Lancaster currently has an alumnus group of around 150 MBAs working in Beijing - the country’s thriving capital that has the second largest amount of HQ’s among Fortune 500 companies in the world. China’s economic growth is at around 7%, a figure that would be considered magnificent to most economies but to its government, that once boasted double-digit figures, is regarded as merely modest. Where there is money, there is business opportunity. And to MBAs China is clearly an attractive prospect.
At Lancaster, the LCMC’s regional director - who has been researching in China since the 1980s, MBA Professor David Brown, says that the university’s MBA graduates benefit from their increased employability agenda. “The China Center has been instrumental in developing employability agenda for Chinese students,” he said.
“A few years ago they were independent. They might have asked for a reference but that was it. Now, we set up activities during the year which facilitate job prospects of Chinese people when they return to china.
“We have 150 Chinese alumni in Beijing and Lancaster’s Chinese alumnus is one of the strongest we have.”
One of those events was the annual dragons-den-style competition started with Lancaster and a Chinese-partner, the China Innovation and Development Association. It is entirely focused on developing business links with China and the UK and has since been broadened to include UK-based MBA programs at University College London and the University of East Anglia. Its sister competition runs in tandem, at the Chong Ching University in China.
The winners of each will compete against each other at the international final in December this year which boasts a cash prize of £3000 but, more importantly, a chance to make contacts within a judging panel of experienced venture-capitalists and a two-week trip around China visiting potential investors. “It’s another example of the way we take china seriously,” David adds.
The opportunity to visit a leading economy like China is one that MBAs at Lancaster cherish. And Lancaster seeks to internationalize its students at every opportunity. “The policy of the university is to internationalize the student experience. MBAs get a chance to go to two overseas destinations, such as South Africa and Europe,” David said.
“But the other choice is always the same (China). China is so important: whether you have an interest in the country or not, it will impact on you.
“It’s soon to be biggest economy and it impacts on most organizations. It is very attractive for the non-Chinese students, but most other people choose to go to China.”
MBAs benefit by developing potential job contacts. “Students benefit at Lancaster because we are committed to running seminars in both terms, in which China is the focal issue: we run these seminars to meet academics and practitioners that bring them the realities of doing business with China,” said David.
“We get hosted by partner universities in China and we take them to factories and businesses of different kinds: high-tech companies and American owned companies.
“MBAs have to write a reflective essay that asks them to compare what they’ve seen in China with their own business experiences. For many of them it is the most important time they spend on the MBA.”
The LCMC also trains Chinese business managers to better understand the economy in China, and brings that learning to its own MBA students.
Despite China’s economy expecting to stall in economic growth in the second half of this year, David believes that the prediction fits in entirely with what the Chinese government hopes to achieve, and it is still an exciting option for graduating MBAs. “We shouldn’t worry too much about that,” he said. “China has stated publically that as it reconfigures away from its economy being dependent on exports, to one that will also try to develop the domestic markets, they are deliberate in recognizing the future won’t be the same.
“The growth rates are entirely within what the government is seeking to achieve. It’s all about re-shaping their economy. The opportunities in china remain huge.
“The acid test is what happens to their graduates. Most would try hard to generate job prospects in those respective countries, and not in China. But that’s changed. Many Chinese MBAs think they’re best career prospects are in china, not Europe or the US.”
It is clear the LCMC is creating valuable links with businesses in China and business students take advantage. Regional Director David hopes to continue boosting career prospects for MBAs, in an economy that he believes will be the world's biggest in the not too distant future.
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