December 6, 2022. Shanghai – On December 5-6, the CEIBS Case Center held the second Case Master Development Camp of 2022, employing a hybrid model at CEIBS Shanghai Campus that allowed for both online and offline participation. A total of 139 teachers from 81 schools and universities across China participated in the event.

In his welcome speech, CEIBS Case Center Director and Professor of Accounting Chen Shimin provided a briefing on case teaching and development at CEIBS while updating participants on the development of the Global Platform of China Cases (ChinaCases.Org). CEIBS develops some 100 cases per year, which are used not only at CEIBS but also by some of the world’s most prestigious business schools. Harvard Business Publishing’s case library has included some 80 CEIBS cases to date, while 140 have been included by Ivey Publishing and 380 by the Case Centre.

While running the Global Contest for the Best China-focused Cases, ChinaCases.Org has established strategic partnerships with numerous leading institutions. It now houses more than 2,400 high-quality cases, serving 4,700 teachers from 55 schools and universities in China, and continues to reach more institutions through multi-channel promotions. Annual training programmes such as the Case Master Development Camp and the Case Co-creation Community provide teachers with a platform for communication and learning, further bolstering case teaching and development efforts.

During the two-day event, CEIBS faculty members, including Professor of Entrepreneurship Wang Taiyuan, Professor of Marketing Zhou Dongsheng, Professor of Accounting Chen Shimin, and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Daniel Chng, along with CEIBS Case Development Team Leader Dr. Zhao Liman, shared their wealth of experience on designing, developing and organizing case studies across various fields.

Prof. Wang demonstrated the SMILE (Story, Model, Impact, Logic & Engaged) model for classroom case teaching using a short case study on the transformation of a Spanish restaurant. He then conducted sample classes using the Harvard case "S’well: The Mass Market Decision” and his own case “Transsion Holdings: Leveraging Disruption in Emerging Markets". The classes involved participants in designing a case teaching plan for EMBA students that employs the SMILE model. Under his guidance, participants gained first-hand experience of how to effectively organize case teaching.

Prof. Zhou showcased the case teaching process with his two case studies, "Hope Noah: Is All-Inclusive Pricing an Effective Strategy for the Medical Tourism Industry?" and "Orange Dental: Where Kids Enjoy Dentistry." Well-structured and subject-focused, both case studies require students to make crucial decisions as they navigate dilemmas. Using "Yes or No" questions from the different decision-making stages, Prof. Zhou guided participants in observing each decision-making point from multiple perspectives to provide a complete picture of how to organize a class with open-ended questions. The course culminated with appearances by the founders of the two case companies, whose insights further deepened participants’ understanding of the case subjects and their decisions.

Using the case teaching method, Prof. Chen led participants in identifying the differences between corporate strategies and business models through three financial statements. He also shared his experience of case teaching, development, and reviews while analysing the features of inductive and deductive methods of case teaching. He also provided valuable suggestions on case development and publication based on ChinaCases.Org’s selection criteria.

Drawing on his personal experiences in teaching and developing cases, Prof. Chng made comparisons between business schools in the East and West regarding the preferences of faculty and students for case studies. He also analyzed the difficulties that different case studies may have during the teaching process, while assisting the audience in exploring the connection between case development and academic research.

In her presentation, Dr. Zhao Liman cited two award-winning cases from the Global Contest for the Best China-focused Cases, namely, "Chasm Security: Facing the Technology Start-up’s Dilemmas" and "Daddy Lab: A Chinese Social Enterprise’s Dilemma." She detailed how she applied fast and slow thinking as well as various techniques throughout the case development process. This spanned selecting the case topic, finding and communicating with the target company, designing questions for discussion, and employing induction and deduction. In addition, she elaborated on the three pairs of relationships between case development and teaching.

 

 

 

 Wang Yongjian   Guangdong University of Technology

 

"Case teaching is not about telling the story of a company, but about engaging students through a well-designed process and working with them to generalize relevant knowledge from the case study."

