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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the management competencies required by a Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduate to succeed as a global business manager in an increasingly competitive business environment in Asia.

This paper analyzes the differences in management competencies of nearly 600 MBA students from 13 universities in Thailand and Hong Kong. In the questionnaire, the MBA students are asked to indicate the levels of the management competencies which they have gained from studying the MBA program.

The findings indicate that the work competency of the Hong Kong MBA students is significantly higher than the Thai MBA students. The levels of interpersonal competency do not, however, differ significantly between the Thai and Hong Kong students. The findings also show that there are significant relationships between the background variables, e.g. job title and cultural values – namely individual success and social power – and work and interpersonal competencies.

To improve the value of the MBA programs in Thailand, business schools will need to put more emphasis on the work competencies in their curricula. More workshops that actively stimulate work competencies must be emphasized in the Thai MBA programs.

The study of management competencies in Asia representing Thailand and Hong Kong is rare. New management development approaches are proposed for business schools to train their business students to become world‐class global managers.