Featured in the Media – Page 19 – Asia School of Business

KUALA LUMPUR: Lebih 400 pekebun kecil telah mencapai Pensijilan Pekebun Kecil Rundingan Meja Bulat Minyak Sawit Mampan (RSPO) di bawah Program Pekebun Kecil P&G, demikian menurut Laporan Impak Pusat P&G Untuk Pemilik Kecil Lestari (CSS) 2024.

Asia School of Business dalam satu kenyataan hari ini berkata seramai 400 lagi pekebun kecil persendirian dijangka akan menerima perakuan itu menjelang akhir 2025.

Program Pekebun Kecil P&G adalah kerjasama antara Asia School of Business, P&G, dan Temasek Foundation yang bertujuan untuk menggalakkan amalan pertanian yang mampan dan baik, serta memudahkan pengeluaran minyak sawit mampan yang diperakui daripada kalangan pekebun kecil persendirian di daerah Pontian dan Batu Pahat di Johor.

Laporan itu juga menyatakan bahawa 306 pekebun kecil yang diperakui telah menerima premium berjumlah US$42,630.00 (lebih RM200,000) pada 2021-2023 bagi hasil sawit mereka yang diperakui, sekali gus meningkatkan mata pencarian mereka.

“Melaksanakan amalan pertanian yang baik menggalakkan pengurusan sisa dan kimia yang lebih baik dalam kalangan pekebun kecil, termasuk menggunakan baja.

“Pusat Untuk Pemilik Kecil Lestari juga telah membantu penubuhan Pertubuhan Tani Niaga Lestari Negeri Johor, yang menyaksikan keahlian meningkat kepada lebih 700 pekebun kecil,” kata kenyataan itu.

Program ini juga telah membangunkan kurikulum ringkas tentang amalan pertanian yang baik dengan Pusat Untuk Pemilik Kecil Lestari telah melatih 1,972 pekebun kecil tentang amalan pertanian dan pengurusan sejak Julai 2022.

Malaysia merupakan pengeluar minyak sawit kedua terbesar di dunia dengan lebih 275,000 pekebun kecil, yang secara kolektif menyumbang kira-kira 17 peratus daripada jumlah kawasan tanaman kelapa sawit negara.

Originally published by The Sun.

Asia School of Business dalam satu kenyataan hari ini berkata seramai 400 lagi pekebun kecil persendirian dijangka akan menerima perakuan itu menjelang akhir 2025.

“Melaksanakan amalan pertanian yang baik menggalakkan pengurusan sisa dan kimia yang lebih baik dalam kalangan pekebun kecil, termasuk menggunakan baja.

Originally published by Bernama.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 (Bernama) — Over 400 smallholder farmers have achieved the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Independent Smallholder Certification under the P&G Smallholders Programme, according to P&G’s Centre of Sustainable Small-owners Impact Report 2024.

In a statement today, Asia School of Business said another 400 independent smallholders are anticipated to be certified by end-2025.

The P&G Smallholders Programme is a collaboration between Asia School of Business, P&G, and Temasek Foundation, which aims to promote sustainable and good agricultural practices, as well as facilitate the production of certified sustainable palm oil from among independent smallholders in the districts of Pontian and Batu Pahat in Johor.

The report also highlighted that 306 certified smallholders have received a total of US$42,630.00 (over RM200,000) in premium in 2021-2023 for their certified palm produce, increasing their livelihoods.

“Implementing good agricultural practices promotes better waste and chemical management among smallholder farmers, including using and applying fertilisers.

“The Centre of Sustainable Small-owners has also facilitated the establishment of Pertubuhan Tani Niaga Lestari Negeri Johor, which saw membership rise to over 700 smallholders,” the statement said.

The programme has also developed a simplified curriculum on good agricultural practices with the Centre of Sustainable Small-owners having trained 1,972 farmers on agricultural and management practices since July 2022.

Malaysia is the second largest palm oil producer globally with over 275,000 smallholders, who collectively account for about 17 per cent of the country’s total oil palm planted area.

Originally published by Bernama.

“If you can build your company without raising money, do it because then you’re in control. There’s this idea that you’re really cool if you’ve got some venture money. And I want to say the coolest is if you own the whole thing yourself.” Robin Chase, Co-Founder of Zipcar, GoLoco, Buzzcar, Veniam, and NUMO.

