GEMBA Residential Workshop was held in Shanghai from 12^th to 20^th September. Apart from the two Residential Workshops: “Managing Global Operations and Strategic Marketing” given by Professor Dominic Medway and Professor Alistair Brandon-Jones, “Economics of Strategy” given by Professor Reza Salehnejad, the GEMBA programme in Shanghai also include a Masterclass given by Mary Boyd, Director of The Economist Group, a visit to GKN SDS factory, CEO panel discussion and GEMBA+ Dinner at Shanghai Yacht Club.



The GEMBA workshops are highly challenging and require lots of hard work. Although the students had to study almost 12 hours everyday to fully intake information from the workshop, complete group discussion and presentation, but everyone had great time and walked away feeling fulfilled and learned.



GEMBA+Day was on 17th September which highlighted GEMBA students’ experience in Shanghai. In the morning, the students visited GKN SDS factory which was a successful case study for the GEMBA students to learn business model of JV between a British company and a local Chinese company. It is also a unique opportunity for the students to have first-hand experience to understand factory level operation and management, supply chain and logistics, strength of a JV as well as challenges they face.



In the afternoon, we have invited Andrew Moss, President of GKN China to talk to students about GKN’s strategy in China and his advice of doing business in China. After that, he was joined by William Yu, Senior VP, Allegion Plc & President of Allegion Asia Pacific and Patrick Pun, Chairman & CEO, NCG for a CEO panel discissoon. It was a very interactive panel which doesn’t involve any lectures, students could ask any questions they want, including those CEOs’ career path, their key steps to today’s position, their company’s biggest challenge, how they deal with crisis and emergency or even how they balance their work and family. We aim to give students opportunity to ask the business leaders how they got to their current position, to prepare our students to become business leaders of tomorrow.



The GEMBA+ Dinner was held at the Shanghai Yacht Club with fabulous view of the Huangpu river, and was highlight of the GEMBA in Shanghai. Served with fine Chinese food, champion and wine, the students were joined by MBS senior alumni, Chinese business elites, as well as top representatives from British organisations such as British Chamber and British Council. “It was such a great opportunity to meet those Chinese business leaders and to learn about their business, and to know more about China from who actually live and work here. Everything is just fascinating.” said by one of the GEMBA students. The students all enjoyed the 12 courses Chinese food and the hospitality. 

On 10^th July 2014, Global MBA July 2014 intake induction was held at Shanghai Shangri-La Hotel. Our MBA Associate Director, Heather Spiro and Livian Lang from Student Support Team presented the ceremony.



This year's Global MBA intake includes 69 students with an even ratio of males to females. Most of the students are from China however there are a couple representing Canada, UK and Taiwan. This year's intake have a very diverse group of students with working backgrounds such as IT, investment banking, accounting and auditing, healthcare, engineering, healthcare/practitioner, human resources, administrative services, consulting services, management and financial service/analysis.

Unfortunately, Sherry Fu – Director of MBS China Centre, was not able to attend the ceremony due to her GEMBA program that took place in Manchester. Instead a video was played in which Sherry welcomed the students on their first day of their journey as Global MBA students.



Dr. Spiro introduced the course outline and explained what is expected of them. The new intakers all agreed that the MBA programme was a great opportunity to network, broaden their knowledge, improve their soft skills as well as increase career opportunities and financial gains. In addition, many also agreed that Manchester Business School (MBS) is a great fit for them due to course flexibility, their reputation and as well as the many centres that MBS offers. Wallace, a July 2014 intaker, mentioned that he is very excited about the program, as it is a great opportunity to network but also to learn from other students with different working backgrounds.

A short break took place, which was followed by a tower building challenge. Students were divided into teams and were all handed equal amounts of resources to build a tower that could hold an orange at the top. The newspaper tower had to be built in a span of 30 minutes. The main objective of this is not only work towards a common goal, which is to build a stable tower but also to learn how to effectively work in a team with members they just met. After intense hustle of cutting, rolling, taping and climbing a winner was announced. The “Himalayan Tower” of 1.76m won the tower competition and was handed a prize afterwards.



Livian, the team leader of student support and Tony, IT officer explained to students what their roles are and how they can aid student with any issues. After a few Q& A’s, a group photo was taken to end the successful ceremony.

On 13^th  August, China Centre hosted its first Information Session for January 2015 Global part-time MBA intake. About 20 prospective students joined this session.



Introduction:

Ms. Sherry Fu, Manchester Business School Regional Director kicked off the opening and introduced school, the Global part-time MBA programme and  school’s new strategy this year. “While Shanghai is still our biggest market, and Beijing being the 2nd, MBS will be expanding to 2nd tier cities nearby Shanghai” Sherry said. Consider the increasing interest from Suzhou, this market will be MBS’s target to explore in the second half year. Sherry also introduced various changes of the programme 1st being the tuition fee. The tuition fee is GBP29,925, which can be paid by instalments. Sherry encouraged the students to apply before 29th September to enjoy the early bird price and save GBP2,244. Sherry also introduced other update policy of the programme and the application process. For details, please contact MBS China Centre.

Student Sharing:

After Sherry’s introduction, we have invited Tony Tang, January 2013 Global part-time MBA student to share his study experience with potential candidates.



Tony said the MBA study experience is key to his career development and fulfilled the career jump he has always been expecting. Although the great opportunity came much sooner than he expected, Tony is thrilled that from September he will be joining a new company. He also shared his experience of how to balance his family, work and study. “It is not an easy programme” Tony said, “but the value and opportunity it brings you will definitely be more than you expected. You will be overwhelmed”.

