On the morning of 27th October 2023, emlyon business school successfully kicked off yet another cohort of its premier Global Doctorate of Business Administration Program (Asia Track) with the 2023 intake opening ceremony. The ceremony was held at Shanghai Marriott Hotel Riverside and was attended by several senior professors, faculty members, alumni, and 2023 intake new cohorts, who were officially accepted into the four-year program, starting their transformative journey from business elites to scholar-type industry leaders.

The ceremony was hosted by Prof. Jun LU, Associate Professor of Finance and emlyon business school GDBA Advisor. Some of the eminent guest present at the function included Prof. William WANG Hua, Associate Dean of emlyon business school, Dean of emlyon business school Asia; Dr. Christine BALDY NGAYO, Associate Dean of emlyon business school, Director of Executive Education; Mr. Chen WU, Managing Director of The Economist Global Business Review; Prof. Hua LIN, Advisor to the Dean of emlyon business school Asia; Prof. Sherriff LUK Tingkwong, GDBA Advisor at emlyon business school; Prof. Sai LAN, GDBA Advisor at emlyon business school; and Ms. Helene YU Yinbi, Associate Director of emlyon business school Asia GDBA program.

Assoc. Prof. Jun LU
Associate Professor of Finance、GDBA Advisor of emlyon business school

The program commenced solemnly with all guests rising from their seats, as the national anthems of the French Republic and the People's Republic of China were played.

Professor William WANG Hua was the first to begin the proceedings with his revolutionary talk titled “DBA in the era of AI”. While sharing the latest applications of AI in various sectors of today's business society, he touched upon the potential impacts of AI on societal structures and cultural values, as well as the challenges AI poses to humanity. Stressing on the significance of DBA learning under this context, he mentioned that the training in DBA methodology is the first step to initiate reflective self-awareness. “While our daily lives are often engrossed in exploring the external world, leaving little time for introspection and exploration of our own consciousness, the DBA program offers everyone the time, space, and arena for conscious and cognitive reflection, allowing for mutual learning and self-betterment.” quoted Prof. William WANG Hua. He concluded by reminding the students that the DBA journey is not just about academic pursuit, but a quest for the meaning of life.

Prof. William WANG Hua
Associate Dean of emlyon business school、Dean of emlyon business school Asia、French Dean of Asia Europe Business School

Next in line was Dr. Christine BALDY NGAYO, who welcomed the students with her inspiring talk. While aiming to become one of Europe’s top business schools, she shared about emlyon’s plans to implement "Confluences 2025", a three-pronged strategy aimed at addressing social and environmental issues, academic excellence, and networked internationalization. Dr. Christine BALDY NGAYO further expanded on the importance and greater responsibility of all higher-education establishments, to be catalysts of creativity, capable of driving major social changes. She concluded by wishing the students success on their upcoming four-year GDBA journey and cheered the future club of true academic industry leaders.

Ms. BALDY speech was followed by a warm welcome message from Ms. Helene YU Yinbi, who reflected upon emlyon’s 'Early Makers' spirit and stressed that the student’s mission during their GDBA program is much more than merely acquiring a degree and another educational qualification, but rather converting this time spent into a life and career changing experience, built on sincere aspiration and fundamental motivation to bring about great societal change. Brimming with confidence, she reassured everyone that this cohort will exceed all expectations and go on to achieve greatness.

Paul HU Bo, one of the 2023 intake new cohorts, and the Co-founder of Beijing BeyonCa Information Technology Co. Ltd. started off by sharing updates from the automotive industry, with details about the dramatic technological changes it experienced over the last five years, during the electrification and intelligentization movement, which is re-writing the trend for a sector that was invented more than 100 years ago. He made an interesting analogy while comparing cars that require new energy to power them, with current business leaders who need new energy to drive change over the next decade. He was thankful for the new community and diverse network of colleagues this GDBA program has given him, that would help him through times of turbulence, during the quest for knowledge.

