KAIST to launch joint MBA programs in 2016

Students of the KAIST College of Business take part in a discussion during a class at the school in Seoul. / Courtesy of KAIST College of Business

Business school vying to forge partnership with overseas schools

Kim Tong-suk, dean of the KAIST College of Business

By Chung Hyun-chae

The KAIST College of Business plans to launch joint MBA programs in partnership with leading overseas schools next year that offer specialized and tailored education to students.

"We'll start with a new MBA model next year when we celebrate the 20th anniversary of our college. This model calls for joint MBA programs with foreign institutions," Kim Tong-suk, dean of the business school, said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.

He disclosed that his school has been in talks with U.S., Canadian and Chinese universities about establishing joint programs. Kim, however, refused to name the universities just yet, as the business school is still in negotiations with them.
However, he added that the negotiations will soon wrap up in time for the joint MBA programs' launch in 2016.

He noted that the foreign universities are actively seeking to start joint programs with the Korean business school, which they hold in high esteem because of its 20 years of experience as a well-regarded MBA school in the country.

He said his college plans to draw financial support from some of the nation's large business groups to cover the costs for the creation and operation of the joint MBA programs.

Global competitiveness

Kim believes such programs are crucial to improving the school's global competiveness and keeping up with the rapidly changing academic and business environments at home and abroad.

The KAIST College of Business is a Seoul-based graduate school that is working toward the goal of becoming a world-renowned technology-based management school. It is affiliated with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

"Our school has fared quite well over the past two decades by strengthening its foothold as a top-notch management school in Korea and by pushing for globalization," Kim said.

He is also sure that it is the right time for the school to adopt a new framework in order to transform itself into a top-class global institution that meets the needs of society, businesses and industries.

Kim said one of his school's strong points is its "lab culture," in which students are given their own research space so that they can concentrate on their studies.

Specialized programs

Kim is proud of his school's specialized programs.

"As the demand for general MBA programs declined in the U.S. and other advanced countries following the 2008 global financial crisis, schools such as the University of Rochester have begun to offer specialized MBA programs," Kim said. "Our school has been offering a range of specialized MBA programs since it started in 1996."

In a bid to nurture talent that is in demand by companies and society, the KAIST College of Business offers eight specialized graduate programs in finance, IT, media and the environment. Among them are the Finance MBA, Master of Financial Engineering, Finance EMBA, KAIST Information and Media MBA and Green MBA.

"To meet the needs of the industries, we are going to make our existing programs even more specialized. Our special task force is working on developing a new MBA model and curriculums that will be implemented from next year," Kim said.

Although he said the plans for the joint programs are not yet final, they are likely to be in line with the school's goal of creating specialized programs that live up to its partner schools' expectations.

"The University of Arizona, one of our academic partners, said they admire our finance MBA programs, in particular our mathematical analysis education," he said.

Currently, the KAIST business school offers dual degree programs in finance with the University of Rochester and Michigan State University, in accounting with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in law with Northwestern University School of Law, in media with the University of Southern California and in IT with the University of Arizona.

"Plus, we have maintained our strong partnership with IE Business School in Spain by offering dual degree programs in seven areas, including business management, finance, law and international relations," Kim said.

He also said students can take part in a cultural experience program, the China-Korea-Japan (CKJ) Field Trip, which is run in cooperation with Tsinghua University in China and Keio University in Japan. The program is part of the school's Techno MBA program, Korea's first full-time MBA program and one of its four general MBA programs.

In this field trip, 15 students from each school are invited to take classes and experience daily life with each other for two weeks. The three schools take turns in hosting the program. It is the KAIST business school's turn next year.
"I'm thinking of expanding this sort of short-term experiential program into a long-term degree program to further promote exchanges," Kim said.