PSB Academy banks on quality and pedigree

Its programmes ready graduates for real-world challenges.

Who would have thought that a national productivity board would one day become one of Singapore’s largest and most prestigious educational institutions? PSB Academy, which has programmes included in the Top 20 of SBR’s Largest MBA Programmes Rankings, has that distinction. PSB Academy’s roots can be traced to the Productivity Unit of the Economic Development of the Productivity and Standards Board of Singapore (PSB) back in 1964.“In 1972, a time when ‘productivity’ was the buzz word, the National Productivity Board (NPB) was established,” says PSB Academy CEO Evan Law.

“With this development, the small Productivity Unit grew to become Management Services Supervisory Development Division under NPB, and was tasked to raise productivity levels in the workforce. This was the beginning of what we know today as PSB Academy,” he adds. Today, PSB Academy has over 10,000 local and international students pursuing more than 60 academic programmes.

Award-winning faculty & programmes
Law points out that the academy’s MBA programmes are taught by faculty members “who are leaders in their fields, who have been awarded national and international prizes for teaching, creativity, research and scholarship and have held visiting scholar positions at the world’s foremost institutions.”
“So students can be sure that their teachings are underpinned by worldclass research, unmatched knowledge, experience, and passion to approaching and
solving real-world business problems,” he says.

He says their students receive holistic training, in turn gaining both academic achievement and successful careers. In addition to international faculty, PSB
Academy also has over 600 academic staff to ensure academic and programme rigour. The institution offers Master of Business Administration programmes from the United Kingdom’s University of Nottingham and Australia’s University of Newcastle, which ranked 13 and 19, respectively, in SBR’s Largest MBA Programmes Rankings.

University of Nottingham’s MBA programmes come in two tracks – general and finance. The General MBA covers all business disciplines and helps students focus on management areas that are relevant to their work and career. The Nottingham Finance MBA, on the other hand, offers specialist modules in finance and accounting, in addition to covering key business disciplines. It is specially designed for people working in or aspiring to work in the financial services sector.

“The Nottingham MBA programmes aim to provide instruction in the creation, operation and management of business  in the private and public sectors,” Law says. “Modules are carefully designed to develop skills in essential areas of management.” Meanwhile, the Newcastle MBA looks into contemporary principles and standards of critical reasoning and management. It allows participants to work well in the international business community with cross-cultural
sensitivity and awareness.

“The MBA programme is designed to provide students with a range of analytic, strategic and leadership skills which will prepare them for increasingly competitive careers in business management in the corporate and public sectors,” Law adds.

Success rate 
The PSB Academy CEO says the school’s programmes stress concepts and theories that allow students to deal with real-world scenarios. “Our classes are made up of students of different profiles so that this allows students to share varied perspectives and industry insights when they discuss case studies, projects and real life situations,” he says.

It is not surprising that its 2013 graduate and employment survey* showed that more than 94 percent of PSB Academy’s graduates were employed while 60 percent received a pay raise or promotion after their graduation.

Law says their “distinctive approach to the course structure responds directly to the results-oriented demands of today’s workplace while satisfying academic rigour. Our aims are for our graduates to achieve both the confidence and competence to achieve the results in their personal and professional lives.”