Business schools in Asia are courting professors in the U.S. with the prospect of doing leading research work as the schools aim to strengthen the credibility of their graduate programs.

As business schools in Asia work aggressively to become brand names in business education, their dominant strategy has been targeting and recruiting Western-trained professors. Deans at those schools say nabbing 'star' professors is critical for building clout in the research world and subsequently attracting the brightest students to their graduate programs.

When Xu Bin accepted a three-month teaching stint at China Europe International Business School, CEIBS, in 2003, he had no plans to abandon his tenured position at the University of Florida's Warrington School of Business. Instead, Prof. Xu saw the visiting professorship as a change of pace and a chance to spend time in Shanghai, where he grew up.

But while there, the professor of economics and finance was struck by the quality of the students and the rhythm of the city life. At the same time, CEIBS's dean made an attractive full-time offer -- a competitive pay package, three months rent-free in a two-story house close to the school and plenty of opportunities for research about emerging markets. Prof. Xu took the job.

'The school really values high quality, bilingual faculty,' says Prof. Xu, who left Florida to join CEIBS in the fall of 2004. 'Our scarcity makes the university treat us well.'

Prof. Xu is part of a growing number of mostly foreign-born U.S. business school professors being lured overseas by more competitive salaries than schools abroad have ever been able to offer, lighter course loads, the promise of more time research and direct-access to emerging economies.

The defections are adding to a problem American b-schools have faced for the better part of the past decade: a shortage of business Ph.D.s to teach the 100,000-plus students who enroll in graduate-level business programs each year. Over the past two decades, many U.S. schools trimmed down or shuttered business Ph.D. programs, resulting in fewer professors entering the market. Bernie Milano, president of the KPMG Foundation and the PhD project -- a program designed to bring more diversity to business school faculty -- says international students are a major contingent in U.S. Ph.D. programs and in junior faculty slots.

'As international schools offer more lucrative opportunities for students, U.S. schools are no longer training Ph.D. students to stay here,' Mr. Milano says. 'The top [U.S.] schools have the financial and reputation resources to never feel it. But it's the flagship state schools that will have to make difficult decisions.'

While most elite schools haven't had trouble retaining faculty, many local and regional players are more vulnerable. Alex Sevilla, assistant dean and director at University of Florida's M.B.A. program, says talent at many schools is being poached similarly to the way top managers at Fortune 500 companies are picked off. He says schools like his have the same caliber of faculty, but sometimes aren't as well-known globally, which makes them more vulnerable.

The average base salary for business professors at 30 elite business schools is $153,000 for new doctorates in nine-month contracts, according to Dan LeClair, vice president and chief knowledge officer of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Across all schools, the average full-time business-school faculty salary in 2009 was about $111,000, according to AACSB. That figure makes it easier for Asian schools to compete, and international schools are also able to gain traction with summer research stipends and better or less expensive health-care options, he says.

AACSB doesn't track compensation for business schools abroad. But Mr. LeClair said that based on his experience, a new doctorate going to a highly ranked private business school in Europe might earn the equivalent of $125,000 and receive public health care. A similarly ranked school in Asia might draw $90,000 salary and offer housing, he added.

While Asian schools are able to offer competitive pay packages for the living standard in the region, it's not just the pay package that makes it hard for faculty to resist the lure of a foreign post. At CEIBS, star professors are offered lighter teaching loads and extra Executive M.B.A. courses for more pay, says Lydia Price, dean of CEIBS. Ms. Price regularly scouts potential recruits, tracking target professors' research and momentum -- sometimes for years, before making an offer.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, HKUST, is currently raising money to create 10 new chair positions, in fields like marketing and entrepreneurship, specifically to attract star faculty from the West, says Steve DeKrey, a former assistant dean at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management who was hired to help build the school's M.B.A. program. Mr. DeKrey, a senior associate dean at HKUST, says he was attracted to HKUST by its scholarly focus, collegial environment and lucrative vacation allowance of more than two months.

Hiring someone like Mr. DeKrey from a brand-name U.S. or European business school is an asset in attracting faculty and students. Ms. Price of CEIBS says her background as an American and the fact that she was a marketing professor at INSEAD, an international business school with campuses in France and Singapore, has helped her tremendously when it comes to recruiting faculty.