 

 

 

 Li Sifei   Beijing Foreign Studies University

 

"The camp provided a lot of valuable insights into case teaching and development. It allowed me to gain a clearer understanding of the essentials and key components of case teaching, sharpen my skills in scheduling and organizing classes, broaden my thinking on case writing, and instilled in me a holistic view of practice/problem-oriented case development."

 

 

 

 Zhang Ke   Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance

 

"First, it provided an explicit explanation of case teaching and development, and better prepared us for applying this in practice. Second, it delivered feasible plans and hands-on methods for case teaching. Third, it detailed the nature and significance of case teaching and development from multiple perspectives, paving the way for even a green hand to get on board based on his or her individual situation. Participating in the camp has been a great honour, and I would like to extend many thanks to CEIBS!"

 

Since 2016, CEIBS has organized 20 classes under the Case Master Development Camp initiative, attracting nearly 1,400 teachers from 313 schools and universities across more than 20 countries and regions around the world. In the future, the CEIBS Case Center will organize more training on case teaching to further promote the teaching and development of China-themed cases.

Writer：Pan Bin  Editor：Michael Donald Thede

The latest cohort to join the CEIBS Global EMBA (GEMBA) programme formally started their learning journey in late November with their opening module at our Shanghai campus!

As with previous years, the GEMBA 2022 class is drawn from a highly diverse mix of backgrounds. From biotech to banking, from digital technology to manufacturing, from mining to medical devices, the executives of this class bring with them a wealth of unique perspectives and hard-won industry experience.

Read on for an introduction to some of our newest CEIBS Global EMBAs!

Class profile

While business schools across China have experienced a challenging year due to the impact of COVID, the CEIBS Global EMBA programme has still managed to bring together a highly diverse class of seasoned executives drawn from a broad range of countries and regions, industries and job functions.

Our newest class has the highest seniority and most extensive professional experience in the Global EMBA programme’s history. Individually, they are highly accomplished executives, but together they hold a wealth of academic, professional and managerial experience greater than the sum of their parts.

Meet GEMBA 2022

A wealth of Chinese companies are searching for the best ways to export their products and services to international markets, and many look to Google for help support their overseas ventures and branches. As head of customer onboarding at the global search giant, Portia Chang ensures that Google fully understands the needs, circumstances and both short and long-term business objectives of their new clients. With her extensive background working in different countries – including the UK, Sweden, Hungary, The Netherlands and Australia – Portia is used to learning from a multinational, multi-industry class.

Portia Chang
Head of Customer Onboarding
Google China

“Genuine curiosity about the state of the world led me to choose the CEIBS Global EMBA programme. We’re living in uncertain times, and I want to be able to connect the dots so I can better understand and help our clients. I don’t advise them on day-to-day activities; I provide them a high-level overview and insights into what is happening in the world right now and help them navigate through the ambiguity. I’m also a big believer in the ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ mentality; I want to find out what I don’t know, and address any gaps in a more systematic way. I’m coming to GEMBA with an open mind and I can’t wait to see what my classmates and professors will teach me.”

A Ukrainian national, Iryna Huryn is responsible for the import operations for a major Ukrainian supermarket chain sourcing products mainly from China. Based in Yiwu, known as the ‘world’s capital of small commodities’, Iryna deals with the sourcing and logistical handling of thousands of SKUs every day, a task made even more demanding by the continuing conflict in her homeland. At the same time, she is an entrepreneur and investor in a small baking supplies manufacturing business. Keen to get to grips with both the business fundamentals and self-discovery elements of the programme, Iryna is preparing herself to lead her company into a new phase of operations.

Iryna Huryn
GM for International Operations
Avrora Multimarket

“We’re growing very fast; eight years ago we had 40 supermarkets within the group, now we have 800 operational outlets. If you’re part of a fast-growing business, you have to grow even faster. We’re getting ready for our IPO and I want to ensure I’m as prepared for that as possible in terms of my business leadership and my day-to-day capabilities in such a fast-faced industry. I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with my peers and being challenged by them, as I believe that there’s always more to discover about yourself – the more you dig, the more you find!”

