The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's School of Business and Management (HKUST Business School) has just been ranked first in the Asia Pacific in the Financial Times (FT) annual global rankings for non-degree executive education in custom programs. This is the second year in a row that HKUST has attained the top position in the region.
HKUST is the only school from Asia listed in the rankings. The School is placed at No. 27 among the world's best executive education providers, up one place from year 2003.
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Schools need to conduct US$2 million of business a year to participate in the FT rankings on custom programs that are tailor-made for companies to develop and train their executives. A total of 56 business schools were eligible to participate in this year's rankings. Only 50 schools were ranked, with three from Asia and Australia, including HKUST (27), Australian Graduate School of Management (33) and Mt Eliza Business School in Australia (47). The rest of the line up of top 50 in the FT rankings include 22 schools each from North America and Europe, two from South America and one from Mexico.
The FT rankings are determined by two surveys. The first survey (80% weighting) measures the responses provided by senior members (usually a chief executive or human resources director) of organizations that specified and purchased custom programs. For this survey, 400 custom program purchasers were interviewed. The second survey (20% weighting) evaluates the strength and diversity of the participating schools.
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The "Faculty Diversity" of the HKUST Business School is rated No. 1 in the world. It ranks 11th in terms of "International Clients", reflecting that its programs attracted a high proportion of patrons from multinational companies.
Dean K.C. Chan of the HKUST Business School is delighted with the strong showing of the School in this highly respected international ranking. "The HKUST Business School has been doing very well in major international rankings for MBA, EMBA, and Executive Education programs. We are proud that the significant improvements we have made across all areas are recognized in this way. These surveys and rankings serve us well as they give us feedback from students, alumni and recruiters so that we can constantly improve and better serve our customers."
Kitty Chan, Director of Executive Programs and External Development, said: "Our programs target senior executives who are very demanding and have high expectations. Their companies will shop around the world for the best and most suitable supplier who can provide tailor-made programs for their executives. The FT survey confirms that we have done well in serving the needs of our students and the companies that hire them. We are pleased to be able to compete with the very best around the world and capture the top spot in the region."
The FT survey evaluates programs conducted in the year 2003. During that year, the HKUST Business School organized 29 custom programs for 25 companies and organizations, of which, eleven were multinationals headquartered in Europe or the US, five were based in mainland and nine were from Hong Kong.
Financial Times Non-Degree Executive Education in Custom Programs 2004
| Rank in 2004 | Rank in 2003 | School Name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Duke Corporate Education | US |
| 2 | 3 | International Institute for Management (IMD) | Switzerland |
| 3 | 2 | Columbia Business School | US |
| 4 | 6 | London Business School | UK |
| 5 | 8 | Harvard Business School | US |
| … | … | ||
| 27 | 28 | HKUST Business School | China |
| 33 | 33 | Australian Graduate School of Management | Australia |
| 47 | 45 | Mt Eliza Business School | Australia |