.

Lin said that the knowledge and experience gained from an MBA broadly covered every aspect of a successful business and that the programme was an 'essential tool kit'.

Chan believed he was a more productive employee because such skills enabled him to think 'outside the box' and have greater sensitivity to his colleagues' feelings. 'These skills also help me to better manage my relationships with family and friends,' he said.

He credited the programme with enhancing his 'capability in translating my academic experience into the practicalities of strategic management. This, to a certain extent, served as a catalyst to elevate myself to higher levels along the corporate ladder'.

Lin appreciated the opportunities AGSM MBA afforded him in widening his circle of friends and professional contacts from numerous industries, while making him appreciate others' experiences. 'The experiences I learned from my classmates are far more valuable than the knowledge picked up from a book,' he said.

Graduates believed their programme was flexible given their often hectic and complex work, travel and personal schedules.

'The nine-days-in-class model was an important point of consideration to me for effective face-to-face learning and communication with professors and peers,' said 2007 graduate Grace Marija Liow, a founding partner of Media Professionals Gp, and a consultant with adVENTURE, Artisan Creations and Metro Art Gallery.

Liow believed the programme schedule 'facilitated better job management to balance workloads and advance planning for longer uninterrupted business travel'.

The programme also met Billings' desire for 'small bursts of face time with professors' that she could schedule 'and then diverge to do my own work and converge for group assignments'. She also appreciated the flexibility of tailoring her course to professional commitments.

Frangopoulos concurred, adding that the intensive format of individual modules fostered intellectual growth at a pace that helped her fully learn one subject every several weeks. 'Flexibility was especially important for me as I wanted to ensure I retained a balance between work and study while ensuring it also did not take over my life,' she said.

AGSM MBA also permits those with relevant experience to waive certain courses. As Chan was a member of CPA Australia, he was exempt from three of eight core units.

As for course variety, he was spoiled for choice. 'There was a diversity of elective subjects. I could choose the subject that either interested me the most or allowed me to gain a new way of thinking,' Chan said.

Ultimately, those with an entrepreneurial streak should all consider the AGSM MBA. Billings asserted that there were certain skills everyone must learn if they wanted to transform or progress in their careers.

'AGSM MBA training and networking have provided valuable insights that have enhanced my life and equipped me with lifelong knowledge and tools to grow, and further my entrepreneurial spirit and career,' said Liow.

By obtaining his degree, Chan gained extensive insight into how the business world works through a variety of useful tools and models that could be applied to different business situations.

He also gained self-knowledge. 'It allowed me to attain in-depth knowledge of how people behave in the context of business settings and, more importantly, to understand myself better than before, thus leading me to focus on what I want moving forward,' he said.

Sponsors

The Cliftons Prize for Outstanding Achievement Cliftons

Best Performance in Marketing Principles

Saatchi & Saatchi

Best Performance in Managers, Markets and Prices Royal Bank of Scotland

Best Performance in Statistics for Managers Marew Asia Consulting

Best Performance in Accounting and Financial Management CPA Australia

Best Performance in Managing People and Organisations Ambition

Best Performance in Corporate Finance Macquarie

Winners

This year's AGSM Hong Kong MBA Student Award winners

Eric Lin (Accounting and Financial Management), senior business development manager, Nortel

Brian Ho (Managers, Markets and Prices), associate director, Standard Chartered Bank

Eduardo Tsang (Marketing Principles and Outstanding Achievement), audit manager, Philip Morris Asia

Ringo Mak (Corporate Finance and Statistics for Managers), Asia-Pacific regional sourcing engineering and quality manager, ACCO Brands

Anna Tse (Managing People and Organisations), accounting manager, Kowloon Motor Bus Company