Chris Lang graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering back in 2002, and after working for 20 years he is thrilled to join the GEMBA class of 2022. He didn’t go into the engineering field, but he enjoys taking difficult challenges and becomes a highly pragmatic, hands-on problem solver. Over the years, he maintained an ambition to attend business school to advance his personal development and career path. Chris has experienced a few major M&As with his current company and is leading a new team heading in a new direction. Chris is eager for the challenge of the GEMBA programme and looking forward to being an active participant to learn and share the experience.

Christopher Lang
VP, China GM
XPERI Corp

"There is never a dull moment at work, there are always new challenges and new learnings. Change is the only constant in life, so I embrace changes and keep an open mind to all things. I want to better prepare myself when facing the uncertainties and always want to be part of a great institution that can stimulate new perspectives and broaden my horizons. With a classroom with diversified backgrounds and professions, I am prepared to share my own experience and start another adventurous journey together."

From doctor to clinical researcher to chief medical officer of a dynamic biotech company working on new anti-cancer drugs, Johannes Nippgen has had a varied and interesting career to date. Today he leads the development team at IONOVA Life Science - an expanding pre-IPO biotech firm with 200 staff - working on the clinical research side. Due to his scientific background, Johannes is eager to gain a firmer grounding of business fundamentals while also keeping an eye out for opportunities to learn from the innovations of other industries.

Johannes Nippgen
Chief Medical Officer
IONOVA Life Science

“I’ve spent the first half of my professional life in the scientific field, but my increasing responsibilities have more to do with securing funding and discussing the commercial elements that impact the science we do. There are a lot of ‘scientist CEOs’ and C-suite executives in positions like mine, lacking the business background, vocabulary, etc., as with many of the people in the same boardroom. I joined Global EMBA programme to take the next step in my lifelong learning, and make sure I have everything I need to properly express my understanding of any situation in either the lab or the boardroom. It’s going to be great to learn from people of different industries, different cultures. In biotech, you can make a real difference by being innovative, and being innovative often means looking beyond what’s right in front of you.”

Working under the umbrella of Fosun, one of the largest conglomerates in China, Hainan Mining is mainly engaged in nature resource exploration, development and production of iron ore, crude oil and natural gas and commodity trading with assets located in Australia, Malaysia and China. For David Teng, now is the right time to learn from others working outside of his industry, to better assess the risks, opportunities and strategies relevant to his company’s immediate and long-term future.

David Teng
Co-president, Hainan Mining
Chairman, ROC oil

“I knew I was looking for a programme that could give me a systematic, comprehensive understanding of management and business fundamentals, but I also wanted to be in the classroom with a very diverse group of people. Our teams are multinational, I’m involved in a lot of outbound M&A activity, so it’s important to get a broader perspective of what is going on in global business. A global mindset is essential for China’s future, so it’s essential for me. Equally, I want to explore the difference between managing people and actively leading them, and how to do both of these things better.”

AK Medical Holdings is the leading company in China for the production of artificial joints (medical devices) and #1 in China for artificial joint implants. Famous for its 3D-printing technology, AK makes both standardised and custom joints on a vast scale, and is expanding quickly into the wider Asian, European and South American markets. It is a demanding time for VP Shelly Zhao, as the rapid changes of her industry necessitate a flexible mindset and firm grasp of how the most influential trends are likely to develop. Accordingly, she’s looking to prepare herself for the future, by finding out what her peers in other industries are thinking, and how they are planning ahead.

Shelly Zhao
Board Director
VP of AK Medical Holdings

“I learned the theory of business management at university but at the time I didn’t fully understand how it should be best applied to the real world. It makes sense after years of industry experience, but things are changing fast. I need a deeper understanding of what is really happening right now, and the best way to do that is to be around brilliant people who can tell me what I need to know!”

As the head of a Chinese technology company headquartered in Turkey, Onur Yavuz used to be a part of an innovation office in China to achieve cooperation in cross-borders which is designed as a bridge between Asia and Europe. This made CEIBS a natural choice for Onur, especially after receiving glowing recommendations from several of his countrymen who are GEMBA alumni. ATP China leads the technology of Burger King China, from POS devices and menu displays to in-store advertising and customer service, both the hardware and software needed by frontline and back office staff to carry out their daily operations. This multifaceted role requires a deft touch combined with determined decision-making. To make better decisions, to better lead a growing multinational team, Onur is looking forward to seeing how his peers in other industries manage both their common and unique challenges.
 