In this episode of “Open for Business,” we speak to serial entrepreneur and transportation innovator Robin Chase. Robin is co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar, the largest car sharing company in the world; Buzzcar, a peer-to-peer car sharing service in France (now merged with Drivy); and GoLoco, an online ride sharing community. She is also co-founder of Veniam, a network company connecting vehicles to the cloud. More recently she established NUMO, a nonprofit aimed at leveraging new urban mobility technologies for sustainable city development.

From starting Zipcar back in 2000, Robin has decades of experience in revolutionizing urban mobility and entrepreneurship, and she shares her unique insights and the key lessons she’s learned along the way.

Among other things, Robin discusses:

Her motivation for diving into urban mobility and the challenges she faced along the way.
The importance of timing and being at the right place at the right time in business.
The concept of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and its critical role in launching successful ventures.
Navigating the complex dynamics of fundraising and maintaining control over your company.
Her vision for the future of transportation, including the rise of electric bikes and smaller vehicles.

There’s a lot to learn from Robin’s experiences over the last 24 years, including practical advice on how to approach entrepreneurship, the importance of innovation, and how to adapt to ever-changing market conditions.

Listen to the full interview below.

Originally published by BFM.

A TECH solution to enhance transparency and traceability within the upstream palm oil supply chain is in the pipeline.

The Social Innovation Challenge (SIC) winning team comprising Wei Jie See, Kaywen Zhen and Arinn Danish will be developing their innovation with a seed capital of RM20,000, courtesy of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) and the Center of Sustainable Small-owners (CSS) at the Asia School of Business (ASB).

The SIC, a dynamic competition designed for students, alumni and invited participants, was focused on action-based challenges to tackle pressing global issues.

Aimed at addressing critical issues within the palm oil industry, particularly in Malaysia, the inaugural challenge centred around the Collection Center First Mile Traceability Challenge.

The palm oil industry plays a pivotal role in global food and industrial markets but faces challenges such as incomplete traceability to plantations and inefficient data management practices.

These issues pose significant threats, including reputational risks and regulatory non-compliance, necessitating urgent solutions.

“We are excited to embark on this journey towards creating a more sustainable and transparent palm oil industry.

“By leveraging technology and working closely with small-holder farmers and the collection centres, we aim to increase yield and promote responsible production practices,” said Wei Jie, spokesperson for the winning team which comprised students from ASB, Universiti Tenaga Nasional and IMU University.

The team will be collaborating with small-holder farmers in Batu Pahat, Johor, on the project, a press release from ASB dated May 6 read.

IEC assistant director Dr Siti Najaa Zulkifli said the SIC embodied ASB’s mission to empower students to make a real impact in their communities and beyond.

“It’s all about inspiring positive change.

“The SIC champions innovation, collaboration and practical application, aligning seamlessly with ASB’s commitment to experiential learning for a comprehensive educational experience.

“We are incredibly proud of the creativity and dedication demonstrated by everyone,” she said.

For the palm oil industry, said CSS director Prof Dr Asad Ata, addressing challenges related to traceability and data management is crucial.

“By doing so, we can enhance transparency, strengthen accountability and reaffirm our commitment to sustainable practices. Together, we can build a more resilient and ethical supply chain,” he said.

Originally published by The Star.

Contrary to claims by ESG sceptics, there may be value to betting on sustainability

Nothing evokes more emotion and debate in the asset management industry than sustainable investing. Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, central banks and other asset owners are mandating that asset managers adhere to environmental, social and governance principles. But some politicians think that sustainable investing is just a lot of hype.

According to the Global Sustainable Investment Review, total assets under management for responsible and sustainable investing reached US$35.3 trillion in 2020. And Morningstar reports that assets managed by global sustainable ESG mutual funds reached approximately $2.8 trillion by the second quarter of 2023 in spite of high inflation and interest rates and fears of a recession.

In the academic world where separating fact from fiction is a professional calling, scientific evidence is paramount. Past studies have not been able to find conclusive evidence of positive correlation between ESG characteristics and equity returns. In fact, recent theoretical literature argues that “green” assets should earn an expected return that is lower than “brown” assets due to investors willing to forego good returns for ESG’s social good.¹

Yet, common sense and financial intuition dictate that a simple financial economic model of an investor with a more generalised profit maximising objective, where negative externalities and social costs are explicitly minimised, would yield the opposite result. This would also be the case where hedging demand arising naturally from an investor’s desire to hedge against, say systematic climate risk, creates demand for securities that are correlated with climate risk.

