New campus opens next year

Prof Fine says the future of business education is to get students to work in a collaborative, multi-cultural environment.

THE new Asia School of Business (ASB) campus is slated for completion by the middle of next year. Classes are currently conducted in Sasana Kijang, Bank Negara’s training centre in KL.

ASB president, and dean, Prof Charles Fine, said the existing space is limiting.

“Now we can only take a maximum of 45 students. But once the new campus, which will sit on the land between Sasana Kijang and the Bank Negara headquarters, is ready, we hope to double our class size.

“Eventually, we’re looking at 250 students as we start offering executive education programmes, part-time MBA and certificate courses,” he said, adding that five years on, a doctorate programme would be available.

ASB, he said, aspires to develop talent that can spur the region’s economic growth.

“In Asia, tens of millions will be entering the workforce over the next decade. Where are they going to work? What are they going to do?

“The answer is entrepreneurship. We want job creators to build the future businesses that Asia’s going to need,” he said, adding that ASB’s admission process mirrors MIT Sloan School of Management’s selection criteria where students are picked for their intelligence and emotional maturity.

“We don’t just look at grades and accomplishments. We want students with a sense of humility, are respectful, and can work in teams. Our students must know when to be a leader, and when to be a follower.”

The future of business education is to get students to work in a collaborative, multi-cultural environment, he said.

“The biggest challenge our graduates will face is finding an organisation that lets them grow, exercise their innovative and entrepreneurial skills, and realise their full potential. They have a lot of energy, and drive. Sometimes traditional organisations aren’t ready for a young, high-horsepower leader.”