BizEd

MarchApril2014

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As business schools worldwide admit larger numbers of applicants from Asian countries, they must rethink traditional approaches to address the diverse needs of this growing student demographic. By EmmanuEl métais A s the number of Asian students enroll- ing in U.S. and European business programs continues to grow, many business schools are intensifying their marketing and recruitment efforts to capture the attention of this growing demographic. At the same time, however, it's important for educators to rethink the academic product they have to offer these students. Is it adapted to their linguis- tic, cultural, and educational needs? Does it suit their employment objectives? At EDHEC Business School in France, where I serve as director of the Global MBA program, we are reviewing our pedagogical approach, course offerings, and student support services to provide our Asian student population with the best man- agement education possible. We want to make sure we prepare them for successful careers, whether they work in New York or London, or back home in Shanghai or Seoul, Tokyo or Delhi. It's a challenging time for business schools, but also one filled with great promise for internation- alization and student recruitment. it starts with Case studies A growing number of business educators believe traditional Western MBA education fails students from other parts of the world. Among these educators is Mike Bastin, a senior lecturer at the Southampton Solent University School of Busi- ness in the United Kingdom. In a recent Finan- cial Times op-ed, Bastin laments the state of the modern business school. He points out that the world's top business schools continue to adopt traditional teaching approaches—most notably, the Harvard case study method. The typical case study asks students to analyze real-life manage- ment dilemmas, most often from U.S. or Euro- pean corporations. But Bastin argues that "news of Western corporations struggling to thrive in emerging markets strongly suggests that business students desperately need a new approach." I agree with Bastin that a shake-up of tradi- tional business education is needed—and it must start with the foundation of the MBA education: the case study. While the case study method still works well, it has limitations when used with Asian students, primarily because most case stud- Translating 39 BizEd March/April 2014 E ivAislA/Th i n ksTock; R-sTu dio/sh uTTE R sTock

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