Essay: Student exchange program from Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship to Guangdong University of Foreign studies, Guangzhou, China

SUMMARY
The Student exchange program from Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship to Guangdong University of Foreign studies, Guangzhou, China was held between 28th December 2018 to 14th January 2019.
The 17-day program was spread around 5 major places around China, namely Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Macau. The program commenced with sight-seeing, business visits and tours around Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, after which we headed to Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou where the Winter exchange program was held.
The main focus of the program was to understand the differences between the business styles in India and China, how both the countries could improve their business relationships, how AI could affect businesses and to understand the Chinese culture, their way of leading life and how they do business.
There were 4 major Industry visits at Guangzhou, conducted as part of the one week program at GDUFS. These were at Golden Sea electronic company, Guangzhou Zhujiang Brewery Group Co. Ltd., Othello cookware and Guangdong Eagle gifts.
The students of XIME were greeted and welcomed by Professor Yuan Denghua, Deputy Dean of School of Business, GDUFS at Hotel Qing Yayuan. This was followed by a traditional Chinese welcome dinner, where Prof. Yuan Denghua also sat together along with the students.
The first lecture was on 4th January 2019, conducted by Prof. Zeng Yuran, where Ms. Zeng spoke of Artificial intelligence and the management innovations associated with AI. This was followed by another insightful lecture by Prof. Du Yuping, who covered topics regarding the Chinese consumers and the various international business opportunities. A case study was also done on the topic- Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM), Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) and Original Brand Manufacturing (OBM) path for businesses from emerging markets.
The lecture on the second day was conducted by the Dean of School of Business, GDUFS, Prof. Zhu Wenzhong. He talked about the topic Globalization and CSR. The following day’s lecture was by Prof. Yuan Denghua who gave an orientation on Global MBA Education.
Prof. Wu Yiming gave the next lecture which was about the topic “Responsible Management”, which was the last of lectures.
On 9th January 2019, the students of XIME were divided into groups and each group had to prepare presentations about their understandings of the entire program. This was followed by distribution of the Certificates and the cultural programs by both XIME students and the students of School of Business, GDUFS.
The students left GDUFS, Guangzhou on 10th January 2019, for Macau, where we were taken for sight-seeing and tours. And on 11th of January, we reached Hong Kong where we spent 3 days before returning to India on 13th January.
UNIVERSITY PROFILE GUANGDONG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES
Located in the Guangdong Province in South China, it is one of the most prestigious universities in China which specializes in International studies. It was established in June 1995
through the merger of Guangzhou Institute of Foreign Languages and Guangzhou Institute of Foreign Trade. It offers 61 bachelor degree specialties and teaches 18 foreign languages. The school has established tie ups with a host of international organizations and leading academic institutes, of which Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME) is also a part of. As of 2014, the university had received around 2600 students from 116 different countries. The university serves more than 20400 full-time undergraduate students, more than 2000 graduate students and over 13000 international and continuing-education students.
Their mission, vision and values are as follows:
Mission – To turn out high end business professionals.
Vision – To grow into a high level internationalized business school with distinctive features. Values – Social Responsibility, Mutual Respect, Integrity, Learning by doing entrepreneurship.
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Founded in July 2007, it is a college level institute committed to MBA education. The college commits to “Global Vision” wherein they develop global managers with knowledge and insights of both the eastern and western parts of the world.
The school attempts to construct an international MBA education system that integrates curriculum structure, faculty development, international cooperation, social service and program management.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE AT GDUFS, CHINA
DATE
TIME
ACTIVITY
REPRESENTATIVE
4/1/19
8:15 – 9:45
AI and Management Innovation
Prof. Zeng Y uran
10:00 -12:00
Chinese consumers and International Business
Opportunities
Prof. Du Yuping
13:30 – 19:30
• The case study of an OEM, ODM and OBM path for businesses from emerging markets.
• Othello Cookware business visit.
Prof. Du Yuping
Prof. Zhu Wenzhong
5/1/19
9:30 – 11:30
Globalization and CSR
14:30 – 17:30
Guangzhou Pearl River Brewery Group Co. Ltd.
Sissie
6/1/19
9:30 – 11:30
Orientation on Global MBA education
Prof. Yuan Denghua
14:30 – 17:30
Responsible Management
Prof. Wu Yiming
7/1/19
9:30 – 11:30
Golden Sea Electronic Co. Business Visit .
Sissie
14:30 – 17:30
Guangdong Eagle Gifts Co. Ltd. Business visit
Prof. Yuan Denghua
9/1/19
9:30 – 11:30
Presentation By XIME students, Certificates Award Ceremony,
Cultural Programmes.
