“I was looking for the new concepts and ideas around management and also the current trends. With its blend of both local and global context, China Europe International Business School was the perfect place to offer me such an experience.”
~ Mitchell Elegbe, CEO of Interswitch; CEIBS-Wharton-IESE Global CEO Programme 2013

Fifteen years ago, Mitchell Elegbe launched Interswitch and totally disrupted the way Africans pay for goods and services. Ten years ago one of its subsidiaries, Verve, which offers payment cards and digital tokens, introduced Nigeria’s first home-grown EMV standard chip and pin payment card to the country. Today Verve accounts for around 19 million of the estimated 54 million payment cards being used in the country and continues to achieve impressive milestones. It expanded into Kenya in 2015 and is now accepted in over 20 African countries, with ambitious global expansion plans on the back of a ground-breaking partnership with Discover Financial Services to launch Verve Global, a move which would see Verve accepted in the US, UK and UAE.

With payment penetration at less than 15% in Nigeria, their biggest market, Elegbe sees a lot more opportunities out there. For example Quickteller, another flagship Interswitch brand, is Nigeria’s most used consumer payment portal. It has close to four million active users and tens of thousands of listed merchants and billers, numbers which continue to grow year-on-year. Quickteller aggregates banks, billers and consumers into a one-stop shop, offering instant bill payments, fund transfer, airtime top-up and other value-added services which can be accessed across multiple channels including its ubiquitous web version, a mobile app, USSD (a protocol through which mobile phones communicate with service provider's computers) and across ATMs.

“There are still markets in Africa that have remained largely untouched from a digital payment viewpoint. The opportunities are huge and there is no better time to do the payment business here,” says Elegbe. Where others may see challenges, he sees opportunities to disrupt the market and create solutions. “Payment is something that, if well utilised, could be very profitable whether you are talking about Nigeria, Africa or globally,” he explains. “MasterCard, VISA, Alipay, PayPal, etc. are all already in this space and there are more players coming because it is a very interesting space. It is a high-growth industry and players who are able to appropriate a dominant part of that growth end up doing very well. It is a very good industry to be in.”

Having accomplished its initial goal of providing banks with the infrastructure needed to serve their customers, Interswitch has now begun offering its products to a wide range of not only institutional clients but also retail consumers. Elegbe’s explanation of his company’s operational model is quite simple: they make it easy for people to do business. “We electronically connect institutions and individuals to their banks, and also to merchants/service providers to ensure ease of financial transactions between businesses and their customers,” he says. In the future, according to the company’s website, that will mean an even greater reliance on technology as they move away from traditional channels (ATMs, point of sale terminals and personal computers) and shift their focus to the cloud. Clients would then be able to access their services anywhere, anytime, by using additional channels including mobile and even more futuristic options such as wearable devices.

Those who have followed Interswitch’s performance since Elegbe came up with the business idea in 2001 would be hesitant to bet against the company’s ambitious plans for the future. Interswitch was launched at a time when everyone thought Nigeria’s infrastructural challenges were too great to overcome. The company’s success, with Elegbe at the helm, has not gone unnoticed. In 2012, he was named West Africa Business Leader of the Year, one of the categories in CNBC/Forbes’ coveted All African Business Leaders Awards. According to organisers, that accolade is based on criteria such as outstanding leadership in business, an ability to achieve positive financial results, increase shareholder value and provide sound management; proven corporate governance, innovation, best business practices and accountability, along with integrity and vision.

Elegbe was also named one of his country’s top 20 CEOs by popular Nigerian internet site Nairaland Forum. Also among the illustrious group: Chairman and CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; CEO of Globacom, Mike Adenuga; CEO of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Yinka Sanni; and CEO of First Bank Nigeria Limited Adesola Kazeem Adeduntan. “Those are people I’m hoping to be like someday,” says Elegbe with a modest laugh when the list is mentioned. “So to be put on a list with them is an honour.”  

The criteria used to select firms for the list included widespread use of their products; but factors such as firm size, market capitalisation and CEOs’ earning power were not considered. Instead, the article focused on where CEOs were educated. Elegbe completed the CEIBS-Wharton-IESE Global CEO Programme in 2013. The programme is led by three world-renowned business schools: IESE, Wharton and CEIBS. Through the collective knowledge of expert faculty members on three continents, participants gain invaluable insights into global markets. The course provides participants with an opportunity to examine authentic business scenarios, exchange viewpoints with other CEOs and develop specific action plans in real time. There is a Cross-Programme Project (CPP) that allows them to directly apply what they learn to their own business context. Elegbe still recalls how the course helped him have a clear understanding of his role. “I got a very simple definition of a CEO’s role, one that even today has really impacted my business,” he says. “A CEO’s job is to ensure that customers trust the organisation. There has to be trust with the external market, with your shareholders, trust among colleagues in the office. People do business with you because they can trust you to be predictable, because they trust what you can do. It was a very important point I took back home and I have put systems in place to build that trust.”

