On May 25, the opening ceremony of BI-Fudan MBA Class 30 was successfully held at the Fudan University School of Management. An array of guests attended the ceremony, including officials from the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Shanghai, management leaders and professors from BI Norwegian Business School and Fudan University, and the current Class 29 student representatives of the program.
Professor Huizhong XU, Executive Director of the MBA program in Shanghai, gave the ceremony opening remarks and introduced the MBA Class 30 profile. Enrolled this year are 58 outstanding professional managers, all of whom come from different industries and represent both local and international companies with more than 600 years of work experience combined. Starting this month, they will complete a two-year journey of learning at the historic campus of Fudan, soon to join the 2,400 BI-Fudan alumni network and elevate their career path to the next level.
Upon the welcoming speeches, Mr. Jacky HAO, Head of BI Liaison Office and China Representative of BI Norwegian Business School, addressed that the program has a strong belief in helping students to create a meaningful experience for themselves, and it is only a true success if they make an impact and difference in the life of others.
“As a former BI student myself, it is very nice to have this chance to meet you all, as now you’re the representatives of management leaders and the future of BI and Fudan”, Ms. Kristin Iglum, Consul General of Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Shanghai, said, greeting the attendants and congratulating the Class 30 students. She went on to say, “The academic field has been developed into one of the most popular areas of cooperation between Norway and China, as the most comprehensive academic program at the moment the BI-Fudan MBA program has brought together the Chinese and Norwegian strengths. Having the privilege to know another culture other than your own will give you the opportunity to compose innovation.”
Professor Hongxiang WU, Associate Dean of Fudan University Graduate School, said the program strives to further expand and exchange cooperation in depth to allow students to continue sharing knowledge and experiences of different cultures, so that they can improve their strategic thinking capacity, cross-cultural management ability, and leadership skills in the best way.
Professor Ragnhild Silkoset, Dean of BI Norwegian Business School Executive Programs, explained that the program is a collaborative effort from both BI and Fudan that its outcome is across geographical distance and cultural borders, and together they have created inspiring and unique interactions on learning that both parties appreciate. She further asked students to share their knowledge and use a higher-ordered thinking to reach others who also share the responsibility to bring more to their companies, so that they can truly make an impact.
Professor Weitao ZHAO, Associate Dean of Fudan Univeristy School of Management, highlighted that the BI-Fudan MBA program has been one of the top programs in global rankings and also has generated great word-of-mouth reputation among global professional business circles, as well as students and alumni.
Ms. Josephine ZHOU, currently the Total Rewards Manager at Coca Cola Asia Pacific, made a speech as a representative of current students. She shared the journey her class has travelled so far for 6 months with the new class, and explained the program experiences up to now as a WIN experience, similar to her company’s cultural statement (W: world-class, I: innovation, N: next-generation).
Mr. Robert WU, spoke as a representative of Class 30. He shared with his fellows on the importance of joining the program and expressed his hope for his class in one word – transformation – so as to get out the most from the upcoming exciting journey.
The ceremony ended with Fudan University’s school anthem. New students were introduced to the program and class policies, and were asked to take a group photo with all guests before lunch. In the afternoon, the famous “Everest Simulation”was also conducted for the students – a classic Harvard case on how teams succeed in reaching Mount Everest in extreme environments that is used as one of the center development pieces for the BI-Fudan MBA program. Through the simulation, the students were able to quickly break the ice and get familiar with the MBA program’s teaching method. After a full day of the opening ceremony, Class 30 students proceeded to a 2-day orientation trip in Taicang.
The BI-Fudan MBA Program was set up in 1996 as one of the first joint programs officially approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education. With resource inputs from both Fudan University and BI Norwegian Business School, the mission of the program is to combine “the Best of Both” – the Chinese customer centric adaptability and pragmatism and the Nordic egalitarianism to foster innovation – so students can explore compatibility and capitalize on opportunities. With its quality and influence in education, the program has ranked at No.38 in the EMBA ranking in 2017 and No.5 in the Part-time MBA Program ranking byFinancialTimes.
