October 9, 2020. Shanghai and Zurich – For the first time in the school’s 26 year history, part of our new MBA intake will enrol at CEIBS’ European campus on the shores of Lake Zurich in Switzerland.

Vice President and Dean, Professor Yuan Ding, recently confirmed that a “twin city” model will see around one quarter of the MBA Class of 2022 cohort based at the school’s Zurich campus, with the remainder enrolling at the main campus in Shanghai as usual.

“We firmly believe that in-person classroom discussions with diverse peers and world-class faculty represent one of the true cornerstones of a leading MBA experience. It’s our students’ enthusiasm for this that has inspired us to develop the twin city model,” said Dean Ding.

“With many peer schools pushing back start dates or moving programmes online in the face of COVID-19, we are proud to take this innovative path,” he added.

Dean Ding emphasised that hosting MBA students in Zurich would not have been possible without the generous financial support of CEIBS EMBA alumnus and Tencent Co-Founder Jason Zeng.

Under the twin city format, both the Shanghai and Zurich sections of the new MBA intake will kick off their studies simultaneously on October 12, 2020.

Students with Chinese nationality and those internationals already based in China will begin term one in Shanghai, while those temporarily unable to enter the country due to COVID-19 travel restrictions will be based in Zurich.

MBA Administration Director Michelle Zhu said the innovative arrangement would write a new chapter in CEIBS’ history, adding that, “It’s our hope that both sections will be reunited in term two back in Shanghai with the continued easing of travel restrictions.”

Acting as a bridge between Europe and China for the school since 2015, CEIBS Zurich Campus has until now hosted visiting participants from the MBA, EMBA, Global EMBA and Hospitality EMBA programmes as well as those from Executive Education.

It will now play host to term one of the full-time MBA programme as students kick off their MBA journey with core modules in Financial Accounting, Data Analytics, Organizational Behaviour, Microeconomics, Marketing Management, Business Ethics, Case Method Introduction, Effective Business Communication as well as the Leadership Journey and Career Development Programme.

CEO of CEIBS Zurich Campus Dr. Robert Straw described how hosting MBAs for the first time was a practical example of the impact of the VUCA concept – volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity – a new norm in the post-COVID environment.

“The VUCA world, that we are so clearly in, calls for modern professionals to be flexible and adaptive to global developments,” Dr. Straw said. “I’m proud of our faculty, staff and incoming students for demonstrating the right attitude to embrace this shift in direction as we look forward to taking our legacy of China Depth, Global Breadth to a new level.”

For more information about the CEIBS MBA programme, please visit our programme introduction page here.

September 30, 2020. Shanghai – As decided by the CEIBS Management Committee, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Professor of International Business and Strategy Shameen Prashantham as Associate Dean and MBA Director.

Prof. Prashantham will celebrate his ten years of teaching in China next year, having joined CEIBS in 2015 after previously working at Nottingham University Business School China.

“More than ever, the world needs high-quality managers and entrepreneurs with a global mind-set and a commitment to responsible leadership. As the pre-eminent business school in China, the highly-ranked MBA programme plays an important role in this regard, even as it continues to attract exciting young talent as evident by the profile of the forthcoming intake,” Prof. Prashantham says. “It’s a privilege for me to seek to build on the excellent work of my predecessors and be part of a dynamic and hard-working team whom I look forward to working with.”

Prof. Prashantham’s research and teaching interests relate to international entrepreneurship and strategy. His research focuses on new venture internationalisation and, in particular, how start-ups “dance with gorillas” (i.e. how they partner with large multinationals as a means to improve their prospects of innovation and international expansion).

Effective from October 1, 2020, Prof. Prashantham will take over from Professor of Management Juan Fernandez, who steps down from the role following three years of service. During his tenure, Prof. Fernandez led the introduction of several new initiatives in the programme, including a concentration in digital business, overseas electives in Accra and San Francisco and a China module in the ancient village of Jinhua.

“I have known Professor Prashantham for many years and have always been impressed by his teaching and research. I’m confident our students will enjoy connecting with him and find him to be a helpful guide along their MBA journeys,” Prof. Fernandez says. “My vision coming into the role was to position our programme as the most advanced MBA in Asia, as a place where people and the digital revolution could live together. I’m delighted with the hard work we, as a team, put into the programme to realise this vision and look forward to witnessing Professor Prashantham’s achievements in the coming years.”

One of the first tasks for Prof. Prashantham will be to welcome the new MBA intake to CEIBS’ Shanghai campus on October 12, 2020. Prof. Prashantham will also be extending a virtual welcome to MBAs in our Zurich section. For the first time in the school’s history, one section will begin their MBA journeys from CEIBS European campus on the shores of Lake Zurich, until COVID-19-related restrictions on non-Chinese nationals traveling to China are further relaxed.

CEIBS Vice President and Dean Professor Yuan Ding, who will travel to Switzerland to personally greet the Zurich section late October, shared his enthusiasm for starting this new chapter in CEIBS MBA history.

“I look forward to working closely with Prof. Prashantham,” Dean Ding says. “Together, and with the support of our great team, we will continue to work tirelessly to elevate our unique China Depth, Global Breadth-inspired programme to new heights.”

For more about the CEIBS MBA programme, please visit our programme overview page here.

For more on Prof. Prashantham’s teaching and research interests, please visit his faculty profile here.

September 24, 2020. Shanghai – CEIBS Vice President and Dean Ding announced today the recipients of this year’s CEIBS Medal for Teaching Excellence and Research Excellence Awards.

