The Seoul National University Business School: Managing Global Challenge and Cultural Change

Abstract

The Seoul National University Business School (SNUBS) consists of two sub-organizations, the College of Business Administration (CBA) and the Graduate School of Business (GSB). The former, taking control of undergraduate, master, and doctorate programs, has been the main body of the SNU Business School. The latter, newly established at the dawn of Master of Business Administration (MBA) education in the country, is to manage the "Global MBA" program which is aimed at achieving global recognition in World's business school rankings. As Seoul National University has been administered by the government, faculty and staff were not accustomed to a different type of institution conforming to the North American standard, for example, getting evaluated by the class they taught. A few professors were negative about the new program. However, most of the faculty tried to be positive and proactive about creating new curricula, once they understood the rationale behind the need of MBA education in Seoul National University. As the Global MBA was about to be included in the rankings list, the global competition will be inevitable and ever challenging. If Seoul National University was aimed at reaching number 10 within ten years, the school had far more way to go despite its unique characteristics and strong advantages. To make matters more demanding, competitors from all over the world, particularly Asian institutes, were exerting themselves and going up the ladders rapidly. Considering these changes and challenges, what are the strategic issues and constraints faced by the SNUBS? What have they done in the past and what should they do in the future? What should be given strategic priority? The case will help readers to dive deep into these management questions and analysis.