Indeed, Nobel laureate Robert C. Merton’s seminal paper more than 20 years ago linking consumption preference with portfolio selection and investment rules in a dynamic context, proved theoretically that there is in fact linkage between these concepts.²

Flexibility can add significant value to irreversible investment opportunities, which encompasses ESG investing principles.³ Referred to as “real options analysis”, this approach accounts for the value of flexibility, or optionality, in the investment opportunity set.

Flexibility capitalises on upside opportunities while reducing exposure to downside risks, thus adding risk-adjusted value in the process. The net effect of all this, in the context of ESG investing, is that it increases demand for green assets over brown, thus improving the expected return of the former over the latter in the long run.

The literature

In his 1993 paper, Merton demonstrated that the equation of motion for an investor’s demand function for assets within the multifactor Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing Model (ICAPM) framework satisfies both the diversification (i.e., the single-period CAPM model) and hedging (i.e., the risk management) demand components. That is, the investor’s desire to hedge against various financial market-based systematic risks gives rise to demand for portfolios that are correlated with those market-wide risks.

The multi-dimensional demand function of the investor in Merton’s ICAPM framework yields both demand for the well-understood, mean-variance optimisation diversification motive found in MBA textbooks, along with demand for hedging portfolios.

In other words, if there indeed exists a financial economic situation where ESG regulations, rules, perceptions, risks and boundaries are binding, they would naturally give rise to hedging demand from investors for green assets, which would result in an “equity greenium effect”.

A simple and easy to follow pictorial will illustrate the point. Merton’s analysis demonstrated that the investor’s demand function in the ICPAM context represented by a set of portfolio weights, w*, is given by:

The demand function on the left-hand side of the figure states that the amount invested in a particular portfolio, w*, is the product of a discount parameter and the risk premium earned on portfolios that are correlated with the market-wide systematic risk factors in the economy. In the ICAPM case, there are two components, which are given by the left-hand side and right-hand side of the figure

The first expression,

{Discount Factor₁ * (r_m – r_f)},

is simply the demand for diversification from the investor, vis-à-vis the desire to hold a diversified market portfolio of (risky) securities, which is given by the textbook mean-variance optimisation scheme a la CAPM.

The second expression,

{ ∑_j,k Discount Factor_j,k * Cov(r_j,r_k) }

asserts that the investor’s demand for hedging portfolios helps to insure against other systematic risks in the economy, including unanticipated inflation, future changes in the yield curve, and even changes in ESG requirements and ESG systematic risks with the passage of time.

In other words, a risk-averse investor would naturally like to avoid or hedge any reduction in the individual’s usual consumption programme due to the unintended consequence of a particular systematic risk variable’s (future) effect on the individual’s (future) wealth level.

For instance, let’s assume that polluting the environment, which we shall call the bad climate factor, hurts both our pockets and our lungs. The economy and our wallets will invariably take a hit. In that scenario, green assets, where returns should be positively correlated with the bad climate factor, will presumably earn an extra ex post (or realised) risk-adjusted return over brown assets, compensating the investor for the hit to the wallet, while brown asset prices will face a decline. The green assets hence serve as the hedging portfolio.

As a consequence, if demand for non-ESG assets drops due to them being brown, the ex-ante expected return of such assets is expected to go up in a commensurate manner. The opposite happens in the case of green assets. This is also exactly as Merton predicted in his paper.

In fund management speak, green assets are like traditional multi-asset managers with steady earnings from management fees in all states of nature, that is, fees from cash and money market funds in unfavourable states of the economy, and equity growth funds in the good. Meanwhile, proprietary trading desks that are highly leveraged to the economy with highly variable earnings, should have a much higher cost of capital, and hence, higher expected return, than the former.

In summary, investors will earn an expected return commensurate with two sources of return premia: systematic risk-bearing activity that is market-driven (i.e., CAPM or mean-variance diversification), as well as from risk-bearing activity from unfavourable movements in the economic state space (i.e., hedging activity). The premium earned from green assets is referred to as “greenium” in the academic literature.

Empirical evidence

Indeed, very recent empirical evidence appears to indicate so. In the case of US stocks, Lubos Pástor, Robert F. Stambaugh, and Lucian A. Taylor (2022) found that green stocks outperform brown stocks by a cumulative 174% over the sample period from November 2012 to December 2022.⁴

Another recent working paper from Cornell University also showed that green stocks around the world, including Asia, do earn higher returns than their brown counterparts over a sample period covering December 2012 to December 2021. However, there is inherent variation in the green risk premium across time and geographies.⁵ For example, the authors observe a marked reduction in the greenium effect since January 2016.