Onur Yavuz
CEO
ATP China

“I really feel like I’m going back to school, and it’s so exciting! I’ve not been in a formal learning setting since 2008, so for much of my career I feel I’ve been learning on the fly. This is good for mental agility purposes, but I don’t want to constantly reinvent the wheel; I want to learn from the best minds in business and academia, and take those lessons back with me. I’ve already experienced this in several ‘tryout’ courses at CEIBS and every time I loved the setting and learning atmosphere. I got the right feeling about the people; the professors and peers have so many unique perspectives to share. I know I can learn, share and contribute in class, and subsequently get out as much I plan to put in.”

Wendy Zhu enjoys working at Credit Agricole China. She loves the challenge of the often complex and unpredictable waters of global finance, and is looking forward to seeing how her classmates are responding to similar challenges in their own industries. She is particularly excited at the thought of putting her leadership skills and capabilities to the test. More broadly, she aims to expand her academic credentials while solidifying her more formal understanding of different sectors.

Wendy Zhu
Head of Global Markets
Credit Agricole China

“We live busy, often hectic lives, and it’s hard to look up from what you’re doing. I came to GEMBA to get a better sense of myself and what I can achieve next. Studying is something that inspires me, especially if I’m doing it alongside like-minded peers who have the same drive to learn and improve. I specifically chose the Global EMBA programme at CEIBS because I had read about the diversity of its classes. I’m happy that there’s near-parity on gender representation, because we need top female leaders in every sector. I want to be inspired to reach as high as I can go, and that’s the example I want to set for my daughter.”

Congratulations and a big welcome to the Global EMBA class of 2022!

Writer：Tom Murray  Editor：Effy He and Michael Thede

December 7, 2022. Shanghai – Building organisational resilience is key to thriving in a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) world, according to views shared by CEIBS faculty during the Pudong International Talent Hub Forum held today.

Co-organised by Shanghai’s Pudong District government and CEIBS, the forum is an annual gathering of experts, scholars, business leaders and human resource executives from leading companies which come together to exchange views on the latest talent strategies and trends related to international talent development in Pudong.

In his opening remarks, CEIBS President (European) Dominique Turpin noted that every organisation needs three key elements to thrive: meaningful purpose, capital and talent.

“Most companies collapse or fail because they don’t have the right people or leadership, as products and strategies are made by people. Therefore, talent is the most valuable factor in competition,” President Turpin told the audience.

Having they said, he further pointed out the importance of detecting, developing and retaining talent.

“Retention is the most challenging, as it requires us to understand employees’ sources of motivation, especially young people who have totally different ideas from the previous generation,” he said.

CEIBS President Wang Hong then delivered a keynote speech on digital empowerment in the VUCA era across four aspects, including the development of the global and Chinese digital economy and Pudong’s talent needs.

She stressed that the digital economy has become a major force in reshaping the global value chain in the post-epidemic era. We should therefore take the opportunities presented by the new round of global industrial change and explore new areas of development with talented personnel, she explained.

“Pudong should not only bring global talent into Shanghai, but also export talent and help them go global to showcase the cultural soft power of the city,” President Wang said.

Speaking via pre-recorded message, CEIBS President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Marketing Dipak Jain then proposed a new methodology to get through the challenges and global disruptions of the VUCA era.

“We need to transform from being stressed to feeling blessed with a ‘CALM’ attitude. ‘C’ is for ‘Compassion’, ‘A’ is for ‘Acceptance Culture’, ‘L’ is for ‘Lifelong Learning’, and ‘M’ for ‘Mindset’,” Prof. Jain said, adding that difficulties come our way to make us better, not bitter.

He also discussed three elements in branding Pudong, with a focus on intellect, imagination, and innovation.

“Pudong is a vibrant community driven by human talent and development. We need to, first, create world-class education, an entrepreneurial spirit and financial technologies; second, connect Shanghai’s industrial base and infrastructure internationally; and, third, create a strong work culture and ethics to empower people,” he explained.

