MASTER IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
(MBA 16)
The Asian Institute of Management was established in 1968 in partnership with Harvard Business School, visionaries of the business community, and Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University. Upon its founding, AIM declared its commitment towards making a difference in sustaining the growth of Asian societies by developing professional, entrepreneurial, and socially responsible leaders and managers. It is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) based on the highest standards developed by deans, faculty, and other thought leaders. Global in scope yet Asian in context, the program maintains a strong core curriculum, an integrative and generalist manager viewpoint, practitioner-oriented teaching tools and methodologies, and a pervading Asian vision.
CORE FOUNDATION (8 MONTHS)
FINISHING (8 MONTHS)
I. Skills Acquisition
An AIM-MBA student stands to gain crucial advantage in three major areas: skills building, accountability, and networking.
a) A solid foundation in the management disciplines would enable them to make decisions with confidence. They will undergo rigorous skills formation in finance, operations, marketing, human resource management, environmental analysis, and strategy the essentials of effective management in any setting.
b) With such skills comes accountability, or a commitmnt to ethical behavior, respect for the environment, and professionalism as applied not only to corporate value chains but also to other societal stakeholders. The students will be exposed to Asian management systems and CSR, and be familiar with institutional, cultural and social nuances of the region.
c) Complementing skills and accountability will be networking. Students will be linked through AIM's international corporate and public sector partners, distinguished alumni network, and key players in the region.
II. Program Content
Because of AIM's preference for the case method, students must process at least three cases and the accompanying readings each day, five days a week, full-time, for almost 16 months.
The 1st eight months
In the first 8 months, students learn 9 basic functional management areas: Managerial Accounting and Control, Macro and Micro Economics, Marketing, Finance, Operations, Quantitative Analysis, Enterprise Development, Communications, and Strategic Management and Ethics.
Students develop skills in the classic business functions, acquire understanding of how people behave in organizations, and build communication skills. They develop critical entrepreneurial, strategic and ethical thinking. Most importantly, they get immersed in the complexities of the different Asian markets
A tradition kept alive since 1968 is the Friday night WAC: students must do an overnight, rigorous analysis of case exercise three out of every four weeks for at least five months. This is to sharpen their skills at communication and working under intense time pressure.
To hone entrepreneurial skills, students undergo continuous exercises in opportunity seeking and innovating in the core course Development of Enterprise (DE). Entrepreneurship is taught as a complement to strategy management not only to stimulate students to explore new external ventures, but also to think about entrepreneurship.
Before the MBA 16 starts, students go through a two-week pre-MBA technical training in accounting and statistics. Students with liberal arts backgrounds or who have little experience in field accounting are strongly urged to attend. As the MBA 16 progresses, alumni and senior class experts conduct evening tutorials on technical knowledge areas, though students are not required to attend these sessions. Students also go on group field projects, games and simulations.
The 2nd eight months
In months 9 through 16 (see Figure 2 and Table 1), the specialization phase, MBA students must complete three major tasks: a two-month action consultancy (AC), a six-unit MRR, and electives. In the AC or internship, students do a two-month, live consultancy exercise with an Asian company. AIM helps students connect to these companies. The AC marks the start of external networking, which extends to the MRR, placement activities, and adjunct faculty electives.
The MRR, a major integrative paper requiring the student to do extensive external enviro-industry analysis, as well as an actual company strategic review, is equivalent to a thesis/dissertation of other masters programs. Like theses, students must defend their MRR in front of a faculty panel. The MRR may be a corporate strategy of an existing company or venture/feasibility study.
Download CORE Courses & Electives Description
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TABLE 1
ELECTIVE COURSES
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Finance
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Marketing
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Entrepreneurship
· Technopreneurship
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Interdisciplinary / General Management
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a. MBA Majors: Students may opt for the general management track or major in one of three areas: Finance, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship. Students MMRRs should correspond to the fields they are majoring. For example, a marketing major MRR must have an actual market research component and detailed product plan. An entrepreneurship major must do either a venture feasibility or live product demonstration. Finance majors must also pass Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 1 exam, or acquire Financial Risk Management (FRM) qualifications.
b. Study Tours: Students can enroll in a study tour cum elective that will take them on a journey to various parts of Asia. In the Islamic Management Study Tour, students go to Malaysia or Indonesia for a weeklong immersion into Malaysian institutions and interactions with Muslim managers and management students.
c. Business Plan Competition: Students with entrepreneurial ideas can participate in the Robert V. Chandran $100,000 business plan competition, which rewards the best student plans with a $100,000 angel investment. Robert Chandran is an AIM MBA 1977 alumnus and the founder of Chemoil Corporation, a US- and Singapore-listed corporation.
d. Student Exchange: Students in the top 40% of the class at the end of the core season are qualified to spend a semester in one of the 35 partner schools in AIM's International Student Exchange Program (ISEP). These schools are located in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Latin America.
e. International Business Games: Students can join the Asian Moot Competition and other international business games that invite AIM such as those of L'Oreal, Thunderbird, and the IIM systems.
III. Program Delivery
About 75% of all GSB classes are conducted using case studies. AIM however is multi-pedagogical. The case method is complemented by the AC programs, outward-bound type exercises, walkabouts, IDEO team projects, field market research, online learning, improvisation acting, games and simulations, and retreats.