By Miao Chenxia

Published:  April 06，2009

Business schools of China and the United States formed an international team to develop deep consulting practice in corporations, which enriches domestic MBA’s non-classroom training.

In the international team of China-Lab, students will face fierce collisions of different values, but also feel different ways of dealing with problems.

In the mid-March, 8 students from Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in America and 8 international MBA students from 3 cooperative business school of China respectively entered domestic enterprises. They had a profound exchange with administrant of enterprises, and at last provided reports on market strategies, competitive analysis, etc. From the perspective of business school, there is no doubt that this practice platform is quite helpful in solving the domestic MBA students’ problem of shortage in real experience, and it can also make up the business school’s insufficiency in the non-classroom teaching section.

Program Background

In 2008, the China-Lab Program, an initiative of four premier business schools: MIT Sloan School of Management, Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, Fudan University School of Management, and Lingnan (University) College at Sun Yat-sen University, was officially initiated. After that, it is held once a year. “China-Lab is a small consultative program, and under the leadership of executives in enterprises, students help to solve problems”, M. Jonathan Lehrich, the supervisor of China Lab Program from Sloan School of Management of MIT, defined China-Lab in this way.

In 2009, China-Lab consists of three periods: in Mid-March, Chinese and American students formed a team, developing about two weeks of field work in cooperative companies; in April, Chinese students go to America to visit and study for one week; the third period will last two months, each team will have a deep analysis of the data by means of long-distance communication like network, finishing reports on some important aspects for enterprises. Students can obtain course credits through course evaluation.

In the point view of Mao Donghui, the Executive Director of the MBA Programs, MBA education should not be satisfied with academic training, but add some good sections into non-classroom teaching to enhance students’ practical abilities and international vision. However, the reality is that, in this section, most are activities spontaneously made by students. Although the school has forms like case competitions, it is still far from enough. China-Lab creates a relatively complicated program environment for students. Students from different countries and different competitive environments can help to create a market environment as real as possible. In the comparatively normative management consulting process, students can have a better training in developing their professional skills under the guidance of teachers.

Zhang Aiping, an IMBA student of Tsinghua, felt that, “although there are lots of programs in the past, this time is a real practice deep into companies and we can really bring values to companies.”

Fu Kexun, Administration Director of International MBA Programs of the School of Management, in Fudan University, summarized the characteristics of China-Lab into three categories: first, it is an international team. In each small team, students have to suffer pains of intense collision of values, and have to learn how to be good at solve problems that team members mutually accept. Second, it has more practical elements. Third, it really combines academic researches, teaching and practice of business schools closely.

As for enterprises, this is also a win-win form. Just as what Tang Ning, the CEO of CreditEase, said, these MBA students were “very professional”. Han Shaoyun, CEO of Tarena, also thought highly of students’ work in the professional document, and said that even some of their collogues were not so good as them. But Han Shaoyun also mentioned that, what students lacked were still experience. In addition, they had to be strengthened in flexibility, not blindly pursuing the ideal state.