I currently work in a Fortune 100 logistic company as an in-house counsel.  Working in the Asia Pacific headquarters, I have exposure to various regional and global projects in addition to involvement with legal matters in two North Pacific markets that our team is responsible for. Before joining the company, I worked in an international law firm’s Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo offices, assisting multinational companies in their investments in China and Japan. While my professional career has been mostly outside of Japan, my education (and upbringing) was predominantly in Japan, with the exception of one-year exchange programme in a Chinese university and one-year Masters of Law programme in the U.S.

Pursuing MBA has been in the back of my mind for a long while. Some have asked why I want to pursue an MBA at the cost of time and money when I already have a legal qualification. It’s a good question. It’s because I believe that becoming a truly successful lawyer requires good understanding of business and management. Working in-house, especially having the experience of managing team members has proven this belief. Of course, one can learn about business and management without an MBA, but it fits well with my learning style, and the convenience and flexibility of HKU part time MBA programme has induced me to act on my belief. I was also attracted by opportunities to meet with like-minded talents with diverse backgrounds.

Something about HKU part time MBA. It has now been three months since the programme started, and the experience has been very positive. Although the programme is no doubt challenging and demanding, the benefits of learning new ideas and acquiring key business knowledge are far bigger. I also found that one advantage of doing MBA while working is an ability to relate much of the classroom learning to work on a real time basis, and vice versa. This is a great motivator. Learning comes not only from inside the classroom but outside – through team discussions on team assignments and conversations over casual get together drinks with fellow classmates. I am grateful for this wonderful opportunity to rediscover the joy in learning and expand my horizons.