Since fall 2001, students in southern China have worked to earn business degrees through a program offered jointly by China’s Lingnan University and the University’s Carlson School of Management.
Mary Maus Kosir, director of international program development at the Carlson School, said China’s business opportunities made it a strategic place to establish a Chinese executive master’s in business administration program.
“With China opening up for trade and business with the West and multinational companies moving east to take advantage of China’s business opportunities, we thought it would be a good idea to establish an institution that would provide students with the managerial expertise those companies need,” she said.
About 50 people attended the program’s first graduation ceremony Monday at Cowles Auditorium.
Thirty-eight executives from China, Taiwan and India who studied at the school in Guangzhou received master’s degrees in business administration through the program.
Lingnan University President Yuan Shu said the partnership between the institutions will help bring China into the world’s economy.
Shu said there is an increasing need for managers in multinational companies that are moving to China, and the school will help provide for that need.
Peter Lu, one of the graduates, said the collaboration between Lingnan and Carlson School was a good effort.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity for two powers – one from the East and one from the West – to work and create business relationships for their people,” he said.
However, like most of his colleagues, the difficult choice after graduation is deciding whether he should continue to work at his current company or set up his own business, he said.
“There are lots of business opportunities in China to navigate,” he said. “I am not sure what I will do after graduation.”
Freeman Shen, another graduate, said he was excited to be a part of the University. He said the relationship between Lingnan and the Carlson School could help the trade relationship between the United States and China, as well as serve as a bridge between both peoples.
The Chinese executive master’s in business administration inaugural class was originally scheduled to graduate in early May with other Carlson School students, but their arrival was delayed because of the SARS virus. Guangzhou was one of the main centers of SARS – the virus that killed almost 800 people worldwide this year.
The program is the third international business executive program launched by the Carlson School. The management school also has programs with the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland and the Vienna executive masters in business administration program in Austria.