ASIA PACIFIC DEANS & DIRECTORS CONFERENCE
approach, LinkedIn aims to empower every member of the global workforce to turn their skills into economic opportunity, making the talent ecosystem more efficient and equitable. Top factors in predicting student employability, according to Wong, include if the student’s future employer was a connection on LinkedIn; if they display prior work experience on their profile; and if they indicate digital skills on their profile. Wong concluded by saying that LinkedIn has been described by one of its major clients as possessing data that is “the crystal ball into the future of work”. The true meaning of internationalisation Japan’s NUCB Business School currently has 158 international students, according to the dean of external relations, Professor Kenji Yokoyama. As a triple-crown school with AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB accreditation, NUCB has also been able to attract a number of international faculty, including 15 visiting professors comprised of 17 different nationalities. They have corporate experience from organisations that include Vodafone Japan, Verizon Wireless, Mitsubishi UFJ and Toshiba and hail from academic institutions such as Yale, the University of Melbourne and Erasmus. The impact of having triple-crown status is significant according to Yokoyama, who pointed out that the school ranks as number one in Japan for both the global MBA and the executive MBA programmes. NUCB can also count on no fewer than 170 partner schools in almost 60 countries across the world. Research is another area where being triple-accredited is of great value in Yokoyama’s view: he noted that the school’s success rate in terms of assuring grants to aid scientific research has risen from 48 to 52 per cent over the past five years, while the average
success rate hovers between 26 and 28 per cent. The school has also created a Centre for Leadership that specialises in the field of family-run businesses. In addition, NUCB has set up a Case Centre with partner institutions that include Harvard Business Publishing, Insead and Singapore Management University; the centre can count on some 5,528 registered users and covers more than 26,000 business cases. Cultural enrichment programmes and study tours are also on the agenda for students and have previously featured such schools as Barcelona’s Esade, ISM University of Management and Economics in Lithuania, the National University of Singapore and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Deepening societal impact and engagement Dr Anupama Gupta, director of accreditation and rankings at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, described her school as one that prides itself on being socially sensitive, open‑minded, committed to both individual and team excellence and action orientated. She said she believed that the real purpose of business schools should be “to create impact and engage with the wider community.” To this end, the SP Jain Institute has set up a number of societal impact initiatives involving the local community, including the abhyudaya (which Gupta translated from Hindi as “growing together”) mentoring and enrichment programme for underprivileged children, in line with UN sustainable development goal number four, quality education. This is a mandatory one- year course for post-graduate students who act as mentors to school children, known as sitaras , or stars, from low-income neighbourhoods in a one-to-one matching programme. Almost 3,700 mentors have been involved since the programme began in 2008, providing the children with a role model to help them with guidance and skill building; participants report that “their empathy levels have increased and their understanding of urban poverty has improved”, commented Gupta. To date, some 384 sitaras have gone on to study after graduation; they have found employment across a range of industry sectors, including banking, IT, healthcare and hospitality. The SP Jain Institute dean also elaborated on other school initiatives such as the development of the corporate citizenship programme. This offers participants immersive social internships across India and South Asia to engage with grassroots communities and organisations such as the Mena Pad project, which aims to create environmental and social change through revitalising menstrual practices that are environmentally sustainable and culturally responsive. Then there is the post-graduate programme in development management (PGPDM) aimed at professionals intending to work in the social sector, including at NGOs, foundations and social enterprises. Gupta noted that, with 22 cohorts in more than 12 years, PGPDM has impacted 295 organisations across 23 Indian states and numerous alumni are currently serving as founders, heads, trustees and directors in social sector organisations.
Zhongming Wang, Xingyu Chen and Jun Qi discussed how to bolster student employability
| 29 Ambition | FEBRUARY 2024 | 29
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