Diversity is the main defining feature of the Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA programme, with each new intake comprised of students with a wide range of backgrounds, industries, personal goals, and international experience.
What unites them is the motivation and ambition to go as high as they can in their respective careers, and the realisation that one can only get so far without the broader perspectives and all-round business knowledge provided by an academic programme designed for high-flying executives.
'The world has gotten so unpredictable, one needs to be as well equipped as possible,' says Isabel Tesoro, group chief executive of family firm Tesoro's and part of the incoming EMBA class. 'I expect to have many more working years ahead of me and even from the orientation, I've been getting new insights and ideas from the first meetings with my study group.'
Though already head of a business that employs around 100 staff in the Philippines and has interests in handicrafts and the residential property sector, Tesoro sensed in recent years that she was somehow missing out. Her business skills had essentially been picked up on the job - and around the family dining table - and a combination of hard work and natural inclination allowed her to assume ever greater responsibilities.
However, she also knew that new technology, intense competition, and ongoing fallout from the financial crisis would continue to change the business landscape.
'You can 'plateau' in your career by just sticking to the same approach, so you need to move beyond that,' she says. 'Instead of getting lost in your own world, it is important to acquire new qualitative and quantitative tools to get you to the next level.'