He also learned a lot, he says, about China’s ecommerce industry by studying heavyweights such as Alibaba and Tencent. And the discussions around succession planning were also very useful for him. He had enrolled because he was looking for answers. He found them and immediately after completing the course he made quite a few changes to the way he did business. He learned a lot, he says, both from his classmates – very experienced managers, CEOs and business leaders – as well as from the very knowledgeable faculty teaching the course. “They gave me a lot of great ideas as I interacted with them. I came out of the programme really satisfied that it was time well spent and I really didn’t want it to end. If there was a phase two, I gladly would have gone for it,” he says. “I got value which brought a lot of positive changes and I am still feeling the effects of the course even though it’s been some years now.”

He chose the CEIBS Global CEO programme, he explains, because he was looking for a way to get the knowledge he needed without putting his career on hold. “I needed a very structured and condensed programme that draws attention to the challenges that growing businesses face locally while still giving you a global perspective,” he says. “I looked around and the CEIBS Global CEO Programme turned out to be a very interesting one for me and that was why I applied for it. I was actually looking for something that tells me what is happening out there, the new concepts and ideas around management; and also the current trends. [With its blend of both local and global context] CEIBS was the perfect place to offer me such an experience.” Not surprisingly China is a part of his global focus. He is now negotiating a few deals in China, but the terms of the negotiations require him to keep the details confidential. However he does say this: “Two of them are quite substantial.”

For now, when he is not using the skills learned from studying at CEIBS to run his company, he spends a fair bit of his time mentoring young entrepreneurs. The continent is not short of those dreaming of launching their own start-ups, he says. “If you look at Africa, with all its challenges – and the lack of resources is key – people do want to dream big dreams. And that is the fundamental requirement for entrepreneurship,” says Elegbe. “Africa has enough challenges to make it have a large crop of entrepreneurs.”

And for those who may be inspired by his success, he offers a bit of advice: do not focus on your failures but on the opportunities available if you are disruptive enough to find sustainable solutions to existing problems; make good friends and build a strong network; and do not be overly reliant on the government. “The government’s role is to provide citizens with the infrastructure needed,” he says. “That is necessary for entrepreneurs to rise. But, for me, the main issue for an entrepreneur is to focus on which problems he needs to solve by being a disruptive force.”  

March 29, 2018. Shanghai – The China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and ESCA Ecole de Management have agreed to work together to make business management education more accessible. The initiative, the latest in CEIBS’ efforts as a socially responsible business school, will make it easier for individuals from Morocco to enrol in the CEIBS MBA and Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) programmes. ESCA alumni who are successfully accepted to the CEIBS GEMBA will be offered a substantial scholarship, while those admitted as MBA students will benefit from a mixture of scholarships and low-interest in-house loans.

“We welcome this opportunity to deepen our collaboration with ESCA and open up our world-class MBA and GEMBA programmes to excellent candidates from Morocco, who otherwise may not have been able to enrol,” said CEIBS Vice President & Dean Professor Ding Yuan. The Financial Times ranks the CEIBS MBA #1 in Asia (as does Forbes) and #8 in the world, with the GEMBA ranked #14 in 2017 – the 8^th consecutive year it has been ranked among the Financial Times top 20 globally. “ESCA has a solid reputation as a leading business school in Morocco and we look forward to working with them even more in the years ahead,” Dean Ding added.

This latest collaboration builds on a partnership entered into, last November, between the two business schools that added Casablanca to the cities of Accra, Lagos and Johannesburg where CEIBS Women Entrepreneurship & Leadership for Africa (WELA) programme is available.

“Besides the WELA Programme that aims at reinforcing Women Leadership and Entrepreneurship in Africa, we are proud to implement a new cooperation with CEIBS, the leading business school in Asia in both Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) and MBA, giving to our alumni the opportunity of having scholarships for these prestigious programmes. This arrangement will definitely match with our mission to train leaders with a global perspective,” said Dean Thami Ghorfi from ESCA Ecole de Management.

Both WELA and this latest MBA and GEMBA-related initiative are just the latest in CEIBS’ CSR efforts in Africa, since it established a presence in Accra in 2009. For example, last April, CEIBS provided a leadership training programme in Zambia. The event, fully sponsored by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), followed earlier sessions in Lagos, Nairobi, Addis Ababa and Yaounde.   

About CEIBS
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) is among the top international business schools in Asia, where it is the only b-school to have simultaneously made it to the Financial Times’ top 30 list of MBA, EMBA and Executive Education programmes. CEIBS has more than 20,000 alumni from over 80 countries worldwide, and has provided a broad range of management programmes for more than 130,000 executives both at home and abroad. CEIBS’ faculty team is uniquely equipped to deliver a combination of China Depth and Global Breadth in both teaching and research. CEIBS has campuses in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen Zurich and Accra.

About ESCA Ecole de Management
ESCA Ecole de Management is the first state-recognized Business School in Morocco, ranked #1 in Morocco by Eduniversal (2017) and #1 in French-speaking countries in Africa by Jeune Afrique (N°2806). ESCA Ecole de Management has developed a large network of 94 international partners from 47 countries in 5 continents, allowing its students to train in an international environment.

