Why Study Business Abroad in Pursuit of Your MBA

Presented By CEIBS

Should you study business at home or abroad when you pursue an MBA?

In a global economy, it is increasingly important to understand business and markets with a broader perspective. China in particular is a hotbed of expansion and growth in a range of industries. But how do you decide whether to study domestically (with an international component), or to pursue your MBA abroad?

Ultimately, regardless of location, an MBA is designed to test you beyond your comfort zone. Learning to thrive in a foreign environment while being challenged by a new language and different approaches to business are all likely to enhance not only your MBA admissions essay , but also your openness to the personal transformation that awaits you as part of the MBA program.

Today’s global economy continuously rewrites the playbook, but one consistent trend in that book is China’s enthusiasm for globalization. As part of CEIBS annual Business in China survey, Chinese companies expanding into overseas markets expressed “the lack of international talent” as one of the biggest challenges they face. According to CEIBS President Dr. Mingjun Li, the mistakes that Chinese companies make abroad can often be traced back to a lack of employees who understand how overseas markets operate. 

Now into its seventh year, the CEIBS Summer Pre-MBA Boot Camp is designed to help young professionals who are targeting an MBA in the next one to three years determine whether international study in China is the right path for them. The weeklong summer Boot Camp exposes an elite group of professionals to the complete spectrum of the full-time MBA program, and to Shanghai’s dynamic business environment.

How Can Visiting China Impact Your MBA Decision?

To fully appreciate China’s growth you need to visit, ideally twice: once to see what’s going on firsthand, and then again in a year’s time to see the meteoric pace at which change is happening. One week is by no means long enough to cover the scale of either the MBA or China, but it is a fantastic way for you to get your feet wet before taking the plunge into an MBA where you study business abroad.

As entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship continue to grow in importance in MBA circles, we are also witnessing an explosion of start-up and venture capital activity outside the walls of campus in Shanghai. Boot Camp attendees will learn some of the nuances of starting a company in Shanghai through the stories of our alumni entrepreneurs, faculty and members of local co-working spaces.

As a boot camper, you will join four MBA lectures given by our rock star faculty, offering you a taste of the rigorous case study preparation, class discussions and practical takeaways that occur inside the classroom of a world-class business school. We also take you behind-the-scenes of some of Shanghai’s hottest start-ups, globalizing Chinese enterprises, and multi-national companies (MNCs) to explore MBA career opportunities in collaboration with our MBA Career Development Centre. Add to that a roster of networking sessions with CEIBS MBA Admissions colleagues, alumni and current students and you have a unique opportunity to evaluate whether an MBA is right for you, if Shanghai is the right city, and if CEIBS is the right school.

Study Business Abroad for Targeted Skills and Career Options

In line with China’s standing as the 2nd largest economy in the world by GDP, MBA recruiters in China look for talents who have highly developed hard and soft skills. At CEIBS, international students will strengthen their negotiation, quantitative analysis and presentation skills while also being challenged to learn the unique cultural nuances of applying these skills to a Chinese setting.

After graduation, MBAs typically explore three distinct career paths in China:

• MNCs expanding their presence in China to target the increasingly affluent and e-savvy consumers;
• Globalizing Chinese enterprises looking to replicate their successful development stories on the global stage;
• Or Entrepreneurship, seeking the rapid scalability opportunities found in Shanghai’s dynamic VC environment.

As Asia’s #1 MBA program (according to the Financial Times & Forbes ), most of our alumni go on to continue their careers in Asia. In previous years we have taken boot campers to visit our alumni working at the likes of McKinsey & Company, Ford, Dow Chemicals, Fosun Capital and Henkel in Shanghai. We also arrange a networking lunch session with our Career Development Centre in order for you to evaluate the type of opportunities that are available, and the skills required to make a career switch into your preferred function or industry.

Inform Your Decision to Study Business Abroad With Pre-MBA Boot Camp

For many students, the decision to study an MBA in China means entering uncharted waters. The CEIBS Summer Pre-MBA Boot Camp is a one-stop destination to understand China both inside and outside of the classroom, allowing you to “get your toes wet” before you take the plunge into an MBA with an international focus.

Learn more about the CEIBS Summer Pre-MBA Boot Camp , available to young professionals who have more than one year’s work experience, a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and who have the intention to study an MBA in the next one to three years.