Dear CEIBS community, alumni and friends,

In celebration of Teachers’ Day and Mid-Autumn Festival (which have fallen on the same day this year), I would like to wish everyone in the education field joy and happiness.

Just as the bright moonlight illuminates the night sky, teachers shape the minds of students with their noble virtues. As such, there isn’t a better time to talk about education than when families get together to appreciate the full moon. German educator Adolph Diesterweg once noted, “The art of teaching lies not in imparting knowledge, but in motivating, awakening and inspiring students.” Amid a slew of risks in today’s complex international landscape, the education sector is facing increased expectations and challenges, and undergoing vast changes in models, purpose and mission.

On one hand, the world is facing tremendous change. The COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and food and energy shortages have escalated into global crises; high inflation, debt, monetary tightening, anti-globalization, and disruptions to industry and supply chains have led to a sluggish global economic recovery; trade frictions, geopolitical tensions, and clashes of values have put the world at risk of a relapse into fragmentation and even confrontation, and have led to the profound reshaping of regional security, ideological trends, and global governance.

On the other hand, a new round of industrial revolution and technological advancement has brought about profound changes and unprecedented development opportunities. An array of new concepts and technologies, such as Web3, the metaverse, blockchain and artificial intelligence, are further upending existing business models.

In this context, the education sector is undergoing a significant and profound transformation. First, with the tug-of-war between globalization and anti-globalization comes new requirements for business education. Business schools should cultivate sustainably-minded management talent with an international vision, cross-cultural communication skills and leadership, and a commitment to upholding shared values in a complex and volatile society. Second, the pandemic has fuelled new educational models. The internet, artificial intelligence, and digitalization will reshape future learning as online education continues to gain traction around the world. Last but not least, business schools should cultivate resilient business leaders in the VUCA era. Amid growing uncertainty over global governance, business schools should shift from knowledge-and-skills-based to capability-and-competency-based education.

Business schools are also facing new challenges. On one hand, the paradigm shift from instructor-centred to student-centred learning aims to improve students’ capabilities for problem-solving, cooperation and communication, and independent learning, while focusing on addressing real-life problems, restructuring the learning process, and updating learning scenarios. On the other hand, business education has become a primary engine for the development of national – especially regional – economies. Looking around the world, regional economies and business schools are empowering each other to thrive. The New York City Area, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Tokyo Bay Area, as well as the Yangtze River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area are all home to a large number of world-renowned schools.

Facing new missions and new requirements in a new landscape and guided by its vision of “becoming the most respected international business school in the world by linking China and the rest of the world in teaching, research, and business practice and by promoting China’s social and economic development through high-impact knowledge creation and dissemination,” CEIBS will push forward reform and innovation in terms of student development, faculty, research, teaching, ESG and alumni engagement.

Student development: Developing a student-centric operation system

CEIBS will make full use of all opportunities inside and outside the classroom to bolster student growth, achievement and success. Students will be empowered to learn proactively, constructively, synergistically, situationally, introspectively and critically. They will be encouraged to construct their own knowledge and value systems in the learning process. The role of faculty will shift from a messenger of knowledge to an instructor, information provider, academic advisor, researcher and team player.

Faculty: Building a team of world-renowned experts

CEIBS will continue to cement its status as China’s leading business school in terms of teaching and research, further expand its faculty team, step up efforts to recruit and cultivate excellent faculty members, and optimize faculty composition. At the same time, we will emphasize teaching, research and practice. Our faculty will create and disseminate knowledge for industry professionals and policymakers from multiple perspectives while fostering signature research areas. This year, a historic high 15 CEIBS faculty members made Elsevier’s list of Highly-Cited Chinese Researchers. Meanwhile, we have welcomed eight new faculty members who will contribute more cutting-edge management expertise and hands-on experience in the fields of automobiles, healthcare, digital platforms, and green finance.

Research: Fostering “2+4+2+X” interdisciplinary research areas

CEIBS will leverage its five campuses and interdisciplinary research to play a leading role in the management education community and develop its “2+4+2+X” interdisciplinary research areas. In August, the CEIBS Social Security and Aging Finance Institute was officially established to conduct in-depth theoretical and public policy research on social security and aging finance, with a view to becoming a world-renowned research platform and high-end think tank. More effort will be put into developing cases to contribute a constant stream of Chinese wisdom to the global body of management expertise. This year, two CEIBS cases won best case awards in the 2021 EFMD Case Writing Competition and six CEIBS cases won awards at the 2021 CEIBS Global Contest for the Best China-Focused Cases.

Teaching: Reinforcing our top-tier position in global management education

To sharpen its unique teaching strengths, CEIBS will deliver international teaching to meet diversified teaching and research needs; leverage the CEIBS Insights Europe Forum series to build a platform for international exchange and cooperation; conduct case studies and strengthen cooperation with Harvard Business Publishing Education, Ivey Publishing, and ECCH, and build the world’s most influential China-themed case library; and deliver Real Situation Learning Method™ (RSLM) teaching, create an ecosystem for integration of industries, academia and research institutions, and establish a number of new RSLM bases.

ESG: Nurturing responsible leaders

CEIBS will continue to develop ESG-oriented curriculums and research output, and integrate ESG philosophy into teaching, research and operations.

Interaction with alumni: Making alumni more successful

CEIBS will continue to build a better learning platform to provide alumni with more lifelong learning opportunities and establish a win-win ecosystem to facilitate multi-dimensional communication and interaction with alumni. This year, 13 CEIBS alumni-led companies made the 2022 Fortune Global 500 list. We will continue to provide unwavering support for the development of alumni and alumni-led companies so that they can make more contributions to economic development in China and the world.

These are just some of the ways CEIBS is embracing change. We are committed to inspiring socially-minded students with a wealth of cutting-edge management expertise and a strong sense of social responsibility so that they can demonstrate the courage and commitment to improve the wellbeing of every individual and organization and advance social progress in China and around the world.

I believe that amid tremendous changes in the international landscape, both institutions and individuals will need to forge ahead with confidence and courage to rise to the challenges facing mankind. On the day of family reunion, let’s share with our families the love and hope that will motivate us to move forward.

Finally, I once again wish you happiness on Teachers’ Day and Mid-Autumn Festival!

Prof. Wang Hong
CEIBS President