How Western Business Schools Should Play Asia

Asia is where the growth is, so B-schools need to prepare their MBAs for an Asia-centric future. Here are a few things smart B-schools can do to keep up

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By Anil K Gupta

November 2, 2009 at 9:12 PM UTC

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As the ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky astutely noted, one should "skate to where the puck will be, not where it is now." In management education, the puck is moving rapidly toward Asia. Western business schools that do not figure out how to play the Asia game effectively run a serious risk of ending up as regional players.

Consider a few facts: Asia today accounts for over a quarter of the world's gross domestic product and is growing at more than twice the pace of other regions. Within two decades it will constitute almost half of the world's GDP and be larger than the U.S. and Europe combined. Asia is also becoming more Asian. Intra-Asia trade presently accounts for about 54% of all cross-border trade by Asian countries. By 2025 this figure will be closer to 75%.