Also addressing the forum, CEIBS Honorary Professor in Accounting and Academic Director of the DBA Programme Hwang Yuh-Chang talked about policy assessment and incentive mechanisms for scientific and innovative talent in the digital age.

He pointed out that Class II restricted stock (restricted stock refer to insider holdings that are subject to certain sales restrictions) is an important way to motivate management teams.

The event also featured an engaging roundtable discussion where panellists shared ideas on current talent strategies and trends, as well as the future of the job market and workplaces driven by digitalisation.

Wrapping up the discussion, CEIBS Professor of Management Jean Lee concluded that corporate resilience lies in three realms: first, the ability to recover from setbacks; second, persistent and persevering spirit to long-term goals; and, third, a positive and growth mindset to become stronger.

November 23, 2022. Shanghai – Companies will need to make environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) a key strategic priority in order to ensure both long-term business success and a sustainable and inclusive future for all of us.

This was just one of the messages delivered to around 100 guests during a special CEIBS Executive Forum dialogue between Jan Craps, Executive Director, Co-Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Budweiser Brewing Company Limited APAC (Bud APAC) & President APAC Zone at Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Bala Ramasamy, CEIBS Associate Dean (Global EMBA) and Professor of Economics, at CEIBS Shanghai Campus this evening.

During the offline event, the speakers and audience discussed how and why Bud APAC has been motivated to take action and drive an ESG agenda across its entire value chain.

The discussion began with Mr. Craps sharing his personal experiences and ESG journey dating back to his childhood. Mr. Craps showed that throughout his 20-year career, AB InBev’s leadership has authentically embedded three cross-over themes – natural, local, and inclusive – into the company’s business operations.

Beer brewing businesses rely heavily on high-quality agricultural commodities, raw materials for packaging, water resources and energy. As such, Mr. Craps explained, AB InBev’s business is closely tied to the natural environment (and, therefore, to the ‘E’ in ESG).

ESG is embedded in AB InBev’s global operations, he added. For example, diversity and inclusiveness are not only basic values practiced within the group; they are also pushed outward to other people and communities “to create a sustainable and inclusive future with more cheers.”

When it comes to the implementation of effective climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, Mr. Craps pointed out that “scale and market” matter. As the largest beer company in APAC, Bud APAC can leverage its influence in the industry and markets to support its major ESG initiatives around climate action, water stewardship, circular packaging and smart agriculture. In turn, these efforts help it in attracting talents as well.

Mr. Craps further highlighted that, as the result of a collective decision to switch to renewable energy sources and electric shuttle buses and recycle CO2 from its production processes, Bud APAC’s Wuhan brewery became the first carbon neutral plant in China and the first in AB InBev’s global network. Bud APAC has also helped its suppliers implement solar power cost-effectively by sharing its solar panel vendor.

Working hand in hand with farmers is another practice that benefits both Bud APAC and local communities. In addition to obtaining better-quality malting barley, Mr. Craps said, Bud APAC is able to keep its supply chain short to mitigate risks. At the same time, around 5,000 direct farmers in Jinshan, Shanghai and Jiangsu provinces are able to learn about crop management, network and become financially empowered.

In terms of digitalization and AI in ESG practices, Mr. Craps provided an innovation that Bud APAC adopted at its Foshan Brewery which reuses 120 tons of retired EV batteries to store 7.2 million kWh of self-generated electricity from on-site solar panels. The stored electricity is used for producing beer in the brewery itself, and also for charging EV heavy truck batteries.

Last but not least, Mr. Craps highlighted that Bud APAC shares many common features with CEIBS, such as bridging EU-China business ties, educating European businesses about China’s speed, scale and efficiency, and bringing European ESG standards and measures to China.

Today’s Executive Forum was part of a “Beyond Charity” initiated by Prof. Ramasamy to push the CEIBS community beyond the boundaries of “charity facts” by learning from business leaders who have made ESG a strategic priority and embedded it into their organization’s business operations.

Writer：Serena Cui   Editor：Michael Thede