New Inspirations | Asian Campus Semester Opening Ceremony Review
Source：Asian Campus SemsterDate：2019-04-19
305 international students from MSc Program started their semester in emlyon business school Asia campus. Including 118 from MSc in Luxury Management & Marketing program, 50 from MSc in Sports Industry Management, 72 from MSc in International Hospitality Management and 61 from MSc in Digital Marketing & Data Science.
Events Overview
The opening ceremony & welcome dinner of 2019 Summer Asian Campus Semester was held on April 8th. Dr. Prof. William Hua WANG, Dean of emlyon business school Asia; Prof. Nikola ZIVLAK, associate professor and deputy director of China bachelor/Master program, made welcome speeches in represent of emlyon Asia campus. Mr. ZHOU Wei, Founder & CEO of XNode | Startup & Corporate Accelerator introduced Chinese innovative market to emlyon international students from industrial perspective; Program directors of 4 international MSc programs, Prof. Michel PHAN, program director of International MSc in Luxury Management & Marketing program, Prof. Antoine HAINCOURT, Programme Director of MSc in Sports Industry Management program, Prof. Clement LEVALLOIS, Program Director of MSc in Digital Marketing & Data Science Prof. Eric Vogler, Program Director of M.Sc. in International Hospitality Management, Program directors from Institut Paul Bocuse, Prof. Jeffrey Catrett, Academic Director, Prof. Martine Ferry, Program Director of Master's Programs introduced semester benefits and motivated students to make full use of the Asian Campus Semester. Ms. Faye YAN, Senior Operation Manager made a program introduction to help students adapt to local life and familiarize with the program arrangement. Ms. ZHAO, police officer from Putuo police station, made a safety guidance to students. Ms. Xiaojun LI, student representative of emlyon business school Asia Campus, student of Digital Marketing & Data Science, shared her learning and career experience and introduced the benefit of Asian Campus Semester from student’s perspective.
Insights and Inspirations
Dr. Prof. Williams WANG introduced the thriving Chinese market in luxury, sports, hospitality and digital industry and inspired international students about emerging opportunities in their specialization. He also made a profound analysis on China’s growing impact on world economic situation and prospect, both at present and in the future. He emphasizes that experience in Asian Campus will be a signature for students to differentiate them from other young talents in learning experience and future career development.
“The Asian Campus Semester will be a small window to open your horizon and will help you understand what is going on in an emerging country, business inter-connected with China and world are the starting points for your invaluable learning journeys in China.”
Prof. Dr. Nikola ZIVLAK he introduced the rapid growth of Chinese market and its importance for international students to learn about. He mentioned that as the second largest economy and business center of in the world, China will not only be an eye opener but it could also possibly change the future of each student. He had also shared his advices for international students to help them make full use of this semester.
“China is a big for most of the people in the western world. They know that China had made tremendous success during the previous several decades, but they are not quite sure about everything that had actually happened. In fact, China was one of the most innovative market which develops rapidly in a different way, as an earlymaker, you will have a lot of things to learn and discover during this semester.”
Program Directors of 4 international MSc programs introduced the value of Asian Campus Semester within the program structure. They indicated that experience in China could largely impact their mindset as well as career development. Program directors suggested students to learn serious, improve language skills, and mingle with local students to get into the culture of China and create cross-cultural connections and memories.
“Meeting culture difference helps in understanding life, understanding people and helps to know yourselves better. Never stop questioning, you are in best time to discover the world, the people, and the culture.”
Mr. ZHOU Wei pointed out that China is a giant market which represent 46% of global sales and worth discovering. However, the fast-changing market situation as well as the entirely different business environment requires foreign companies to change their mindset and rethink their strategies in order to survive in Chinese market.
“It’s essential for international students to be here, in the brand new environment, and to gain the new know-how. Shanghai is the greatest city for earlymakers to open their eyes. Be curious, look at crossover industries and innovative industries, and keep exploring. The benefits will follow you for the rest of your life.”
Ms. Xiaojun LI shared her learning and career path and introduced the benefit of Asian Campus Semester from student’s perspective.
“Through the courses I have learnt in emlyon Shanghai semester, “innovation”, “exploration”, and “social responsibility” are what these classes have endowed me.”
Ms. Faye YAN gave a detailed programme introduction to students, provided international students with local life guidance, future academic arrangements, basic information of campus, administrative aspects and other useful instructions in order to help students adapt rapidly to their life in Shanghai.
Students' Expressions
The keynote speeches were very interesting and attention grabbing. The speaker varied a lot in their focus and also took our different experience into consideration. They gave us very good tips in the next three month. I’m excited to experience a lot of new things and step out of our comfort zone. I also hope to contribute a great deal to the global business success. The experience in Asia will help us learn about the luxury experience in China, with a focus on Chinese consumers, companies, and even worldwide. It’s significant to understand the business knowhow in Asia as the negotiation, finance, and marketing technic is quite different from what we were familiar to.
In the opening ceremony, Dr. William WANG gave an exhaustive panorama of programs in emlyon as well as the Chinese market opportunities in a clear way, which was interesting for me. I also feel that there is a significant balance between Chinese culture and the thinking of international noetic man. This dichotomy is great since the cultural astonishment is unlimited. I hope to bridge between international students and Chinese students and particularly I’m willing to pursue together with other earlymakers the adventure of internship/job opportunities in China.
I was impressed by the opening ceremony, especially by the speech of CEO Xnode, he was super confident and seemed very knowledgeable. He gave very interesting statistics about SMEs and how they engage the Asia environment. I also learnt that China is exponentially growing in every aspects, and it make sense to learn Asian business. Besides, Asian campus semester fit my future career plan too. As a future employee of Amazon, experience here will allow me to gain more international awareness as well as to share how e-commerce works in China, so that I can easily and fully integrate once I start working for Amazon Munich.
The speech that impressed me the most is the director of the SIM program, he was trying to push students to deeply understand the Chinese market and not to be afraid about interacting with local people. Also I liked what Prof Zivlak said, as we were well informed about Chinese culture and Chinese trends & needs. In the following months I expect to meet Chinese local people and better understand how Chinese economy gets that great.
Oleg BOBIN
MSc in International Hospitality Management
In the opening ceremony I particularly liked the keynote speeches of Mr. ZHOU from Xnode about business of start-ups and it’s interesting to know how to start new business in Shanghai/China, it could be very helpful for future entrepreneurs. The new semester triggered my interest in improving my vision of Asia, I hope to meet Chinese student in the university and further discover how Chinese think and consume.
Verdier CLAIRE
MSc in Sports Industry Management
About Asian Campus Semester
The Asian Campus Semester programme was designed within the context of the development of emlyon business school’s activities in Asia. The program brings together international students from the emlyon business school and from local partner universities (East China Normal University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Tongji University, etc.) to achieve multicultural integration. Currently, approximately 700 international students come to the emlyon business school Asia campus each year to follow Asian campus semester program.
