Singapore Management University, which was set up just eight years ago with the help of the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania, is to launch a one-year full-time MBA programme. To date the Lee Kong Chian schoool of business at SMU has focused on undergraduate degrees and executive education.

The degree will be offered in direct competition to Insead, the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Business School. As well as the 12-month full-time programme, which will launch in January 2009, a 16-month flexible programme is also being launched in September 2008.