Despite huge demand for business education from students in Asia, Harvard Business School (HBS) does not plan to open fully fledged campuses in the region, the school’s new dean told the Wall Street Journal in an interview Monday.
A native of India, Nitin Nohria became the first non-North American born dean of HBS when he assumed the role last month. He is known for championing the idea of a global 21st century, and one of his first actions as HBS dean was to embark upon a trip around the world, including several stops in Asia. But according to his interview with WSJ’s Duncan Mavin, HBS’s strategy for the future does not include opening an Asian campus.
“I don’t think that is necessary and nor do we have the ambition to do that,” he told the WSJ. “We’re in the business of chasing knowledge and not chasing demand.” Instead, research centers and executive-education programs throughout Asia will let the U.S. school maintain a “small physical footprint” while enjoying the benefits of a “very large intellectual footprint,” Nohria said.
Amid staggering growth in demand for business education from students in Asia, some other business schools are considering opening overseas campuses. Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, for example, has expressing interest in opening a school in India, according to the WSJ report.
But according to Nohria, HBS has already taken significant steps to remain aligned with the global economy. For example, the school now incorporates more than 100 Chinese case studies and 70 Indian case studies into its curriculum, up from just a couple two decades ago. He also noted that 40 percent of all of HBS’s students now come from outside of the United States, though there are no deliberate plans to increase that figure.
“Should that mix be 50% or 60%? We should always remain fundamentally a meritocracy,” he told the WSJ. “That’s been a great strength of American educational institutions. I’m proof of that. If the student body becomes more international that’s because that’s what the best students in the world look like. It’s not like we have targets.”
For the full WSJ article, click here.
Read the full article: Harvard Business School Won’t Expand Physical Footprint in Asia, New Dean Says