Prof. Yuan Denghua
9
CLASSROOM LECTURES
LECTURE 1: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MANAGEMENT INNOVATION By Prof. Zeng Yuran
The lecture was delivered by Prof. Zeng Yuran. She is an associate professor at the School of Business, GDUFS. She is also a visiting scholar of Lancashire University for Academic exchange and course participation.
She started her session by relating AI with traditional and ancient terms such as the Chinese Tai Chi which means to forecast or prophecy and Indian term “Jyothish” which is astrology.
Key Success Factors of Artificial Intelligence
• Understanding the user scenario – AI helps in
predicting the user behaviour from the data that it has previously collected and with this it provides useful and filtered insights for the users, improving the user experience.
• Big Data – Big data from the Web, is basically the input for AI. AI uses it in a smarter way and helps in better prediction of outcomes.
• Computing Capability
• Top Talent – AI helps in improved recruitment of employees, in a way better than the
traditional recruiting methods.
4 key questions were discussed about AI. The discussion was done by creating groups among students. The following are the questions and the answers from the team that I was a part of.
1. In the management world, do we really need AI?
Yes, in today’s world which is changing day by day, with rapid expansions of businesses and technology. The need for Ai is on the rise , some of the reasons why we require it are as follows.
• Getting rid of human errors.
• Improved decision making.
• More accurate forecasting.
• Substituting repetitive or monotonous jobs.
• Multiple specialization.
2. In which ways can AI optimize our management practices or performances?
• Reduce documentation
• Big data analysis
• Logistics
3. Do you see any areas which has a big potential for the use of AI in management?
• Customer care and relationship.
• Conjoint Analysis.
• Stock market prediction
• CAD & CAM
• Materials handling system.
LECTURE 2 : CHINESE CONSUMERS AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
By Prof. Du Yuping
Professor Du Yuping conducted this session on Chinese consumers and International business opportunities. She has a PhD in International Business Management. She is the head teacher of Master of International Business (MIB) and MBA supervisor at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS). She was very enthusiastic throughout the program, and she frequently spoke of how she liked to teach Indian students.
She commenced by speaking about the Chinese markets and the cities which offer the best opportunities for business in China , which were Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong.
Customer Based Brand Equity – She discussed about the Keller’s Brand equity model and went on to elaborate the following.
1) Resonance 2) Judgement 3) Feelings
4) Performance 5) Imagery
6) Salience
She then suggested that platform business is one of the best forms of business at the moment. Platform business is one in which a platform or a market is created where sellers and buyers can meet.
She then explained the concept of Black box , which is a system in which the inputs and outputs & the relationship between them maybe known, but the internal structure or working is not well understood or may not be known because of its confidential nature. Similarly, she spoke about a Buyers black box which includes the Buyer characteristics and the buyer decision making.
Prof. Du Yuping then explained about the integrated marketing communication system to build brand equity with reference to the Chinese Market ,. Where marketing is done through the advertisements, websites, exhibitions, universities etc. and communications through social networks such as Tik Tok and Weibo, through podcasting, through Baidu and international schools, which works towards achieving brand equity.
Some more discussions regarding Chinese market and economy regarding the Double 11 and the predicted figure that China would have 20% of the World GDP by 2050 were also done.
And she concluded her lecture by discussing the 10 possible trends in the next 10 years :
• A booming middle class reshapes consumption
• The “graying of China” creates new demands.
• Digital “little emperors” raise standard.
• Urbanization takes a new direction.
• The sharing economy spreads to many more categories.
• “Widgets to digits” transforms retail on a much larger scale.
• Personalisation becomes new market.
• Data new oil.
• Technology risks intensity.
• Consumption takes 2 paths: Western and Chinese in terms of lifestyle preferences.
LECTURE 3: GLOBALIZATION AND CSR By Prof. Zhu Wenzhong
Prof. Zhu Wenzhong holds a PhD in business management. He also holds an MBA degree from the University of Southampton, UK, 2001. He is a visiting scholar in School of Management at
Lancaster University, UK. Currently he is the Executive Dean of School of Business, GDUFS.
The lecture commenced with a video of British petroleum (BP). And the discussions revolved around the following questions:
• How did BP become an MNC quickly?
Discussions regarding the various mergers and acquisitions. ARCO, Castrol, Amoco, Standard Oil were acquired to help themselves position in the different markets.
• How has it successfully created a Global Brand?
• What are the ethical considerations we can see from the process of creating a global brand?
Concepts like Going Green, Respecting diversities, Innovative and Performances were discussed in this part.
We discussed about the ethical challenges faced due to globalisation which were:
• More Complexity of stakeholders in an enlarged or extended Supply Chain.
• Different institutional and cultural environment
• Choices of firms operating globally for profit.
