Shifts in the business world quickly translate into the need for new courses or a clear change of emphasis, and that has been particularly true in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. For leading academic programmes, it has become essential not just to explain the origin and evolution of world-shaking economic events but, as importantly, to give students the skills, outlook and insights to prosper in the “new” environment which now exists.
That can mean giving greater weight to subjects such as organisational structure, financial analysis, and corporate ethics. But in the case of the EMBA-Global Asia offered by HKU Business School, there is another distinct element – entrepreneurship.
The programme is already designed for executives and managers with a global perspective and an understanding of how business practice differs between east and west. But within that context, and thanks to the co-operation with partners London Business School (LBS) and Columbia Business School (CBS) in New York, it is also possible to teach students what it really takes to conceive, plan, fund, market and launch a brand new enterprise and then go on to deliver a return on investment.
Knowing the audience, these courses range well beyond the approach and recommended methods for a “small” start-up or a local business. In due order, they also cover areas such as how to raise big money to back a big idea, the growing trend of social entrepreneurism, and the kind of challenges encountered in getting a business off the ground in an emerging market.
In addition, LBS now has an entrepreneurship summer school open to EMBA students. It is an experientially-based elective where participants, solo or in pairs and guided by a mentor, conduct due diligence on an entrepreneurial opportunity they have identified. The objective is to learn exactly what is needed to make an idea work and, thereby, to gain self-awareness about their own vision and how best to achieve it. Courses available through CBS are similarly purposeful. They currently include entrepreneurial management, global entrepreneurship, and social entrepreneurship in the 21st century.
Social entrepreneurship starts from the premise that we are witnessing a tectonic shift in the way people think about social change and work towards it. Using case studies which focus on innovative “change makers”, the course is designed for individuals who want to understand the forces at work and get involved in social entrepreneurship, whether they pursue careers in the non-profit, private or public sectors.
Going further, the course also explores new thinking about asset management and investment. It looks at the opportunities and tensions inherent in cross-sector work and the sources of capital available to tackle chronic social problems.
