Mastering Global Business
A unique executive programme at CELAP, Shanghai
To help managers and high-potentials develop their international business skills and identify business opportunities on the Chinese market, the Antwerp-Waasland Chamber of Commerce and the Antwerp Management School have developed a unique executive programme called “Mastering Global Business: China”.
The China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong in Shanghai provides the ideal setting for a full week of lectures, workshops, company visits and a tour of the port.
Participants will be immersed in the Chinese business environment and culture. Network events organized in collaboration with the local Chamber of Commerce will also provide a unique opportunity to talk with a select group of Chinese and European entrepreneurs in China.
Shanghai and its surrounding regions were chosen for the city’s unique ties with Antwerp. It all started 27 years ago with the signing of the friendship agreement between our two cities by former Antwerp Mayor, Bob Cools and the Mayor of Shanghai, Wang Daohon. These ties were further strengthened in 1996 and 1997 with a new memorandum aimed at promoting educational and cultural exchange together with enhanced cooperation between our two ports.
Objectives
- To acquire practical and up-to-date knowledge about China’s business environment in a short timespan
- To broaden strategic insight into doing business in China
- To identify business opportunities by forging links with Chinese local governments and members of the business community
- To improve cross-cultural communication skills
Framework
The programme consists of the same three key components which make up the country’s business environment: culture, institutions and the business system. Culture acts as a basis for China’s social structure by imparting values, norms and socially constructed realities. The country’s institutions, on the other hand, provide a regulatory environment for cooperative solutions to facilitate the complexity of exchange. Embedded within this socio-cultural and institutional environment, companies and their management are structured in order to coordinate economic behaviour and business transactions.
On the basis of this theoretical framework, the “Mastering Global Business: China” programme consists of:
- The Chinese Business system: the core of the programme is aimed at understanding the ownership structure, networks and management practice of Chinese companies with a view to learning how to do business with Chinese business partners. Various strategic and managerial aspects will be discussed with Belgian and European companies operating in China. Topics covered include market entry strategies, location selection, entry modes,
partner selection, value chain management, etc. - Chinese government and regulatory environment: Government policy and decision-making processes are of great importance for business activities within China’s so-called “social market economy”. Understanding the businessto-government relationship is a crucial success factor for foreign companies. The programme not only provides in-depth and up-to-date knowledge of the Chinese administration system and recent development policy but even introduces participants to local government so as to offer a genuine experience of China’s “bureaucratic culture”.
- Chinese culture: the programme subjects participants to real ”cultural shock”, providing a very real insight into daily life as it is experienced by Chinese people. The cultural differences and their impact on business practices will be explained by local and expatriate business managers.