Masters of business excellence
ESTABLISHED IN 1968 by a group of professionals that aspired to measure up business education standards after the second world war, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) continues to develop its next generation of trailblazers and managers through specialized degree and non-degree programs.
The Washington SyCip Graduate School of Business ( WSGSB), for one, keeps alive its namesake’s advocacy for the professionalization of management. This is also in line with the hopes of honing capable and socially responsible managers for international business.
Through fostering an interactive and heuristic approach of learning, AIM is said to yield dedicated and excellent managers. It espouses a case method, a technique shared with Harvard Business School. The case method tends to highlight the students’ analytical and decision-making skills, unlike common lectures that revolve around theory.
It passes on expertise, Ricardo A. Lim, former AIM dean, stated in a previous interview with BusinessWorld. “Knowledge changes over time; it’s quickly obsolete. However, the skills of a manager, whether it’s motivating people, finding the right successor, negotiating with tough suppliers, figuring out the best financial deal, or having to manage your boss, peers, and subordinates — these are forever.”
Meanwhile, former president of AIM Steven J. DeKrey also noted, “Our case method gives us immediate interaction with companies as we write and develop cases for the region. The case method assumes that students are not passive absorbers of information. They are expected to give their inputs and perspectives in each class.”
He added that AIM boasts of its broad network of linkages with other educational institutions and businesses that enable internships with top firms, global exchange programs, self- directed projects, and theses on administering actual organizations.
Part of the learning experience at WSGSB is its Asian relevance where it shares with its students the region’s diverse cultural heritage, business systems, governance and regulatory structures that may help them in their training as Asian managers.
Apart from that, the institution boasts of its culturally and professionally diverse faculty. In a 2013 report, it stated that 20% of AIM’s professors come from China, the United States, India, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom, with plans of increasing the numbers yearly.
Not only are its staff becoming more international, but its students too. At the AIM campus situated along Paseo De Roxas Avenue in Makati, one could observe a multitude of nationalities as it is both multinational and multicultural.
WSGSB’s International Student Exchange Program ( ISEP) embraces an international experience and encourages students to spend a term in one of AIM’s premier partner learning institutions in Australia, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Students from partner school could likewise study at AIM for a brief time enabling multicultural encounters at the school.
Besides being the first academic institution in Southeast Asia to receive accreditation from the US- based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business ( AACSB) based on the world’s highest international standards, AIM also has one of the largest and most influential networks in the region. It currently has over 40,000 alumni in the private, public, academic, and multilateral sectors.
In 1995, AIM was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding due to meeting region- wide standards for quality and relevance in coaching Asian managers for the growth of the region. AIM was also given the 1st Award for Business School Innovation in Social Impact Management from biennial survey and alternative ranking of business schools, Beyond Grey Pinstripes.
“Because of the training in the case method, students here learn to learn. They learn to accept that they will never know everything, and they will forever be learning,” said Mr. Lim. –