We surmise this could be due to the Paris Agreement coming into force in 2015 after 196 world leaders emphatically acknowledged the importance of combating climate change via a legally binding treaty. This was followed by the largest public pension fund in the US mandating sustainable and responsible investing in its investment strategies the following year.

These two significant events could have had a marked and immediate effect on demand for ESG-compliant assets, hence increasing prices and reducing expected returns.

Deploying the strategy

There are two ways in which asset managers can benefit from these academic results. They would first need to create a long/short return strategy by ranking the stocks in their stock universe according to an appropriate and effective ESG rank, or “greenness”. Then long the top quintile and short the bottom quintile to create a long/short return spread portfolio, which can either be equal-weighted or cap-weighted.

The managers could then use the “greenness” return spread portfolio in two ways: as a risk factor, just the way the stock returns generating process is linked to the four Fama-French firm systematic risk factors, popularly known as market, size, value, and momentum; or as an alpha factor, the way hedge funds form long/short portfolios from alpha generators.

If they use it in the second way, any long/short alpha premium can be enhanced by installing a judicious amount of leverage. For example, a 2022 study by Pastor et al. indicated that the value-weighted long/short portfolio of US stocks in the top third of greenness outperformed the bottom third by a cumulative return difference of 7.8% per annum.

Despite the scepticism of ESG naysayers, there appears to be value to betting on the green premium. This is good news for managers who create portfolios by following the true greenness of stocks in their universe through a sound ESG ranking scheme.

While the greenium seems to be decaying over time due to the price pressure effect as trillions of dollars flood the sustainable and responsible investing universe, it just means that ESG stocks are becoming more fairly priced with the passage of time.

* Joseph Cherian is deputy chief executive officer and practice professor of finance at the Asia School of Business in Kuala Lumpur and visiting professor at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business in New York. He thanks Andrew Karolyi, the Harold Bierman Jr. Distinguished Professor, and the Charles Field Knight Dean at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business in New York, for his extremely helpful comments and guidance in the writing of this commentary.

For additional working papers in this area, readers can look to the following:

Do ESG Factors Influence Firm Valuation? Evidence from the Field. Franck Bancel, Dejan Glavas, and G. Andrew Karolyi, Cornell University Working Paper (February 2023).
The US equity valuation premium, globalization, and climate change risks. Craig Doidge, G. Andrew Karolyi, and René M. Stulz, Fisher College of Business Working Paper (March 2023).
In Search of the True Greenium. Marc Eskildsen, Markus Ibert, Theis Ingerslev Jensen, and Lasse Heje Pedersen, Copenhagen Business School Working Paper (March 2024).

¹Sustainable investing in equilibrium. Journal of Financial Economics, 2021, 142, 550-571, Lubos Pástor, Robert F. Stambaugh, and Lucian A. Taylor. The authors do demonstrate the special case when green assets have higher realized returns then brown assets. This happens when investors’ demand function abruptly and ubiquitously turn green!
² An intertemporal capital asset pricing model, Econometrica, 1973, 41(5), 867–87, Robert C. Merton.
³ Flexibility is key: Financing net zero, Asia Asset Management, print & online Editions, November 2022, Vol. 27, No. 11, Michel-Alexandre Cardin and Joseph Cherian.
⁴ Dissecting green returns. Journal of Financial Economics, 2022, 146, 403–424, Lubos Pástor, Robert F. Stambaugh, and Lucian A. Taylor
⁵ Understanding the Global Equity Greenium, G. Andrew Karolyi, Ying Wu, and William W. Xiong, Cornell University working paper (April 2023).

Originally published by Asia Asset Management.

Studying an MBA or an Executive MBA (EMBA) is something many people consider, without realising how different the programmes really are

While both offer advanced business education, they target distinct demographics and career stages. MBAs suit early to mid-career professionals who want to fully immerse themselves in education for a year or two, while EMBA programmes are tailored for experienced executives seeking to advance without interrupting work. Understanding these nuances aids in making informed decisions about which programme aligns best with career goals. Which one should you choose?

Who Shall Venture Where

First, the difference between MBA and EMBA candidates can often be quite a few years of leadership experience. Stephanie Kutschmann, Programme Manager of MBA Programmes, at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, says MBAs are usually undertaken by “early- to mid-career professionals seeking to transition into management roles or switch industries.”

EMBA programmes, on the other hand, “are designed for experienced professionals with several years of work experience, usually around 10 years or more, and at least three years of management experience” highlights Kutschmann.

