HKUST Hosts Region’s First CEMS Corporate Event: MBA News

By Tim Dhoul Updated Jun 29, 2015

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Introduction
Student benefits of CEMS voiced by HKUST Business School dean

Take a look at Asia-Pacific's top 10 business schools this year

HKUST Business School was the venue for The Global Alliance in Management Education (CEMS)’s first recruitment conference in Asia-Pacific.

CEMS, an international network of business schools and multinational companies, chose to hold the two-day conference in Hong Kong in an effort to kick start corporate benchmarking in the region. “This is the first corporate event that CEMS has held in the Asia-Pacific region, and that is a reflection of the growing importance of this part of the world,” commented the organization’s secretary-general, Nicole de Fontaines.

Companies in attendance at HKUST Business School included United Overseas Bank, EF Education First and Ritz-Carlton. They were there to share their approaches to attracting and retaining the kind of talent produced by the business school members of the CEMS network.

Members number 29 worldwide, including institutions representing Europe, Latin America, and Canada (but not the US) in addition to HKUST Business School’s fellow members across the Asia-Pacific region. Through this network, individual schools offer a CEMS MIM (master’s in management) program – a one-year pre-experience program that often involves splitting your study between two schools in two countries.

Student benefits of CEMS voiced by HKUST Business School dean

Dean at HKUST Business School, Jitendra V Singh, said the school’s participation in the network and CEMS MIM program is invaluable in helping its students prepare for international careers:

“We believe that with its strong global alliance of academic and corporate partners, CEMS can provide our students with a unique blend of international exposure and professional experience,” Singh said.

More than 1,000 students are involved in CEMS MIM programs worldwide this year, and further interest in expected from students in Asia-Pacific in the near future. CEMS students attached to Sweden’s Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) recently came out winners in the third edition of Nespresso’s MBA case competition in sustainability – defeating a number of more experienced MBA student teams in presenting their concept on the competition’s theme of engaging consumers in the circular economy.

“The study granted by the CEMS MIM prepared us to be extremely comfortable presenting to some of the world’s top business leaders, such as the Nestlé Nespresso CEO,” said a winning team member from SSE, Bob den Hartog.

Written by

Tim Dhoul

Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).