The China Roots Program had a grand finale with a trip to Shanghai from 12 – 16^th December 2009. This trip complimented the various lectures held in the SEM to allow Tsinghua SEM foreign exchange and international students to develop a better understanding of the business environment in China.  It was a relaxed trip that consisted of company visits, meeting up with the Tsinghua Alumni as well as sightseeing.  A total of 23 students went on the trip.   

Visits to local and foreign companies in Shanghai

Company visits included the GTJA Allianz Funds and McKinsey (Shanghai). At GTJA Allianz Funds, a joint venture between Guo Tai Jun An and Allianz of Germany, the CEO, Mr. Fu welcomed the delegation warmly. Mr. CHEN Suqiao, head of Research and a Tsinghua alumni, briefed the delegation on the background of the company and shared his views on how the company continued to stay on the top of the game. He highlighted the need to strike a balance between reading global trends and the need to understand the China market intimately. This would continue to be the critical success factor for the continued growth of the company.

Mr. Jose Luis CORTES from Peru, an exchange student from the National Chengchi University, enjoyed the visit to GTJA Allianz.  As the delegation was hosted by the top managers, he gained an in-depth understanding of how the business was managed as well as the strategic direction for the firm. “This allowed MBA students to tap on the experience of the company directly.”

At McKinsey (Shanghai Office), the Director of Professional Development for Greater China, Ms. Miranda Shu, gave a walkthrough of the recruitment process, career progression of a McKinsey consultant and how McKinsey seeks to provide professional development to each and every one of its consultants.

Further insights into Shanghai – Tsinghua Alumni and Fudan University

The delegation also visited Fudan University’s School of Management. Ms. Marcela BREVIS, a student from Chile in Fundan’s IMBA program, gave an informal presentation of the school and their MBA experience and life in Shanghai. Ms. Victoria MACHA and Mr. Dipak SUNDARAM, IMBAs from Tsinghua followed on with a presentation of SEM and a video clip of the IMBA experience in Beijing. After a tour of the school facilities, the visit concluded with a dinner hosted by Fudan MBA Programs. From the interactions with the students at Fudan, the delegation came away with a better understanding of the School as well as insights on how people living in Shanghai see the city. 

During the dinner, the alumni shared on the differences between Beijing and Shanghai from personal perspectives.  Shanghai was more cosmopolitan while Beijing retained its Chinese culture in tandem to its fast development.  Mr. Terence LAM, from Australia, an IMBA, saw the dinner as a good opportunity to learn about diversity in local working culture since the alumni were all working in different fields and companies. The alumni were also a valuable resource for students to understand more about Shanghai as well as the opportunities of finding work upon graduation.  

The dinner was a rousing success with the current students and the alumni toasting one another and the current students sharing their background information and future career directions with the alumni. An instant network was formed for many. 

Sightseeing and further thoughts

For sightseeing, the delegations visited the Shanghai Museum, Nanjing Lu and Xintiandi.  

Jose Luis thought the sightseeing helped some of the students, especially the first timers to Shanghai, to understand more about Shanghai and was a good way of helping the students start to consider if they would like to settle in Shanghai upon their graduation. 

Mr. Darren CHAN, an IMBA from the United States, remarked how Shanghai had developed since his visit many years back with the swanky towers in the Pudong. 

Takeaways from the trip

Markus was glad to have the opportunity to interact with the various students of Tsinghua IMBA program and the Fudan IMBA students. Markus summarized that MBA students almost always had a wish list or a strategic roadmap to achieving sometime. Most times, these wish lists would be challenging. He also shared that MBA graduates should be able to contribute back to the society, whether in terms of building up companies or in projects to better the society.

The trip provided the delegation with the opportunities to interact with diverse groups of people living and working in Shanghai and to understand the business culture of China better.