On 3^rd Sep 2014, Global MBA Information Session was held at InterContinental hotel in Suzhou Industrial Park. 20 management people from various industries attended the event.



Ms. Sherry Fu, Regional Director of Manchester Business School (MBS), said in her speech that Jiangsu Province especially Suzhou city has attracted great attention for its active economic activities. Recently World Top companies are pouring in Suzhou by establishing factories or branches. Correspondingly, international talents are greatly needed by the city. Consider the increasing market demands, in the following half year, MBS China Centre will carry out strategic cooperation with top companies in Suzhou and focus on the exploring of second tier cities around Shanghai.

In the following session, Ms. Wen SHI, 2011 MBA student of MBS, recalled the process when she applied the programme 3 years’ ago and shared her learning experience to the presents. She’s happy to see that her life totally changed after started her MBA learning journey at MBS, by meeting with different people, learning new theory, and most importantly changing the way of thinking.

During the Q&A session, candidates had heated discussion with Sherry, Wen SHI on a wide range of topics including the values of MBA, ROI, learning methods and admission criteria. To encourage the candidates’ early preparation, school offers early bird discount to candidate who submit full application before the end of September. Most of candidates expressed strong interests in this International programme and looking forward to joining in January 2014 intake. 

In August 2014, Manchester Business School China Centre signed Talent Management Partnership MoU with Unilever North Asia. Mr. Nigel Banister, Chief Global Officer of Manchester Business School, Ms. Sherry Fu, China Centre Director, and Mr. Meade Zhang, Vice HR Director of Unilever North Asia witnessed the occasion, which unveiled the official cooperation between the two parties.

Unilever is one of the world’s largest FMCG companies, with over 171,000 employees all over the world. Similar to the globalisation scene of Manchester Business School, Unilever has 6 research and development centres in the UK, USA, China and other important economic hubs.

The main business of Unilever North Asia including China is daily used chemicals and foods. In order to realise its long-term development commitment in China, Unilever started new strategy in China from 2000: prioritising Shanghai as the centre of its management and science research in the Greater China Region. Successful localisation is inseparable from personnel localization. Excellent localised employees and management teams would be able to understand Chinese consumers’ needs better. 90% of Unilever’s management team is recruited and trained locally.

Manchester Business School, also known as MBS, is one of the top business schools in the world, and is also one of the two earliest established business schools in the UK. With its centres in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Brazil and Miami, MBS has a worldwide network and more than 50,000 alumni all over the world.

Manchester Business School established its China Centre in Shanghai in 2008, promoting and managing MBS Global MBA program, Tongji-Manchester Dual-Degree MBA programs etc., offering world-class business management courses to experienced professionals and those who are ambitious to make progress both professionally and academically.

Successful enterprises would have positive social impact by taking corporate social responsibilities. In March 2013, on behalf of Manchester Business School, Ms. Sherry Fu, China Centre Director, donated the funds collected from alumni dinner to Unilever Qinghai Hope School. The donation ceremony was held in Unilever North Asia headquarter in Shanghai. Mr. Xiwen Zeng, Vice President of Unilever North Asia attended the ceremony and accepted the donation.

The cooperation of Manchester Business School with Unilever aims to cultivate talents for society together with each other, as well as to create and share fortune with the society. Unilever attaches great importance to the core value cultivation of its employees, including their professional skills and business management caliber, in the hope of constant progress of the company through the development of its employees.

The signing of the memorandum signifies mutually beneficial collaboration. Unilever employees who meet the admission criteria of Manchester Business School will be entitled to preferential tuition fees. Meanwhile, MBS will also provide valuable support for Unilever’s talent attraction, employee retention and professional development. 

In late June 2014, MBS Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) Professor Ismail Ertürk visited MBS China centre.His GEMBA course “Analysing Trends in the Global Business Environment” will be the first Residential Workshop in Manchester in the coming July.



Although having a very tight schedule, Ismail managed to deliver a talk in both Beijing and Shanghai for Alumni, as well as  one workshop taster in Shanghai for GEMBA delegates both who already got their offers and prospective candidates. Ismail provided a profound picture of his course, how the business is affecting the world we are living in and re-modeling it, what the students will be learning and doing, and what they will take away from his workshop.

Specialised in finance and economy, Ismail’s study goes beyond that.

If you would like to read Ismail’s recent publication, please refer to below information:

After the Great Complacence: Financial Crisis and the Politics of Reform, Oxford University Press: London 2011 (with Engelen et al.)

“Central Bank-Led Capitalism?”, Seattle University Law Review, (2013, 36(2), with Bowman et al.)

Deep Stall: The euro zone crisis, banking reform and politics, CRESC, March 2012, available at www.cresc.ac.uk

Financialization at Work, Routledge: London 2008, (with J. Froud, S Johal, A. Leaver and K. Williams)

“Get ahead with coaching – how executive coaching can boost your performance at work” was organized in the evening of 9 Sep at MBS China Centre. Managing Director of Interact Executive Coaching & Training S.L. Judith Martin was invited as the speakers.

In the session, that was part-presentation and part-interactive discussion, Judith shared how the powerful tool of executive coaching can support and challenge business people, how it promotes both personal and professional development, as well as how it helps to make a positive difference to team and organisational results.