HKUST Associate Dean Praises Successful 20 Year Partnership with Kellogg

Kellogg and HKUST’s program features several other partnerships at different sites including in Germany, Miami, and Toronto. DeKrey says, “We offer a global elective in Hong Kong, so that’s a unique advantage to our Kellogg Global Network.

“It took 10 years for it to morph into an advantage, and because of globalization, people want to know about other parts of the world. I think it’s a real strength.”

With a long history in the industry, DeKrey has seen the evolution of the way business works, including the complexities of leadership. He says, “Leadership styles are becoming much more open, welcoming, and flexible and that’s learned in classrooms of diversity, where students learn to listen.

“The earlier leadership style – the talker, the teller, the demander – is long gone. Now it’s the listener, the facilitator, the team leader, the person who gets along with others and pays attention.

“We teach that through diversity, and with global travel people have become much more accepting of differences. When you globalize, that’s critical.”

China was once the new hub on the block, but with businesses having more of an understanding of how to conduct business in China, there now seems to be a new player to look out for. DeKrey says, “We’re trying to capitalize on our knowledge in Russia where we have a program starting at the end of November.

“The Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO is a new, striving, hard-charging institution. HKUST is the supporting partner of this joint concept and we supply faculty. I’m chairing their academic council and I have a small number of staff that works on operations. We’re basically bringing in best practice.”

HKUST’s new partnership with Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO focusses on Eurasia, which DeKrey says is unique. He says, “We’ve expanded the geography. SKOLKOVO Business School is already the leading school in Russia, but they need us in order to win the region, and because of the ways we’ve globalized it’s very helpful to them.

“We’ve got to get our feet on the ground and get our student body organized. Russia is now becoming a business hub and people are interested.”

As Kellogg-HKUST once again tops FT’s business school rankings and comes in second in the QS EMBA Rankings 2018: Joint Programs, DeKrey says, “We’ve become a target for the region and even beyond. This year looks to be one of the biggest applicant pools we’ve ever had. We’re going to have to turn away high-quality people and give them deferrals because it’s such a boom year.”

As business schools hope to attract high caliber students year-on-year, institutions need a niche element to set them apart from peers. DeKrey says, “Our average student age is 40 and these are very accomplished people. One gentleman I interviewed today was a hedge fund partner. He certainly doesn’t need an EMBA for income earning advantage, but he wants the knowledge so he can be an executive in one of the companies they’ve invested in – I thought that was fascinating.”

Although students bring diversity and experience, there are of course staff and faculty behind the scenes making developments to ensure the program continues to improve.

DeKrey says, “We have an exceptional operations staff, and it took me three years to find one of them, Miss Judy Au. I remember speaking to her during her first year, and I said ‘Judy, this isn’t just a regular program, this is world-class, we have to do everything top-end,’ and boy did she do it.

“When I thank her at the end of the program, the students give her a standing ovation, she’s exceptional. We benefit greatly by having very good staff and faculty, and now we’ve such a cadre both from Hong Kong and Northwestern.”

The business world continues to adapt, so it’s no wonder the market has changed over time. DeKrey says, “I’ve been in this business so long that I’ve seen a real transition.

“EMBA was considered a step-child in the US because it was an easy way to get an MBA; people had jobs and worked and were sponsored by their company. Now, many people don’t want to give up their job and go full-time, the benefit doesn’t seem to generate that demand.

“Another big change, it used to be 100 percent company sponsored, in fact that was a criterion when EMBA was founded – a company had to pay, now if there’s 20 percent it’s a big number.

“We’re getting a lot of entrepreneurs and family business people paying their own way, it’s not the public corporates anymore – it’s a real mix.”

As the program recently celebrated a successful 20 years, I ask DeKrey what the future holds. He says, “We change all the time, so we’re always getting better faculty, new courses in, more diverse students, those little tweaks happen constantly.

“If I’m looking towards five or 10 years, we might allow ourselves to grow and have a double cohort. We’re doing this in Russia now. As I look for EMBA opportunities for Hong Kong, we might look at other partnerships. I think the concept is a great one.”