On April 13th through the 16th in 2015, eight students from the Tsinghua MBA FinLab Program Rapal Teams, led by their advisor Professor DUAN Zhirong, went to Helsinki to present their final reports. This was FinLab’s second program since its founding in 2014.

                                            Tsinghua MBA Student Teams 

Rapal is a leading company in integrated workplace management system（IWMS） based in Finland. Tsinghua MBA student teams’ major task was to do pre-research for Rapal’s entry into China. The project was launched in November 2014 and two teams were selected. Diverse backgrounds and expertise were primary considerations when structuring the teams. ZHENG Tianyou, leader of team one, used to work at IBM and had an IT industry background. His teammates included CHEN Erjiang, who had years of work experience in real estate, WANG Qian, who was from financial information industry and skilled in data integration. PENG Jie, leader of team two, had HR work experience. His teammates included ZHAO Qijiao from PWC, WAN Jun from the real estate industry, and SHEN Hengche who made strategic plannings for many foreign companies entering Chinese market. 

One of Professor DUAN Zhirong focuses was the synergy of two teams. Guided by this idea, both teams conducted comprehensive and profound market research involving a PEST analysis, market study, potential customer calls, and interview with professionals who were in the field for at least three months. Both teams kept close contact with Rapal Finland, its liaison office in China and its Chinese partners, and submitted midterm and final reports on schedule. 

At Rapal’s monthly staff meeting on May 13, SHEN Hengche and WANG Qian presented project reports on behalf of both teams. Professor DUAN Zhirong and both teams answered Rapal staff’s questions on policy, business environment, and environmental protection in China. In the afternoon, both teams also met with Rapal China team to discuss the macro strategies and specific measures.

                                                               Team Presentations

On the following day, Rapal’s board directors discussed with the two teams about Rapal strategic positioning in China, including detailed analysis of China market, innovative ideas on cross-border and segment markets, and possible changes in business environment brought by the China's new normal economy since 2015. The company also spoke highly of Tsinghua MBA student teams.

     Discussion between Tsinghua Student Teams and Rapal Board Directors

During the following days, Rapal took both teams to visit its business partner Granlund and its key clients in Finland, Nokia and University of Helsinki, which are their typical corporate and university clients. These visits gave the teams firsthand information on IWMS products in Nordic countries and allowed them to appreciate and understand the future application of IWMS products in China. The teams also visited Eficode, the fastest growing software company in Finland, which is also one of Finlab’s corporate partners in its programs. 

                                                                Company  Visits

In addition, both teams reported the overall progress of their projects at Tekes HQ, sharing their feelings about the program and what they had learned from it. They also made suggestions for future cooperation. Teams were welcomed by Minh Lam, director of Tekes.

Students participated in this program said that they not only learned how to do projects in real business world but also integrated their knowledge, skills and methods learned from classes and used them in practice. As young people who are going to start their careers soon, they experienced clashes and integration of thoughts with people from different cultures and backgrounds. More students were expected to join the MBA Integrative Practical Project for similar or even more engaging experiences.

On March 29, 2015, both teams presented their first reports to Rapal’s partner in China, Glodon Software Company. It was a successful rehearsal for their final reports in Finland. Students also received valuable advice from the senior executives of Glodon.

                                          Reporting to Glodon Software Company

By Wang Qian, Tsinghua MBA Class of 2014

FinLab is an consultancy program between the Tsinghua SEM MBA Program and Tekes. It is also an essential part of the Tsinghua MBA’s Integrative Practical Project. FinLab aims at integrating Tsinghua MBA faculty’s resources to provide strategic consulting and business planning for Finnish SMEs in Tekes programs to aide in entering China’s market. It bridges exchanges of innovation and business between the two countries, and helps training prominent international talents. The framework of the program covers many areas including health & social welfare, clean energy, smart city, interactive media and knowledge intensive service industry.