Whilst an MBA candidate may be seeking to enter business leadership, an EMBA participant already will have leadership experience. They are established professionals aiming to bolster their leadership skills, strategic thinking, and networks, rather than gain all three.

A Tale of Two Curricula

When thinking of the two, it’s important to also consider the curriculum and design of the programme: how is the programme formatted? Does it have the content you are looking for?

MBA programmes offer a comprehensive education, covering fundamental business disciplines such as finance, marketing, operations, and leadership, with some allowing you to specialise too. Meanwhile, Executive MBAs look to build upon existing professional experience, focussing on advanced skills and senior leadership.

“MBAs are for leadership starters, with the programme designed to provide that all-important foundation to propel candidates into the world of management,” says Martin Butler, MBA Academic Director at Vlerick Business School. “Whereas Executive MBAs are not designed for career starters but more for career accelerators.”, he says, and do not provide this same foundation, and the content is much more geared towards preparing participants for senior leadership.

Both full-time MBA and Executive MBA participants leverage these programmes as pathways to expand their networks and enhance their career prospects. Both not only provide robust career support services, but also incorporate industry-centric events directly into their curriculum.

The Executive MBA format revolves around accommodating busy schedules and aligning with the demands of their professional commitments. “This allows EMBA students to balance their professional responsibilities alongside their studies, often extending over 17 months, with classes typically held on Fridays and Saturday mornings” says Ana Côrte-Real, Head of Faculty and Executive MBA Director at Porto Business School.

Moreover, MBAs are usually taught in full-time schedules, over the course of one or two years. This allows participants to fully immerse themselves into their MBA and the benefits that come through solely focusing on education, such as the added time spent on campus participating in extracurricular activities and clubs, as well as the socialising and networking with new classmates and friends, and potentially exploring a new city or country where they’ve decided to study.

Interestingly, the annual Graduate Management Admission Council’s (GMAC) Prospective Student Survey¹ found that part-time professional MBAs have steadily increased in popularity for early-career professionals wanting to continue their studies whilst working.

The type of practical experience differs too. Côrte-Real highlights that while MBA students, with less experience delve into practical projects and work experience, EMBA programmes integrate “real-world case studies and executive coaching sessions to enhance leadership skills and decision-making abilities.” In other words, EMBA participants come equipped with their own experiences, problems and challenges, ready to share with their peers and learn from one another. MBAs candidates are not expected to come with the same level of history, more just an appetite to learn.

An Epilogue of Career Paths

Where you want to go in your career next will likely have a huge impact on what business education programme is for you, notes Nalisha Patel, Regional Director for Europe at the Graduate Management Admission Council.

“Those with some strong, grounding work experience who are looking to invest in their next career move and who want time to safely explore what that looks like across various management roles or through entrepreneurship, are perfect for an MBA.”, says Patel. “Those who have leadership experience and want to take stock and develop their broader business acumen to grow into a more strategic or high-ranking role are very suited to the EMBA.

The difference in course content and outputs is reflected in the standardised tests for the different programmes. For example, the MBA usually requires the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and EMBA, often the Executive Assessment (EA), so it’s worth comparing the tests to get a sense of what you’ll need to prepare for.”

The seniority of positions that graduates step into differs when it comes to both types of MBAs, but the sectors often remain the same. “Many MBA graduates find employment with Consulting, Financial Institution as well as Energy industry, globally, as the programme prepares them for a global career”, says Winston Wee, Senior Director of Admissions at Asia School of Business.

However, many EMBA graduates, who already have a foot in the door, are likely to stay in the same company but move on to become CEOs and Presidents, transitioning to executive leadership, rather than gaining a managerial position or switching industries.

So, when deciding whether to apply for an MBA or an Executive MBA, it’s important to consider your experience, the time you have available, and what you truly want to achieve post-studying – then you will know which programme is a natural fit.

Originally published by Financial Times.

In the world of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), the importance of governance and transparency has come under the spotlight as recent evaluations shed light on the performance of regional entities. Insights provided by Global SWF have prompted discussions on the state of governance and transparency among these funds, sparking conversations about potential areas for improvement.

According to the latest findings from Global SWF, regional SWFs such as GIC Singapore received mid-range scores, while Khazanah Nasional exhibited marked improvement since 2021. These SWFs, along with Indonesia’s INA, have emerged as standout performers in terms of resilience. Nevertheless, there are areas where they can enhance, particularly in the disclosure of board selection processes, their approach to sustainability, and whether processes are in place to prevent depletion of these funds during unexpected crises.