CEIBS Medal for Teaching Excellence

Professor Hwang Yuh-Chang is the recipient of 2020 CEIBS Medal for Teaching Excellence. The award aims to recognise full-time faculty who have a sustained and preeminent record of excellence in teaching and learning and an ongoing commitment to educational excellence in teaching at CEIBS. It is the highest award in faculty teaching.

Prof. Hwang Yuh-Chang

Prof. Hwang is a Professor of Accounting and the La Caixa Chair in Accounting at CEIBS. His teaching and research interests include managerial accounting, incentive contracting design, performance measurement and healthcare cost and quality management. He was previously awarded the CEIBS Teaching Excellence Award in 2015.

Prof. Hwang previously served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association (2007-2009). He is currently on the editorial board of several leading accounting journals, including The Accounting Review, and has published extensively in academic journals such as Management Science, Review of Accounting Studies, The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of Accounting, and Auditing and Finance.

CEIBS Research Excellence Awards

The recipients of this year’s Research Excellence Award are Professor Zhang Yu and Professor Katherine Xin. The award recognises full-time faculty for their continued commitment to research together with their outstanding and productive research outcomes.

  

September 21, 2020. Shanghai – Given Shanghai’s status as one of the international finance capitals of the world, the full time CEIBS MBA programme regularly attracts a diverse student body with around one third of its representation coming from the banking and finance sectors. Placement-wise, the industry had long occupied the top spot in our annual MBA Career Placement Report – that is, until technology took over as the hottest sector in 2019.

For MBAs looking to break into finance, or move around within the industry, CEIBS offers a number of initiatives including a finance concentration, the Finance and Investment Club and market exploration treks to Hong Kong and Singapore. To help those strategizing about how to make their move, MBA Admissions sat down with current students and alumni spread across three continents to gather their top tips on making the most of the MBA experience.

“China represents the biggest opportunity for our generation, but employment for non-native Mandarin speakers here is quite niche. For this reason, I’d recommend networking with the right people. Running for club leadership gives you a credible platform to reach out and engage with senior finance professionals.”

– Neil Flynn, MBA2021 & President of the Finance and Investment Club

“To switch to finance, you need to land an internship that bridges your pre-MBA field and finance. You need to build your credentials in finance during the MBA, but I’d recommend exploring internship opportunities even before starting the programme. Trust me, you are likely to be overwhelmed in the first two terms.”

– Xiaokun Li, MBA2021 & Club Leadership of the Finance and Investment Club

“I’ve found the takeaways from electives in advanced corporate finance and PE/VC very useful in my current role. Outside of the classroom, I can recommend joining the Hong Kong Market exploration trek, competitions and finance club events such as the Healthcare Investment Forum. More importantly, plan well for these events. Leave an impression on the speakers and follow up!”

– Cain Tong, MBA2020 & Deal Advisory M&A at KPMG in Shanghai

“JPMorgan mainly hires MBAs for private banker roles. I was very focused on achieving my career switch from luxury during the MBA, so I sacrificed a lot of social activities and non-finance specific events in order to focus on my goal. I’d recommend career switchers leverage their prior industry experience, take advantage and highlight this.”

– Tian Tian, MBA2019 & Private Banker at JPMorgan in Hong Kong

“To land an opportunity in fintech, you need a passion for technology as well as the practical implications in the finance world. This will drive you to mix finance and tech. At CEIBS, I’d recommend taking the digital business concentration as electives such as Blockchain Business Applications and Digital Strategy are highly relevant.”

– Ke Zeng MBA2020 & Management Associate TTS APAC at Citi in Hong Kong

“For impact investment, you need to have a good knowledge of the economies you intend to focus on. Many of the opportunities are in developing geographies, but what is interesting is China’s relationships with many of these economies. This is a perspective you get from CEIBS that I couldn't have found elsewhere.”

– Apricot Wilson MBA2019 & Deputy CEO at Luxembourg Microfinance and Development Fund

“Doing an MBA is a great opportunity to achieve a career switch. Leaving everything behind and starting a full time MBA, gives a great indication of the type of person you are – brave and willing to be challenged! My advice is to start networking and be clear about what you want to do. Recruiters are looking for consistency in the stories you tell. As you build towards this, your genuine interest in a career switch will appear more credible.”

– David Vinagre MBA2008 & International Proposition Director at Santander in London

“When looking for opportunities in the US, my background was received with curiosity. More along the lines of, ‘Wow, you lived in China.’ There was a novelty factor, but also an interest in the nuances of business in China. It helped me to stand out from competition in the market as you can really sell the China experience.”

– Patrick Harris MBA2020 & Investment Banking Associate at Macquarie Group in Houston

“My Mandarin language skills weren’t the best, so this did limit me in terms of the quantity of opportunities. If you are in a similar position, two actions can helpful – networking and practice. From my network, mainly playing basketball, I landed two or three job interviews. After graduation, I landed a job at Ford in Shanghai and what helped was practicing talking about the auto industry over and over.”

– Eric Powlick MBA 2014 & Director of Finance and Strategy at Athletic Greens in New York

“Leverage the Integrated China Strategy Project (ICSP) in terms 3 and 4. This is a live consulting project with a company in Shanghai that exposes you to constantly evolving challenges. My team worked with a local Chinese bank on a creative project for their credit card business.”

– Tian Tian, MBA2019 & Private Banker at JPMorgan in Hong Kong