By Daniel Van Houtte (Dec. 26, 2006)
Dan Houtte, Vuong & Partners

Vietnamese students want to reach international standard in terms of education program and at the same time be able to stay in Vietnam in order to maintain their positions in the current Vietnamese society. The demand cannot be satisfied by domestic program for the moment.

They want to learn the best management practice from senior professors with huge academical and professional experiences in different public or private organizations. Face to face learning remains the best way to take into profit the knowledge of the experts who must have a lot of flexibility in order to fit the high expectation of the participants.

We do not believe anymore in one way teaching concept where the professors transmit all their knowledge to the participants. The class room must be considered as a space of exchange in which every students will have the opportunity to bring his own contribution to the audience.

Case study, based on real life, associated with groupwork assignment complete this philosophy in order to develop leadership, decision-making skill for everyone.

Vietnamese student have really short training objective, they want to be operational as soon as possible in terms of management responsibilities. They have to learn that the Master program is only a starting point not an end in their life: it is only the beginning of their business experiences.

More than the content of the lecture, they learn how to behave in a changing world: the concept must be seen as a toolbox to apprehend the challenges of the business. Priority is given to the understanding of the concept, memorization remains the exception.

Critical analysis, based on summary, is also one of the key point of the Master program. Market economy is based on individual responsibilities and choices. The starting point of any successful business is to know who is the owner of what and who is responsible of what.

At undergraduate level, you understand the concept and duplicate it; at Master level you must be able to apply it in a new context.

In Market economy, we have winners and losers, it is important to assess the current situation taking into account the challenges and opportunities related to the globalization of the world economy. Our society is not a jungle; solidarity is a must in order to avoid social unrest and /or political instability. The Master graduated must be aware of their social responsibilities in their own society.

Vietnamese participants want to learn the success but also the failure of the western system. Their responsibility remains to find original solution to their business environment taking into account the domestic economical, social and political context.

They sometimes forgot that it is Vietnam who joins the world economy and not the opposite: there won’t be any exception in terms of international standard when Vietnam will be fully integrated.

The aim of Master program is to raise the awareness of the participants to the challenges of the Vietnamese integration and to bring international standards to them in terms of best practice.

In a globalized world, the winner will be the one able to share information and take profit of the different opportunities with a long-term vision of partnership. At the international level, transparency becomes a key element in business development.

Sharing information means being able to present information in an understandable manner reaching international standard.
Presentation skills become compulsory in order to be able to transmit directly important messages to the customers or shareholders.

After graduation most of the students are promoted or move to another job, the degree seems very important to that aspect. Master degree is valuable for all your life if they go on to study and renew their knowledge: business and management standards are changing at a fast speed. The one not able to follow the evolution of the best practice in his field will lose most of the learning from his study.

Maintaining the Master level means challenging everyday our knowledge in a changing world. Being aware of the business news and information at the international level remains a key point to that aspect.

In others words, if there is no commitment to maintain the spirit of mind and knowledge at international standard, the degree will become useless.

Many graduated students want to start Ph.D. study; we do not give incentive to apply for it because it is not the objective of the program. Master program is professional oriented, based on strong academic curriculum, but not designed to prepare for the academical career.

In conclusion, Master program may lead to international standard in terms of management and business if Vietnamese consider it as a starting point and not a final step in their professional career. Only a competitive and open environment will help them to apply the theoretical knowledge in their current and future professional environment. The degree gives them the key to the success but without a dynamic behavior, the business results will remain modest and even the most prestigious degree may become useless in a globalized world. Foreign professors or experts open the door to the knowledge, only hard working and innovative students will be able to transfer it to their environment. Without that commitment based on the merit, the degree will be used only for decoration purpose in their living room and not to lead the graduated students to the business success.

About the author: Daniel Van Houtte is currently teaching at Solvay Business School's MBA programs in Vietnam.