Solidly built and connected

Following the global success of MBAs, the University of Hong Kong's (HKU) Faculty of Architecture upgraded its Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Design and Management (MSc IDM) course last year into an EMBA-style leadership-development programme for experienced professionals working in real estate, design and construction.

The programme, originally launched more than 10 years ago, aims to keep senior executives updated on developments in the field, even as they follow a multidisciplinary education process that connects the dots between the industry's different disciplines.

"It is a major challenge to ensure we are keeping ourselves up to date. In addition, business is getting more and more complex. It demands us to have professional knowledge and a systematic cross-disciplinary perspective of the whole process," says Bay Wong, chartered project management surveyor, and associate professor of the Department of Real Estate and Construction at HKU's Faculty of Architecture.

"We need to understand how professionals in the other disciplines think and work. Executives must learn to communicate efficiently with their counterparts from different disciplines... They need to interact with the environment, look at trends, and update their knowledge and skills," adds Wong, who is also the MSc IDM programme director at HKU.

The two-year course is only offered part time, largely because it targets senior managers and high-potential professionals.

One important entry criteria is a recommendation letter from employers, as they have to be willing to sponsor the applicant.