Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/269179
53 BizEd March/April 2014 brings faculty from both the School of Management and other depart- ments of Fudan to discuss Chinese history, politics, and legal issues. The Olin faculty who co-teach the Shanghai courses also teach in our U.S.-based programs, and they have found that the same teaching skills that lead to success in U.S. classrooms apply in China. Many have now taught in China for more than ten years. This experience has given them a front-row seat to China's economic evolution over the past decade, which has deepened their understanding of this complex country and enriched their teaching. Lessons Learned in China While the decadelong partner- ship with Fudan has been fruitful, it hasn't always been easy. It's a challenge to manage programs school with a strong reputation, because Washington University was not well-known in China, and the partnership with Fudan conferred immediate legitimacy. In addition, the Fudan School of Management shared the Olin Busi- ness School's commitment to the highest standards in research and teaching. Perhaps most important, the leadership of the two schools quickly developed the close personal relationships that are essential to a successful joint venture. Something we didn't learn until we arrived in China was that, despite the sheer size of the Chi- nese population, there is a rela- tively small market for English-lan- guage EMBA programs in China. Language proficiency is mandatory, because participation in class dis- cussion is essential, and reading Sun. When he participated in the EMBA program a few years ago, he was president of China's second largest brew- ery, Tsingtao Beer. Today, he is chairman of Tsingtao, and he recommends our program to his employees. n Embrace co-teaching opportunities. Fudan and Washington University pro- fessors each bring their own insights to the classrooms. The American and Chinese professors often will debate topics from their own points of view, which stimulates classroom discussions. While our business professors pro- vide a unique understanding of the Chinese economy, we often invite in professors from other departments at Fudan to share cultural and historic perspectives. n Don't alter the cur- riculum in response to trends. Because the fun- damentals don't change significantly, we've been able to keep the same Olin and Fudan faculty teaching together for more than a decade, and this has helped us run a strong and stable program. The things that do change from year to year are the students and their work experiences. The students keep the program fresh as they bring examples of their work to the classroom. n Never stop improving. As I mentioned at the begin- ning, executive students can be very demanding, and we are constantly learning the ways we can serve them better. For example, we pay attention to their food pref- erences. Foreign students don't want Chinese food, and Chinese students don't want pizza or fast food, so now we offer both. We're also planning to upgrade our facilities. When the Shanghai-based students do their residencies in St. Louis, they are very impressed with Olin Business School's executive conference center and hotel facilities. This has inspired us at the Fudan School of Management to build a new campus that should be finished in mid-2016. n Keep evolving. Six months after launching the English EMBA with Washing- ton University, Fudan debuted its own EMBA program in Chinese. We adopted many aspects of the joint program into our Chinese version— because we had learned and continue to learn so much from our partnership with our colleagues in St. Louis. Zhiwen Yin is associate dean and associate professor at the School of Management, Fudan University, in Shanghai, China. far from home. For instance, we've dealt with the obvious and expected issues—such as securing work permissions for U.S. staff and dealing with delays in financial transfers caused by Chinese foreign exchange regulations. We've also encountered more unexpected dif- ficulties, such as learning how to build a program culture that genu- inely reflects both partners. Going into the program, we real- ized it would be essential to find the right partner, and we chose Fudan for several reasons. We wanted a Video Links n A snapshot of the Washing- ton University-Fudan EMBA in Shanghai: youtu.be/tbpvw04i0mI n Students and professors describe the Wash U-Fudan MBA experi- ence: youtu.be/nIiEWu2K-QA n Observations by brewery execu- tives in China and the U.S. representing Tsingtao and Schlafly beers: youtu.be/f5z24ZB-Q4Q