Branching out to top students around world

Campuses open in exotic locales
Schools building bridges and brands
Sep. 21, 2006. 01:00 AM
PAUL BRENT
SPECIAL TO THE STAR


PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD IVEY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Professor Niraj Dawar teaches at the Hong Kong campus of the Ricard Ivey School of Business. The program focuses on senior managers.

Rather than seeking partner schools abroad, the University of Western Ontario's Richard Ivey School of Business has gone overseas on its own. Its campus in Hong Kong operates under the Ivey name, executive MBA courses are delivered by Ivey faculty, and students graduate with an Ivey degree.

Ivey has also established the Asian Management Institute, focused on case-writing and the production of research materials for companies dealing in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Ivey's Hong Kong program is geared toward senior managers and vice-presidents (the average age of an Ivey class of 50 students is 38) and attracts a mix of Chinese executives and foreign nationals, including Canadian expatriates.

"One of the benefits of taking the Ivey course in Hong Kong is you get a greater international perspective," says Jason Faris, 36, a Canadian who graduated from the school in 2003, when he worked for British banking giant HSBC.

"My classmates were from very diverse backgrounds and they challenge your base assumptions. That was very healthy."

Today, Faris is an associate vice-president, responsible for executive compensation, with Manulife Financial in Toronto and believes getting his MBA in Hong Kong has helped his Canadian career.

Thursday, September 21, 2006
THE TORONTO STAR