This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 18, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Graduates of Asia School of Business (ASB), a global business school founded by Bank Negara Malaysia and the US MIT Sloan School of Management in 2015, are trained to solve “real-world business challenges”, on-site, in companies across Asia and beyond.

This training or Action Learning curriculum is provided in more than seven months out of their students’ 20-month master in business administration (MBA) programme, and is a key factor that contributes to their high employability, the school said in a statement.

This has boosted demand for their graduates, with many getting job offers before their convocation. “Graduating students have received job offers from well-known companies such as Amazon, McKinsey, GAP, Facebook, AirAsia, Esquel, Didi, JobStreet and Microsoft, among others,” ASB said.

The statement was issued after its MBA graduates of Class 2019 received their scrolls on Sunday (April 14), at a ceremony graced by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the guest of honour. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by ASB president and dean, Prof Charles Fine.

“We are aware that many employers highlight the skills gap often seen in graduates. As such, we have structured our programme to ensure that our students are prepared for the rigours of entering the workforce in challenging managerial positions,” Fine said.

Moving forward, Fine said the school plans to expand its academic programmes to include a part-time MBA and short courses for executive education.

ASB will also work towards increasing the number of students per intake once its new campus, situated between Sasana Kijang and the Bank Negara headquarters here, is ready next year.