·Topic: MAKING FOREIGN ACQUISITIONS WORK: HOW CHINESE COMPANIES CAN EXPAND INTERNATIONALLY BY BUYING GLOBAL BRANDS FROM WESTERN MULTINATIONALS
·Time: 6:00P.M.-7:30P.M., Oct.16th (Thu), 2014
·Venue: Room 105, Li Dasan Building, School of Management
·MC: Dr. Li XIAO, Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing, School of Management, Fudan University
·Guest Speaker:  Jan-Benedict E. M. Steenkamp
C. Knox Massey Distinguished Professor of Marketing, Marketing Area Chair & Executive Director of AiMark Kenan-Flagler Business School, UNC-Chapel Hill

·Introduction of the Speaker:

Jan-Benedict E. M. Steenkamp (Dr. h.c., PhD, MSc, BSc) is the Massey Distinguished Professor of Marketing and Marketing Area Chair at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Executive Director of AiMark and Fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth at Fudan University (Shanghai). He also teaches in a joint program at Tsinghua University (Beijing).

A native of the Netherlands, Prof. Steenkamp has taught, consulted, and given executive seminars in all continents. He has received an honorary doctorate from Aarhus University (Denmark) and an array of lifetime achievement honors, including from the Royal Netherland Academy of Sciences and the European Marketing Academy. His work has received over 25,000 citations, and he is rated the most influential marketing scholar of the last decade.

Prof. Steenkamp is a valued branding and strategy consultant, and his work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, and numerous other media outlets in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, India, China, and South Korea.

Prof. Steenkamp has written eight cases on emerging market companies, including Huawei, Haier, TCL, Pearl River Piano, Sand River, Shanghai VIVE, Galanz, and Proton, which are available through The Case Center (www.thecasecentre.org). His activities can be followed on the website www.brandbreakout.com.

·Abstract:
Chinese companies have a stronger urge than ever before to go international. Competition in the home market is fierce and profit margins are under pressure. Moreover, the opportunities offered by the global market are vast, especially now that the growth of the Chinese economy is slowing while economic activity in the U.S. and elsewhere is picking up again. Acquiring foreign companies and their famous brands is the fastest way to gain a foothold in Western markets. Yet, the path to global success is littered with failures and several Chinese companies have narrowly avoided going bankrupt because of wrong strategic choices. Prof. Steenkamp will outline and discuss the “Western” approach to mergers and acquisitions and contrast this with the unique “Chinese” approach that Chinese companies should follow to leverage their strengths and avoid the pitfalls of Western companies. He will identify complementary abilities to make mergers and acquisitions work and illustrate M&A strategies with Chinese examples.

·Sponsors:
Department of Maketing, Fudan University
Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth
Fudan MBA Forum