Tag: International Management Residency



The Executive MBA International Residency is often the student favorite of the program’s four required residencies. In between once-in-a-lifetime visits to historic sites in Shanghai and Beijing, EMBA students meet with program alumni and business leaders, exploring China’s unique economy, markets, and global leadership.

EMBA 49 recently returned from the International Management Residency—and if these photos from EMBA Student Services Manager Cory Barron is any indication, it was an exciting experience.

Monday: Facing strategic challenges

After a day of sightseeing at The Great Wall and Forbidden City, students buckled down for business on Monday. They kicked off the residency with site visits to Nestlé’s R&D Center and Xiaozhu.com, the Chinese Airbnb.

After a tour of Nestlé’s R&D Center, Stanford Lin, Vice President & Head of Strategy and Business Development for Nestlé-China, presented EMBA 49 with a strategy challenge. Teams were asked to develop a product to address complex strategic challenges while navigating global, regional, and industry considerations—within a 30-minute time frame.

Terrell Jones presents his thoughts on the team’s marketing strategy, while team members Mehul Gandhi and Matt Reasor listen. 

Melinda Chu explains her team’s product concept under the scrutiny of Nestlé’s Stanford Lin, VP & Head of Strategy & Business Development, and Roberto Reniero, Head of R&D, Nestlé China.

 

Next on the agenda was Xiaozhu.com. Founded in 2012, the Chinese version of Airbnb has expanded to branches in 13 cities all over the country, with house sources covering more than 130 domestic cities.

Students learned about the difficulties Xiaozhu initially faced in establishing a sharing culture in China. However, Xiaozhu.com CEO Kelvin Chen says the company is now adding 1,500 new listings per day.

Xiaozhu translates to Piglet. Piglet is a sign of a happy home.

Panlan Shi shows EMBA 49 the floor of coders building Xiaozhu. 

 

Tuesday: Taking in Shanghai

EMBA 49 took Tuesday to travel (via high-speed train) from Beijing to Shanghai for the rest of the week’s activities. After arriving in Shanghai, the group took in Shanghai’s skyline on a dinner cruise of the Huangpu River.

Jared Ogden passes the time crocheting while speeding south on the train. He says he learned the skill while trapped by a storm in Alaska, where he had plenty of time to learn a new skill. 

A closer look at Jared’s quality craftsmanship.

 

EMBA 49 cruising on the Huangpu River, which separates the new, glitzy Shanghai Financial District from the older, European architecture of the Bund area.

 

Wednesday: Exploring consumer preferences & entrepreneurship

With a few site visits under their belt, EMBA 49 was ready to delve deeper into China’s economy. Speakers from Weber Shandwick, McKinsey & Co., Sigmatex, and AmCham covered a myriad of topics, from China’s entrepreneurial digital revolution to Chinese consumers and the regional economy.

Later, students put their negotiations skills to the test with a visit to the Shanghai Fabric Market.

Darren Burns, President of Weber Shandwick–China, describes how his company’s PR and advertising campaigns are reaching the middle-class Chinese consumer online. Using live streaming is a critical part of their strategy for their Western clients trying to join the conversation in China.

Mehul Gandhi looks pleased when his negotiations calculate to an agreeable price at the Shanghai Fabric Market.

John Ortegon negotiates a better price on a new scarf while at the fabric market.

 

Thursday: Site visit to ZTE Corp. & business panel

EMBA 49 kicked off Thursday with a site visit to ZTE Corp.’s R&D Center. ZTE is the global leader in telecommunications and information technology, achieving an annual revenue of more than $15.3 billion in 2016.

Since 2010, ZTE has been ranked among the world’s Top 3 for patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, so it seemed a natural starting point for Executive MBAs to learn more about corporate innovation.

EMBA received a warm welcome from the staff at the ZTE R&D Center.

EMBA 49 looking sharp in their ZTE lab coats.

The cohort was then treated to a panel discussion featuring leaders from Novus Intl., Dun and Bradstreet, and Qingdao ADR Axles China Manufacturing Co.—two of whom are alumni (Chiara Radrizzani and Jesse Huang, both EMBA Shanghai Class 14 graduates).

At Thursday afternoon’s executive round table, Flemming Mahs, Managing Director of Asia Pacific, Novus Intl.; Huang Jiexi, Privacy and Compliance Director for Asia, Dun and Bradstreet; and Chiara Radrizzani, Asia Pacific CEO, ADR Group, share with EMBA 49 the cultural intricacies of doing business in China. 

 

Friday and Saturday: Field Studies & Fudan University

EMBA teams spent Friday working on their marketing research projects, breaking out into groups for health care and consumer field study.

The students also got a taste of life as an Executive MBA-Shanghai student, sitting in on a class with Finance Prof. Todd Milbourn and exploring the campus at Fudan University, Olin’s global partner in the Executive MBA-Shanghai degree program.

Friday’s sunrise in Shanghai.


Learn more about the curriculum and residency opportunities in Olin’s Executive MBA program.

Guest blogger: Cory Barron, Student Services Manager, EMBA team




Learning in the Executive MBA program extends far beyond classroom walls—in this case, to the other side of the world. As part of the curriculum’s four required residencies, EMBA 48 traveled to Shanghai this week for the last half of their International Management Residency, where they explore global economies, markets, and leadership.

