Study tours allow faculty to remain current with the latest developments in China's business landscape to enrich their teaching and scholarship. During these trips, faculty have the unparalleled opportunity to gain first-hand exposure to Chinese business innovation by touring some of the country's most successful companies and meeting with business leaders. Faculty also have the opportunity to connect with the global CBS alumni community with lectures, receptions, and other events.
China Faculty Study Tour 2024
The inaugural trip was held in June 2024 with more than a dozen faculty, along with Dean Costis Maglaras, taking part. Faculty joined from each of the CBS academic disciplines, allowing cross-disciplinary sharing of observations and ideas.
Participants spent almost two weeks visiting 11 companies across a range of industries in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, gathering insights to incorporate into the curriculum, ensuring that our MBA students are well-versed in the complexities of global business.
In Shenzhen, for instance, faculty toured electric-car maker BYD, and explored the environmental and economic implications of the transition from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles. At the online retail giant Temu, company leaders shared strategies around predictive AI, optimization, and supply chain management.
At fashion retailer SHEIN, faculty gained insights to incorporate into the Technology Strategy course about when data can be used as a basis of durable competitive advantage—a business's ability to maintain its competitiveness over time. At LONGi Solar, professors learned how the company uses solar and green hydrogen—learnings they plan to incorporate into the Business and Climate Change course.
Among the other companies faculty visited were luxury goods brands Lanvin, multimedia giant Tencent, and Walmart; the CEO of Walmart China, Christina Zhu ‘99, is a CBS graduate.
In addition to integrating their learnings about China's technological innovations and strategic approaches into the curriculum, faculty will also write new case studies or update existing ones based on information gathered and interviews conducted on the trip.
Faculty also met with alumni at a reception in Shanghai, where professors Gita Johar, Vicki Morwitz, Bruce Usher, and Dan Wang held lightning round talks on their areas of expertise, and Dean Maglaras held a fireside chat with CBS board member Frank Tang '94, chairman and CEO of FountainVest Partners.