Centre of Organizational and People Excellence (COPE) was formally established in September, 2004 by CEIBS.
Director: Dr. Arthur Yeung, Philips Chair Professor of Human Resource Management
Co-Director: Dr. Katherine Xin, Michelin Chair Professor of Leadership & Human Resource Management
Working closely with the corporate world, COPE aims to generate practical and high impact knowledge, frameworks, and tools that enhance the capacity of corporations in China to execute their business strategies and create business competitiveness through cutting-edge people and organizational management practices. COPE's activities include:
*Planning, organizing and conducting annual research projects around business issues of strategic relevance to corporations in China;
*Publishing articles, books, cases, and designing teaching programs based on research findings and framework;
*Organizing conferences with thought leaders from corporate, academic, or consulting worlds to discuss and disseminate key issues related to people and organizations in China.
Key activities in 2010
“Positive Leadership Research Project”
In view of the unethical and illegal business practices surfaced through financial tsunami and tainted milk powder scandal in 2008, it becomes very clear that business management know-how and insights alone can’t lead to sustainable business success. Fundamental company values and management philosophy shaped by business leader beliefs such as long?term vs. short-term tradeoff, shareholder value vs. other stakeholder value, focus on customer value rather than under-table deals, etc., become more important in guiding the healthy development and continued success of many companies, especially in challenging business environment likes China.
To understand how some successful business leaders and companies can manage to grow their businesses on the one hand and stick to transparent and positive management practices on the other, we decide to interview and profile a dozen of business leaders in different industries in China. The main questions to be examined through such interviews include:
1. How do these business leaders balance the interests of various stakeholders (including shareholders, customers, channel partners, suppliers, government, environment, etc.) in business development?
2. How to maintain positive and transparent management practices in China while simultaneously striving to grow the business?
3. How to strike the tradeoff between short-term and long-term success?
In 2009, we conducted interviews with more than 10 business leaders and the research will continue in 2010. Expected deliverables from this project include:
1. Case profiles of these companies
2. Articles and books
3. CEO roundtable and seminars
“Decoding the Success and Organizational Capabilities of Outstanding Firms in China ”
In the past 30 years, many Chinese companies in different ownership forms made great progress in the reformation of open policy and market economy. Accompanying changes in the political, social and commercial environment abroad and at home, organization capability becomes the bottleneck to many companies in the next stage of development. How to rebuild or enhance organization capability in alignment with the need of strategic development? How to build up core competence to achieve sustainable growth? These questions receive wide attentions among Chinese business leaders.
COPE will work with QQ.com and CEIBS Business Review to undertake a year-long research program, featuring how 12 CEOs from renowned enterprises build their organizational capabilities to achieve business success. Research fellow from COPE, senior reporter from CEIB Business Review, and journalist from QQ.com will jointly conduct in-depth interviews with managers and employees at different levels of the target company to understand how these companies build their organizational capabilities for business success. What did these companies do in the past that lead to today’s success? What practices are worthy of learning by other Chinese firms？What challenges will they have in the next 10 years? The final interview, conducted between Professor Arthur Yeung and CEO of the company, will be recorded and broadcasted online through QQ.com.
Main deliverables of this year-long program include
1. Video broadcast of interview between Professor Arthur Yeung and 12 CEOs through QQ.com.
2. Case profiles and CEO Dialogues to be published monthly through CEIBS Business Review
3. Book publishing based on the compilation of these company cases and CEO interviews
4. Teaching cases
