AEMBA continues the collaboration
between Shanghai Jiao Tong University
and France's Euromed Marseille Ecode de Management
The French Connection
By James MaoOperating under the three basic tenets of pragmatism, internationalism, and emphasis on holistic life planning, Shanghai Jiao Tong University's AEMBA was launched in 2003. AEMBA is a collaboration between the Antai School of Economics and Management at SJTU and the Euromed Marseille Ecole de Management. Under the umbrella of AEMBA are two programs, a part-time International MBA track and a part-time EMBA track, which is a new program launched just a year ago.
Through the program are not unique in their collaboration with a foreign school - at SJTU alone there are MBAs offered in conjunction with the University of Southern California as well as the University of British Columbia - the nature of such collaboration is quite distinctive The 18-month English language MBA track offers students the optional Business Executive Training Abroad (BETA) program, where they can study at Euromed Marseille in France for two weeks or three months. Euromed Marseille is the institution that grants the MBA degree, though the majority of the 18 months are spend at SJTU, and the program is ranked number 22 for Masters programs in Europe by the Financial Times.
While in Shanghai, nevertheless, the students enjoy the company of both a peer group and a faculty that is extremely diverse. About 25% of the program is international, with students hailing from places such as Slovenia and Colombia. And for each class of 100 students, AEMBA Marketing Manager Peggy Yang says, the program targets both local and foreign middle-level manager. "Most of our participants come from multinationals (MNCs); they are talents I the fields of finance, manufacturing, trading and media, to name four."
Faculty members also vary in their place of origin, ranging from the USA to India. Yang notes they are not just men and women of the academic tilt, but many also are in senior managerial positions at MNCs. AEMBA's faculty is 55% full-time and 45% fly-in.Yang adds that AEMBA provides a job placement hunter service for MBA participants. This kind of career assistance is even more helpful given the current global financial crisis. And students apparently do find it useful. As current MBA student Wang Weizhi says of the program I general, "In Jiao Tong University - Euromed Marseille MBA, I find what I need."
AEMBA also has a strong alumni connection. China Area Program Manager Dr. Wang Hua says that roughly a third of the current applications come to them because of alumni recommendations. The existence of an alumni association helps with post-school networking as well.
Last year, the ranks of AEMBA were swollen with the start of a second program, the dual-degree EMBA program. Geared towards local and foreign senior managers and entrepreneurs, each incoming class has about 35 students. It is also taught completely in English; to help local students, AEMBA offers a part-time English course as well. The 20-month program also gives students the opportunity to take part in the BETA program in Marseilles.
Though the EMBA program carries a hefty tuition price tag of RMB 358,000(USD52,375), it seeks to offer its students a way to advance their already progressing careers. As the program profile on the AEMBA website claims, the EMBA integrates the three pillars of training and coaching: senior faculty, chief consultants and live cases. Furthermore, as with many graduate programs, AEMBA often invites guest lectures to provide fresh perspectives for students.
The EMBA is still a very young program, and it stands to add much more resources to the ever-growing program. AEMBA has about 400 alumni worldwide, the continued existence of the EMBA track will add to that number hopefully both in terms of raw quantity and quality.
Wang Hua stresses that AEMBA is unlike other programs because it focuses on personal development and guidance, and the aforementioned emphasis on life planning. Regardless of how valid this claim is, students do stand to gain advantage from the internationalism of the Antai-Euromed Marseilles connection.