The Business School is also member of 6 big associations and organizations, namely EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development), AACSB, (American Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), GBSN (Global Business School Network), AABS (African Association of Business Schools), QTEM (Quantitative Technics for Economics and Management) and AAAE (African Academic Association on Entrepreneurship). ESCA Ecole de Management promotes cultural diversity and globalization through its programs, international faculty and activities. The School hosts students from 29 countries and offers various programmes in Management.

The Business School has initiated several years ago customized programmes on Doing Business in Morocco and Africa, offering thus opportunities to executives and academics to explore the African market through Casablanca.

March 20, 2018. Cote D’Ivoire – CEIBS today organised its first ever event in Cote D’Ivoire, with Vice President & Dean Professor Ding Yuan speaking on the timely topic of ‘Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): Origins and Opportunities’. The event, part of the school’s ongoing 1+1 lecture series, was held at Azalai Hotel in Abidjan. It was also an opportunity for CEIBS alumni from Francophone Africa to gather together, and network with guests interested in the topic of the lecture, CEIBS and its programmes.

Delivering his speech in French and responding to questions in English, Dean Ding looked at investment opportunities available through the BRI. He addressed scepticism surrounding the initiative in some quarters and stressed the opportunities it brings for those who embrace it. His message was simple, “The Belt and Road Initiative is not just about China driving, it’s about China being a facilitator of global trade.” The Belt and Road Initiative, he said:
- Bridges the perspectives of developing and advanced economies
- Has all parties benefiting from lower transit costs/standard services
- Unlocks key markets in Southeast, South & Central Asia, Central & Eastern Europe and Africa
- Boosts the flow of trade, capital and goods.

At the end of the evening, many participants urged CEIBS to offer more seminars of this kind. 

March 17, 2018. Shanghai – High growth entrepreneurship and innovation was the focus of discussions at the 6^th China-India Cooperation Forum held today at the Shanghai Campus of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). Panel discussions featured seven CEOs of Indian high-growth ventures that have raised between US$ 4.5 and US$ 100 million in funding from the most reputed financial and strategic investors.

Chinese investment into India reached US$ 1 billion in the first two months of 2018, on the back of US$ 5.2 billion in 2017. CEIBS Chengwei Ventures Chair Professor of Entrepreneurship S. Ramakrishna Velamuri, who convened the forum, noted that while the average GDP growth rate of 7.1% over the 20-year period 1997-2017 has attracted the attention of global investors and corporations to India, there are many additional reasons why Chinese companies – in particular – see India as a very promising future market.

“India is the only country in the world that offers Chinese companies a market similar in size to their domestic market,” he said. “In addition, while US companies have established significant leadership positions in India in multiple technology verticals such as search (Google) and social media (Facebook, WhatsApp), there are others such as ecommerce and mobile payments where there still exist opportunities for the Chinese giants.”

Prof. Velamuri also noted that the major reforms implemented in India in 2017, such as demonetization, the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax and the recapitalization of banks, could lead to an acceleration of economic growth. Though Indian consumers’ ability to pay is currently lower than their counterparts in China, the economic growth trajectory suggests that the situation will steadily improve in the coming years, he said.

The panel discussions at the forum highlighted how China and India have followed very different strategies in growing their entrepreneurial ecosystems. Whereas China has created a number of national champions in most technology areas, such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, JD.com, Meituan-Dianping, and Ctrip (now rebranded Trip), India has allowed the American giants such as Google, Amazon and Facebook to have a dominant presence. Though China has certainly created technology giants to rival the US ones, with a couple of them valued at over US$ 500 billion, the Indian technology companies seem to be more interconnected with the global entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Capillary Technologies CEO Aneesh Reddy touched upon a related point, telling the audience that he is driven by a desire to see the creation of a large software company in Asia. He was speaking during a panel on Indian entrepreneurial ventures that are focused on the global market, a segment that has not yet attracted the attention of Chinese strategic investors. Capillary, which harnesses tech to help businesses enhance their customer relationship management, works with 300 brands that it serves with 700 employees located in 10 offices in countries around the globe. The company has already attracted US$ 100 million in funding. Reddy provided key lessons for building a business focused on India as well as tips on building a global business out of the country. “India’s a very forgiving market, you can make a few mistakes and people are fine with it,” he said. “But there is strong competition from MNCs. India is not a walled garden, there’s a lot of competition for business and talent.”

One company that seems to have found a way to differentiate itself is Amagi Technologies. Considered India’s leader in cloud-managed broadcast services and targeted advertising for TV and the internet, Amagi has US$ 50 million of funding and 250 employees in 40 countries. According to CEO Baskar Subramanian, they began by focusing on targeted ads as a way to more effectively reach clients, and have now advanced to being able to have different ads seen by people watching the same program (based on viewers’ location, preferences and other criteria). Their next step: to offer this geo-targeting service at the global level.

