SHANGHAI, April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) has a significant impact on Shanghai, where its main campus is located, and its influence extends well beyond China, according to a report by the highly regarded European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). CEIBS is the first Chinese business school whose influence has been evaluated by the EFMD's Business School Impact System (BSIS).
"It is important to keep in mind that the strategy of CEIBS is a global strategy and that the international development of its other campuses has an impact on Shanghai and China in terms of knowledge transfer and international training of Chinese managers," notes the report. In addition to Shanghai, CEIBS has campuses in Beijing, Zurich and Accra as well as a teaching centre in Shenzhen, a major city in southern China. The EFMD report, which focuses on the impact the school has on Shanghai, adds, "CEIBS has an impact on different zones: the Jinqiao township and its "Green City"; the Pudong district; the Shanghai region, the whole of China and finally a worldwide impact."
The BSIS assessed seven broad areas where CEIBS' influence can be seen in Shanghai: financial, educational, business development, intellectual, regional, societal and image. In terms of financial impact, the BSIS estimates that CEIBS contributes more than RMB 2 billion per year to the Shanghai economy and could increase that amount by more than RMB 200 million if it increased the number of students by 10%.
The report also highlighted the roles CEIBS plays in providing a world-class education in its capacity as an international business school headquartered in China. It assessed CEIBS' impact on the managerial community and local environment as it fulfils its mission to educate responsible business executives who can lead globally and found that CEIBS' international structure strengthens its ability to prepare a great number of managers to work internationally. "With its MBA and GEMBA programmes, CEIBS plays a key role in developing the interactive exchange between Chinese, overseas Chinese and non-Chinese. CEIBS is a major provider of high-level executive education (of senior managers and CEOs)," notes the report. It also highlighted the school's well-earned reputation, at the Chinese government level, for educational excellence. "CEIBS not only contributes to the training of managers from foreign companies, but also to a considerable extent to the training of local government officials. This is an important local impact because it concerns the managers of public services, which are quite substantial in China. It also reveals the trust that the public authorities have in CEIBS' competency in management education," says the report.
In assessing the impact that CEIBS has had on business development in Shanghai, the BSIS looked at the number of new businesses created, as well as how students and faculty support existing enterprises. It found that "CEIBS has a very significant impact on the economy of the Shanghai region thanks to the resources brought through internships, consulting missions by students and professors and, above all, through the dynamism of the entrepreneurial ecosystem created by the School". It estimates CEIBS' financial impact in terms of business development in Shanghai at around RMB 9.5 million. "The entrepreneurial ecosystem created is more difficult to evaluate, but is much larger," the reports notes. They also highlighted CEIBS' role in attracting foreigners to Shanghai, noting that almost 400 of the school's foreign alumni work in the city.
Meanwhile, the criteria used to assess the intellectual impact CEIBS has had on Shanghai included the dissemination of new ideas to the managerial community and society as a whole. The report cited the faculty's "relevant and significant impact" on numerous fields (logistics, healthcare, economy transformation, finance, etc.); the large volume and wide dissemination of academic output (articles, books, cases, etc.) as well as the numerous events the school organises in order to disseminate research results to practitioners. "Concerning the intellectual impact, we have to highlight the significant contribution of CEIBS to Shanghai," the report says.
The school was also lauded for how it has become an integral part of life within the Jinqiao community, and Shanghai as a whole. CEIBS has been described as the centre of the Jinqiao ecosystem, and credited with bringing an international element (bolstered by its faculty and student composition as well as its campuses abroad) to the community. "CEIBS has a clear understanding of its responsibility towards the regional ecosystem in which it seeks to play an active role," says the report. It highlights the school's good relationships with the main private and public sector players (both Chinese and international); and its role in training faculty from other Chinese universities through the Shanghai MBA Case Development Platform, which it spearheads. Also, as the report notes, "The involvement of CEIBS in the development of the "FOUR CENTERS" in Shanghai is a significant contribution. And, the intimate relationships developed with alumni and students are an important asset for CEIBS but also for the region in terms of impact."
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has long been an integral part of CEIBS. It is seen in courses, events, faculty research, and in how the school engages with the wider community. The report highlighted these aspects of CEIBS in its assessment of the school's impact on society. "One can assert that the School is working hard to develop a CSR culture and that the faculty have a lot to say on these topics," it notes. "Thanks to the content of the courses on CSR and to students' activities, CEIBS is an important driver of change in a context where CSR has become essential."
Shanghai has become synonymous with CEIBS as the city is the location for the school's first ever campus. The Shanghai skyline is often used in the school's promotional material and CEIBS has earned the reputation of being a "calling card" for the city. There is a mutually beneficial relationship. The BSIS report looked at CEIBS' image within Shanghai, across China, and internationally. Its findings highlighted the role CEIBS plays in making Shanghai an even more attractive place to live and work; the school's "very strong and positive local image" among its stakeholders; its "strong positive international image"; and – in and outside of China – CEIBS' "efficient, proactive and reactive communication".
In summarising its findings, the report notes CEIBS' numerous strengths:
1. Specialisation: CEIBS has a very specialised strategy. This strategy is very readable and clear at the regional level as well as at the national or international one. It is clear that this positioning differentiates CEIBS very well from the other business schools and therefore its impact on the Shanghai region is very important.
2. Role as bridge:
CEIBS plays a unique role as bridge between different worlds and this function is a significant vector of the impact on the region in which CEIBS is operating.
• Bridge between international companies and Chinese companies through the training of managers and executive education on the Chinese campuses but also now on the Zurich campus.
• Bridge between international companies based in Shanghai and public authorities through the training of civil servants from Shanghai authorities.
• Bridge between the domestic sector and the public one thanks to the legitimacy of CEIBS in the field of management education.
• Bridge between Europe and China reinforced by the Zurich campus.
3. Public Management Impact:
CEIBS provides management training to high-level public servants and through these actions makes a huge impact both on future public managerial practices and also on raising the awareness of public authorities of international managerial issues.
4. Management Teaching Impact:
Because CEIBS is in charge of the development of management cases for business schools of different universities, it is a vector of development of knowledge in the field of management education in China.
5. Finally, all the actions of CEIBS contribute to the development of Shanghai and particularly to the development of the Jinqiao Township.
About CEIBS
China Europe International Business School (www.ceibs.edu) offers a unique combination of "China Depth, Global Breadth" taking advantage of its position as a leading business school in Asia to train responsible leaders.