Carrol’s 4 levels of CSR was discussed which were :
• Economic (Fundamental)
• Legal (To survive in the society)
• Ethical (Influence your brand/image)
• Selective – Philanthropic – Voluntary – Charity.
Different types of ethics along with its advantages and disadvantages were also discussed.
Virtue Ethics
Utilitarianism
Universal ethics
Relativism
Concept
Right or wrong is determined by personal integrity.
Right or wrong by Consequences for greater good.
Right or wrong by Norms applicable for anybody anywhere.
Right or Wrong by norms of specific culture.
Advantage
Personal character and self-discipline.
Ends justify means: practical function or result.
A global common ethical standard.
Flexible and adaptable for different culture.
Disadvantage
Putting personal value over institution and ignoring different values in nations.
Neglecting the harm of the means itself.
Too absolute: neglecting the harm of the consequence itself.
No common ethical standard?: risk of behaving differently in different markets.
He also spoke about the 10 principles of The UN Global Compact relating to human rights, labour, environment and anti- corruption.
LECTURE 4: ORIENTATION ON GLOBAl MBA EDUCATION By Prof. Yuan Denghua
Prof. Yuan Denghua is the Deputy Dean of School of Business, GDUFS. He commenced the class by speaking of the core values of GDUFS, which was SMILE.
SMILE stood for:
S – Social Responsibility M – Mutual Respect
I – Integrity
L – Learning by doing
E – Entrepreneurship
He also spoke of the similarities between XIME and GDUFS.
Then the discussion shifted towards Entrepreneurship, which he defined as the process of designing, launching and running a new business which is often initially a new business. He stated that the ultimate goal of an entrepreneur is that there will never be an ultimate goal.
Sustainable development was another topic he discussed which had two critical paths, ie, marketing management and human resource management.
Critical path
Customer Satisfaction and loyalty
Provide Benefits to customers
Constructing a scientific HRM system
Long Term Profitability
Quality Products and Services
Wealth acquisition, Emotional sharing and career development
Staff dedication and creatinf favourable working conditions
Staff Satisfaction
Sustainable Development of the company
LECTURE 5: RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT By Prof. Wu Yiming
Prof. Wu Yiming is the Associate Dean of MBA Education Centre of GDUFS. She is also a visiting scholar to Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria), a visiting scholar to University of Missouri – Columbia and also a LEAD (Leadership for Environment and Development) fellow since 2002.
She mainly talked about three topics, ie, sustainability, responsibility and ethics.
She pointed out that 1/3 of the top fifty MBA programs require all 3 topics, sustainability, responsibility and ethics in their core curricula, at least one course is required by 84%.
97% of responsible managers expect their company’s responsible business area to expand: through more courage areas (57%), higher budgets (21%), and more staff (19%)
Most companies (74%) see the potential to reduce costs as the main driver of their responsible business initiatives.
Objectives of Responsible Management
• Understand main sustainability, responsibility and ethics issues.
• Be able to map the main actors and their roles in responsible managers.
• Understand main drivers of responsible managers.
• Be able to manage barriers, inhibitors and criticism of responsible management.
• Setting of responsible management activities is determined by the subjects addressed
BUSINESS VISITS
Othello
Othello was established in 1888 in Germany. It is one of the few kitchen brands with more than 100 years of history. In 2015, Master group acquired Othello as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Othello was the first industry that we visited. They deal in household items and cookware. Their brand goes by the tagline “Creating Time, Creating Goodness”.
From spoons to Knife Sanitizers to Massage chairs, they had a wide range of products. The products were not just displayed to us, but were demonstrated by using it. Food were prepared on different cookware, different appliances were switched on to show the performance of those products.
The visit to Othello was under the guidance of Prof. Du Yuping.
Employee showing the different Othello products. Employee standing on top of a plate to show its strength.
Golden Sea Industry Visit
Golden Sea is a key high tech company in the professional stage. We were taken to the Lighting engineering technology research and development centre, a state of the art R&D facility. We received a warm welcome there. The demonstration of their lighting systems were done through a spectacular light show. It was followed by a tour at its International lighting museum. Golden Sea does the lighting for some of the world’s best skyscrapers, shows of artists like Beyonce, and also at the Superbowl as well.
They are also planning to have a stronger share in the Indian market, where they have not exploited much. They asked us to contact them if interested in partnering with them in India.
Golden Sea welcoming us at their facility An installation of the First theatric Spotlight
Guangzhou Zhujiang Brewery Group CO. Ltd “Pearl River”
It is a large state-owned enterprise which mainly deals with beverages. It was established in 1985. We were given a tour around the beer factory, where the ingredients of the beer, process of beer making was all explained to us.
The best part about this industry visit was the Beer testing room, where the employees brought in kegs of Beer for the students.
Guide explaining beer production process
Beer production process