The panel, moderated by WeCan Capital and Accelerator Network Chairman Brent Li, was rounded out by presentations with a heavy tech focus. Mettl CEO Ketan Kapoor explained how his company, one of the largest and fastest growing online talent measurement firms globally, uses tech to help its clients build winning teams. Mettl has more than 300 employees around the world and has attracted about US$ 4.5 million in funding so far. It has partners in 31 countries and its tools are being used in 80 countries. Tata Technologies’ Peter Dow spoke about how the auto-tech company, which has 8,500 employees globally and more than US$ 418 million in revenue, is harnessing cutting edge technology to partner with companies in its target market. He explained that they had grown from two employees in China in 2014 to 200 today, and their success was based on having a very clear strategy. “We focused initially only on Shanghai, and only on the auto industry. We have targeted what we have tried to do here because it’s such a big market,” he said. For companies interested in having China operations as part of their global strategy, Dow said, the ability to act quickly would be a huge asset. “If you’re going to work in China, you have to be fast,” he advised.

There was also a panel discussion about Indian ventures that are focused on the domestic market. The moderator was Richard Thoman, Managing Partner, Corporate Perspectives and former CEO of Xerox Corporation. Among the speakers was FundsIndia CEO Srikanth Meenakshi, who provided valuable insight into India’s fintech industry, based on his company’s operations so far. FundsIndia is the country’s leading online investment platform, with 1.1 million customers in more than 2,000 cities and towns, and more than US$ 780 million invested. “We were India’s first online-only platform and we’ve found that the concept works. People are willing to do transactions online without any physical connection,” he said. “But customers still need individual attention and personal solutions. They want to be engaged, they prefer talking to another human being. And we also learned that a lot of patience is needed to cultivate the market.”

Also joining the panel was R. Narayan, CEO of Power2sme, which addresses a US$ 150 billion market by helping India’s SMEs in the manufacturing sector level the playing field when competing with larger firms – for example it helps them access funding at competitive rates and get the best prices when sourcing raw material, such as steel, polymers and chemicals. The discussions were rounded out by Ankur Warikoo, CEO of Nearbuy, India’s largest O2O company. According to Warikoo, their focus is on lifestyle services at the retail level; and while they are using China as a case study everything they do is grounded in a solid understanding of their local market. “India is a time rich, cash poor country. We help our customers save money and we help our merchants sell online,” he said. With many merchants in India a lot less internet savvy than in other parts of the world, Nearbuy offers strong support including using algorithms to suggest optimal pricing. The company has 8 million downloads of its apps, impressive for India but modest when compared to China. It has raised US$ 34 million to date from investors including Alibaba’s Paytm, Sequoia Capital and Groupon.

Among the mix of experienced Chinese entrepreneurs, potential partners and investors at today’s event was Ms. Vani Kola, Managing Partner of Kalaari Capital. One of the most experienced early-stage investors in India, she spoke with Prof. Velamuri about investment opportunities in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem. She said that foreign investors (limited partners) who invest in India-based funds have no difficulty in repatriating their profits from India, and that the taxation rate on capital gains is 15%.

His Excellency Anil Kumar Rai, Consul General of India in Shanghai, and President of Tata Sons China Mr. James Zhan were among the keynote speakers while CEIBS Vice President and Co-Dean Professor Zhang Weijiong gave the opening address. The day’s event ended with a networking session where participants continued the discussions touched upon earlier in the day.

The forum was organized by CEIBS together with the Consulate General of India in Shanghai and the Tata Group, with support from the Confederation of Indian Industry.

March 9, 2018, Shanghai – Robert Ward, Editorial Director of The Economist Intelligence Unit, this afternoon highlighted key issues that will affect the global economy in 2018. He touched on everything from global growth, global order, Brexit, US President Donald Trump’s chances of staying in office, as well as China, India and other emerging markets. His insightful and intriguing speech at the Shanghai Campus of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) was organised by CEIBS Alumni International Chapter (CAIC), their first event since Chinese New Year. The audience, some of whom joined from Africa and Europe via Facebook live, included CEIBS MBA and GEMBA students, members of the CEIBS alumni community, and CEIBS faculty. The session culminated in a Q&A session with Ward, which was moderated by Xu Bin, Professor of Economics and Finance, Wu Jinglian Chair in Economics, and Associate Dean (Research) at CEIBS.

Aptly titled “As Good as it Gets?”, Ward’s presentation was as deep in substance as it was diverse in the geographies covered. He touched upon contemporary issues in global economics within the context of NAFTA negotiations between the US and its Latin American partners, challenges posed to the EU, China’s growing influence in Asia and Africa, and the nascent stirrings of economic reforms in Saudi Arabia. The crux of Ward’s argument was the tectonic shift in the world order over the last two years, as western political systems have been challenged from the electorate within, as inequality grows and political solutions to deal with the challenges of globalisation and geopolitical conflict become ineffectual. The audience also eagerly listened to his analysis of the Chinese economy, especially his views on the country’s increasing global influence, through the Belt and Road Initiative. Ward also touched on the potential risks to the Chinese economy stemming from a build-up of debt, particularly in the corporate sector. He believes the Chinese government must avoid a sudden deceleration in economic growth over the next few years. The seasoned economist’s 50-minute analysis and presentation of the facts effectively conveyed to the audience the gravity of the global political challenges. The event burnished CEIBS’ reputation as a platform for generating healthy intellectual discourse and CAIC’s role as a facilitator in this process.

