On May 18th, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) Assistant Dean Zhou Li was featured on the 12th Asian Leadership Conference (ALC)’s special edition webinar hosted by the Chosun Ilbo, a top Korean media group. Dean Zhou was joined by Henry Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) and Jun Kwang-woo, Chairman and CEO of Institute for Global Economics, to share insights on the global economic outlook, capital markets and sustainable development. The webinar garnered close to 100,000 online viewers.
Dean Zhou Li kicked off the webinar by raising a few pertinent issues for discussion, such as the global economic outlook against the backdrop of divergent vaccination approaches, capital markets’ prospects under looming inflation, and the future of ESG and sustainable growth. He shared that CKGSB has always been going beyond the traditional scope of business education and emphasizing the importance of fostering business leaders who lead with compassion and empathy. “Unlike most business schools, CKGSB’s largest program is the Executive MBA program that has roughly 600 students each year, half of whom are at the C-suite level in influential Chinese companies. We realize the importance and impact of this group to society and the economy, so we have been instilling a holistic view in them by introducing the humanities into their business curriculum. Starting from this year, we ask our EMBA students to carry out socially responsible projects in their companies to contribute to the UN’s sustainable development goals.”
Henry Fernandez, a global financial expert who has been heading MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International), a leading financial tools and services provider, for 25 years, shed light on the rapidly changing global markets. “There will be divergence in economic recovery among different countries. But eventually those lagging behind will catch up. At this point, we ought to be worried about the overheating economic activities due to the unleashed demand for consumption post-pandemic and the stimulus policies. I think we will see one of the most expansive periods of economic growth in the world in decades, if not in the last 100 years.” he addressed.
Jun Kwang-woo, Chairman of the Institute for Global Economics and former Chairman of Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the National Pension Service (NPS) in Korea, explained that the pump-priming fiscal and monetary policies will create an environment for impressive recovery. “The IMF is talking about a 5-6% recovery rate for the US. Some investment banks even predicted that range to be as high as 7-8%. But there is always light and darkness,” he added. “As Henry mentioned, this recovery is very much driven by consumption, which may result in unavoidable price inflation. The government policies should be geared to soft landing without creating enormous shock to the market.”
Fernandez echoed Dean Zhou’s comments on the necessity of training business leaders to be socially responsible. He said “we live in a highly integrated ‘bubble’, in which we are able to create the conditions for business to survive, prosper and serve society. We need to incorporate a lot of the externality that is taking place into how we run companies, how we price assets and how we do capital allocation. It’s ultimately about business. That’s what you are doing in your business school, training people who are going to do exactly that.” Jun underlined the necessity for governments to adapt to the different economic, political and social paradigms, and to issue policies and regulations in favor of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Asian Leadership Conference (ALC), is an impactful global event launched in 2005 by Chosun Ilbo, a leading media group in South Korea. So far it has convened over 170 world-class leaders to discuss and provide possible solutions for the pressing issues that Asia is facing. The ALC and CKGSB are long-term partners.
Established in Beijing in November 2002, CKGSB aims to cultivate transformative business leaders with a global vision, social responsibility, innovative mind-set and ability to lead with empathy and compassion. Funded with generous support from the Li Ka Shing Foundation, CKGSB is China’s first faculty-governed, independent and private business school.
Today, CKGSB is the preeminent choice for management education among influential business leaders and a new generation of disruptors in China. It is also the preferred choice for academics returning to China from globally-leading universities, with half of CKGSB’s professors having previously tenured at schools like Wharton and Yale.
For more information about CKGSB, visit: https://english.ckgsb.edu.cn/
To watch the full webinar recording, visit: https://youtu.be/pMxA2YbPSMI
