I recently had the opportunity to visit China for graduate programs admissions interviews. It was wonderful to meet so many amazing prospective students from this part of the world and learn more about this beautiful country. (more…)
Tags
Trending
Tag: China
It was a an overcast, rainy Saturday in Kansas City, yet it did not dampen the spirits of Olin’s Executive MBA students in Kansas City who gathered to participate in the 11th annual Dragon Boat Races hosted by the Society for Friendship with China on June 13.
Drawing on lessons learned in the Team Development course with Professors Bill Bottom and Hillary Elfenbein, the “Strokes of Genius”team raced in two races on Brush Creek, the body of water that flows alongside KC’s famed Country Club Plaza. It was a day shared with family and friends, and one filled with laughs as our group of novice rowers came together.
The “Strokes of Genius” included members of EMBA 46 Kansas City.
EMBA student Brad Li, a native of Shanghai, participated in the event’s opening ceremony and before the team rowed he shared secret tips learned from Chinese Deputy Consul General Liu who visited his KC office on Friday.
Participating in this Chinese tradition is especially meaningful for Olin Business School. Our EMBA program in partnership with Fudan University in Shanghai was the first joint EMBA program recognized in mainland China in 2002.
For the program’s international residency, our students travel to Beijing and Shanghai to experience business in both the political and economic capitals of China. While in Shanghai, they will also engage with our Shanghai cohort to truly experience doing business on a global platform.
EMBA 46 Kansas City exhibits teamwork in action.
The 6th Kansas City cohort includes entrepreneurs, corporate executives, industry leaders, attorneys, and non-profit executives.
The cohort will continue their studies through January before rejoining their colleagues in St. Louis for the second half of the Executive MBA curriculum, which includes the international residency in Bejing and Shanghai.
Hong Liu, Olin finance professor, was interviewed on China Central Television, CCTV-America, about China’s recent hike in taxes on tobacco. The new 11% tax on wholesale cigarettes, up from 5%, has led to a 10% jump in retail prices. But according to Prof.Liu the price increase won’t deter China’s millions of smokers. Liu says China needs to boost the tax rate to 70% to reduce tobacco consumption. Liu also tells CCTV that China is far behind other countries on curbing smoking. Bans on indoor and public area smoking are not enforced and there is little education on the the health hazards of tobacco.
Watch video by clicking on image above.
When I was packing to leave for my Executive MBA Class trip to China, I started to feel a good amount of foreign travel anxiety. As a grownup who has taken international business and pleasure trips on my own, I was mentally preparing for one of those trips–where you do all the navigating, planning, and getting to the hotel on your own. That anxiety disappeared when I encountered a half dozen of my fellow students waving and cheering in the Starbuck’s seating area at Lambert Airport. I had forgotten I wasn’t going alone!
When we arrived at the Shanghai Airport, Frank Wong and Mr. Chin, our World Strides tour guides, were carrying “Washington University in St. Louis” signs. We couldn’t miss them, despite a gauntlet of taxi drivers eager to take us downtown.
The whole class of about 50 are coming from multiple directions–the Denver cohort on their routes, some of the St. Louis cohort on different routes, some arrived before today, some are coming tomorrow–but it turned out that my United flight from Chicago combined with a second United flight that left minutes after ours included about 20 of my fellow EMBA classmates, plus a couple of spouses. We got to the hotel about an hour ago.
Vamsi Inkollu, EMBA Class 43, getting on the bus at Shanghai Airport.
We took a bus chartered for our group from the airport to the Shanghai Marriott Hotel City Center.
It took a surprising amount of time to get to our hotel–about two hours. On the way, Frank provided some Chinese and Shanghai history as well as an overview of the agenda for the week.
I was relieved to reach my room in the hotel. We’ve been warned numerous times not to drink water from the tap, not to eat foods washed with local water, to beware of pickpockets and kidnappers.
It felt wonderful to walk into a lovely, well-appointed room. There are unopened bottles of water, western electric plugs, and TV in English.
- I didn’t need to bring my robe or slippers–both were provided! When my room-mate Lindsay arrives, however, I think we’ll need to lower the bathroom blind.
On the long ride to Shanghai.
Shanghai-based Executive MBA students encountered some giant Cats this week when they toured the Caterpillar Suzhou factory. Members from Class 12 posed with a 950H Wheel Loader (above) – one of the models of medium wheel loaders and motor graders produced at the Suzhou facility for markets in Asia Pacific, Russia, CIS (former Soviet republics), Africa, the Middle East and South America.
Members of Class 12, Hui Jason Wu, Jimmy Fan, Marcos Delorenzo, and Yi Xu took the initiative to organize this field trip. Thanks to Matt Zelinski, EMBA Class 37, who helped arrange the visit and to Caterpillar’s Stephanie Zhou for planning the details of the tour.
According to the Caterpillar website, “China has become a major manufacturing base for Caterpillar with 26 facilities, 4 R&D centers, 3 logistics and parts centers and more than 15,000 employees. Products such as hydraulic excavators, track-type tractors, wheel loaders, motor graders, diesel engines, undercarriage, iron castings, re-manufactured products machinery components and electric power generator sets are manufactured in China.
Caterpillar’s Suzhou facility was opened in 2006
“Among the 26 facilities in China, the pioneer Caterpillar (Xuzhou) Ltd. and the new bright star Caterpillar (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., are the models.”
Photo credit: Caterpillar website
According to Going Global’s March Career Update, “the employment outlook in China is one of the most promising in the Asia Pacific region. Half of China’s employers plan to increase staff in the near future. High turnover in the country means that employers are concerned with retaining top talent. Companies will offer incentives, as well as training and development opportunities, to keep their best people. Additionally, a talent shortage exists in the country at all levels of occupations in positions ranging from production operations to management/executive. Chinese students with U.S. higher education are in great demand.