SWFs play a significant role in ensuring economic stability and wealth creation, managing assets exceeding US$11 trillion (RM52 trillion) globally. Positioned as custodians of national wealth, these funds are tasked with navigating the complexities of investment to safeguard prosperity for both present and future generations. Due to their position, transparency is critical. Clear governance processes are deemed essential safeguards against malfeasance, with robust disclosures playing a crucial role in building and maintaining public trust in these institutions entrusted with managing national wealth.

Khazanah and Temasek serve as examples of SWFs, balancing investments for financial returns with contributions to socioeconomic development. Their strategies span domestic and international markets, fostering economic growth and nurturing emerging enterprises. However, their success lies in their ability to uphold independence, accountability and adherence to objectives amid ever-changing market dynamics. Global SWF recently placed Temasek at the top of the list for its high level of transparency.

Public confidence in SWFs largely hinges on the professionalism, the independence of their management and their commitment to achieving their objectives. It is not uncommon for SWFs to be compared with other government-linked investment companies (GLICs). However, SWFs are perceived as a reflection of the government they represent, underscoring the necessity for robust governance structures to protect against financial mismanagement and political interference.

The debate over the prioritisation of domestic investments versus diversification abroad underscores the nuanced nature of SWF management. While diversification enhances portfolio returns and mitigates domestic risks, focusing on socioeconomic development — which includes domestic investment — is imperative. SWFs have a delicate balancing act to achieve both outcomes.

As Sarawak launches its own SWF, the Sarawak Sovereign Wealth Future Fund (SSWFF), lessons from existing models serve as guideposts. The adoption of the Santiago Principles signals a commitment to good governance, with safeguards against political interference and transparent board appointments deemed paramount.

To maintain the independence of the SSWFF’s investment choices and shield them from undue political pressure, it is essential to implement strong protective measures. This includes enacting legislation to safeguard the Board of Guardians and senior management from coercion to mishandle funds, holding them responsible and accountable if they succumb to political or other pressures to disperse the funds beyond SSWFF’s mandate, and launching public awareness campaigns about the fund’s investment objectives to ensure accountability among its leadership.

In conclusion, the journey towards bolstering governance and transparency in regional SWFs remains an ongoing endeavour. It requires steadfast commitment, adaptability to global dynamics, and unwavering dedication to accountability and integrity. Only then can these entities fulfil their mandate of safeguarding national wealth and fostering inclusive growth for all citizens.

Given the swift evolution of the global economic landscape, the importance of SWFs in fostering sustainable development and economic resilience has become increasingly vital. As custodians of national wealth, SWFs possess substantial influence over investment choices that impact the course of economies and societies. It is their responsibility to maintain exemplary standards of governance and transparency, ensuring that their actions are in line with the long-term interests of their stakeholders and the general public.

Originally published by The Edge.

When you think of a Master of Business Administration (MBA), it often conjures the big rewards in store for those who use it to climb to the highest ranks of the world’s most profitable companies.

The up to 100% salary boost and easier access to a network of the world’s movers and shakers come to mind too, but that barely scratches the surface of the benefits of an MBA.

Earning an MBA gives you the knowledge you need to take command of the wider world and not solely, as many assume, to become a profit-driven leader.

The skills and learnings you gain from an MBA can be applied anywhere, even in non-profit and philanthropic organisations — like Kennedy Baboloki Kwati discovered.

A journey of social impact

Born and bred in Botswana, Kwati knew he’d be pursuing an MBA once he completed his Bachelor of Business Administration at the University of Botswana.

Like most, he looked to the West, where many of the world’s most prestigious MBAs are located, but status alone wasn’t what Kwati was looking for.

Kwati worked with Youth Impact, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that scales evidence-based programmes in health and education, for most of his undergraduate years.

He was roped into the Operations and Development Officer role for this newly formed organisation to be part of the founding team, and that kicked off the start of his work in social impact.

After Youth Impact, Kwati landed an Operations and Logistics Consultant role with Africa CDC, an African Union health agency. Later, he worked as a Project Lead, a Programs Operation Manager, and finally, the Chief of Staff at the African Leadership University (ALU), an edtech social enterprise empowering future African leaders.

So, furthering his education in business operations just made sense.

However, only a handful of US universities offered such programmes. Despite getting accepted into some of them, Kwati decided to delay his admission due to COVID-19 and when he was deeply involved with ALU.

How to choose the right MBA

It was by chance that he came upon the Asia School of Business (ASB).

