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Kate Whitehead

The demand for executive education in Hong Kong has increased sharply over the past 18 months as firms shun overseas courses in favour of homegrown ones, with one university seeing a five-fold leap.

The trend among large local companies and multinationals is both a cost-cutting measure and an effort to train more staff.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), which began offering executive training programmes in 1998, has seen demand increase by 500 per cent.

The number of custom-made courses jumped from five in 1998 to 18 last year and the figure is expected to rise again this year.  The university includes the Government and a number of large commercial companies on its books.

'We are now in discussions with big banks and property development companies who are under pressure to develop their people and have come to realise there are good local schools in Hong Kong,' said Kitty Chan Wai-chu, director of executive programmes and external development in the School of Business Management.

As a result of the trend, the University of Hong Kong launched a five-year plan to target corporate accounts last year.

'There has been a change in the pattern of learning. With the new economy and technology, there is no need to go outside Hong Kong,' Stephen Ng Wai-kwan, associate director of HKU's Poon Kam Kai Institute of Management, said. Belt-tightening measures have prompted companies to scrutinise costs and look closer to home.

'When budgets were more generous, companies would send their employees overseas for a year, or perhaps do a two-week course at the University of California at Berkeley. Some government offices even paid for their employees' spouses to accompany them,' Ms Chan said.

Local programmes are not significantly cheaper than those offered overseas, but they do away with the need for long-distance flights and hotels.

Intensive, short-term courses also save company time.

Ms Chan said locally run courses catered for the majority of people who needed training and development. 'Even if companies have the budget, they can't send everyone away quickly and make them learn. By commissioning us to do a programme, they can have it tailor-made for their needs and reach a lot more people,' she said.

Professor Andrew Chan, acting dean of the Asia Pacific Institute of Business, said short courses maximised staff resources.

'In this competitive climate, it is difficult for companies to send staff away for a month,' he said.

He added that the majority of companies - 80 to 90 per cent - requested customised courses.

PricewaterhouseCoopers offered an e-business course for staff and clients last year in conjunction with HKUST. Companies used to have to look to the US for courses of this kind, but Harry Wong Yue-heng, manager of learning and development, said the local option meant the majority would benefit.

'It is not justifiable to send the whole company overseas, so it is usually just high-level management who benefit. If courses are offered in Hong Kong, middle management can attend as well,' Mr Wong said.

Healthcare company Bausch & Lomb began using four-day HKUST sales and marketing courses this year. Convenience was a big factor in its choice, said Frances Yip Wai-fan, human resources director.  'Our managers prefer to study in Hong Kong, it causes less disruption to their work schedule, especially since the courses are offered at weekends.'

Ms Yip said proximity was the key to choosing the HKUST programme over a course offered by French graduate business school INSEAD in Singapore. Singapore is Hong Kong's biggest rival in the executive training market.

Ms Chan said most companies conducted an internal needs assessment to identify their weaknesses before contacting the university.

Companies tended to ask for a limited range of programmes. E-commerce was the hot topic in 2000, but this year firms were looking to get back to basics, she said.

'Change management and surviving in a world of change are big topics now, as well as strategy and leadership issues.'

For details of executive programmes offered see: HKUST at www.bm.ust.hk/execprog, HKU at www.pkki.com and CUHK at www.cuhk.edu.hk/apib.



Executives home in on local courses