亚洲的商学院正用前来进行重要研究工作这一前景来吸引美国的教授，希望以此加强学院研究生项目的声誉。

亚洲商学院正积极大力地采取措施，争取在商业教育界打响名号，它们的主要策略一直以来都是吸引并聘请接受过西方教育的教授。这些商学院的院长们说，招募到“明星”教授对于学院在学术界确立影响力有着至关重要的作用，又能为研究生项目吸引到最具潜力的学生。

经济学和金融学教授许斌在2003年答应在中欧国际工商学院(CEIBS)任教三个月时，并没有打算放弃在佛罗里达大学(University of Florida)沃灵顿商学院(Warrington School of Business)的终身职位。他只是将这种访问教授的身份看作是对生活节奏的调整，也是一个能够在家乡上海生活一段时间的机会。

不过在上海任教的那段时间里，他被学生的素质以及上海的城市生活节奏所打动。同时，中欧国际工商学院的院长为挽留他成为这里的全职教授，也开出了极富吸引力的条件──富有竞争力的薪酬、三个月免费租住学校附近一栋二层楼房以及大量研究新兴市场的机会。最后许斌接受了这份工作。

许斌说，“这所学校的确很重视高素质、会双语的老师，物以稀为贵使得学校十分优待我们这样的人。”许斌2004年秋天离开佛罗里达，成为中欧国际工商学院的一员。

如今，越来越多的美国商学院教授被海外学校所吸引，他们多数在美国国外出生。许斌便是其中的一个。其他海外学校难以比拟的薪酬、更加轻松的教学任务、有更多时间进行研究的许诺以及对新兴经济体更加直接的接触，这些都充满了诱惑。

这种流失加剧了美国商学院在过去十年间的多数时间里所面临的一个问题：面对研究生级别的商学院项目每年有超过十万名的新生入学，却没有足够多的商学博士来教他们。过去二十年间，许多美国学校缩减或是停办了商学博士项目，这使得社会上的教授数量进一步减少。毕马威 (KPMG) 基金会和博士项目──该项目旨在为商学院引入更多类型的师资──主席伯尼•米拉诺(Bernie Milano)说，留学生目前是美国博士学位项目和初级教员队伍的主要群体。

米拉诺说，“由于国外的学校为学生提供了更加丰厚的条件，因此美国学校教出来的博士生不再会留下来。一流的（美国）学校拥有经济和品牌资源，因而不会意识到这一问题，不过一流的州立大学将不得不做出艰难的抉择。”

尽管大多数精英学校在留住教师的问题上没遇到什么麻烦，许多区域性学校可是首当其冲。佛罗里达大学MBA项目的院长助理兼董事亚历克斯•塞维亚(Alex Sevilla)说，许多学校的人才被挖走的方式就像是《财富》杂志五百强企业的优秀经理人被挖走的方式。他说，一些类似佛罗里达大学的学校有着同等的教师水平，只是可能在世界上不够知名，它们就更加容易面临这个难题。

国际精英商学院协会(AACSB)副总裁兼首席信息长丹•莱科拉尔(Dan LeClair)说，30所精英商学院为具有博士学位的新入职商学教授开出的九个月合同期底薪平均为15.3万美元。据该协会的数据，从所有学校范围来看，商学院全职教师2009年的平均工资大约为11万美元。他说，这一数字令亚洲学校在竞争中更加容易具有优势，海外学校还可以通过提供夏季研究津贴以及提供更好或是更低廉的医保来增加吸引力。

AACSB并不追踪国外商学院的薪酬情况。不过莱科拉尔说，依据他的经验，一个刚获得博士学位的人到排名靠前的欧洲私立商学院任教，可能会拿到相当于12.5万美元的薪资，并享受医保。他还说，排名差不多相同的亚洲商学院可能会开出9万美元的工资，同时还解决住房。

虽说亚洲的学校能提供与该地区生活水平相比具有竞争力的薪酬，但令老师们难以抗拒海外职位诱惑的不仅仅在于此。中欧国际工商学院MBA学术主任白诗莉(Lydia Price)说，该校明星教授所分配到的教学任务更加轻松，还能执教酬劳更丰厚的EMBA课程。白诗莉定期物色合适的老师人选，在最终发出邀请前她会观察目标人士的研究活动和潜能，有时甚至会观察好几年。

香港科技大学(HKUST) 商学院高级副院长戴启思(Steve DeKrey)说，该校目前正在筹集资金增加10个新的教授职位，涉及营销和创业等领域，专门用来吸引西方的优秀教师。戴启思曾是西北大学(Northwestern University)凯洛格管理学院(Kellogg School of Management)的助理院长，如今被聘请至香港科技大学负责其MBA项目。他说，香港科技大学对学术的重视、校园环境以及两个多月不菲的的休假津贴吸引了他。

聘请到像戴启思这样曾任职于知名欧美商学院的人对于今后吸引更多的老师和学生大有裨益。中欧国际工商学院的白诗莉说，她的美国人身份以及曾担任欧洲工商管理学院(INSEAD)营销教授的经历对她招募人才有很大的帮助。欧洲工商管理学院是一所国际性商学院，在法国和新加坡设有分校。