Many of the island's middle managers, anxious to upgrade their skills but lacking the time to study, are turning to part-time Executive Master of Business Administration courses. In the words of a popular local joke, are these programs anything more than "Expensive MBAs"?
Thursday is always a special day for Robert Chiang, the vice president of an electronics chain. Since May of last year, he has been able to skip work that day to attend classes at the College of Management at National Taiwan University (NTU). While the fifty-three year old and his classmates might be directing their subordinates other times during the week, entering the classroom means it is time to listen to someone else. And although Chiang and many of his classmates are backed by extensive business resumes, they all know they still need the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) course they are taking at NTU to maintain their professional edge.
"About thirty years after I graduated from college, I just felt society had progressed extremely fast. I knew I would have to go back to school or I would lag behind," says Chiang, originally an accounting graduate of National Chengchi University and now in his second year of an accounting upgrade in the three-year EMBA program. Chiang's concerns are certainly not unheard of among Taiwan's professional managers, according to Lin Neng-pai, the dean of NTU's College of Management. "We [scholars from the College of Management of NTU] have frequent contact with managers and executives. They feel the knowledge they gained in the past is not enough, in the face of the changing business environment, and we understand their wish to receive more education," says Lin, whose university has been offering an EMBA program since 1997.
The program at NTU, the most prominent university on the island, was the first of its kind to draw media attention, but it was the private Yuan Ze University that first introduced the EMBA concept to Taiwan. The idea came from the United States in 1996, when Yuan Ze's Dean of the Division of Research and Development Yu Keh-chiang started such a program at his school. Having studied and done research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yu was impressed by MIT's EMBA program and later decided to duplicate it here, soon followed by NTU the next year. Today more than ten colleges and universities from around the island have EMBA programs. From 1996 to 1999, the number of people that have participated in Yuan Ze's EMBA classes has increased from less than 20 to the present 32, while the number that has signed up for the program's entrance exam has increased from around 200 to 580. Similarly, NTU's EMBA program recruited 135 students this year, up from 45 in 1997.
EMBA programs are now so popular that they attract professionals outside of management and entrepreneurial circles, and these people now account for the majority of the program's students. One "outsider" is Chuang Chun-shan, a prosecutor with the Supreme Court. "I often need to be familiar with finance-related issues while dealing with legal problems, and that's why I decided to take the entrance exam for an EMBA course," says Chuang, who is now in his first year at NTU.
Chuang's classmate Yen Yung-hsiung, a major general serving as the head of the Department of Communication, Electronics and Information at the Air Force General Headquarters, is also counting on his EMBA experience. "I'm a decision -maker. If I didn't know anything beyond what I've learned in the air force, it would just bring harm to the military," says Yen. "The commander in chief of the air force was my biggest encouragement in joining the EMBA program. He said he wants to join me when he has the time."
Meanwhile, mini-EMBA courses began to spring up this past September. Free of an entrance examination and home work, this alternative is intended for ranking managers who don't have enough time for normal courses. "We aim to make an EMBA education popular," says Chen Ting-ko, who has become a major figure in designing mini-EMBA programs through his position at the Chinese Professional Management Association, an organization made up of over 1,000 managers. "EMBA programs are a really good thing. A manager can learn something one night and then apply it to his job the next day."
Chen emphasizes that although his program may be compact, the best scholars from colleges and universities as well as several outstanding professional managers on the island are invited to lecture. About two hundred high-level managers registered for the first session, beginning in September--far more than the fifty Chen had expected. This mini-EMBA program includes courses that total 204 hours, about one-fifth the scale of a regular MBA education. The former grants a certificate to those that finish all courses, while the latter leads to a formal master's degree.
EMBA courses are a good choice for those eager to acquire knowledge but not fit to compete for a place in a regular MBA class with full-time college students. Generally, managers and other experienced professionals do not have as much time to prepare for the entrance exams needed for regular MBA courses. Sometimes even dispensing with the written tests often used as the main way to recruit MBA students, most EMBA program examiners screen students by giving them an oral test and reviewing their work experience. Schools like National Taipei University of Technology do not give written entry tests for their EMBA program. At Yuan Ze, the only written test is a small one on English. The other is a "case analysis" which does not necessarily involve knowledge gained in academies. "We offer chances to people with potential and then give them training," says Yu Keh-chiang. "They're very keen on receiving more education. We must open a door for them."
But for some, the door has not been opened wide enough. Not all applicants for an EMBA education can pursue further study, and schools like Yuan Ze University and NTU have an acceptance rate as low as under 10 percent. Inevitably, doubts do arise over how EMBA programs choose students. Are all examinees treated fairly regardless of their financial and social status? "You know, it's hard to set personal opinions and feelings aside while grading performance during an oral test," says Chen Ting-ko. "It is possible to think that the bigger the enterprise he works for and the higher the position he occupies, the more likely he is to be recruited."
Huang Chung-hsing, the director of NTU's EMBA program, realizes that it is next to impossible to judge a person vying for entrance into an EMBA program objectively. He claims, however, that NTU has tried its best to be objective in recruitment by asking at least fifteen scholars to be examiners at different stages of student screening: four are responsible for the written test, five for the reviewing of work experience, and six for the oral test. This breakdown of responsibilities makes sure there are no excessive sways in the process of screening. Similarly, Yuan Ze tries to be fair to all examinees as well, according to Yu Keh-chiang. "We give a written test first and the name of the examinee is not on the exam paper. Later, during the oral test, a student may get an advantage [because of subjective judgment], but you still have to pass the first stage."