Crystal WANG Yi, another 2023 intake new cohort, and partner at Deloitte China followed Paul HU with a personal story about her journey to where she is today, and her aspirations for the future. She took the audience 20 years back in time while recalling the different financial crises and pandemics that occurred over the past two decades and found common ground between the resilience and dedication that was deployed during each instance to overcome that particular crisis, and also the various opportunities that arose in the process. The most important takeaway for her was that people can always find a way to survive the crisis, with time being the only factor. She reiterated that there is not much one can do to change the world, apart from taking time off to reflect on actions of the past and focus on the present. Brimming with excitement at the start of this transitional year, she is eagerly looking forward to a new journey here at emlyon, filled with learning and growth experiences along with her peers.

While the crowd was still cheering Crystal WANG on her emphatic talk, GDBA alumni Alex MAO Jianyong, 2022 intake participant, and head of strategy for Levi’s Greater China region, came up to share his personal leanings and experiences during his time at emlyon Business School. In his clearly laid out talk, he spoke about exploring the unknown and expanding boundaries. While expressing gratitude to his professors for their guidance and support, he cautioned the new cohort that attempting a GDBA degree program is no walk in the park, and the endeavor comes with immense physical and mental challenges. He ended by wishing everyone strength and fortitude to carry on, and hoped to address his new friends as “doctor”, within a few years’ time.

With the faculty and student speech section coming to an end, it was time for the most awaited session of the morning, the panel discussion – “Sustaining Resilience in the Age of Anti-Globalization”. This discussion was moderated by Sally LU, GDBA 2023 intake new cohort, APAC Managing Director of Freeman, and was joined by three panelists - Mr. WU Chen, Managing Director of The Economist Global Business Review; Benny ZHENG Lu, GDBA 2023 intake new cohort, Chairman of Wuxi Lingwei Information Technology Co., Ltd.; and Jessica WANG Yuenan, GDBA 2021 intake participant, SVP-HR of JCET Group Co., Ltd.

The panel took a deep dive into different challenges and opportunities resulting from anti-globalization actions and each panelist shared what their companies and industries are doing to build resilience and take proactive steps. Mr. Chen WU talked about reshoring and The China Plus One Strategy that multinational companies are adopting to mitigate supply chain disruptions, while Jessica WANG stressed on the importance of digitization of organizations and the use of data to monitor operations and vendors within the value chain. All three panelists agreed on the need for speed and agility while designing a robust supply chain, with Benny ZHENG suggesting moving operations to Southeast Asia and Latin America and leveraging the strengths of overseas partners.

Building on Prof. William WANG Hua’s talk about AI from earlier in the morning, the panel debated on the deployment of ChatGPT and artificial intelligence to alleviate technology challenges, while focusing on innovation and strengthening collaboration with customers, universities, and other technology partners along the value chain. The four business leaders also touched upon China’s Belt and Road Initiative and stressed on the fact that not just big corporations, but several small and medium Chinese companies are gaining access to new markets and are benefiting tremendously from this initiative. The discussion concluded with a consensus that free trade is definitely the way forward instead of a parallel world, and while countries need to focus on resilience and efficiency to counter anti-globalization sentiments, they must prioritize national security to avoid the risk of geopolitical incidents.

The panel discussion, which received a resounding round of applause, was followed by the official badge distribution ceremony. The proud moment where each new student of the 2023 intake cohorts would be officially accepted into emlyon business school’s Global Doctorate of Business Administration Program (Asia Track). Senior faculty members handed out the badges to GDBA and Certified B-School Leturer Program(CBL) students as they came up on stage with proud smiling faces. The conclusion of the badge distribution ceremony officially marked the end of the opening ceremony and the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of the 2023 intake cohorts.

emlyon business school and the entire team is proud of this day. GDBA is not just an academic journey, but the reshaping of future business leadership. We firmly believe that each student who joins this program will become scholarly industry leaders, steering the global business landscape, through the education and practice they receive here. We sincerely hope this cohort will innovate and envision, reshape the future of the business world, and create greater opportunities and value for the global community.