FOR economic transformation to become a reality, there are various factors to be considered: infrastructure development, geopolitical stability, fiscal discipline, health care, to name a few. But the one factor that will crucially determine whether we seize this moment in history as our own or fritter it away is how we deal with our education and that of our children.
The basic tenet of education encompasses not just the teaching of what we know – it passes on as well the culture of a society since it is designed to show how knowledge can be used to construct new ways of combining information as a basis for nation building.
One such institution of learning that attempts to install a culture connecting business to a higher purpose, thereby giving life to its value proposition: “The purpose of business is not only for profits but also for nation building,” is the Ateneo de Manila University (also called Ateneo de Manila or simply “the Ateneo”), a private university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 as the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila.
The Ateneo offers programs in the elementary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate levels, particularly the Ateneo Graduate School in Business (AGSB), the top Philippine school for MBA programs.
When Dr. Alran Bengzon (former Philippine Health Secretary) came in as Dean of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business, he posed the question: “What is so Ateneo about the Ateneo Graduate School of Business?”
The question was propelled by the need to get to the core of what mattered most to the school.
After twelve years, 9 faculty conferences and workshops, plus hundreds of consultation meetings on the school’s understanding of the Jesuit brand and its expression of the Jesuit ideal, the search found its full expression in the Mulat Diwa culture.
The process of creating this culture begins with opening the hearts and minds of the AGSB community to the socio-economic situation that is the context of doing business in the Philippines. With this awareness is the challenge to respond to external and internal situations in order to become instruments for nation building, using the Ignatian ideals of Magis (Excellence), Cura Personalis (Personal Care and Attention) and Simul In Actione Contemplativus (Contemplative even in Action).
Ateneo’s current MBA offerings reflect the trends in management education. For 43 years, it has perfected a curriculum and a methodology for part-time students. As part of the array of choices by the MBA students, there’s the accelerated MBA program in partnership with Regis University, a Jesuit University based in Denver, Colorado which has been offering its own accelerated program for 30 years.
Some of the unique features of the AGSB are: It produced a total of about 6,500 MBA graduates most of whom have reached senior management positions in their work, notable among which is a Philippine president, several cabinet secretaries and leaders of industries.
The AGSB has been ranked Number 1, garnering an average rating of 4.6 out of a possible perfect score of 5.0 based on a comprehensive study of 199 MBA programs in the country by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE). It is likewise a recipient of the Thomas Kennedy award given by New Ventures of Regis University for delivering an excellent accelerated MBA program. Its MBA in Health Program, specifically the Leaders for Health Program, was the recipient of the People Power award by the Benigno Aquino Foundation.
The Ateneo Graduate School of Business offers: (1) Standard MBA Program, which integrates the values of St. Ignatius, the traditions of Jesuit education, and the development of skills attuned to the challenges of the 21st century; (2) The MBA Middle Manager program, designed for senior managers and staff members who occupy supervisory and managerial positions; (3) Ateneo – Regis MBA Program (a partnership between Ateneo de Manila University and Regis University, a recognized Center for Adult Learning in Denver, Colorado, USA.); 4) MBA in Health Program for health professionals and executives determined to keep pace with the latest trends in health care management; (5) AGSB-ESSCA Masters in Management, a 2-year program that allows the student to study and hone his/her skills in 3 countries: the Philippines, France and Hungary; and (6) Master in Entrepreneurship (ME) Program, featuring 3 key innovations: adaptive to needs, seamless education and guru approach.
For those with very limited time to pursue a formal Master’s Degree program because of the demands of work but would desire to further their knowledge about business and leadership, the Ateneo Center for Continuing Education (CCE) provides exceptional adult education facilitated by top notch work place based professionals.
Under the guidance of new AGSB’s Dean Albert Buenviaje, MBA satellite schools continue to expand in growth centers in Iloilo and another one at the First Philippine Industrial Park in Batangas. Existing sites offering MBA programs are in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Lipa City, Clark, and Cebu.
Indeed, with the guiding vision that education is not for personal benefit alone but for the service of others, one gets a powerful paradigm to get things done the Ateneo way – for the greater glory of God, Ad majorem Dei gloriam.
* * *
Prof. Soriano is the CEO of advisoryasia.com, Turnaround Advisor of wongadvisory.com and the Founder of Asia America Policy Institute for Real Estate Studies. He is the Chairman of the Marketing Cluster at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. For comments please check his Facebook account or email writer at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
