School's programme equips students with essential skills needed to succeed in the modern workplace

As Angela Yeung Chau-yee worked her way through the successive course modules of the Richard Ivey EMBA, she could sense a change in her personality was taking place. Her 48 classmates were experiencing the same.

“The confidence was the biggest thing,” said Ms Yeung, who completed the programme in 2005, and is now Hongkong Land's head of communications.

“When we started, all of us had one are of knowledge, maybe accounting, HR or strategy. But when we finished, we had an overall view of what business is all about.”

She explained that benefits gained from real-life case studies, in-depth class discussions, group study sessions, and the recommended reading material. In addition, there is the opportunity to interact with peers from a wide range of different industries, sharing ideas, challenging opinions, having to think through one's own point of view and learning from each other.

“All of that changes you,”Ms Yeung said. “You get a sense of what other people are doing in industries you never looked at before, and the chance to speak about topics you have never previously tackled. I am certainly more prepared now to speak up and express my views in a business meeting because I have these broader perspectives.”

In her position, this has proved vital. The role involves putting together corporate messages and party lines on behalf of the company. And that can only be done effectively by someone who understands the broader scope of the business, the strategy and financial considerations behind certain decisions, and their short and long-term implications.

“In order to communicate with the public, I need to understand how the game is played,” Ms Yeung said. “You have to see the general picture, how the pyramid is built. And what I'm finding is that everything learned in the Ivey course will eventually be applied in the real world, directly or indirectly. “For example, she could now see the complexities and potential pitfalls of a new product launch or marketing campaign and, on the financial side, had no difficulty analyzing key factors affecting the company's performance.

This also made it much easier to see links between the work of different departments, to guide discussions, lead a team, and push the company forward.

Looking back, Ms Yeung said this “crossover” way of thinking- being able to look at each business problem holistically, not in isolation- could e attributed to the programme's case-study method. This deliberately encouraged a strategic approach and made it possible to draw on diverse experience of every member of the class.

In Ms Yeung's regular study group, two members were from the banking industry, and the others were from the catering, insurance and manufacturing industries. The composition of the team turned out to be ideal. The range of backgrounds and professions meant that expertise was shared, everyone was ready to contribute, and ideas were constantly bounced around.

“When you are doing projects on a group basis, you learn from each other and from the other teams,” she said. “You listen more and, when you know something, you want to share that information.”

As with her peers, she found this to be one of the biggest pluses of the whole course. The focus on getting people to consider new problems from alternative angles guaranteed open and lively discussions.

It generally required them to think on their feet to explain of defend a particular viewpoint, in a “risk-free” environment that ensured that no one held back. “For people who have been working a certain numbers of years, it is refreshing and fun, rather than terrifying, to go into unfamiliar areas,” Ms Yeung said. “You have to share your views and be ready to be challenged. Even if something was unknown territory, it was a challenge. And we all wanted to learn.”

Having previously worked for government-related and non-profit organizations, Ms Yeung felt one great intangible of the EMBA was the introduction it gave to another peer group and a whole new network of contacts, she was still in regular contact with her former classmates, each of whom was continuing to move up in his or her respective profession. She feels there is now a “lifelong network” of friends, and indeed informal business advisers, on which she can always rely on.

“No one will hang up if you call, whether it's just to chat about something in the newspaper, or to gain an insight about a specific business issue. You have access to those people and can ask about anything,” she said.

Though she has no plans to change employer, Ms Yeung admits to having a new way of viewing her career progress. It has come from a deeper understanding of business practices, a more organized approach to planning, and not simply going with the flow. “When something comes along, you can easily tell if it's a better opportunity or not,” She said.

SCMP
27th February, 2008