The School of Management at Fudan University (FDSM) joined hands with Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and Cisco Systems to kick off the Supply Chain Leadership Institute on June 3, 2009.

Professor LU Xiongwen, dean of FDSM, and Jim Sherriff, Cisco China Chairman & CEO, were present at the news release which was held to announce the program at Fudan University.

The program is the first of its kind to integrate prestigious academic resources of both Chinese and the US universities in the field of supply chain training, along with Cisco’s case analysis expertise. FDSM has accumulated a solid foundation in the academic research of supply chain and logistical management, while the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum is a leading research institute that advances the theory and practice of excellence in global supply chain management.

It is dedicated to fostering high-end professional managers for Chinese enterprise. This July, the first set of courses is going to be provided for industry-wide business leaders, and those students who are to graduate from the program are going to be granted a certificate jointly by Cisco, FDSM and GSB.

The news release on the joint Supply Chain Leadership Institute

Win-win Solution for Academic-industry Cooperation

The development of one business school is closely tied with social and economic growth, and the sound cooperation and interaction between academics and business circles can contribute to the formation of a highly efficient and diversified development mechanism. To be specific, one school calls for the support of enterprises in terms of industrial research and talent cultivation, while enterprises have to borrow academic forces to transform and apply into practice the related research achievements. Therefore, the best form of academic-industry cooperation is able to realize a win-win goal.

In so many years, Cisco has been dedicated to supplying network integration solutions of hardware, software and consultations for its clients in the fields of business, education, charity, and creative industries. The Customer Value Chain Management (CVCM) approach is to create a framework for collaborative planning, customer order management, and service to meet the demands of strategic customers in a customized approach while benefiting from Cisco’s global-scale advantages.

Since 2002, Cisco’s investment in China is one crucial part of its global strategy in transformation. Between 2002 and 2007, it has invested an accumulated amount of US$8.5 billion in China. Vice Chairman ZHANG Xiaoqiang of National Development and Reform Commission, and Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers signed a memorandum of understanding on April 17 of 2008, and in the next five years, Cisco is going to invest US$350 million, and purchase another US$13.5 billion worth of products and services in China.

The trio-cooperated Supply Chain Leadership Institute is an important part of MOU, and Cisco, FDSM and GSB are going to join forces to cultivate high-flying talents in supply chain management, so as to help enterprises to survive and expand in the global market competition.

Stanford Graduate School of Business is one of world’s top business schools, and its Global Supply Chain Management Forum also enjoys worldwide reputation. Director Hau L. Lee is an internationally famous scholar of supply chain management, founder of demand chain theory. The forum is purposed to advance the theory and practice of global supply chain management through academic-industry partnership. Director Lee is going to lecture some of the courses in Supply Chain Leadership Institute.

The School of Management at Fudan University has achieved tremendous progress in supply chain and logistical management. As early as 1979, the Department of Management Science was founded, one of the first of its kind in China, with major research experience in management science, supply chain and logistical management, and technological innovation management. It designed diagnostic analysis system for production control for Baosteel Group, which has received high appreciation from the client. It also designed revenue management system which helps clients create more profits. Professor LI Hongyu, Department of Management Science in FDSM, who has expertise in logistics/operations management, production planning and controlling, data envelopment analysis and its applications, is going to lecture the courses in the program.

The Supply Chain Leadership Institute will be based in FDSM, Shanghai, and open to the whole nation of China. FDSM is going to borrow forces from its own management teaching expertise and supply chain management research advancements, and melt them with Cisco’s practical experience and Stanford’s teaching approach on global supply chain management, and build the program into a platform for professionals to study supply chain management knowledge and improve management skills in a systemic way.

Cisco China Chairman & CEO Jim Sherriff, and school Dean LU Xiongwen unveil the Supply Chain Leadership Institute

Fostering High-end Talents to Serve the Needs of Building “Two Centers” in Shanghai

It is of strategic importance to launch the Supply Chain Leadership Institute, as the move is widely seen to follow the trend of current social and economic development. Early this year, Premier WEN Jiabao approved in principle the general goal of constructing “two centers” in Shanghai, which says that, before 2020, Shanghai will develop a highly efficient modern logistical service network capable of allocating global resources. An advanced and comprehensive supply chain system is the basis for highly efficient logistical services and will greatly propel the process of building up “two centers” in Shanghai.

The program will pool up the world’s best supply chain experts, together with practical corporate experience, with an aim to build up a platform to foster high-flying talents and thus facilitate the construction of modern logistical center in Shanghai, so as to contribute to the further improvement of supply chain management capabilities in China.

Driven by Mission: Joint Forces to Breed Top-tier Talents

FDSM, which is mission-driven and dedicated to fostering social and economic leaders of China, has been playing a key role in the process of developing academic-industry cooperation to put the program into reality.

Regarding that, Professor LU Xiongwen, dean of FDSM, said: “Our mission lies in the area of integrating best-of-all educational resources from both home and abroad, and breeding the top-tier management talents. Along with the official start of Supply Chain Leadership Institute is our school’s determination to support the construction of “two centers” in Shanghai. In the past so many years, we have never stopped the pursuit of effective ways in transforming academic research into practical application, in fostering high-end professional talents and serving the needs of social and economic growth.

“This program is obviously one big leap forward on our path toward realizing our mission. Meanwhile, it marks one important step of our school striding into the class of world’s-best business schools, and demonstrates the huge effort our school is taking to push forward the progress of international cooperation and expand the level of its internationalization,” he said.

Sherriff said that: “Today’s unveiling of the Cisco Supply Chain Leadership Institute with Fudan University and Stanford University is another milestone deliverable that highlights Cisco’s long-term commitment to local innovation, partnerships, and next generation leadership in China. Our partnership with these two world-renowned learning institutions has enabled this institute to create and offer global thought leadership, industry best practices, and customized training to help supply chain organizations achieve operational excellence, increase customer satisfaction, and gain competitive advantage. We truly believe that the Cisco Supply Chain Leadership Institute will become an industry pioneer in driving local innovation through public-private partnership.”

In July of 2009, senior managers of multinationals which have businesses in China, state-owned and private enterprises, as well as officials from governments and state institutions, are going to comprise the first class of program. Fudan Professors, Stanford professors and Cisco experts are going to deliver such modules as Supply Chain Management Strategies, Supply Chain Operations Best Practices, Supply Chain Logistics Best Practices, New Product Introduction and the Supply Chain, Emerging Supply Chains, Supply Chain Partnerships, and Managing Change.

The Sino-US joint program is expected to provide opportunities for senior corporate managers to improve their supply chain management capabilities, and ultimately sharpen their competitive edges in global market.

June 4, 2009