Prof. Xu Bin’s comments followed, and complemented, Ward’s presentation. Prof. Xu provided highlights from his recent research and original insights on geopolitical and economic analysis – specifically in the context of China and the prevailing tensions in the Korean peninsula. He emphasised how persistent investment by the Chinese government and the private sector in technologies such as AI, e-commerce, high-speed rail etc. has enhanced the technological frontiers, giving the economy scale, scope and speed (what he calls the 3S). These factors will drive growth in China beyond expectations in the medium term, he said. Turning to the issue of North Korea, Prof. Xu was sanguine about recent attempts made by the US government to reach out to Pyongyang, saying he believes dialogue would probably help in de-escalating tensions. Finally, in a style characteristic of accomplished academics, he encouraged thinkers and policy-makers to engage in “soul-searching” over why “globalisation” and “western political systems” are failing, and what can be done to prevent a sharp rise in wealth inequality, the root cause of these symptoms.

As part of the CAIC's efforts to involve CEIBS alumni across the globe, this special speaker session was broadcast live on CEIBS Facebook page with the help of CEIBS Marketing and Communications Department. As the session was organised in Shanghai on a weekday, CEIBS alumni who could not physically attend benefitted immensely from the Facebook live streaming. In addition to the 54 individuals in the classroom, 240 others joined the event online!

About CAIC
The CEIBS Alumni International Chapter (CAIC) is the home base for English-speaking CEIBS Alumni and provides a platform where all interaction is in English. The CAIC continues to give voice to CEIBS’ internationalisation by building an international alumni community through a variety of regular activities. It invites CEIBS alumni around the world to join in order to strengthen the international CEIBS community.

February 7, 2018. Shanghai – Outside talent tapped to manage family-owned businesses should never forget that the company belongs to the family, which they are there to serve. The trick is to find the balance between keeping owners happy and taking a stand, when needed, to protect the company’s long-term future. That was among the nuggets of advice Gerard Van Schaik, former CEO of Heineken, a family business that became a global brand, served up during this evening’s Master Class at CEIBS Shanghai Campus. Van Schaik is also Co-Chairman of the CEIBS Board and Honorary President of EFMD.

“You have to accept that the family’s interest is predominant when there is a majority, and you have to serve it. If you can’t accept that, from time to time, the family may want you to do something you think is very unwise, then don’t work for a family company. You can’t avoid those situations. It’s THEIR company not yours; you should have those words over your bed,” he said. “You may be given total managerial freedom, but you cannot ignore the family interest. At the same time, there are certain moments in your life when you think [a particular course of action not supported by the owners] has to be [taken]. Either take a risk, or resign; but you have to deal with the issue.”

In an anecdote-rich presentation he also gave advice on topics such as when the family firm should look outside for expertise, the skills needed to run a family business, and how family-owned firms should prepare for going global. His responses were practical and he frequently drew on examples from his career at Heineken as well as his time as a non-executive board member at firms including ABN-AMRO, Philips, Sara Lee, DSM, etc.

Van Schaik also weighed in on the challenging issue of succession, especially for firms with global ambitions.  “If it’s an international company, or one that wants to go global, the family member destined to take the helm must have had international exposure,” he said. “They need to be conscious of the world outside, with its different ethics, different political structures.”

Vital elements that would help in these situations and generally in successfully running a family firm, he said, include deep understanding of the family and respect for the business they had built. It was also crucial, he said, to have trust between the owners, outside talent and other stakeholders. “If you’re not completely straight with people, you sign your own death warrant,” Van Schaik told the packed lecture hall.

CEIBS Dean Ding Yuan, who moderated the event, echoed Van Schaik’s views on the need for owners of family businesses to leave room for non-family member CEOs to do their job. He added that Van Schaik’s advice that owners should never bypass their CEO and give orders directly to subordinates was particularly challenging in China where “information asymmetry is power”.

In a glowing introduction of the evening’s guest speaker before his lecture, Dean Ding also announced the launch of a research fund in honour of Van Schaik. Under the research proposal, “Aged to Perfection: Benefits from An Inactive Population” the goal is to attract four projects, over a 12-month period, to examine the timely issue of how aging members of society can still add value. As Van Schaik explained in his inimitable style of shooting straight from the hip, the idea is to look at “how to deal with this ever-increasing lake of people that have been made redundant and have nothing to look forward to.”

Van Schaik’s hour-long lecture was followed by a brief but spirited Q&A in which both he and Dean Ding fielded questions from the audience.

Master Class, a high-end brand event, was launched in 2014, when CEIBS was celebrating its 20th anniversary. It aims to invite the most influential corporate leaders and scholars from home and abroad, providing direction, inspiration and entrepreneurial spirit for students and alumni.