Executive MBA Student Services Manager Cory Barron sends this update from the cohort’s last days in China (be sure to check out part one):


The last three days in China for EMBA 48 were a flurry of educational activities. Starting with a tour of the new Johnson & Johnson headquarters building in Shanghai, Dr. Hong Xin, Sr. Director of New Ventures, explained that a major focus of J&J innovation in China is developing drugs to combat China’s top health issue, lung cancer. But she says J&J embraces the non-pharma solution to lower the number of cases with prevention and interception.

EMBA 48 toured Johnson & Johnson’s new headquarters in Shanghai, China.

The class’ next assignment was to travel on their own from J&J to the afternoon business panel discussion on the other side of Shanghai. With maps and a little instruction at the subway station, all successfully traversed the city with little problem.

The afternoon business panel discussion consisted of several WashU Olin alumni, who covered major business topics in China like IP protection and joint ventures, along with expiate adjustments, making for an energetic Q&A with the class.

(Left to right): Jacklin Zeng, DeLage Landen, Shanghai Olin EMBA Class 11; Patty Sun Tsau, Windeson Enterprise, Olin Shanghai EMBA Class 12; and Gloria Rong Gao, Novartis Pharma, Olin Shangai EMBA Class13, listen to Flemming Mahs, Novus International, Olin MBA 1993, talk about life as an expat in China.

EMBA 48 in front of the Pearl Tower in the Pudong Financial District of Shanghai.

Friday was the field study day. A group, consisting largely of those in the health care sector, toured a large urban hospital and a community health clinic. They also had their evidence-based practices challenged when exploring the philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. About ten other EMBAs visited four advertising companies located in the same high rise. The other half of EMBA 48 was assigned local Chinese markets and Western malls to try and discover new branding schemes and store or product concepts.

This day concluded with an optional market and cooking experience. The trip to the market included multi colored eggs, slithering eels, and unique Asian vegetable varieties. They then stretched and twirled the noodle dough, sliced and stir fried the chicken, while others filled and pinched-up dumplings, readying them for the steamer.

Kate Gase, EMBA 48, shares with Katie Hamilton, EMBA 48, some original education materials she found at the First People’s Hospital of Shanghai during the Health Care Field Study.

EMBA 48’s Dan Kohnen and Gail Presswood prepare soup dumplings for the evening meal during their cooking experience class.

We started our last full day in China on Saturday by joining Shanghai Olin EMBA Class 15 at Fudan University. Professor Panos Kouvelis prepped the class for a simulation that the two classes tackled together in teams.

Saturday concluded with the U.S.-based EMBAs presenting their teams’ Field Study findings.

Panos Kouvelis lectures to a joint class of EMBA 48 and Olin Shanghai Class 15 prior to an Operations simulation.

Learn more about the Executive MBA curriculum and residency opportunities

Guest blogger: Cory Barron, Student Services Manager, EMBA team




Learning in the Executive MBA program extends far beyond classroom walls—in this case, to the other side of the world. As part of the curriculum’s four required residencies, EMBA 48 traveled to Beijing this week for the first half of their International Management Residency, where they explore global economies, markets, and leadership.

Executive MBA Student Services Manager Cory Barron sends this update from the cohort’s first two days in China:


Day 1 | The Great Wall of China and The Forbidden City

Muted blue skies, ideal June temperatures, and a light crowd greeted EMBA 48 at the Great Wall of China. Many in the class expressed that they “never dreamed” of having the opportunity to visit this historical site. The 5,000 mile long wall delivered a morning of intense climbs to gorgeous vistas of the Chinese dragon snaking atop the mountain contours.

John Flath trudging up the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China on a gorgeous June morning.

Jerod Mickelson, Tyler King and David Messner quick stepping on the Great Wall during the EMBA 48 International Residency in China.

By mid-afternoon, EMBA 48 was exploring the vastness of the Forbidden City. Over 8,000 rooms housed, in addition to the royal family, the palace guards, eunuchs, and hundreds of concubines. Up until 1911, this was reclusive home of the Emperors of China for hundreds of years.

EMBA 48 joined other tourists walking the original block stone courtyards of the Forbidden City.

Neeti Kailas enjoys a break from the afternoon sun while listening to her guide’s explanation of the Chinese dynasties.

Day 2 | Challenges facing multinationals

After weaving through the morning traffic, EMBA 48 made it to the northwest reaches of Beijing to tour Beijing Foton Cummins Engine Co. This is the ground work for the business challenge discussion they would have with Miguel Kindler, Cummins-Beijing Plant Manager. After Miguel’s short briefing on the plant’s capacity and Cummins’ 40-year history in China, each study team was given a question with one common challenge facing multinationals entering the Chinese market. The teams were given 30 minutes to come up with a solution and then present that solution to the Miguel for his evaluation.

Dinesh Thotala adjusts his receiver prior to a tour of the Cummins motor plant in Beijing.

While David Willis listens and April Powell takes notes, Doug Jost shares his strategy for his team’s business challenge question.

Lauren Brown, David Messner, and Mellissa Jobe listen to Miguel Kindler, Cummins-Beijing Plant Manager, as he answers their questions about their team’s business challenge.

After Team 4’s victorious Cummins presentation, EMBA 48 traveled to Beijing’s Embassy District. Walking through the six inch thick doors of the outer walls of the United States Embassy, the EMBAs passed security before entering the grounds. A panel of three officers, representing some of the 21 government agencies housed at the Beijing Embassy, explained how they are serving United States business interests in China.


Stay tuned for more updates from EMBA 48’s International Management Residency in Beijing and China. Learn more about the curriculum and residency opportunities in Olin’s Executive MBA program. 

Guest blogger: Cory Barron, Student Services Manager, EMBA team