There is nothing wrong with recruiting high-end executives, Chen notes, since these business people can exert far greater influence after receiving an education than most other students. EMBA programs were set up for executives in the first place, with certain qualifications required to join entrance examinations--for example, both Yuan Ze and NTU stipulate that all examinees must have eight years of work experience. But on the other hand, it is not exactly ethical to recruit students according to just their social status. "I know of one national university that will cold-call big entrepreneurs. These executives are encouraged to take the exam and are assured of a place in an EMBA class," Yu says.
The other question sometimes posed about EMBA programs is whether they are available only to the rich. Indeed, an EMBA tuition can be high for younger people at the lower end of the corporate food chain. At NTU for example, tuition is about NT$50,000 (US$1,562) a semester, or NT$150,000 (US$4,687) on a trimesteral basis. While some people may joke that the letters EMBA stand for "Expensive MBA," most of the students do not complain about the money because of their higher income and extensive work experience. Moreover, some students are able to attend these programs through sponsor ship by their companies. As for the tuition for Chen's mini-EMBA program, which comes to about NT$50,000 (US$1,562) for 204 hours, most students are sponsored by their employers.
Whatever criticism the EMBA program may receive, it is worth promoting as a choice for lifelong education. Examples of the immediate positive effects of having an EMBA-educated employee abound. "I can apply what I learn in school to my job immediately and help my company, which will soon go public, operate smoothly," says Robert Chiang, who is now majoring in accounting. Likewise, Yu says that after one of his students attended an EMBA financial analysis class, the student was able to assist the notebook computer manufacturer he works for issue shares in the United States, making a handsome profit for the stockholders.
For Melody Lin, the general manager of the Taiwan branch office of a British trading company, students benefit most from EMBA classes that include case studies provided by the Harvard Business School. "The other great benefit comes from exchanges between classmates who are professionals in different fields, such as lawyers and accountants," Lin says. The housewife-manager-student, who has a bachelor's degree in English literature, looks at the degree as a form of job insurance, as much as anything. "I don't need it now. But it'll be useful if I change my career in the future."
For Lin Chin-hung, who already has a master's degree from NTU's College of Medicine, gaining another one is of little significance. Still, he leaves Keelung, a neighboring city of Taipei, to go back to NTU to attend EMBA classes every week. "I feel happier attending EMBA classes than at any other time," Lin says, referring to his love of absorbing new knowledge. He is now studying as an EMBA student in NTU's Graduate Institute of Information Management, in addition to his full-time job as an obstetrician at a Keelung hospital.
Perhaps some benefits are unexpected. "I can set an example for younger people," says Yang Da-wei, the general manager of an American company in Taiwan who is preparing his thesis required for graduation from the EMBA program at Yuan Ze University. "I'm old but I'm still learning and there's no reason they can't follow me and go back to school." Yang's classmate Lee Feng-yu, also a businessman, points out another benefit. "Because I have to study hard at night, I can now turn down unnecessary social appointments with good reason. I think this is the best way to excuse myself," he says, noting that he asks the school's permission for leave only when he has to go abroad on business.
As far as schools are concerned, there are advantages to be gained from hosting EMBA programs too, with tuition fees leading the field. But neither NTU's Lin nor Yu of Yuan Ze University thinks schools can make money by offering EMBA programs. "The tuition is an insignificant amount of money. NTU didn't start its program for financial reasons," Lin states.
Nor did Yuan Ze, but Yu reveals that a special EMBA-related "credit class" has created an extra financial resource for his school. This EMBA entrance examination preparation class brought in a net profit of NT$8-9 million (US$250,000-281,250) for the school last year. Once a student passes the exam, all the credits he or she acquires can be used toward the total needed for graduation from the EMBA class. According to Yu, national schools are not interested in starting such preparatory classes, since all the money they make out of them goes to the government, while private schools are allowed to keep it.
EMBA courses can also cast a non-financial, positive influence on a school. The relatively new Yuan Ze University began to attract more attention because of its work in importing EMBA programs to the island. "The organization of the program has given us more media coverage than we ever imagined," notes Yu Keh-chiang. By providing these programs, a school can establish good relations with influential executives and the enterprises they work for. "Having an increasing supply of outstanding alumni surely promotes a school's image, but this can only happen in the long term," Yu says. "And we haven't had any direct financial feedback yet."
The introduction of EMBA programs to Taiwan assumes greater significance when broader issues are considered. First, it is having a positive impact in local academic circles. According to Lin Neng-pai, a complete college of management should include an EMBA program through which academics can have real contact with the business world. "That can be stimulating to the scholars in terms of both teaching and research." Huang Chung-hsing, who sees the circle of enterprises as part of the "laboratory" of a college of management, echoes Lin. "With EMBA courses, we can make the experiments more lively and extend the research arena of a college. This is quite important."
Finally, as the quality of executives is heightened, Taiwan's economy should receive a phenomenal boost. "Taiwan is poor in natural resources, so we must endeavor to upgrade human resources," notes Chen Ting-ko. The island's booming economy, based on numerous small and medium-sized enterprises, owes much to the creativity and flexibility of the people working hard everywhere on the island. Today, Taiwan is moving on to the next stage, with more and more giant operations competing in the international community. EMBA programs will do much to smooth the path.