Graduate schools in Asia developing top business talent
Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School

Asia is currently a booming economic hub, giving business students plenty of opportunities and avenues to explore.

There is a growing demand for employees who have agile talent in business, meaning those who are qualified, innovative and adaptable.

As new technologies make their way into the business world, such as robotics and Artificial Intelligence, there’s also a need for future graduates to have strong communication and critical thinking skills which robots cannot match.

Due to globalisation, the business world is moving at a fast-evolving pace. This means graduates must be well-versed and up-to-date on key business trends in order to be competitive contenders in the workforce.

Graduate students must have broad and relevant business knowledge to grow their careers and become successful business leaders, but they must also have sufficient practical experience to prepare them for the working world.

Practical experience such as internships, industry-linked projects, work placements and more help students get a foot in the door while granting them exposure to the real working world.

Studying in economic hubs in Asia also means they get direct access to all kinds of business environments, depending on their personal and professional goals.

Many business programmes are offering greater flexibility in course structures, so students can tailor learning to their interests.

As many graduate programmes teach students how to develop entrepreneurship skills, they also graduate with the adequate skills to start their own ventures if they wish.

Economic hubs, such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong, are also incredibly diverse, meaning students also get global exposure and an international perspective.

These are highly sought-after attributes sought by employers of today; as the world gets more digitally connected and employees are required to communicate with people from different cultures and nations.

Here are four graduate schools for business degrees in exciting Asian cities that are sparking agile talent and developing job-ready graduates.

ARSHAD AYUB GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL (AAGBS), UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA (UiTM) – MALAYSIA


Situated in Shah Alam near to the thriving city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this Graduate School focuses on diversity and experiential learning in all its graduate programmes.

The school offers several local and overseas projects which selected students can get involved in, building their résumés and enhancing their professional development.

These unique experiences are targeted to outgoing individuals who thrive on challenging themselves in dynamic environments.

Malaysia is a multicultural country, meaning students here learn in a diverse setting where they benefit from others and are exposed to people from all walks of life.

Students in graduate programmes learn in small class sizes, so they have more opportunities for discussion and interaction with their peers and faculty members.

The MBA program is exciting, challenging and flexible. The MBA program is an industry relevant management program for dynamic students who wish to achieve professional and career advancement.

The Master of Islamic Banking and Finance is suitable for those with a passion for the field, supporting the current national initiative to position Malaysia as an Islamic finance hub.

In fact, this is the first postgraduate Islamic banking and finance programme offered by a public institute of higher learning.

The doctoral programs, the DBA and Phd Mixed Mode engage students in intellectual discourse with academia and practitioners from various disciplines. These programs require advanced preparation of a thesis/dissertation based on original research leading to a student’s scholarly achievement.

LEE KONG CHIAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (LKCSB), SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY – SINGAPORE


This dynamic business school in Singapore attracts approximately 3,000 students who learn from over a hundred full-time faculty members who hold postgraduate degrees from renowned universities such as Cornell, Harvard, INSEAD, Oxford, Stanford and Yale.

The MBA programme at LKCSB is ranked 10th among Asian business schools, according to the latest Financial Times Global MBA Rankings.

Students graduate with excellent job prospects, as MBA alumni experience a 133 percent increase in salary after graduation.

Faculty members are also industry experts who are highly experienced, so education here is relevant and in line with current industry trends.

There are also many opportunities for students to get inter-cultural exposure from overseas immersion trips, such as exchanges to Canada, Japan, Korea, China or Spain.

The school’s location in Singapore, a diverse and multicultural hub with a strong economy that has been steadily rising this past decade, offers plenty of industry connections and networking opportunities for students to make use of.

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY (HKBU) – HONG KONG


For over half a century, this university has been at the forefront of business education in Asia, committed to moulding generations of business leaders.

Despite being steeped in a tradition of academic excellence, HKBU continually strives for new intellectual horizons and keeps up with emerging business trends.

Located in Hong Kong, a bustling and diverse hub in Asia, this school is ideally situated to develop business leaders who can effectively face global challenges in the business world.

The business school is not only committed to developing business leaders, but also those with who are committed to better business environments through responsible business engagement.

Testament to this is the fact that HKBU was the first Hong Kong university to join the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). They also co-founded the World Business Ethics Forum (WBEF) with the University of Macau.

Along with many practical experience opportunities, students here graduate as responsible, innovative business leaders.

*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Study International

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