“I was on a holiday with a group of friends, and one of them was an American who was also applying to business schools at that time,” says Kwati. “She applied to ASB, got in (but ended up not enrolling), and told me all about the school.”

This interaction sparked Kwati’s initial interest in the school, but it was the experiential Action Learning projects found in ASB’s MBA curriculum that sealed the deal.

“Coming from a non-profit background, I wanted to open myself to the possibility of entering a corporate entity after my MBA,” says Kwati. “Therefore, I felt like the Action Learning projects would be a really good way to demonstrate understanding and ability within the for-profit space because I didn’t have experience there.”

ASB being located in Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur was another plus point in Kwati’s books – it was an opportunity to leap into the Southeast Asia region, a place he had never explored.

And beyond that, ASB itself had an intriguing identity. The school was founded as a collaboration between MIT Sloan School of Management and Bank Negara Malaysia, the Central Bank of Malaysia. Here, both bodies collaborate on the design of the academic programme, curriculum, organisational structure, admissions, and the administration of the school.

“I’ve worked for most of my life with a government body, and I find this collaboration to be very unique with two different entities coming together with different expertise and competencies,” says Kwati. “It’s very unusual, right? So, for these reasons, I packed my bags and headed to Malaysia.”

“I came in as a blank check, and I wanted to see what I could get out of it, and I think a beautiful canvas has come out of my time here.”

The benefits of an MBA: From student to the ‘go-to guy for financial modelling’

Kwati joined ASB’s MBA programme with minimal expectations. The only expectation he did have, however, was on networking.

“When I was applying for an MBA and talking to people around me about it, they told me that I wasn’t going to learn anything from an MBA, that MBAs were just for networking,” says Kwati.

“I joined the programme thinking I suck at networking; I’m not a people person, so the biggest thing I’m going to get out of this is a network.”

The biggest help when forming networks was staying in ASB’s multi-block residential facility, which houses up to 350 visiting and full-time students at any time.

With housing shortages and scams occurring, having access to accommodation overseen by the school is always welcomed. For Kwati, living in the same residence as his cohort has been spectacular.

“You go to one person’s room for dinner one day, and someone else’s the next, and it’s fantastic,” says Kwati. “You wouldn’t be able to get this type of experience if you were not on a residential campus. We always tell our juniors who have the opportunity to stay on campus to do it because the quality of relationships that you can build with your peers will be amazing.”

Plus, for someone who proclaims not to be a people person, Kwati ended up being the Class Co-President of his cohort too.

But the benefits of an MBA didn’t just end there.

“I think I’ve completely disproved the theory that an MBA is all about networking,” says Kwati. “Don’t get me wrong, networking is important, but I learnt a shit ton of things from the MBA.”

“I wanted to come in to learn, I didn’t want to do this whole ‘Yeah, let me just join for the networking,’ I wanted to learn about finance, I wanted to learn data analytics,” says Kwati.

“Now, I’ve become the go-to guy for financial modelling. That, to me, indicates just how much I’ve been able to capitalise on the learning opportunities in the MBA.”

These learning opportunities are significantly heightened during the Action Learning projects.

Whether it was improving the profitability of an aerospace manufacturing company or exploring East Malaysia’s longhouses to develop a corporate social responsibility strategy, Kwati had a lot to take away from those experiences.

His project in Vietnam, in particular, was memorable for various reasons. Aside from being exposed to a new country, it was also one of the most difficult and technical projects that Kwati had taken.

The task involved pulling knowledge from areas the team lacked, such as expert-level knowledge of financial derivatives, modelling, hedging, and risk management.

“Within four to five weeks, we basically became experts in each of these areas, and then helped the client to develop a financial model and made it make sense to the board,” says Kwati. “But because the board doesn’t operate at the level of detail, we had to abstract the technical project and present it as a strategy, which was very challenging.”

“It was probably the one project where we were working 14 to 16-hour days, just because it was just so much material to get through and required so much from us, but I learned a lot.”

And while the four-week MIT Sloan immersion is a highlight for many in ASB’s MBA programme, Kwati created a different type of memory at one of the world’s most prestigious universities.

“One of my favourite sports is kayaking, and I got to kayak on the Charles River,” says Kwati. “It is by far the most unbeatable experience I’ve ever had.”

“If it wasn’t too cold during the weekend, I would head to the Charles River for a couple of hours and just sit in the kayak or paddle to the different points in the river. That was my standout experience during the immersion weeks.”

Returning full circle to doing good for the world

Coming into the MBA, Kwati’s goal revolved around equipping himself with the skills needed to become a consultant. Now, he’s certain his heart is in development.

