Chicago GSB targets more Indonesian students despite crisis<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post' reporter Ahmad Junaidi, along with other
\njournalists from Indonesia, Korea, India and Thailand, joined a
\nmedia tour to the University of Chicago Graduate School of
\nBusiness (GSB) Asia campus in Singapore recently. Below is his
\nreport.<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (JP): Indonesia is still facing a political and
\neconomic crisis, but that fact has not deterred the University of
\nChicago GSB from trying to attract more Indonesians to join its
\nexecutive MBA program at its Asia campus.<\/p>\n
\"We see great potential in Indonesia. We'll soon visit
\nIndonesia to offer the program directly,\" the school's managing
\ndirector Beth Bader told reporters recently.<\/p>\n
Beth believes that Indonesia, which still has several major
\ncompanies, will survive its crisis and become a new emerging
\npower among Asian countries.<\/p>\n
She said these large companies, even though they are still
\nfacing tough times, still needed to invest in their human
\nresources and could gain significant advantages by sending their
\nexecutives to join the MBA program.<\/p>\n
Besides learning basic economic and business sciences, the
\nexecutives could also discuss their companies' problems during
\ndiscussion classes with their professors and fellow students, she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
While joining the part-time MBA program, the executives could
\nstill work and apply directly their knowledge in their respective
\ncompanies, Beth said.<\/p>\n
So far only three Indonesians among 85 students have enrolled
\nfor the MBA program that started its first class in September
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
The program lasts about 20 months, but the students do not
\nneed to spend the whole time on campus. They only need to study
\none week per month at the campus, located on 101 Penang Road,
\nSingapore, while for the rest of the month, the students can work
\nas usual in their respective countries and put into practice what
\nthey have learned so far.<\/p>\n
The second class will start in July after careful selection of
\ncandidates. The tuition fee is US$68,000.<\/p>\n
The fee also includes study at the Unversity's European campus
\nin Barcelona for one week, and another two weeks at its North
\nAmerican campus in Chicago.<\/p>\n
Asked about the relatively expensive tuition fee by Indonesian
\nstandards, Beth Bader argued that almost all top ten American
\nuniversities, including the University of Chicago, have similar
\nfees.<\/p>\n
\"The amount is not the issue, but the quality of the program
\nis the most significant consideration for students who join the
\nMBA program,\" Beth said.<\/p>\n
She said Chicago GSB offers identical modules for their
\nstudents who study in its three campuses, Singapore, Barcelona
\nand Chicago.<\/p>\n
She said the students in the three campuses are taught by the
\nsame professors - some are Nobel laureates in economics.<\/p>\n
The Asian campus occupies a restored historical building
\nopposite Istana Park, which once belonged to spice trader Tan
\nYeok Nee, near the famous shopping area of Orchard Road.<\/p>\n
Tan's house has maintained its facade while its interior has
\nbeen changed and equipped with modern education facilities, such
\nas a meeting room, discussion rooms, a library, a student lounge
\nand a lecture hall.<\/p>\n
One of the Indonesian students, Erik Setiawan, said the
\nquality MBA program gives him the opportunity to develop networks
\nwith other executives.<\/p>\n
\"Although it's still just preliminary, we also discussed the
\npossibility of cooperation between our companies,\" Erik, the
\nPresident and Chief Executive Officer of PT Top Jaya Sarana
\nUtama, the distributor of Toshiba electronic goods, said.<\/p>\n
Erik, who once joined a local MBA course, said it was quite
\ndifficult to criticize the MBA program of Chicago GSB. But then,
\nthe 30-year-old father of two children pointed out the lack of
\nmodules on political studies and business as one thing missing in
\nthe program.<\/p>\n
He felt such modules were relevant, \"For we know that
\npolitical issues can have a strong influence on business,
\nespecially as in Indonesia at present.\"<\/p>\n
Erik, a graduate from the University of Southern California in
\nchemical engineering, also said there is a lack of local
\nexamples, especially Indonesian ones, in the discussion, although
\nthe students often bring them up.<\/p>\n
Another student, Mike Masahiko, supported Erik's statement,
\nsaying that Chicago GSB mostly discusses the problems of large
\ncompanies, especially American companies.<\/p>\n
\"But as I work at an American company, it is useful,\"
\nMasahiko, general manager of finance of GE Yokogawa medical
\nsystems, said.<\/p>\n
He said the executive MBA program focused more on the American
\nstyle of management that is globally applied, although there are
\nothers, such as the Japanese style.<\/p>\n
Erik said that Chicago GSB also lacks flexibility, as all
\nstudents have to take all modules, even though they may have
\nlearned some of them from other schools.<\/p>\n
\"We couldn't change the modules, such as statistics, even
\nthough we had already studied it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Beth Bader admitted that no specific Indonesian business
\nexamples were studied in class, but the students were welcome to
\nbring their cases to be discussed.<\/p>\n
\"We would also like to learn more about regional business
\ncases, including Indonesia. That's why we have established a
\ncampus here,\" Beth remarked.<\/p>\n
There are some American universities that conduct cooperation
\nwith local institutions in their MBA program, but Chicago GSB is
\nthe only one to have opened a permanent campus here.<\/p>\n
Singapore was chosen for its Asia campus as it is centrally
\nlocated within the region.<\/p>\n
The current 85 students come from Singapore, India, Japan,
\nIndonesia, Korea and Thailand. Some of them are executives of
\nlarge companies, while others are entrepreneurs who run their own
\nbusinesses.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/chicago-gsb-targets-more-indonesian-students-despite-crisis-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}