Business schools put accent on fintech and entrepreneurship

Business schools are focusing on financial technology, or fintech, and entrepreneurship to help MBA students apply new skills. This comes as fintech innovations continue to disrupt long-standing financial structures and change the way that traditional financial instruments are used.

Professor Chen Tai-yuan, associate dean (MBA Programs), at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) business school, has noticed MBA students taking a greater interest in the entrepreneurial space. He says this has led to students favouring a combination of a “traditional” MBA programme that incorporates fintech, digital marketing and big data courses. “These are topics that MBA students are looking to gain insights into,” Chen says. “It reflects the change in the current business market place where disruptive technologies are fast becoming the norm.”

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Hong Kong and Shenzhen Report 2016/17, the growth of start-up businesses in the two jurisdictions more than doubled from 2009 to 2016. In mid-2016, early-stage entrepreneurial activity among Hong Kong’s population was estimated to be about 9.4 per cent (3.64 per cent in 2009) and 16 per cent (4.8 per cent in 2009) in Shenzhen. A shift towards entrepreneurial intentions indicates that nearly 60 per cent of Hong Kong’s population have a positive view of start-up opportunities in Hong Kong.

To ensure students are one step ahead, Chen says the business school’s MBA curriculum reflects an increase in the offering of technology disruptive-focused courses, and the business school is strengthening its ties in fintech. In November, the business school and HKUST Entrepreneurship Center jointly hosted the first 24-hour HKUST fintech Hackathon that brought together teams of students and alumni from Hong Kong’s public universities who presented their ideas to technology industry leaders.