“After reflecting, I’ve come to the realisation that what really matters to me and what’s most important is doing good with my life,” says Kwati. “Working in finance for the sake of making money doesn’t seem particularly appealing to me. Consulting is exciting work intellectually and I would be very happy doing it, but spiritually and emotionally, I wouldn’t be fully bought into it.”

For Kwati, this is coming back full circle to his earlier work in social impact – exactly what he was up to before he enrolled in the programme.

This time, though, he’ll be better equipped.

“Having an MBA has given me an understanding of how companies make decisions,” says Kwati. “It teaches you how to have a conversation with people across the aisle, understand where they’re coming from and what is important to them.”

Originally published by Study International.

In today’s fast-paced world, where the shelf-life of skills is fast-plummeting, the one-year MBA program is emerging as an attractive option for students seeking a business-oriented personal transformation.

The agile economy deserves an agile education system. According to the Prospective Students Survey by the Graduate Management Admissions Council, a growing number of respondents now prefer the shorter, more intensive year-long option—a testament to the shifting landscape of business education.

Asia School of Business (ASB), whose MBA in collaboration with MIT Sloan is recognized by Poets & Quants among the hottest MBA programs in Asia, announced its 1-year MBA last year. It is, in my view, a matter of time before students demand an even greater degree of agility.

IN THE U.S. THE ONE-YEAR MBA ‘REMAINS SOMEWHAT NICHE’

In the United States, most business schools are attached to larger universities. There may be a presumption that the osmotic enrichment can occur immersion in the larger ecosystem justifies the 2-year MBA. The 1-year MBA has remains somewhat niche.

But the calculus of MBA’s is changing. Does longer immersion really provide the extra value that is claimed at every university? Many schools in Europe and Asia, particularly stand-alone institutions, have shifted, or are shifting to 1-year degrees. The London Business School announced its 1-year intentions this year with the dean’s memorable “peak MBA” line.

While large research-oriented institutions such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, and the University of Pennsylvania may be able to provide an enriching experience commensurate with the time commitment, many institutions are finding themselves out of sync with the realities of work, the flywheel of innovation, perhaps most importantly, the need for continuous reinvention.

MIT’S ONE-YEAR SLOAN FELLOWS PROGRAM

Even MIT, with its enviable ecosystem, pioneered the 1-year Sloan Fellows program, recognizing that senior execs have higher opportunity costs. Degrees in general are under pressure as micro-credentials find more acceptance. As the Vice President for Open Learning at MIT, I was involved in the creation of the MicroMasters Certificate. The onus is now on academics to address pressing questions about degrees, such as: (a) how quickly does the delivered learning depreciate in value? (b) how authentic is the learning—i.e., is the learning bookish, or is it truly internalized and actionable? (c) how “meta” is the learning—i.e., does the experience at school prepare you for a lifetime of reinvention; (a) does the value of the degree exceed the tuition and opportunity costs maximize learning?

Since its founding, the Asia School of Business has addressed the first three issues — effectiveness, durability, and translatability — through its unique combination of MIT-style rigor, an unwavering commitment to action learning, exposure to world-class, research-oriented faculty both from ASB and visiting from MIT, and a transformative immersion for our students at MIT Sloan, where osmotic development can occur.

However, the world entered a new era during covid: everything was digitized. Fast on the heels of this forced digitization came generative AI, a technology that is well setup to thrive on newly digitized processes. The consequences are potentially massive: for businesses, for economies, for societies, and even for nations. Continuous education has, ironically, become increasingly urgent at a time when the opportunity cost of a break to educate oneself is also increasingly expensive.

WHY ASB REDESIGNED ITS TWO-YEAR MBA INTO ONE

It is in response to pressures of cost efficiency and time-efficiency that we at ASB have redesigned our program from one that took 2 years to one that only takes a year and, at the same time, reduced the tuition to less than $35,000. This has addressed the last 2 of the 5 points discussed above.

In doing this redesign, we have been careful to maintain a focus on effectiveness, durability, and translatability. All the key features – from our rigor, to pedagogy, from action learning to immersions on campus and at MIT remain central aspects of the programs. In fact, we have doubled down on the immersive aspects of the program but creating a new personal development program for our students titled “Growth Mindset,” and created a new Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center that provides our students, alums and exciting local innovators a single co-working and mingling space.

Our goal is to launch students, effectively and affordably, with the superpower of being able to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Originally published by Poets&Quants.

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