January 26, 2018 – China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), the leading international business school in China, and Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials, have inked a deal that will see CEIBS provide training for the company’s top talent.  The agreement was signed, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, between CEIBS Vice President & Dean Ding Yuan and Managing Board Member of Royal DSM Dimitri de Vreeze. It is the first of what is expected to be many more agreements entered into with the headquarters of major European multinational companies, and is an indicator of CEIBS’ growing reputation in Europe.

“Within the European market, CEIBS has earned a reputation as the China expert, and we will provide our expertise – through an Executive Education course – to train the talents from DSM,” said CEIBS Dean Ding Yuan. “From the discussions I’ve had with members of the global business community and thought leaders at Winter Davos, I am encouraged by the progress CEIBS is making in strengthening our brand in Europe. We expect this to be the first of many similar deals.”

“I am extremely pleased that DSM is extending its partnership with CEIBS,” said  DSM’s MB Member De Vreeze. “This was the natural next step in our already fruitful collaboration and we look forward to many more years of working together.”

CEIBS’ relationship with DSM goes back to 2010. The company became a CEIBS Corporate Partner in 2011, and over the years its employees have enrolled in CEIBS Executive Education (EE) open and company specific courses within China, as well as EMBA and MBA programmes. DSM executives have also worked on clean tech in China with a team of MBA students as part of their Integrated China Strategy Project, and the company was also among those that provided support for the launch of the China Innovation Centre at CEIBS in 2011. 

Under the expanded agreement, DSM participants in Europe will join more than 130,000 executives around the world who have already benefitted from CEIBS’ EE programme. The EE’s company specific courses are tailor made to the needs of participating organisations; meanwhile EE open courses for individuals cover topics including general management, leadership, strategy, finance, marketing and innovation.

The DSM deal dovetails with CEIBS’ strategy of being a bridge between China and the rest of the world, and a platform for the dissemination of knowledge. With China’s growing economic importance, it has become vital for businesses and business leaders everywhere to have a solid understanding of the country’s economy as well as how to do business in, and with, the Asian giant. In addition to its part-time EE programme, CEIBS provides this in-depth China knowledge, within a global context, through a full-time MBA and a part-time Global EMBA (both taught in English), a part-time EMBA and a part-time Finance MBA (both taught in Chinese).

About CEIBS
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) is among the top international business schools in Asia, where it is the only b-school to have simultaneously made it to the Financial Times’ top 30 list of MBA, EMBA and Executive Education programmes.

CEIBS has more than 20,000 alumni from more than 80 countries worldwide, and has provided a broad range of management programmes for more than 130,000 executives both at home and abroad. CEIBS’ faculty team is uniquely equipped to deliver a combination of China Depth and Global Breadth in both teaching and research. CEIBS has campuses in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen Zurich and Accra.

About DSM
Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. By connecting its unique competences in life sciences and materials sciences DSM is driving economic prosperity, environmental progress and social advances to create sustainable value for all stakeholders simultaneously. DSM delivers innovative solutions that nourish, protect and improve performance in global markets such as food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and bio-based materials. DSM and its associated companies deliver annual net sales of about €10 billion with approximately 25,000 employees. The company is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

January 22, 2018. Shanghai – In his new role as Distinguished Professor at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), former Prime Minister of France Mr. Dominique de Villepin will engage in high-level discussions and lectures on topics ranging from the China-led Belt & Road Initiative, art and culture, to the new global economic competition. CEIBS, the most international business school in China, announced his appointment today. It is anticipated that CEIBS students and alumni will begin benefitting from de Villepin’s lectures this spring.

“I look forward to stimulating intellectual discussions with students, alumni, faculty and the wider CEIBS community during my visits throughout 2018,” said de Villepin. “The topics have been carefully selected to ensure that we all get the most out of these encounters. I anticipate that I will learn as much from those in the audience as they will glean from my talks. In today’s interconnected world, this sharing of ideas is essential.”

A renowned statesman with degrees in law and literature preceding a diplomatic career that ultimately led him to one of the highest political offices in France, de Villepin will draw on his wealth of knowledge and experience during his engagement with the CEIBS community. For example, his discussions on the BRI will be within the context of Africa and project diplomacy in the new age of globalisation; art and culture will be explored as factors of soft power and competition; while global economic competition calls for a new approach to branding and communications.

“Professor de Villepin’s visits to CEIBS will focus on high-quality and high-level exchanges and discussions on topics that will play a decisive role in the global and Chinese economy in the coming years. His presentations, lectures, and intellectual engagement with faculty, students and alumni at CEIBS will help further ties between China and Europe,” said CEIBS Vice President & Dean Professor Ding Yuan in making the announcement. 

The appointment is in keeping with CEIBS’ reputation as a strong link between China and Europe. The school was established in 1994 as a joint venture between the Shanghai government and the European Commission. It has played a major role in – and also benefitted from – China’s economic development over the years, earning a reputation as a rigorous academic institution on par with other leading global business schools. In the last 23 years, CEIBS has provided a platform for the exchange of ideas between China and the rest of the world, welcoming thought leaders from a broad range of industries, in addition to leading players from the political world and academia.  Intellectual discourse typically takes the form of classroom lectures, as well as executive forums and master classes which are open to audiences beyond the immediate CEIBS community. CEIBS also promotes the exchange of ideas between China and Europe through its annual Europe Forum series of events. This year, the forum will return to France, along with stops in London, Munich, Prague and Zurich.

CEIBS’ ties with France have deepened in recent years, dovetailing with stronger ties between China and France. Earlier this month during President Emmanuel Macon’s first official state visit to China, for example, CEIBS hosted a member of his delegation, Member of Parliament Dr. Olivier Veran for a seminar that explored the links between artificial intelligence and healthcare innovation. “In addition to our role of educating socially responsible global business leaders for today and the future, we also take pride in our role as facilitator of the relationship between China and the rest of the world, especially Europe,” said Dean Ding Yuan.  “The addition of former Prime Minister of France Mr. Dominique de Villepin to our already very impressive list of faculty ensures that we continue to build on the work we have done in that regard in the past. We look forward to his first visit and to the year ahead.”

About Dominique de Villepin
A well-known French diplomat, statesman and writer, Dominique de Villepin is a former Foreign Affairs Minister (2002-2004), Interior Minister (2004-2005) and Prime Minister (2005-2007) of France. Effective January 2018, he is Distinguished Professor at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS).

Prof. de Villepin was born in Morocco in 1953 and grew up abroad, in Venezuela and the U.S. among other places, before moving to France in 1968. He holds a B.A. in Law and Literature.

Prof. de Villepin began his career as a diplomat and served in Washington, D.C. from 1984 to 1989 and in New Delhi as Embassy Counsellor from 1989 to 1992. He then became head advisor for African Affairs at the Foreign Ministry. He was appointed Chief of Staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alain Juppé, in 1993 before being called upon by President Jacques Chirac to be his Chief of Staff from 1995 to 2002 at the Élysée.

In 2002, Prof. de Villepin was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in 2003 he managed the Iraq crisis on behalf of France and upheld the French position against war at the United Nations. He became Minister of the Interior in 2004 and then served as Prime Minister from 2005 to 2007. During this period he committed himself to boosting employment and reforming the labour market, reducing deficits and public debts, as well as stimulating growth and innovative policies through the creation of competitive clusters throughout France.

Fond of literature and history, Prof. de Villepin is also known for writing essays dealing with Napoleon I, diplomacy, Europe and international relations, as well as essays focusing on poets and painters, in particular the French-Chinese artist Zao Wou-Ki. He has also authored books of poetry. His most recent book, on peace building and international challenges, entitled Mémoire de paix pour temps de guerre, was published in 2016 and translated into Chinese in 2018.

January 10, 2018. Shanghai – French Member of Parliament Olivier Veran, a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s delegation on his first official visit to China, today shared his thoughts on how artificial intelligence can transform the healthcare industry, a vital sector that he believes can provide yet another opportunity for France and China to deepen existing ties. He was speaking at a seminar on AI and Healthcare Innovation, hosted by the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) at its Shanghai Campus.

“This industry is developing very quickly. We will enter a lot of unchartered territory. We will be able to prevent diseases from happening. We will have thousands of data sources – from nanotech, genetic tech and other forms of technology – that will be beyond the capacity of the human brain; so we need machines to help us,” said the 37-year-old neurologist and practicing doctor responsible for drafting the healthcare plan Macron used in his campaign for president. In France, the healthcare sector is the second largest user of AI, topped only by robotics.  “AI is full of vitality in France, which is taking a leading position in this area,” said Xu Bo, the day’s moderator and CEIBS Special Advisor in France.

Veran anticipates that China’s adeptness at processing big data will make it a valuable partner in the years ahead. He believes AI and big data will transform the way diagnoses are made, the way care is provided and the role of medical practitioners. “China and France can work a lot on the processing of big data. This will gradually replace traditional models of diagnosis. We will also have to rethink the role of doctors as well as the issue of ethics,” he said. He stressed that there will need to be a balance between maximising the technology available and ensuring patient’s privacy, that doctors would need to play a gatekeeper role rather than blindly follow instructions from machines, and they would still be ultimately responsible for the quality of the care they provide. He also believes technology – such as long distance diagnosis, providing hospital-quality treatment to patients in their homes, using big data to do preventative medicine, and providing useful healthcare products through the Internet of Things, will reduce the number of hospitals needed. The funds saved can be pumped into modernising and digitising existing ones, he said. 

During a comprehensive look at France’s healthcare system, with data to show why it has earned high marks from the World Health Organisation, Veran also touched on the democracy of healthcare, noting that it is a challenge faced by both China and France. With mounds of information available online, he explained, access to healthcare is important to the political agenda in both countries. 

During his hour-long speech, the French Member of Parliament also echoed the message delivered by his president in Beijing a day earlier – France is back! – and spoke of his country’s entrepreneurs’ willingness to work with Chinese partners. “In France there are many AI start-ups,” he said. “We have a lot of talent in digital tech, as well as in nanotech and we are doing a lot to help these talents improve their international competitiveness. We are confident they can find a lot of good partners in China, where there is a high level of efficiency, to work with and learn from them.”

An MOU and an agreement signed by CEIBS today are also expected to help boost business ties between China and France.

Earlier in the day, CEIBS signed an MOU with the Charles de Gaulle Foundation to set up the Charles de Gaulle Chair in Global Leadership at CEIBS and enter into a strategic partnership with the Foundation. The chair will be held by Former Prime Minister of France Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who is a Member of the CEIBS Board. The signing ceremony was attended by Gaetan Messin, who is Science Attaché of the French Consulate General in Shanghai and an expert in AI, as a show of the French government’s support for the collaboration. “We live in an increasingly complex international environment. China and France are playing increasingly important roles in the international arena, so the signing of this agreement is a significant event as leadership is important for both political and business leaders,” said CEIBS President Professor Li Mingjun. He also noted the Chinese admiration for Charles de Gaulle who – working with China’s Mao Zedong – was instrumental in establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries in 1964. “I believe the Charles de Gaulle Chair in Leadership at CEIBS will help our two countries play an even more important role in the international arena,” added President Li.

Foundation President Jacques Godfrain, who signed along with President Li, said the MOU and seminar were in line with de Gaulle’s values and the Foundation’s mission of knowledge sharing. “Knowledge sharing is as ancient as the human race, and great civilisations work together,” he noted. “We are pleased to work with CEIBS.”

CEIBS Vice President and Co-Dean Professor Zhang Weijiong spoke of his hope that, through further collaboration with the Foundation, and the work expected to be done via the Chair in Leadership, CEIBS can learn more about France’s business community.  “For every success story there was strong leadership behind it. Business schools today need to learn not only about US companies, but also Chinese and French ones. We also want to promote co-operation between Chinese and French entrepreneurs; so we wish to collaborate on not only an educational level but on a business level as well,” he said.

Meanwhile during the seminar at which Veran spoke, CEIBS and the Center for Prospective and Strategic Studies (CEPS), France’s longest running think tank, signed an agreement to set up the CEIBS+CEPS Shanghai Club. Its focus will be on promoting cooperation between China and France in AI, VI, Smart Health Care, Smart City, New energy, etc. CEIBS Vice President and Dean Ding Yuan sees it as an excellent platform through which to further deepen ties between China and France, as well as the business communities of both countries.

“We should do our best to attract Chinese investors to this platform, strengthen bilateral relations and work together on research and investment projects,” he said, noting for example that the sheer size of China’s population guarantees the availability of large volumes of data, which is important to the healthcare sector. “CEIBS is also a place for brainstorming on issues related to Chinese healthcare, and we can work together on topics such as how to solve long lines at hospitals while we improve the speed of diagnosis and treatment.”

The day’s events were attended by Members of the de Gaulle Foundation and the CEPS, CEIBS leaders, alumni, students and staff, along with representatives from the Chinese and French business communities.

January 8, 2018 – CEIBS has accepted an invitation to join the Asian Management Research Consortium (AMRC), becoming the first business school from Mainland China to be included in the prestigious academic group. According to the AMRC, the invitation was extended to CEIBS because of its reputation as a leading business school in China. It is also seen as recognition of CEIBS’ strength as an academic leader among Chinese b-schools.

Launched in 2015, the AMRC focuses on promoting networking and research collaboration – in the area of management – among Asia’s top business schools.

It does this through annual conferences that typically include a half-day doctoral consortium where the emphasis is on strengthening members’ research output. For example, at this year’s invitation-only conference, which will be held in Seoul on April 27-28, the focus will be on providing useful feedback on research already in progress.

Membership in the AMRC is in line with CEIBS’ focus on academic research which has seen – for two years in a row – the school’s faculty top Elsevier’s ‘most cited Chinese scholars’ list in the categories of Business, Management and Accounting. In fact CEIBS faculty make up a third of the total number of selected scholars on the list. CEIBS faculty are also encouraged to engage with scholars from in and outside of China with each department required to host an annual academic symposium. For example the Organisational Behaviour & Human Resource Management Symposium held last November was attended by more than 100 professors, doctoral students, and practitioners from around the world. Meanwhile, the school regularly welcomes Visiting Thought Leaders from the world of academia or business to participate in lectures and/or engage with faculty, students and alumni. 
 
“As a member of the AMRC, CEIBS will have an even greater opportunity to share our expertise with our peers in Asia and, at the same time, learn from them as well,” said Professor Sam Park, who is Department Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at CEIBS. Prof. Park, along with Flora Chiang from the Organisational Behaviour Department, will represent CEIBS at the AMRC. “We look forward to this opportunity to work even more closely with academics from other top Asian business schools,” he added.  

Other AMRC members include: INSEAD Singapore, ESSEC Singapore, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Management University (SMU), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Indian School of Business (ISB), Seoul National University (SNU), and Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST).